Episode 2.3, "The Reichenbach Fall"

[sfmpco]

Also, although part of the rooftop phone call was fake, I don't believe his emotions were entirely fake.  I think he was hurting for what he knew hew as doing to John and his friends.  Because imagine having to lay on the pavement pretending to be dead while your best friend is freaking out with shock and grief over your death, and you have to hear it.  That's gotta hurt like hell.

[Arcadia]

Well, as I said, I want to believe Sherlock's emotions are genuine. But, Perceiver that I am, I can't help but, uh, perceive how he could have just been playing his role. The "solution" in TEH implies just that.

 

Why would he fake his emotions around Molly? To get what he wants, of course. Not because he needs to, but because they have established that manipulation is his default mode when he wants something. And having established that, why should we believe he's changed? I want to believe he has, but should I?

 

Do I think he IS faking his emotions? No, not really. Do I see how he could be faking? Yes, because "the work is the only thing that matters". Because he has no problem pretending he and John are about to be blown to pieces. Because he thinks it's okay to lie and lie and lie to Janine. How many more betrayals of trust are we expected to forgive? That's what I meant by the problem of the habitual liar. That's what I'm hoping Moftiss realizes.

 

Sorry, this sounds more bitter than I intended. I love Sherlock, honest! It's just, in real life, I really have a problem with lying. Sometimes it leaches over into my entertainment, I guess.

[sfmpco]

When Moriarty and Sherlock are having tea and Moriarty says, "All fairy tales need a good old-fashioned villian" - we think initially he's talking about himself being the villain but in reality, he's giving a foreshadowing that Sherlock will be the villain.  Does Sherlock understand that at first with the I.O.U. carved into the apple?  Hard to say if he connected the two things.

[sfmpco]

Well, as I said, I want to believe Sherlock's emotions are genuine. But, Perceiver that I am, I can't help but, uh, perceive how he could have just been playing his role. The "solution" in TEH implies just that.

 

Why would he fake his emotions around Molly? To get what he wants, of course. Not because he needs to, but because they have established that manipulation is his default mode when he wants something. And having established that, why should we believe he's changed? I want to believe he has, but should I?

 

Do I think he IS faking his emotions? No, not really. Do I see how he could be faking? Yes, because "the work is the only thing that matters". Because he has no problem pretending he and John are about to be blown to pieces. Because he thinks it's okay to lie and lie and lie to Janine. How many more betrayals of trust are we expected to forgive? That's what I meant by the problem of the habitual liar. That's what I'm hoping Moftiss realizes.

 

Sorry, this sounds more bitter than I intended. I love Sherlock, honest! It's just, in real life, I really have a problem with lying. Sometimes it leaches over into my entertainment, I guess.

 

The difference with Molly is that she saw his pain earlier in the labs.  She read him.  Yes, he has manipulated her in the past, but as her blog indicates right up to TGG, she is not oblivious to his manipulations either.  And she started to take him to task by standing up to him in TGG and then in ASIB which got him to immediately back down and apologize SINCERELY. And in TRF, she reads him and that is off-putting to him, and she gets him to say "thank you" - another way of taking him to task when he can be insensitive and uncomprehending.  She reads his sadness when he isn't trying to lie about anything.  He's just doing his work.  And I think he does realize that he's been a really insensitive dolt and has a genuine moment of being raw and exposed to her when he says "you do count."  After all, he doesn't know what she's read in the papers or heard on the news.  Does she doubt him after their years of friendship?  Is she still there for him?  She reveals she is completely unwaivering in her faith in him, and it's not her crush that's talking either.  It's her friendship.  She knows him warts and all, and if he never loved her back, she would still do anything for him, but she will tell him also when he's out of line.

[Arcadia]

That's what I want to believe. But I will bet ... well, I don't know what, but a lot ... that's not what Moftiss intends. As Toby so correctly pointed out they are men.

[sfmpco]

That's what I want to believe. But I will bet ... well, I don't know what, but a lot ... that's not what Moftiss intends. As Toby so correctly pointed out they are men.

 

 

I'm not talking Sherlolly with that comment, but I am saying that her love for him enables her to read him.  Even John can't read him like that.  Even Mrs. Hudson can't read him.

[SherlockedCAMPer]

Molly has known Sherlock longer than John and in a variety of situations some of which John has not experienced with him plus woman's intuition make it more likely that she is able to read Sherlock better than some others.

[Arcadia]

I'm not talking Sherlolly with that comment, but I am saying that her love for him enables her to read him. Even John can't read him like that. Even Mrs. Hudson can't read him.

Yes, I understood. What I meant was, I don't think Moftiss intends to imply that Molly changes Sherlock. I think their intent is that the change in Sherlock is all due to his own wonderful self. Because men tend to think that way. :P Pride, or something.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Mmm, I don't think he thought he was really going to die when he went to Molly, I think that was just his way of saying he thought he was going to have to fake his death....

Interesting interpretation, but I can't quite see it that way. That would mean he was entirely "playing" Molly again, and I think she honestly got to him with her "I don't count" -- so he is truly leveling with her for a change. However (as I think someone else already said), he could certainly have been aware that he was making something of a play on words. 

 

Sherlock certainly didn't understand that there was no keycode, and Mycroft didn't understand that either.

That's what I assumed at first, but the more I thought about it, the more I decided that they were just pretending to believe it.

 

Point 1: While we have no reason to believe that either Sherlock or Mycroft is a huge computer geek, (Point 1A) surely they would not simply take Moriarty's word about the keycode, and (Point 1B) surely Mycroft has people who jolly well DO know enough about that sort of thing to realize that such a keycode is a virtual impossibility.

 

Point 2: My favorite theory is that Sherlock was stringing Moriarty along in order to get him to brag about how he'd faked the keycode -- while Sherlock recorded the confession on his cellphone.

 

[T.o.b.y]

That's what I assumed at first, but the more I thought about it, the more I decided that they were just pretending to believe it.

Point 1: While we have no reason to believe that either Sherlock or Mycroft is a huge computer geek, (Point 1A) surely they would not simply take Moriarty's word about the keycode, and (Point 1B) surely Mycroft has people who jolly well DO know enough about that sort of thing to realize that such a keycode is a virtual impossibility.

 

Point 2: My favorite theory is that Sherlock was stringing Moriarty along in order to get him to brag about how he'd faked the keycode -- while Sherlock recorded the confession on his cellphone.

 

*Sigh*... that was one of my major disappointments with The Explanation as well, that there was no mention of Sherlock recording Moriarty on the rooftop in any way, be it via his phone or that wireless camera they found in the flat, or whatever. I mean, he had a full confession right there! Including Moriarty owning up to being Moriarty, and admitting Richard Brook was a fake.

 

As for the key code, if they didn't believe in it, that would be logical and realistic, but it would also make the plot so much more complicated and "it's not a bluff or a double bluff, but a triple bluff" and break my poor little brain.

 

 

Sadly, The Reichenbach Fall leaves too many questions unanswered. It looked very promising until series 3 aired, but now I think of it as something unfinished, and that spoils it for me. Pity, really. 

 

I really should not get my hopes up, but when Moriarty's face appeared at the end of His Last Vow, I thought maybe, just maybe series 4 will give us more follow-up on The Reichenbach Fall and the loose ends were deliberate.

 

Dream on, I know...

 

 

[sfmpco]

See... these are the kinds of theories that need to be compiled somewhere by someone regarding all these unfinished bits that can be thoughtfully and carefully asked of Moftiss someday...  because they've got a lot of 'splaining to do!

[SherlockedCAMPer]

Since Mark Gatiss stated somewhere that the special would answer the Moriarty thing, we can only hope that TRF has at least some of its loose ends tied up in that episode.

[sfmpco]

Yes, be we all still need a proper sit down with those two.  

[SherlockedCAMPer]

Yes we do.

[Boton]

Mmm, I don't think he thought he was really going to die when he went to Molly, I think that was just his way of saying he thought he was going to have to fake his death. And, no, you're NOT the only one, I want to read that article too!

 

That has always been my take, but it is a compelling idea that one of the scenarios might have actually involved Sherlock dying for real.  It would give the whole ruse a nice balance where Sherlock was taking as much or more risk than he was putting his friends through, and he didn't know how it would turn out until he got up there. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

My favorite theory is that Sherlock was stringing Moriarty along in order to get him to brag about how he'd faked the keycode -- while Sherlock recorded the confession on his cellphone.

 

*Sigh*... that was one of my major disappointments with The Explanation as well, that there was no mention of Sherlock recording Moriarty on the rooftop in any way, be it via his phone or that wireless camera they found in the flat, or whatever. I mean, he had a full confession right there! Including Moriarty owning up to being Moriarty, and admitting Richard Brook was a fake.

 

As for the key code, if they didn't believe in it, that would be logical and realistic, but it would also make the plot so much more complicated and "it's not a bluff or a double bluff, but a triple bluff" and break my poor little brain....

For a show that has relatively few actual inconsistencies, Sherlock sure does demand heavy use of head canon!  So here's my off-the-cuff take on the above:

 

Mycroft couldn't very well make overt use of Sherlock's recording without revealing that Moriarty is dead.  But the news footage that we see superimposed on Lestrade's conversation with Anderson (at the beginning of "Empty Hearse") says nothing about his death and the only mention I recall anywhere is that Anderson seems to be aware of it (since his theory incorporates Moriarty's body).  So perhaps Mycroft did reveal certain facts, but only to the police, and with the proviso that they use them only as "deep background" information -- i.e., as internal justification for further investigation, with only the results of the latter being revealed to the public.

 

As for whether the Holmes brothers believed in the key code -- well, Sherlock admits to Anderson that they were stringing Moriarty along in general (from Ariane DeVere's transcript):

 

SHERLOCK: Mycroft fed Moriarty information about me.  Moriarty in turn gave us hints – just hints – as to the extent of his web. We let him go because it was important to let him believe he had the upper hand.  And then I sat back and watched Moriarty destroy my reputation bit by bit.  I had to make him believe he’d beaten me, utterly defeated me, and then he’d show his hand.

 

Sherlock gives us very little specific information there, but certain interpretations seem highly plausible.  For example, 1) while the "information" that Mycroft fed Moriarty was mostly true, the really juicy bits were fake (using Jim's "big lies wrapped up in the truth" ploy right back at him), and 2) they knew or strongly suspected that the keycode was a fake.  But I suppose Moftiss felt that explaining absolutely everything to us would have been difficult to do without confusing people (is that what you mean by making the plot complicated?) and/or boring the audience (especially newcomers and/or action-oriented individuals) -- so they elected to just have some fun, drop a few hints, and get on with the continuing story arc.

 

I'd love it if they created a website with background information, complete explanations, etc. -- but I suppose that would severely limit their future options.  As you say, this may all play a part in upcoming series.  Or not.

 

Moftiss seem to have an unfortunate (for themselves as well as for their audience) habit of making promises before they've really thought things through -- such as bragging that All Would Be Revealed before they'd really even outlined the Series 3 scripts.  And they came up with the famous Three Words with even less rationale:

 

Mark: “We had revealed the three key words the previous summer – Rat, Wedding, Bow ...”

Steven: “... without having written a word of the show!”

Mark: “I wanted to do ‘the giant rat of Sumatra’ which is the most famous of the unrecorded adventures. What it was eventually gonna be was a great point of issue. All I really knew I wanted to do was something on the Tube, ’cause I’ve always loved it, but it went through an awful lot of permutations, didn’t it?”

Steven: “And constant ways of ‘How do we make it a rat?’”

Mark: “‘We promised. We promised a rat.’”

 

... so he followed Conan Doyle's lead and incorporated only the words.  (Quote from Ariane DeVere's transcript of the "Empty Hearse" audio commentary.)

[sittything]

I'm watching Reichenbach Fall right now, and even though Sherlock admits later that it was all planned for Mycroft to feed the info to Moriarty, it still hurts me to watch the pain on Sherlock's face as his reputation is broken down bit by bit.  So he's (Sherlock) either a fantastic actor, or as I suspect, even though it had to be done, it truly bothered him.

 

Also, on the rooftop when Moriarty mentions that his friends will die, Sherlock rattles off John, Mrs. Hudson, and Lestrade.  The very 3 people Moriarty had shooters fixed on.  Soooo... did Sherlock realize that Moriarty wouldn't even consider Molly?  In my head I was thinking Moriarty had named the 3, but it was Sherlock.

[sittything]

Also, Sherlock is crying on the rooftop right now talking to John... still have no idea what to do with that.  He certainly only needed to sound like he was crying to make it believable to John.  John certainly couldn't see his tears from where he stood.

[Carol the Dabbler]

... on the rooftop when Moriarty mentions that his friends will die, Sherlock rattles off John, Mrs. Hudson, and Lestrade.  The very 3 people Moriarty had shooters fixed on.  Soooo... did Sherlock realize that Moriarty wouldn't even consider Molly?  In my head I was thinking Moriarty had named the 3, but it was Sherlock.

 

I've always wondered why oh why did Sherlock volunteer that information?  What if Moriarty hadn't yet realized that Sherlock considered Greg and/or Mrs. Hudson to be a friend -- did Sherlock put them in harm's way?

 

All I can figure is he wanted to help assure that Moriarty would not think of Molly as his friend -- and/or he somehow knew that Moriarty was already aware of those three, and wanted to focus Moriarty's attention on just them.

[SherlockedCAMPer]

With the way things were shown with the guns, I don't think Sherlock was providing information that Moriarty didn't already know.  To have it draw attention away from Molly is a very strong possibility.  Moriarty did see how Sherlock half ignored her in the labs the first time they met.

[Arcadia]

 

Mmm, I don't think he thought he was really going to die when he went to Molly, I think that was just his way of saying he thought he was going to have to fake his death....

Interesting interpretation, but I can't quite see it that way. That would mean he was entirely "playing" Molly again, and I think she honestly got to him with her "I don't count" -- so he is truly leveling with her for a change. However (as I think someone else already said), he could certainly have been aware that he was making something of a play on words.

 

Erm, I'm not sure I've made myself clear yet. Here's how I imagine the conversation going (paraphrasing the first couple of lines, too lazy to look up the actual dialogue...)

 

Molly, I think I'm going to die.

What do you need?

A body.

WTF? Why?

Because no one will think I'm dead unless they see a body, and I prefer that it not be mine .... and then he lays it out. No playing of Molly involved (although I can easily come up with an interpretation where he IS playing Molly, if you like!

 

At any rate, I don't think he was saying he thought he was going to actually die ... as at that very moment, he was already making plans not to!

[Arcadia]

 

Mmm, I don't think he thought he was really going to die when he went to Molly, I think that was just his way of saying he thought he was going to have to fake his death. And, no, you're NOT the only one, I want to read that article too!

 

That has always been my take, but it is a compelling idea that one of the scenarios might have actually involved Sherlock dying for real.  It would give the whole ruse a nice balance where Sherlock was taking as much or more risk than he was putting his friends through, and he didn't know how it would turn out until he got up there.

 

 

Oh, I believe at least one of the 13 scenarios involved Sherlock actually dying. Probably more than one. After all, that's how he gets his kicks, according to John. I just don't think he expected to die.

[Arcadia]

For a show that has relatively few actual inconsistencies, Sherlock sure does demand heavy use of head canon!  So here's my off-the-cuff take on the above:

 

Mycroft couldn't very well make overt use of Sherlock's recording without revealing that Moriarty is dead.  But the news footage that we see superimposed on Lestrade's conversation with Anderson (at the beginning of "Empty Hearse") says nothing about his death and the only mention I recall anywhere is that Anderson seems to be aware of it (since his theory incorporates Moriarty's body).  So perhaps Mycroft did reveal certain facts, but only to the police, and with the proviso that they use them only as "deep background" information -- i.e., as internal justification for further investigation, with only the results of the latter being revealed to the public.

It occurs to me that the final moments of HLV -- when Moriarty appears -- kind of implies that the public did, in fact, believe Jim was dead ... or there wouldn't have been as much shock at his reappearance. Although as usual there are myriad other explanations....

 

.... on the rooftop when Moriarty mentions that his friends will die, Sherlock rattles off John, Mrs. Hudson, and Lestrade.  The very 3 people Moriarty had shooters fixed on.  Soooo... did Sherlock realize that Moriarty wouldn't even consider Molly?  In my head I was thinking Moriarty had named the 3, but it was Sherlock.

I've always wondered why oh why did Sherlock volunteer that information?  What if Moriarty hadn't yet realized that Sherlock considered Greg and/or Mrs. Hudson to be a friend -- did Sherlock put them in harm's way?

 

All I can figure is he wanted to help assure that Moriarty would not think of Molly as his friend -- and/or he somehow knew that Moriarty was already aware of those three, and wanted to focus Moriarty's attention on just them.

I just assumed Sherlock and Mycroft already knew where the snipers were and who they were assigned to ... and Sherlock was just confirming that they hadn't missed one. When Jim says "your only three friends", then Sherlock knows he hasn't missed anyone.

[Boton]

 

 

Mmm, I don't think he thought he was really going to die when he went to Molly, I think that was just his way of saying he thought he was going to have to fake his death. And, no, you're NOT the only one, I want to read that article too!

 

That has always been my take, but it is a compelling idea that one of the scenarios might have actually involved Sherlock dying for real.  It would give the whole ruse a nice balance where Sherlock was taking as much or more risk than he was putting his friends through, and he didn't know how it would turn out until he got up there.

 

 

Oh, I believe at least one of the 13 scenarios involved Sherlock actually dying. Probably more than one. After all, that's how he gets his kicks, according to John. I just don't think he expected to die.

 

 

I rewatched last night, and I think he was starting to worry that he might actually have to commit suicide.  That line to Molly about thinking he might die (wish I could remember the exact phrasing this morning) was said in such a way that sounded scared of actually dying to me.  It would be a nice bit of explanation if he was finally showing a little bit of fear for himself instead of always assuming he's invincible.

[Arcadia]

Well, yeah. I think that when I see TRF. But like Toby says, TEH sort of spoils TRF for me, because the implication is, Sherlock was pretty much in control of the situation the entire time, except for Jim shooting himself. So I guess the trick is to just fast forward through the explanation in TEH, because TRF actually makes more sense without it! :D