Us too. His joking request about divorce early in the episode made us cringe.
I found the whole thing disappointing and spent much of the episode annoying the spouse by revealing the “clever twists” ahead of Sherlock doing so. This isn’t because I’m particularly brilliant; it just involves being genre-savvy and spotting the virtual Chekhov’s Arsenal of clumsy clues and blatant red herrings liberally strewn throughout.
And they weren’t even particularly subtle: “The thief took this obviously hollow object from a darkened room and broke it open somewhere where the light was better. I am totally baffled by why he did this.” ARE YOU FUCKING BRAIN DAMAGED?
Even the final twist was heavily telegraphed: "This thing we are discussing is the Mostest Top Secretest Thing Ever, we all have to use codenames and nothing can be recorded……but we’re letting the steno sit in anyway because we’re paying her by the hour and otherwise she’ll just sit at her desk and stream Ugly Betty episodes on her computer if we don’t keep an eye on her. Sherlock, why don’t you have a conversation with this minor character so that we can put a giant flashing arrow over her head for the viewers who are a bit slow?"
I didn’t care for Sherlock’s silly flippancy at the high-security meeting. But I see it was done as camouflage to bury his
quick little aside to Vivian Norbury, which, as Gyrate says, fingered her as important to the big reveal at the end.
I also didn’t like his hyper-maniacal deductions of various cases. If we can’t follow along, then it’s no fun.
But I did like his thoughtful deliberate discussions with Mycroft, Mary’s story of her past, and John’s falling into indiscretion.
This last point is in keeping with John’s habits of dating multiple women in his past, and in part explains his anger at Mary’s death. Part of his anger is for himself.
I also liked Mycroft contemplating his refrigerator with a sigh. Mark Gatiss is awesome.
So, Sherrinford has been mentioned, eh? Any predictions how this is going to shake out?
Also, hands up who is expecting The Lady on the Bus to turn out to be a plant by Moriarty (or whomever the Big Bad this season is)? I’ll be shocked if, in the end, she just turns out to be a nice lady. That would be a helluva twist.
Hell, I expecting the nice lady on the bus to be Moriarty.
The plant was behind his ear …
/ouf
I expect Mary knew about the lady on the bus, knows she’s up to no good and that’s why she’s asking Sherlock to “save John Watson”.
Didn’t like it, though tbh i was never a huge fan.
All the secret agent stuff was dull and overdone. Shit like a minutes-long montage of Mary trying to go into hiding was really lame when we all know wherever her final destination is, Sherlock will be there.
I also didn’t like that his plan with the guy breaking in was just hopefully win the fisticuffs and not get killed. I know the original material was a bit like this, but who said the original was perfect? It just sits awkwardly that he’s a genius, yet when it comes to making plans, it’s “Og punch man”
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(don’t know how to edit via Tapatalk): what I mean by the break in was he knew the guy would be there, but decided to just confront him, alone and unarmed, with no contingency at all.
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Yeah, sort of a humdrum. I think I’m a bit burned out with Cumberbatch everywhere too.
I’d rather his brother took over an episode.
I agree that the episode had flaws, but taken as a whole, it really helped to tidy up their world. It resets the focus back to where it belongs.
That said, the woman on the bus just irritates me a great deal. It didn’t help wrap anything up and, as far as I can tell, doesn’t help to set anything up. John Watson isn’t known to be a womanizer as far as I can remember. Maybe in the novels? So, we’re inventing a new personality fault in a well established character. It felt completely false to me. I’d rather he started limping again or become something of a drinker. (I believe he was quite a drinker in the books.)
I loved seeing Sherlock act so dreadfully to the parents of the dead young man. Scenes like that one are why I have enjoyed this series so much. They are brilliantly written. Every word is important. You can almost hear the wheels turning in Sherlock’s head.
Er… the original stories (they were mostly shorts, only four novels total from Doyle) were published during the Victorian Era, with Victorian morals. Even after Watson married his wife was barely acknowledged.
By our standards pretty much everyone in the books was a heavy drinker. There’s also a couple instances of IV cocaine use. It was a different era.
Unless I missed something, that was also his plan – and Mary’s – for the big finale: show up unarmed, in hopes that the criminal is big into playing Simon Says.
Spoiler alert: Nope!
Perfect. I didn’t think I remembered that character flaw in Watson.
Well, by Sherlock, absolutely. If the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
Though isn’t that a pretty straight nod to “The Six Napoleons”?
Re your spoiler, I have friends in the fandom who were also convinced that this would be the case.
The spoiler box speculation has been debunked
Bravo Gyrate. It wasn’t until about an hour after the show that I tied The Lady on the Bus and Mary’s death, that being that she’ll replace Mary in some capacity in future episodes.
So that explains the joke made about Thatcher by the guy talking about 80s memorabilia.
Absolutely. I remember the episode from the old Sherlock Holmes series, but I don’t remember what was hidden in the bust. Was it, by any chance, the Borgia Pearl? That would have been cute.
Anyway, I agree with the too-much-padding comments and that the series could be tightened up. I also agree that Sherlock is getting far too human. Maybe it works for Sheldon, but not, I think, for Sherlock. I hope they dial it back going forward.
I just read that last sentence. Unintentionally funny.
It was the Borgia Pearl in the short story. And yes, in the original works, the solution is usually heavily telegraphed and not near as shocking or hard to get as Sherlock Holmes makes it out to be. The Six Napoleons was especially easy to guess ahead of the narrative.
I was disappointed in this episode as well. I’m desperately hoping the whole redhead flirtation/affair isn’t what they made it out to be in the episode. It is so opposite of the character it’s completely unbelievable. Besides, what kind of idiot knowingly stays married to a world class super agent and then thinks he can keep an affair a secret? I mean really.