I don't think they should be commended for it, if that's what they actually had in mind.

"An acknowledgement to Sherlockians" is fine, but not when it accounts for so much of an episode and is a substitute for being more satisfying in other ways.

This. I don't see the merit in visualising a dozen fan theories at the expense of story.

I look forward to episode 2 regardless.

I can't even begin to list all the things I liked

The writing is so quick and compact you've got to pay attention, so the time flies.
Loved the various fixes, the bonfire scene, Mrs Hudson thinking Sherlock and John had been a couple and her reaction to seeing Sherlock.
Loved Sherlock disguising himself as a French waiter, the focus on and typical resolution of their fight at the end of the episode.
Lots of juicy mystery for the next episode.

Sherlock and Mycroft playing 'operation'
Mycroft in a torture chamber (i.e sitting through Les Mis!)
Loved the idea of a walled off abandoned underground station (I'm pretty sure this happens in a Famous Five book, only with a train tunnel?!)

^^^ oh look i did make a list after all!

Just fantastic. Can't really see what detractors could possibly dislike really, I suppose they were determined to dislike it before it was even broadcast.

I always found Sir Arthur a bit like JRR Tolkien in that can write a cracking yarn, but patchy at drawing female characters and the more soppy stuff.

I think the whole reunion was so sketchy in the book that any attempt to flesh it out for the tele was going to be a gamble.

Was anyone else fooled with the Bungee rope scene? I screamed NOOOO this cannot be it. Then Derren Brown came up and I was like WTF. Sigh of relief that was.

The second one didn't fool me whatsoever because we saw Moriarty get shot and now he's laughing with Sherlock covered in no blood? Yep...

But the third one fooled me again. It wasn't as bad as the other two but my reaction was the same as Anderson's. It was meh. Vanilla.

Haha, it's clever if you think about it. At first I was disappointed they didn't give us the 'real' explanation but now an hour has past it's pretty smart. The gem is still hidden away and that's where it should be kept otherwise it'll always be disappointing. As Sherlock said 'Everyone's a critic'.

The Telegraph reviewer wasn't paying enough attention, he seems to think the person trying to blow up parliament was the same person who put John in the bonfire.

All of that, plus the scene with his mum and dad, and loads of others scenes too. Very quirky, moving, clever, entertaining and funny... and quirky, moving, clever, entertaining and funny is all I need out of episode of Sherlock that I've waited 2 years for!

Am I the only person who has never seen Derren Brown before? I still have no idea who he was, when he appeared, or what he had to do with it, though I do know that he is a tv magician.

Me.

Well, I have heard of him but haven't watched him in anything.

I had heard of those scenes but thought they were fake ones.

And yet it works well, IMO, in the Brett/Hardwicke TV adaptation of 'The Empty House':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38bZl83u7xA

From 14:38 onwards.

Yes, it was always fascinating to see how they transformed and reworked the original material, and tonight's episode wasn't very satisfactory in that or imo in other ways. But who knows? There could be a return for form after this. I hope so.


Yes again. For me, the different aspects didn't fit together into a mutually reenforcing and satisfying whole.


I think that's very unfair. I've liked the show a lot up 'till now; I was looking forward to this episide; I set aside time to watch it; and I was disappointed. Far from being determined to dislike it, I set out expecting to enjoy it.

In the explanation given by Sherlock, he refers to the body of the Sherlock look a like that Molly found. If they had this look alike who was already dead, why did Sherlock need to play dead with the squash ball under his arm? Conversely, if Sherlock was playing dead, what purpose does the dead look a like serrve?

They used the look-a-like to fool Watson from a distance, and then presumably later on when the body was actually autopsied etc, but needed the real Sherlock when Watson looked at him close-up.

Interesting. One of them says "you see the key ingredients" and "when you see it, it won't feel like a cheat".

Could he be talking about something we haven't yet seen?

Because otherwise, I'm surprised he could think that.

You're not the only one - I had no idea who he was either.
O/h looked astonished at me and asked "Well who did you think he was then?"
to which I replied "random street-theatre hypnotist?"

I gather that's pretty accurate, so go me!

Hand up anyone who thinks that scene when Moriarty/Sherlock snogging was so WTF and funny moment?

That would have been my answer.

Any of the explanations already given and that may be given later could be worked up into totally plausible ones and yet even so be picked at and picked at by the critics. So it matters not which one it is.

Bit disappointing for me. Very overproduced episode and I fear the show has become too popular for its own good.

That's NOT true..

He DID have his own magic screwdriver that opened doors

To leave us with some doubt as to whether Sherlock's account to Anderson was true was a masterstroke. It may conceivably have happened that way... but a true magician never reveals his tricks.

I do understand what people mean when they say it was a little slicker and more action heavy than the previous seasons, but I didn't mind it. I imagine they'll slip back into the old pattern in the next episode.

I loved all the humour, and I did enjoy seeing Sherlock's humanity shining through. The character can't remain static after all he's undergone. It's understandable in a reunion episode, but I do hope the thaw slows down from this point on.

Would the bomber have the wherewith all to organise the bomb plot or instead be part of a larger organisation that kidnapped John.

I'm really disappointed in this episode I have to say, and I'm a Holmesian (not a fangirl). I just found it really boring! I hope the next two episodes make up for it.

I just wish they'd do a storyline that didn't focus on terrorism. There are plenty of canon stories to chose from and expand upon!

Yes... and hot .
How much slash has Gatiss been reading?

Sherlock worked out 13 possible senerios for the roof confrontation, we've seen a couple, all possibly complete bull. The 1st obviously a tribute to tumblr ( see also Moriarty almost snogging Sherlock ) the Anderson(Sherlock in flat/not in flat) was the common online option. We may never find out. I thought it was awesome.

Well you have to take into account the different eras they're set in. The original stories are from the 19th C when Brits had a stiff upper lip. Acting as if nothing happened would have been how men responded in such a scenario back then. It does make sense for this version to show John more obviously upset etc as that's much more a 21st C way of behaving.