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Episode 2.3, "The Reichenbach Fall"


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What Did You Think Of "The Reichenbach Fall?"  

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    • 10/10 Excellent
    • 9/10 Not Quite The Best, But Not Far Off.
    • 8/10 Certainly Worth Watching Again.
    • 7/10 Slightly Above The Norm.
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    • 6/10 Average.
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    • 5/10 Slightly Sub-Par.
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    • 4/10 Decidedly Below Average.
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    • 3/10 Pretty Poor.
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    • 2/10 Bad.
    • 1/10 Terrible.
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A Poll for the discussion of series 2 episode 3 "The Reichenbach Fall."

 

Please rate the episode using the poll, and discuss the episode below.

 

Sherlock and John lock horns with their old enemy in one final problem that tests loyalty and courage to their very limits. Sherlock must fight for his reputation, his sanity and his life. But is he all he claims to be?

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

This is actually well thought out and presented, quite a few things I've been thinking myself for a while.

Edited by Sherlock
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This episode was amazing....Funnily enough, I haven't found myself caring much about how Holmes faked his death: it's enough to know he did, and I'm waiting to see how Moffat/Gatiss adapt "The Empty House" to present their explanation. I think my reaction is a combination of knowing the Doyle stories and loving the surprise resolution to the first series cliffhanger (the latter being one of my favorite moments in the whole show).

 

What capitvates me about "The Reichenbach Fall" are the characterizations--the relentless, perfectly executed development that's been ongoing since the first minute of "A Study in Pink"....and the combination of humor and drama: the episode is hilarious, and frightening, and compelling, and tear jerking.......Just....Wow.

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This episode was amazing....Funnily enough, I haven't found myself caring much about how Holmes faked his death: it's enough to know he did, and I'm waiting to see how Moffat/Gatiss adapt "The Empty House" to present their explanation. I think my reaction is a combination of knowing the Doyle stories and loving the surprise resolution to the first series cliffhanger (the latter being one of my favorite moments in the whole show).

 

What capitvates me about "The Reichenbach Fall" are the characterizations--the relentless, perfectly executed development that's been ongoing since the first minute of "A Study in Pink"....and the combination of humor and drama: the episode is hilarious, and frightening, and compelling, and tear jerking.......Just....Wow.

 

This ^ :)

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

9/10 again for a series finally.

 

Again a slew of crimes being investigated which flt like an entire series rolled into one episode. Powerful play from Andrew and Benedict with John and Mycroft playing their supportive roles perfectly.

 

Lots of guesswork going on across the globe as to how it all came together which is a marvellous thing to achieve and brings so many people together.

 

Simply brilliant!

 

-m0r

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  • 1 month later...

Thompson really wrote a fantastic episode! I absolutely loved how Moriarty was characterized in it, the entire episode was fast paced and before you know it, from being like THIS ACTING IS PERFECT to OH MY GOD I HATE YOU ALL, LIFE WHY? -sobbing was quite a transition. The wait will be worth it no doubt, The Empty House. <3

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Can't express how much I loved Moriarty/ Andrew Scott in this episode. And all the emotion on the roof top. I'm more interested in finding out how John reacts, than how he survived, though I want to know that to.

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Yeah, I'm hoping for a punch :lol2: I was disapointed when all Watson did was faint in the original, and I hope thats not what happens.

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Yeah, I'm hoping for a punch :lol2: I was disapointed when all Watson did was faint in the original, and I hope thats not what happens.

 

I'm hoping for a punch and silent treatment broken only so that John can check whether he's figured out how Sherlock has done it, to which, as usual, Sherlock will reply with something along the lines of "how can you not have figured it out yet?", which will only anger John more! :D

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This is my favorite episode, I suffered all the chapter with Sherlock, it maintains the ambience every single minute and the ending is so shocking!!!!!! Really, it's PERFECT!!!!!

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  • 2 weeks later...

My first time seeing it was tonight, and I must say, I was impressed.

Of course, being a girl, I sobbed, but to say the least, it was fantastic.

I honestly can't wait to see what's in store next.

I am hoping that he does end up telling/seeing John again.

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We just watched "The Reichenbach Fall" on PBS, and I noticed four specific cuts (though my husband and I both thought that several other non-dialog scenes were longer on the DVD):

 

1. Sherlock is put into a cell -- but we do not see that Moriarty is apparently in the adjoining cell. An odd cut.

 

2. We see Kitty Riley at her apartment door -- but we had not seen her getting out of her car, etc.

 

3. Two brief scenes near the end -- Mycroft with the newspaper at his club, and John sitting forlornly by the fireplace -- are gone.

 

4. We hear John's therapist start in mid-sentence, omitting, "The things that you wanted to say...." and John's response. This seems like a very odd cut, and I'm wondering whether it may actually have been due to the poor reception tonight. [Edited later to say: I can now understand -- though not agree with -- their rationale for abbreviating this scene: The beginning of the therapist's dialog overlaps the end of cut #3, and apparently they had already decided to make that cut. So 3 and 4 are actually just one cut.]

 

Again, the actual show ran about eight minutes short, so there were clearly more cuts than those. Of the cuts listed above, I miss #3-4 the most by far. Neither the plot nor the overall series is harmed -- but scene #3 and the now-damaged therapy scene had served as an emotional bridge between the "fall" and the cemetery scene.

 

The local PBS station superimposed its call letters upon the upper left-hand corner of the screen throughout the entire episode. I have to assume that they had done the same thing on the preceding two episodes as well, but I noticed it this time because "Reichenbach" opens in the therapist's office with "WFYI" stamped on John's head.

 

And I now realize how PBS was able to pull that cute stunt with the "Hounds" closing credits -- they don't actually use the BBC's credits, they make their own with the same information, and run them over their "Masterpiece" theme music. This time, the red letters spelled "BELIEVE." If anyone still has PBS's "A Scandal in Belgravia" on their DVR, please let us know what the red-letter word was that time!

 

I will definitely post more about this wonderful episode after we've watched the DVD again.

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While watching this on DVD tonight, my husband and I noticed a few other things that were not there on PBS last night:

 

5. Some of Moriarty's entrance into the courtroom was cut, including the "Would you mind sticking your hand into my pocket?" bit with the chewing gum. GOOD CUT !!! (That bit always gives me the creeps. And not in a good way!)

 

6. The judge's instructions ("You must find him guilty!") to the jury were cut, along with Sherlock's surmising of them.

 

7. After Sherlock tells John that there's something he has to do alone, and leaves, the scene stopped, without showing John turning and walking away in the opposite direction.

 

Note: Having checked all three of the Season 2 PBS broadcasts for cuts now, I don't think I'll do this any more. There's no help for it, so why depress everyone with the gory details?

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In "Scandal," John proudly points out that his blog has brought Sherlock into the public eye and increased his clientele -- but now that the fame is becoming a liability, John blames Sherlock for it! (Confirmation that John is human. ;) )

 

Yes, linseed oil really does fluoresce under UV light. I broke open one of Hubby's flax-seed oil capsules (same thing, basically), turned out the lights, and shone our cat-pee-finder light on it.

 

Is the prominently-displayed "10" street address of the Diogenes Club a subtle hint that Mycroft is in some sense on a par with the Prime Minister?

 

Possible continuity goof: When Sherlock is lying on the sidewalk after his jump, there is a large pool of blood around his head. Then there's a shot from above, showing him being carried away on a stretcher. There is no pool of blood on the sidewalk. (I realize that this is no big deal, but I don't usually catch this sort of thing, so I'm inordinately proud of myself.)

 

Added 21 June 2012: I didn't "see" the pool of blood from above because it's rectangular rather than puddle-shaped. Sherlock's head had been lying on a paving stone that is apparently set just a bit lower than its neighbors, so that the blood filled that one stone and stopped at the edges. From high up, it just looks like a darker stone, but earlier, it had been the same color as the others. I discovered my mistake tonight because my husband is on a business trip, so I am in control of the remote!

Added 8 July 2012: Noticed last night that someone had posted the same "continuity error" elsewhere on the internet. I feel better!

This is the episode that really triggered my great respect for Martin Freeman's acting. That said, everyone's acting is superb here. I'm just glad that I'm not expected to vote on the BAFTAs this year!

 

I am very grateful for the frequent bits of humor in this otherwise-dark episode. John's objection to Sherlock's "we both know what's really going on here" face is a special favorite of mine, because my husband sometimes annoys me in exactly the same way. And I love how Andrew Scott somehow makes Moriarty simultaneously terrifying and hilarious.

 

There seems to be a rule in television and movies that a sufficiently knowledgeable character can do absolutely anything with any computer. "The Reichenbach Fall" appeared to be following that rule at first, with Moriarty's "few tiny lines of computer code" that could "open any door," and I spent the middle half of the episode yelling at the television. When Moriarty said, "There is no key -- DOOFUS!!!" I literally clapped and cheered! This may be the first time I've ever seen the limitations of computers acknowledged in TV/movies.

 

I can't really blame Sherlock for not realizing that the "key code" was a crock, by the way, but I do blame Mycroft. Maybe his people aren't computer experts themselves, but surely, in today's high-tech world, they often work closely with some very high-powered computer geeks, who would have been glad to clue them in -- if only they had asked. Sheesh!

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At the very end, as John walks away from Sherlock's grave, the camera pans to show us Sherlock himself, watching from a little distance. It was good of Moffat, Gatiss, Thompson, et al., to reassure us that of course he faked his death, so the only suspense will be in wondering how did he do it, and how will he make things right.

 

However, what can the ever-logical Sherlock be thinking, standing there in a public place, in plain sight, in broad daylight, in his trademark coat, looking exactly like himself? He might as well have worn the darn hat!

 

He obviously believes that he and his friends are still in danger, or he would be back at Baker Street. That being the case, why isn't he making a serious effort to blend in?

 

Perhaps this was merely a bit of dramatic license. But at the end of "Scandal," we were expected to recognize Sherlock by his cat-like eyes alone. So why shouldn't we be able to recognize him here with, say, a short haircut, a few days' growth of beard, and a groundskeeper's uniform? He'd still have those eyes!

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At the very end, as John walks away from Sherlock's grave, the camera pans to show us Sherlock himself, watching from a little distance. It was good of Moffat, Gatiss, Thompson, et al., to reassure us that of course he faked his death, so the only suspense will be in wondering how did he do it, and how will he make things right.

 

However, what can the ever-logical Sherlock be thinking, standing there in a public place, in plain sight, in broad daylight, in his trademark coat, looking exactly like himself? He might as well have worn the darn hat!

 

He obviously believes that he and his friends are still in danger, or he would be back at Baker Street. That being the case, why isn't he making a serious effort to blend in?

 

Perhaps this was merely a bit of dramatic license. But at the end of "Scandal," we were expected to recognize Sherlock by his cat-like eyes alone. So why shouldn't we be able to recognize him here with, say, a short haircut, a few days' growth of beard, and a groundskeeper's uniform? He'd still have those eyes!

 

I'm really hoping to see some of Sherlock Holmes the master of disguise in the next series. It's one facet of Holmes we've not yet seen explored thoroughly in this adaptation.

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I just showed "Reichenbach" to a friend who is a jeweler. She told me that hitting a diamond hard enough to shatter security glass would merely cause the diamond to break along its natural lines. (We both thought, however, that what they showed Moriarty smashing looked like ordinary safety glass -- though in all honesty, I must admit that I've never seen what security glass looks like when it's broken.)

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I found something strange in the plot of this episode. Is it not Holmes was getting arrested then stealing a police gun, escaping and taking a hostage, etc. but then in the rest of the episode there is no police looking for him? Did I miss something?

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You're right, Dexter, it really is strange. Sherlock & John assume that the police are chasing them, and presumably this is true -- but there's never any sign of them. I thought it was particularly strange that John could openly show up at Baker Street without being either taken back into custody or (more likely) followed to where Sherlock was hiding. Surely the police would have staked out Baker Street!

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Carol, also here thank you for your answer.

What you wrote is exactly what I mean. It is kind of annoying when they think of these really good plots with all the hidden clues we're looking for and then miss something illogical like that.

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I just assumed 'someone' was pulling strings...

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