Hi all

Long time lurker here with a few random thoughts that have occurred to me:

1. Did we ever find out who the “M” was who killed Shan at the end of S1 E2? Moriarty? Magnusson? Mycroft? Someone else?

2. A.G.R.A are the initials on the memory stick which Mary gave to John who then burned it. We were (I think) misdirected to assume these were Mary’s real initials (I mean real in her persona as an ex-CIA assassin). Is this a foreshadowing of a link to the canon in the story of The Agra Fort set in India which had an East Gate? We’ve heard about an “East Wind” supposedly coming. And when Anderson was showing clips of foreign police officers/forces who appeared to have been helped by Sherlock during his time away, one of them seemed to be an Indian police officer. Will A.G.R.A turn out to be an acronym in the same vein as H.O.U.N.D?

3. Or are all the dragon references (already mentioned above) meant to point to China, which could also link back to point 1 above?

4. Why has Sherlock said that this is a woman’s name?

5. Did Sherlock arrange for the video of Moriarty to be shown, so that he would be brought back (which would suggest Moriarty has not really returned from the dead?) He used the device of a picture of Mary projected onto the building during the showdown with her at Leinster Gardens.

6. Will we ever find out what the IOU which Moriarty mentioned was about?

Ok, so....

The memory stick in Baker Street said : A.G.RA

The memory stick in the Christmas scene that Watson has in his hand said : A.G.RA

BUT

The memory stick Watson threw into the fire clearly said : A.G.R.A

It seems Dr Watson is keeping some insurance....

Well spotted DanSette.

I got the feeling that the shouting from the helicopter for John and Sherlock to get away from Magnusson was because he was going to be HIT, but I don't know how it could have worked - accidentally on purpose, by a stooge?

He couldn't 'cover it up' for Sherlock though.

Well well.

I hope so. I don't trust Mary as far as I can spit, and I find it both believable, AND difficult that John seems to have decided to.

She's a bad egg.

I didn't see it that way initially, but yes, I get where you're going with this. Watson has gone through this huge grieving process once already, so it wouldn't be surprising that he's emotionally numb in that scene.
He is after all supposed to be the only "normal" human being amongst all these sociopaths. Yes, that makes sense now.

Cheers - and to correct myself - John now no longer has a weakness for Sherlock.

Between Sherlock, who let him think he'd died, and Mary, who he seems determined to try and trust, but is fundamentally untrustworthy, poor, poor John.

I hope some of this plays out.

Ha! John is not trusting Mary - see my post above!

I certainly did fefster

And it solidified my feelings about it all.

I LOVED this episode, as much as I adore the cases and the art of deduction - I adore the character development of this series and specifically that of Sherlock. There's so much about him that we don't know, it's an untapped resource, and the sequence after he was shot was unbelievable in showing his thought processes under incredible pressure and also glimpses into what makes him "who he is today".

Watching him struggle, both in the immediate aftermath of the bullet, in exposing Mary to John and in helping them reconcile at 221b, was uncomfortable viewing for me, as I view Sherlock as this impenetrable force. For the first time, in my opinion, he really looked vulnerable. But I'm glad they put it in, because I think Sherlock - since coming back in ep1 - had softened too much and I think he needed something to refocus him, that being john (and in turn, Mary).

I know some people didn't enjoy series 3 but I think, as part of the whole set it was necessary and brilliant. I just hope it's not another 2 years until the next chapter!.

I think bearing in mind the new memory stick clue, that John just wants to keep Mary on side until the baby is born. She is carrying the thing most precious to him. He can't lose it. She needs to believe he has burnt the memory stick for this to work.

Just watched it, well that was rather bloody good wasn't it?

For me, Moffat's work with Sherlock has consistently blown most of what he's done with Doctor Who since 2011 out of the water.

Yes, even DOTD, which was amazing, but when you try and compare it to this ep, the gulf in terms of writing & emotional beats is just immense, which is crazy when you think that it was written by the same bloke.

It's an unfair comparison I suppose since DW is on the whole a very different type of show, so there's a whole other set of requirements when you're writing for it.

You've got to feel sorry for the poor bloke, don't you? Surrounded by a bunch of utter nutcases, and trying to keep it all together

I think the bad egg may come to a rather unfortunate and abrupt end in the future. It may be wishful thinking on my part, but it would be most satisfying. (And in line with the original story, to some extent.)

John has kept the memory stick, he's having that baby as soon as it's born and Mary is out of there.

I thought it was bloody good an' all, although I can see it was a bit 'Bond -y'.

I enjoyed the more emotional complexity of this series. The damage that has and is being done everywhere - East wind and all that

Sorry but that's a stretch too far...I think people are looking for excuses as to why Sherlock wasnt out thought.

He was.

And if it was a Mycroft sanctioned hit why did he say "oh Sherlock what have you done."

The expression itself 'there's an east wind coming' comes from one of the original stories Moffat mentionned he had based HLV on, 'His last bow'
Which, apart from this expression, only has the title noded here!
The original referenced the coming war with Germany. But with the mentions of dragons, as reported by Dan Sette, it could be further east than Germany.

I think Mycroft wanted Sherlock to deal with Magnusson, but he didn't realise that the information was in Magnusson's head either.

Sherlock took the solution on himself.

And Sherlock could either have suspected it, or not, but he out thought Magnusson in the end - a man who didn't believe Sherlock would kill him - mistake.

When he knew it was the only thing to be done, he did it.

That's hilarious. It's not even the best detective show currently on TV, Father Brown is much better.

it was a joke. his best friend is about to have a daughter, he was 'suggesting; Watson names his daughter Sherlock

Or even

"but TV reviewers' job is actually to analyse programmes" ?

Moriarty.


I saw those more as cheeky references to The Hobbit to be honest.


A joke.


Possibly. Its a theory that seems to be growing more popular. We probably won't find out for a while though.

Careful analysis of the screen shots convinces me that the writing on the memory stick is exactly the same in the two scenes. It's 'A.G. RA' in both.

its not difficult to copy files from a flashdrive without seeing them

As i said before, when Watson went to look for a neighbour in a junk house and he also found Sherlock, that was taken from 'the man with the twisted lip'. Fine nod to an original story, ok.
Later Sherlock said he was there for a case concerning CAM. Did he say what was the relation between CAM and that junk house?

If I'm not mistaken, he was trying to convince Magnussen (from afar to draw him out) that drugs was one of his "pressure points", which later Magnussen conveyed was not particularly convincing. He then showed the Watson-in-the-bonfire footage and said that was his real pressure point.

At least that's how I took it.

It is rather strange, as some have mentioned, that Sherlock wasn't listed as one of Watson's pressure points. I get that he'd already suffered his loss for two years, but still, it would seem to me that given how unbearable it was for Watson, he would do anything to prevent it from happening again - so still a pressure point. No matter, I guess.

I'm rewatching episode 3 now to see if I like it better upon rewatch - Magnussen just isn't very intimidating to me, even with the licking and the peeing. He was cowering like a beeyotch when Mary had him at gunpoint. Of course I'd be cowering too if someone had a gun on me, but then I'm not a mastermind criminal blackmailer with a powerful mind palace. I expect more from my villains, though. *shrugs*

Off the wall theory that I think has already been mentioned by someone after episode 2: What if everything up until just before the roof scene in the last series is all one big mind palace mind trip of Sherlock's as he's deciding how to deal with Moriarty? Given the end credits reveal, in his mind palace this whole imagined scenario that comprises series 3 comes back to Moriarty still being alive, and therefore needs to choose a different path - and that's what we'll see next season. Moriarty still alive...no faked death...and Sherlock trying to take a route that will take care of Moriarty for good.