Episode 4.1 "The Six Thatchers"

[sherlockandjohn]

 

For Mary to take a bullet for Sherlock is like the weak protecting the strong, in John's mind. He knows Sherlock doesn't need protection, and thinks that his wife does.

just the fact that Mary is dead because of a bullet directed at Sherlock

Except John didn't arrive until well after Mary was on the ground.  He didn't know she took a bullet for anyone.  He just knows she's been shot.  Nothing more.

 

 

Mary kept saying to Sherlock, while John was listening, that "I think we're even now. Definitely even." That must tell John something of what went on.

[Arcadia]

I don't think it really matters, to be honest. I think in that moment, all John could see was that Sherlock had broken his vow.

[J.P.]

 

 I am half regretting buying cinema tickets for the last one, as where will I hide in there? I really underestimated how dark they would go. I genuinely thought all the creepy cast photos were just empty posturing.

You can cling to your co-watchers.

I'm considering going to the garage to fetch my bike helmet.

[J.P.]

In the meantime a simple red balloon is making a stellar, international career. :D

[J.P.]

A very nice bit of Amanda describing Sherlock's and Mary's chemistry:

 

I think they are kindred spirits. I do. I think, they’re very, very similar. I think she sees his flaws and she sees his potential, and so does he. He just, you know, he likes her. And he doesn’t like many people, and he certainly doesn’t like many women. So, I think, he’s surprised by that and he likes the fact that they get on.

—  ‘I love Mary and Sherlock’s rapport. They’re almost birds of a feather, these two, with John in the middle of them. What do you make of Mary and Sherlock’s bond?’ - Amanda Abbington Interview with PBS - (x)

 

[sherlockandjohn]

Martin Freeman's take on why John blames Sherlock:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tThtRtMXk8

[sherlockandjohn]

I don't think it really matters, to be honest. I think in that moment, all John could see was that Sherlock had broken his vow.

 

Sure, in that moment, I think you're right. Question is what happens when he has had time to realise a bit more of what went on (if he even bears to think of it). Will that make it better or worse? Guess we will see pretty soon.

[BLS_Pro]

Martin Freeman's take on why John blames Sherlock:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tThtRtMXk8

 

The problem with the video is that you can't trust what the actors or writers say.  And that is actually a problem which has bled into the show itself.  You can't trust anything you see or hear from anyone to be the truth.  And so there is a lessening in the emotional investment in the people and the actions they take.  Withholding one's emotional investment in the death of a major character in the climax of the show is BAD.  That is the OPPOSITE of what one is trying to achieve.  :(

 

[Pseudonym]

Right, limping into here from the exhaustion of my 4.2 reaction. Apologies if I overly rehash stuff already discussed, I don't have enough time to read through 16 pages, I'm kind of slacking being on here at all (boss isn't around atm ;)).

 

So... overall I really liked this episode. It was fun, there was plenty of humour (which was something I was dreading there wouldn't be after the doom and gloom of the promos), and had enough heft to be really enjoyable. However, there are of course some issues/points I've noticed on a rewatch. 

 

First of all, Sherlock, who despises the inanity of normal people, being on Twitter seems a bit, er, out of character. Not sure if he was just meant to be on it when he was high right at the beginning or was he on it at the church too?

 

I feel John (despite my other feelings towards him right now  ) is a bit pushed aside and emasculated in this episode. He's expected to go home with the baby and let Mary and Sherlock do all the investigating, he seems a far cry from the capable and ruthless guy who shot Hope in ASIP. He seems to be ignored and overlooked a fair bit here, he's not really seen as a soldier or even a doctor, his role seems to be solely as husband, father and assistant. 

 

I'm not really surprised about the potential affair. I think John always thought he wanted a wife and a house in the suburbs but finds the reality of it mind-numbing, even with his wife being an ex assassin/agent/mercenary whatever. I'm also convinced he never really wanted to be a father. With his past as a bit of a ladies man I'm not hugely surprised at the affair texts, though I did have a moment of 'oh John no!' when he pulled out the number.  

 

Toby the dog. The likelihood of a dog tracking a speck of blood through a city as busy as London to a butchers in the middle of a busy market? I don't really get why they even bothered to put that scene in except as an excuse to include the bloodhound - surely there were better ways? Also, why does every series these days have to have a hacker in it? They are like the modern version of an exposition character - anything tricky to explain, give it to the hacker. 

 

The memory stick in the bust, which surely would have fallen back out the second the bust was picked up since it had no base on it at that point. 

 

I feel the whole water/sharks symbolism is going over my head a bit. Last season Magnussen was described as a shark, there was the pool in season 1... maybe it's meant to still over our heads for now until 4.3? Or there's something obvious I'm overlooking, it wouldn't all be because of the aquarium being the setting for Mary's death surely? That seems overkill (pardon the pun). 

 

My main problem with this episode was the whole 'I made a vow to keep you safe' plot point. First of all, it was a promise made at a wedding, a lot of bumf is spewed at weddings, I doubt anyone took it as a vow to the bitter end - except apparently Sherlock, and then John when he kept rehashing it. Secondly, a man of Sherlock's intelligence would know it is impossible to promise to keep anyone safe. Mary could have been sitting in the kitchen feeding the baby and have someone sneak into the garden and shoot her through the window. She could have been walking down the road and been run over. She could have been literally anywhere and have been taken down by a sniper. Even if Sherlock had access to Mycroft's surveillance systems it would have been impossible to enforce a promise to keep her safe. The fact he keeps saying it, as if by sheer force of will he can keep her safe is just ludicrous for a man of Sherlock's intellect. Even Mary clearly takes it with a pinch of salt, knowing it's not really possible. The fact John then uses the 'broken vow' an excuse to blame Sherlock is incredibly annoying. 

 

Mary's death didn't bother me. I thought it would be more upsetting but then I wanted and expected her to die. Then I saw John come in and thought ah, here is the bit that will hurt, but the twice I've seen it John's reaction made me laugh. That weird growly, screamy noise... I just thought WTF? The expression when he lifts his head is pretty impressive, but I wish the noise was different so it had more punch and wasn't so bizarre. 

 

Aside from the awful character on the plane, and the fact she's overly drawing attention to herself I did quite enjoy Mary's on the run montage. I wanted to see her kick some arse, and though Sherlock already waiting for her was funny I would have liked to have seen her really proving just how capable she could be. 

 

Vivian the secretary, I thought it was weird she was in the room for such a highly sensitive meeting in the first scene. It's SIS, I'm pretty sure they have more secure ways of recording meetings than inviting in a secretary who wouldn't have the security clearance. Would have liked her involvement to be a bit more subtle, that she got the information some other way. 

 

Finally, Sherlock at the pool, even if he thought he was waiting for a simple thief rather than a highly trained assassin surely he would have brought something to defend himself with rather than just relying on his fighting skills and nearly being drowned. 

 

So, yea. Even with all that said, I did like the episode, it was entertaining and fun.  XD  

 

 

 

 

[Arcadia]

Right, limping into here from the exhaustion of my 4.2 reaction. Apologies if I overly rehash stuff already discussed, I don't have enough time to read through 16 pages, I'm kind of slacking being on here at all (boss isn't around atm ;)).

If you don't get a chance to go back and read everything, your opinions mirror quite a lot of people's, I think. If that helps. Maybe it doesn't.

 

First of all, Sherlock, who despises the inanity of normal people, being on Twitter seems a bit, er, out of character. Not sure if he was just meant to be on it when he was high right at the beginning or was he on it at the church too?

He was on it in the church too, and I think the whole Twitter thing was my least favorite bit of business in the whole episode. Ugh.

 

Toby the dog. The likelihood of a dog tracking a speck of blood through a city as busy as London to a butchers in the middle of a busy market? I don't really get why they even bothered to put that scene in except as an excuse to include the bloodhound - surely there were better ways? Also, why does every series these days have to have a hacker in it? They are like the modern version of an exposition character - anything tricky to explain, give it to the hacker.

Yeah, I have trouble understanding the point of that scene too other than to introduce Toby. Although that little impromptu bit where the dog wouldn't do anything was pretty funny. But, yep, the dog sequence led nowhere, so why include it?

 

I feel the whole water/sharks symbolism is going over my head a bit. Last season Magnussen was described as a shark, there was the pool in season 1... maybe it's meant to still over our heads for now until 4.3? Or there's something obvious I'm overlooking, it wouldn't all be because of the aquarium being the setting for Mary's death surely? That seems overkill (pardon the pun).

That troubled me too ... going straight from shark/Magnussen to this. They must know we're bound to make a connection, yet there doesn't seem to be any. Just one of the many weird things about the way this episode looked. I'd give an awful lot to know if it's intentional, and if it is ... why? And if it's not ... I'm afraid it's not going to look too good on the director's resume.

[Pseudonym]

It was definitely flashier than previous seasons wasn't it, and not in a good way. A bit too much split screen overlaying going on, I'm glad that calmed down for the second episode. 

[Caya]

You seriously underestimate bloodhounds - here's the tale of one canine sleuth from ACD's times, just for instance. Most dogs are capable of some level of tracking but bloodhounds play in a league all of their own.

[J.P.]

If they are willing, of course!

 

Yes, flashy is good word. Blue and flashy. Plus information overload-y. I could watch TLD without subtitles. TST I had to watch twice with subtitles, pausing like every few minutes to read what's on the screen.

[J.P.]

Nice article. Mor articulate than me. (killing pun, I know)

 

Fantastic line:

 

But that’s always been the best thing about Sherlock: it’s a show that refuses to be watched passively. Like the Canon, it’s a fiction where the ostensible story is just the tip of a very large iceberg.

 

http://www.ihearofsherlock.com/2017/01/the-six-thatchers-requires-leap-of-faith.html#.WHPGCJLYniU

[J.P.]

Reposting from Canon References:

http://impatient14.tumblr.com/post/155312456003/the-adventure-of-the-reigate-squire

 

The Adventure of the Reigate Squire

studyinpink:

At the end of The Six Thatchers, Mycroft is in his kitchen and pulls down a takeaway menu, revealing the word 13th on a piece of paper. If you take a look at the menu, however

The restaurant is called Reigate Square. In canon, there’s a story named The Adventure of the Reigate Squire, so I naturally had to look into it to see if there were any similarities. 

In the story, Holmes has just got over an illness, but travels to the countryside to solve a murder. The victim has a ripped piece of paper in his hand some words written on it that Holmes deduced are written alternately by two different people - a form of skip code!

As part of the investigation, Holmes pretends to have a fit (the lying detective?) and tricks one of the suspects into writing the word ‘twelve’ onto a piece of paper so he can see whether it was him (looking similar to the 13th right now, isn’t it?). In the end, it turns out it was the victim’s employer that killed him. 

I think we need to look into how this could tie in to the rest of the series. The story is renowned for showing how much Holmes trusts Watson and also how attentive Watson is, Sherlock sends for Watson and he arrives within a day, so given the events of TST it’s interesting to imagine how this could play into the rest of the series! Could this be part of the case for The Final Problem?

Well, @studyinpink considering the fact that two people received pieces of paper this episode, Id say you’re on to something! John got one from E and Sherlock was drugged by one given to him by Mary and then John had Molly give Sherlock another piece of paper at the end of the episode. 

Perhaps this story is a nod to the fact that the writing on John’s paper or on John’s note to Sherlock is not entirely on the up and up. If we get to see what John wrote Sherlock, I’d be very interested to see how it compares to John’s text messages. I think there is a definite possibility those texts were coded.

 

Interesting, because we have another piece of paper in TLD.

[Pseudonym]

If they are willing, of course!

 

Yes, flashy is good word. Blue and flashy. Plus information overload-y. I could watch TLD without subtitles. TST I had to watch twice with subtitles, pausing like every few minutes to read what's on the screen.

 

When texts/emails etc come up on screen do they come up in English with a subtitle translation underneath or do they come up in another language?

 

The only thing I watch with subtitles is an anime, and sometimes you get subtitles for the background signs, the commentator in the background and the main character all on the same screen and it can be a nightmare trying read them all and figuring out what's what. I know it's not as extreme for you because you can speak English, I'm just wondering how much of a headache it is for the folks who can't.

[Fantasy Lover]

There are English Subtitles on BBC one, but Dutch on other channels.

[J.P.]

When they get to make the German version the texts are in German.

[Caya]

Yep, that's why I only got them once. They have English audio tracks all right, but even if you switch to English the deduction texts and such keep merrily floating around in German. Pretty distracting. Switched to the imports.

[J.P.]

they are cheaper anyway. :D

[Michelle84]

I dont think its bad as everyone has been saying, i've watched it three times and its a nice change. For starters, something i found quite different is that usually the show is mainly in John's perception, however this time majority was in Sherlock's. It was a nice switch up, and there needed to be an ending for the arc of Mary. By basing this episode on her, the producers can quickly move on and get to the next episode without having to drag Mary's fate -in consideration that her death is cannon and everyone knows it would happen one way or the other. Ridding of her in the first episode is a surprising twist itself, as something as big as a death is quite shocking for the first episode of the season. I think this episode needs more appreciation... through this episode, the next episode was an absolute masterpiece! Got to make sacrifices to please and shock viewers. 

[Arcadia]

If they are willing, of course!

 

Yes, flashy is good word. Blue and flashy. Plus information overload-y. I could watch TLD without subtitles. TST I had to watch twice with subtitles, pausing like every few minutes to read what's on the screen.

 

Yeah, I had a similar problem and English is my mother tongue! What's that about, I wonder.

 

[J.P.]

Michelle, personally I don't have the problem with the story itself, but more how it feels and looks like. To me it's a different style.

Arcadia, I don't know, maybe they want us to buy the DVDs?

 

As for now - I blame the director. Need to work out a chart with all the important people throughout the series, btw

[Arcadia]

Michelle, personally I don't have the problem with the story itself, but more how it feels and looks like. To me it's a different style.

Exactly. Same here.

 

Arcadia, I don't know, maybe they want us to buy the DVDs?

 

As for now - I blame the director.

Alas, so do I. Which makes me feel like a traitor to my gender ... ;)

 

Oh, and also, much of the script was simply clichéd. Banal. There, now I feel better.

[Pseudonym]

I definitely like it more than most people do. The flashiness was off putting, but I thought that was just what they were going with this season so just accepted it. Weird how it slipped though being so different, you think someone would have looked at it to make sure it fit the aesthetic of the rest of the series and pointed out it was a bit much, especially since the shark metaphor had already been used. 

 

On the preview for 4.3 there was one of those classic action film shots with Sherlock and John flying in front of an explosion, and God I hope that looks better in the episode because it looked incredibly cheesy in the clip.