Sherlock, Season 3, Episode 3. "His Last Vow".

[akitrom]

Right now, this entry is a rough draft. I'll be refining it over the week. If you have any comments or suggestions, I'l be happy to address or incorporate them into a revision of the body of the text

Comments

[gamingkitty]

She can shoot a hole through a quarter that's spinning in the air? That's ridiculous.

And busted by the MythBusters to boot. (At least the wild-west variant was busted, and I suspect modern coin alloys are tougher than the solid silver coins they used.)

[dreamwell_ali]

This episode really bothered me for all the reasons you list, and yet I've watched it 3 times so far. Now I want to go back and watch the other two of this series, because they say once you know what Mary is, you can see the foreshadowing.

And, well, I'm female, so I could watch Benedict Cumberbatch all day long regardless of plot.

Add some more

[ext_2427821]

Sherlock couldn't tell John had a tire iron and gun on him?

Sherlock, himself a user of a mind palace, can't perceive that someone's eyeglasses are just eyeglasses?

Sherlock resorts to violence?

And we are supposed to believe Moriarty is alive??

I think Moffat just wants a big villain for every season, so he concocted one.

The episode would have been more interesting if we kept the assassin angle, but had some unknown assailant kill Magnussen just before Holmes' arrival. When Lestrade gets Sherlock to investigate, he starts to suspect what may be happening...but in the canon, Holmes has let the guilty go free if they punished the evil.

We could have had something better. A friend of mine labelled this season as, "Oh look, we have cool, popular characters, let's have them do fun things."

Have to say, not quite how I see it.

[robespierrette]

Sherlock - and the original ACD Holmes stories - has never been strong on hard, cold, realistic facts. It's pulp. Glorious, amazing, well-presented pulp. :) Everything is about exploring the bromance between Sherlock & John, and making wonderfully byzantine references to the original stories. Anything else is gravy

[komainu]

I agree with your comments. This had fun, strong elements, but as an episode it was a mess that relied on some people being stupid so that others could be smart. I don't mind coincidence in the name of story, but I do mind dumbing-down and predictability (Oh, Mary is monologuing, John must be right over there...). They have obviously stepped up the character interactions this season but are not doing a great job of having their cake and eating it too.
My vote: More Gatiss, less Moffatt.