Episode 2.3, "The Reichenbach Fall"

[Brainy]

Someone on another thread pointed out that at the end, John says, "I was so alone, and I owe you so much" -- which kind of extends the theme, but in the opposite direction.

 

 

Oh yeah, I noticed that too. I think he has a fair point. Even though Sherlock isn't an easy character to live with, he's provided him with a home, a friend and a 'job', more or less. And the most important thing is - they trust each other very much. So one will always owe the other one something, because they risk their necks for their friendship. (Although having a friendship doesn't require 'owing' anything to anybody - but I hope you understand what I mean )

 

 

And concerning Molly.. I think she'll play a huge role in the next episode. But I guess that discussion better fits in the rumours and speculation board.

[aely]

How did Moriarty get the kidnapped girl to scream when she sees Sherlock?

 

There are a few theories to this

 

1) lookalike Sherlock

 

2) the kid was primed to be frightened of him - maybe shown a photo of Sherlock and told that *he* was responsible so when she saw him in person, she freaked

 

3) she wasn't screaming at Sherlock, but maybe someone she could see over his shoulder... the guy you can just see on the right next to Sally. Or maybe she was screaming at John because she thought *he* was that man. He was at the warehouse too, and more importantly, was there when Sherlock deduced the kids location as Addlestone. Even more telling, he was at the school with Lestrade, Donovan and Anderson.

 

Oh and don't you think Lestrade's assassin in Scotland Yard looks familiar in comparison? See?

Edited August 2, 2012 by aely

[Carol the Dabbler]

I personally subscribe to theory #2.

 

In general, I don't care for lookalike theories, because even if you find someone who looks like a good match to you, who knows what specific features the victim will focus on when she sees the "lookalike"? She may not see such a resemblance.

 

But #3 had not occurred to me. You're right, Sherlock wasn't the only person that Claudette could see when she screamed.

 

I'm not following you with regard to John, though. I see that it could be a variation on theory #2. But I'm missing the significance of John's prior whereabouts -- Claudette was not at Scotland Yard during Sherlock's deduction, she was long-gone from the school by the time John arrived, and he came to the warehouse as part of the police rescue team. What am I missing?

[Our Division]

I think it was Lestrade's assassin that made the girl scream. It would make total sense for Moriarty to have a spy in the police department, someone who wouldn't just help him if he wanted to off everyone's favorite Detective Inspector, but who'd also get his hands dirty by kidnapping kids if Moriarty didn't want to bother or maybe was feeling a bit ill that day.

[Jools]

I love your theories about the police guy, seems quite reasonable to me.

[CSIBakerStreet]

"I'm really hoping to see some of Sherlock Holmes the master of disguise in the next series." -Well, I'll certainly try my best. Actually, I don't know where I am in the sequence of events. (yelling) JOHN? Where are we right now? What did we do last time?

[Jascha]

I saw the episode yesterday and I don't agree with one part of the story:

Why did Moriarty killed himself? If Moriarty should call the Sniper-Men to stop them shooting at Holmes' friends, they would die after Moriarty's death and Holmes don't have to jump. If Moriarty should call them to shoot at Holme's friends, they wouldn't and Holmes don't have to jump.

Please help me

[aely]

Why did Moriarty killed himself?

Because he was more than a touch insane, not to mention obsessed.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Hello Jascha -- welcome to Sherlock Forum!

 

I certainly can't argue with aely -- Moriarty himself agreed that he was insane!

 

As to specifically why he killed himself, a lot of people have a lot of ideas, so there's a whole lot of discussion about that (and other things) in a thread called "Speculation: Moriarty..." over on our "Spoilers, Rumours & Speculation" forum.

[Sportmac]

Love the series. My problem with this episode. British intelligence had Moriarty in interrogation about the code. Sherlock bought into the code. In the end there was no code, just underlings doing daylight robbery.

 

I just can't buy into that the Brits don't have their own NSA, people who would be able to tell in minutes that there was no code, that these breakins were done by someone sitting at a specific computer, and they would be able to pinpoint that computer in no time at all. As Moriarty said, did Sherlock really think he could bring around world collapse with a few lines of computer code?

 

The entire premise falls apart after that reveal. That this Sherlock would fall for it is no Sherlock I've ever known. That we're to buy that and also buy that the source of those keystrokes could not be identified by experts, that they wouldn't be able to determine there was no code delivered or in the system, is asking too much.

Edited October 9, 2012 by Carol the Dabbler
Repaired broken formatting codes

[Carol the Dabbler]

Hello, Sportmac -- welcome to Sherlock Forum!

 

Love the series.... I just can't buy into that the Brits don't have their own NSA, people who would be able to tell in minutes that there was no code, that these breakins were done by someone sitting at a specific computer.... As Moriarty said, did Sherlock really think he could bring around world collapse with a few lines of computer code? The entire premise falls apart after that reveal....

I fully agree. However, I do see one or possibly two mitigating factors:

 

1) This is the first time I can *ever* recall seeing a tv show or movie admit that computers are not omnipotent. Hooray for Sherlock! Hooray for Jim Moriarty!

 

2) I've read some pretty compelling conjectures that Episode 7 could explain some of the seeming idiocies. We'll see.

[SherLOCKED221]

I belive my favorite episode will always be "A Scandel in Belgravia", however this episode was gripping.

In fact all the Sherlock episodes are wonderful, and yet my favorite is still Irene Adlers first apearnce. I only hope she returns.

[besleybean]

The cliffhangers are definitely my favourite episodes and as this is the latest, it's the best.

The acting in this episode is outstanding.

I was certainly glad Andrew won his BAFTA.

He was brilliant and I will miss him.

I was particularly glad they showed Sherlock alive, for those unfamiliar with The Canon.

I was also genuinely staggered at the relationship development with Molly...hope to see more of this in the next episode.

But this is the most heartbreaking conclusion I have ever seen...

[Carol the Dabbler]

 

Sherlockology has commemorated the first anniversary of "The Reichenbach Fall" (it aired in the UK one year ago today) by posting what I take to be an original advertisement for the episode.

 

Even though it's been a whole year for (some of) us, at least we know that Sherlock isn't really dead. But poor John....

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Really nice poster! Thank you Carol and Sherlockology and BBC. I am certainly biting my nails until "The Empty House" is filmed and in the can and ready to be released. It's sure be emotional as "The Fall" was. John's cry "NO IT's NOT ALRIGHT!" echos in my head from time to time.

[Carol the Dabbler]

... I am certainly biting my nails until "The Empty House" is filmed and in the can and ready to be released....

And released! Don't forget released!

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Oh, absolutely!

[aely]

I discovered and older and slightly silly post on Reichenbach theory today on LJ. Essentially, it revolves around the differences in the type of crunchy, cheese flavoured corn snacks used in S1 and S2. I'm not putting this in a quote box because it might lose something. The original post is here.

 

 

SO. Moffat said that Sherlock did something out-of-character. After literally minutes of contemplation I have come across the only possible answer.

 

Sherlock gets crisps for Molly and John. What crisps does he get?

 

Quavers

 

BUT. In The Blind Banker, we clearly see that John is eating Wotsits! How could the world's most observant man miss that Wotsits are John's preferred cheese-flavoured corn-based snack?!

 

THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE REASON FOR THIS HEINOUS ERROR.

 

Sherlock has bought all of the Wotsits in London and then filled a truck with them. When he jumps off of the roof, he lands in this truck and subsequently becomes a rather luminous orange, due to the sticky nature of the specific cheese flavouring found in Wotsits.

 

THIS CAUSES A "SOMEBODY ELSE'S PROBLEM FIELD" because everyone will look and say "Hm, that looks a bit like Sherlock Holmes but Sherlock Holmes is not orange so I must OBVIOUSLY be mistaken. Carry on in your ways, orangy cheese-scented man."

 

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE BODY, I HEAR YOU CRY?

 

IT IS MORIARTY'S BODY. Sherlock has put a mask on him and all of his clothes. What's that? Moriarty isn't the same height or build as Sherlock, so all those neatly tailored clothes would look wrong? WELL, YOU KNOW WHAT HE DID TO SOLVE THAT PROBLEM.

 

THAT'S RIGHT. HE STUFFED THE SPACES WITH MORE WOTSITS

 

John was so overcome with grief (and also concussion) that he didn't recognise the crunchy texture when he took Moriarty's arm.

 

BAM. MOFFAT, I'D LIKE MY HAT NOW.

 

wiki for wotsits

wiki for quavers

[Carol the Dabbler]

ROTFLMAO!!!

[IOweYou]

This is probably just me being stupid, but it's been bugging me for a while. What did Moriarty mean when he texted Sherlock: 'Got something of yours that you might want back' ? Thanks

[besleybean]

Sherlock texted Moriarty that message! It was the key code.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I can see how you'd be confused if you thought Sherlock was reading that message, rather than sending it -- and they display the text the same way, in either case. Even considering that it was Sherlock's message, it could seem odd that he'd offer to "return" the key code, even though it was not a physical object. So, no, you're not being stupid!

 

Anyhow, hello IOweYou -- welcome to Sherlock Forum! Hope you like it here!

 

By the way, the reason your post didn't show up on the thread right away is that the first ten posts by each new member need to be approved by a staff member, which may take anywhere from a couple of minutes to several hours, depending on whether any of us are online at the time. I know it's frustrating to have to wait, but please bear with us. Just keep on posting, and you'll be past the 10-post milestone in no time!

[IOweYou]

OK thanks - that makes sense!

[Carol the Dabbler]

Not sure where this actually -- uhh -- belongs.

 

As an Easter present, Sherlockology has posted an eggstraordinary SHELLOCK episode called "The Reichensplat Fall":

 

 

Follow this link to see the full episode, eggsactly as it happened!

[ibelieveinSherlock221]

This episode had me crying in the first 5 minutes. I knew it was going to be hard to watch John's reaction to Sherlock's death but Martin and Benedict played everything so well I believe I cried for at least 10 minutes after the credits rolled.

I am super excited to see what Moffat's take John's reaction to Sherlock's return though I am tired of waiting.

Also, this could just be because I LOVE Andrew Scott, I don't believe that Moriarty is actually dead. I know that if he comes back it won't be Canon and that Moftiss and Scott 'confirmed' he won't be back there is a little part of me that refuses to lose hope that he'll come back at least in some tiny way. Of course I don't want him to turn into a villain who gets worn out. But, again, that probably is just me being silly.