Sherlock pondering: Three things from Series 2.
Well, I was holding off on posting this until I either had more coherent thoughts or had some vaguely-related fic read to post, but the fic is showing every sign of turning into an epic thing that I'll still be working on in 2022, and I doubt my thoughts are going to gain any coherence by pondering this stuff; they're more likely to lose it. So, in half-rambling form, I am posting...
THREE THINGS THAT MAKE ME GO 'HMM', 'WTF' and 'LOL' RESPECTIVELY IN SHERLOCK SERIES 2
which no doubt everyone else has already noticed, but this is what I think about them, sort of.
The Hmm
John made this post about Sherlock's death in June, which strongly implies that that was when the Fall occurred.
Also, it was a quite sunny day when Sherlock and Moriarty have their rooftop confrontation.
So... why is it snowing when Sherlock jumps??
Technical/Filming possibility:
-It snowed while they were filming.
Nope. Series 2 filmed between May and September of 2011. Regardless of what order the episodes were filmed, it would not have been snowing, unless there was a very freak snowstorm in London, which is possible. They might have gone back for a re-shoot of that entire scene in the winter months, but I doubt it very much. Even if it was snowing during filming, there are many filming tricks to hide or lessen the appearance of unwanted weather. So, large chance the snow appearing in those scenes was not accidental.
Internal to the world of Sherlock non-plot possibilities:
-The air conditioning unit on the hospital roof went nuts.
Assuming the hospital has air conditioning, and I didn't see anything a/c-looking on the roof where the showdown took place, it would have to be going really insane to land snow on the scene below. Could be ash from the chimneys Sherlock walks past, if some one was burning a lot of really fluffy paper, though that ash usually tends to be black, and the angle and pattern of the stuff falling was certainly snow-like. Hm.
-It really was winter when Sherlock jumped, but John waited six months to post that blog post.
Which means, since Hound was in March, that a year and three quarters had passed since the Hound case, and John's post is in June 2012, not June 2011, and the news thing regarding Sherlock's death (apparently it's regarding Sherlock's death, I can't see it in my region yet) is six months old. I don't think John waiting around six months to post that makes much sense for his character. He'd be thumping on the 'Sherlock isn't a fraud' thing as early as possible. I think. I don't know.
-Timeline fudgery.
The timeline is deliberately wibbly-wobbly in this show yet, but I don't think it's so whacked as to have it snow in June without a damn good reason.
Internal to the world of Sherlock Plot-related possibilities:
-It's a solid form of the suggestibility gas from Hound.
Mycroft knew about the gas after Hound, there's been at least four months development time since its discovery, and turning a gas into a solid is just a matter of temperature control. As the 'snow' melts, it resumes gas form, makes those around suggestible to a certain interpretation of events. And, and this is kind of cool, it's snowing on the roof too. Why? To make Moriarty suggestible too, since he's watching Sherlock jump. This would have been set up ages in advance, so it isn't any kind of conclusive proof that Moriarty is still alive, but nice that if this is what the 'snow' is, the possibility of Moriarty being alive is covered.
As for delivery, well, if Mycroft can't talk Harrod's into loaning him a few of their Christmas parade snow cannons, what's he doing being the British Government?
Actual likelyhood of all this? It's nigh-solid crack, so minimal. But not nil, I don't think.
SOLID Crack Possibility:
-It's not snow, it's feathers, the material component of a D&D Feather Fall spell. ...What?
The WTF
There is a split second frame of the face of the guy on the gurney. He doesn't look like Sherlock, but actually looks more like Mycroft.
External to show world reason:
-None.
There is no reason that couldn't have been Benedict on the gurney, or they could have blocked that shot of the face or used a different angle to avoid it. It could be they were just a little bit sloppy and left in a split second glance that they thought no one would notice, but come on. This is a show made by fanboys. They know how closely we're watching.
Internal to show reason:
-Mycroft, wearing a life mask of Sherlock, was the one on the ground.
Not likely. Too different, too easy to spot at close range. But maybe. Also, when did they remove it, and why would they do that before they got him under cover?
-Hound gas in flake form again.
Sherlock landed in the truck and was still in the truck as it drove off. Mycroft assumed his position, relying on the gas effect and John's distress (yes, I want to punch them both if that's true) to make the crowd suggestible to the 'body' being Sherlock. Again, likelihood minimal. Buuuuut.... not impossible.
It might seem ridiculously over-wrought that Mycroft would stand in as Sherlock, but if it could be managed, it might solve a major security issue, in that everyone in on the set-up of Sherlock's death would know that he was still alive, and increase the risk of there being a leak in the operation now in progress. If all the people in on it know is that someone is faking a death by suicide and Mycroft Holmes will be standing in as the jumper at the bottom while the package is whisked away in a laundry truck. Buuuut then there's all the media coverage, and anyone involved would be just as much of a security risk when they put the name to the incident. So back to square one.
At the same time, I doubt that it wasn't Sherlock as the 'corpse'. But the guy on the gurney doesn't look like him. ARG.
SO. Really, at the moment I HAVE NO FREAKING IDEA. Though if Mycroft did act as Sherlock's stand-in, Mycroft has ample leverage for Sherlock to never ever mock his weight again. XD
I'm going to keep thinking on the snow and the not-Sherlock on the gurney though, and may eventually post further exploration of them in meta or fic form. Or not and just quietly go insane until series three when it's all revealed to just be random clue-chaff of no import at all.
And the LOL from The Hounds of Baskerville:
Here's Dewer's Hollow, shot from just before the title sequence.
Here's a section of the woods above, brightened and cropped.
And here's the Tardis.
Hahahhahaha. Well, Moffat does do both shows now. Between this and Sarah Jane's aunt's book being on Sherlock's shelves, I really do wonder if he isn't just quietly prompting for more crossovers.
Crossover Reason:
-Maybe the Doctor stopped by to make sure aliens weren't at all involved in this Hound business, and then took off to let the humans fix their own mess? He has done that once or twice before, has he not?
Most likely reason for all the things:
Moffat is screwing with us.
I kind of like it. It's like a game. Clue or Herring. It's all a little fishy. ;-D
No Spoilers for Sherlock Series Three, and no OFFICIAL answers or rumors for any of this (if official answers or rumors exist) in comments please. This post is Speculation-only, based on episodes that have aired in the UK, and that are airing right now on BBC Canada and Canadian iTunes.
THREE THINGS THAT MAKE ME GO 'HMM', 'WTF' and 'LOL' RESPECTIVELY IN SHERLOCK SERIES 2
which no doubt everyone else has already noticed, but this is what I think about them, sort of.
The Hmm
John made this post about Sherlock's death in June, which strongly implies that that was when the Fall occurred.
Also, it was a quite sunny day when Sherlock and Moriarty have their rooftop confrontation.
So... why is it snowing when Sherlock jumps??
Technical/Filming possibility:
-It snowed while they were filming.
Nope. Series 2 filmed between May and September of 2011. Regardless of what order the episodes were filmed, it would not have been snowing, unless there was a very freak snowstorm in London, which is possible. They might have gone back for a re-shoot of that entire scene in the winter months, but I doubt it very much. Even if it was snowing during filming, there are many filming tricks to hide or lessen the appearance of unwanted weather. So, large chance the snow appearing in those scenes was not accidental.
Internal to the world of Sherlock non-plot possibilities:
-The air conditioning unit on the hospital roof went nuts.
Assuming the hospital has air conditioning, and I didn't see anything a/c-looking on the roof where the showdown took place, it would have to be going really insane to land snow on the scene below. Could be ash from the chimneys Sherlock walks past, if some one was burning a lot of really fluffy paper, though that ash usually tends to be black, and the angle and pattern of the stuff falling was certainly snow-like. Hm.
-It really was winter when Sherlock jumped, but John waited six months to post that blog post.
Which means, since Hound was in March, that a year and three quarters had passed since the Hound case, and John's post is in June 2012, not June 2011, and the news thing regarding Sherlock's death (apparently it's regarding Sherlock's death, I can't see it in my region yet) is six months old. I don't think John waiting around six months to post that makes much sense for his character. He'd be thumping on the 'Sherlock isn't a fraud' thing as early as possible. I think. I don't know.
-Timeline fudgery.
The timeline is deliberately wibbly-wobbly in this show yet, but I don't think it's so whacked as to have it snow in June without a damn good reason.
Internal to the world of Sherlock Plot-related possibilities:
-It's a solid form of the suggestibility gas from Hound.
Mycroft knew about the gas after Hound, there's been at least four months development time since its discovery, and turning a gas into a solid is just a matter of temperature control. As the 'snow' melts, it resumes gas form, makes those around suggestible to a certain interpretation of events. And, and this is kind of cool, it's snowing on the roof too. Why? To make Moriarty suggestible too, since he's watching Sherlock jump. This would have been set up ages in advance, so it isn't any kind of conclusive proof that Moriarty is still alive, but nice that if this is what the 'snow' is, the possibility of Moriarty being alive is covered.
As for delivery, well, if Mycroft can't talk Harrod's into loaning him a few of their Christmas parade snow cannons, what's he doing being the British Government?
Actual likelyhood of all this? It's nigh-solid crack, so minimal. But not nil, I don't think.
SOLID Crack Possibility:
-It's not snow, it's feathers, the material component of a D&D Feather Fall spell. ...What?
The WTF
There is a split second frame of the face of the guy on the gurney. He doesn't look like Sherlock, but actually looks more like Mycroft.
External to show world reason:
-None.
There is no reason that couldn't have been Benedict on the gurney, or they could have blocked that shot of the face or used a different angle to avoid it. It could be they were just a little bit sloppy and left in a split second glance that they thought no one would notice, but come on. This is a show made by fanboys. They know how closely we're watching.
Internal to show reason:
-Mycroft, wearing a life mask of Sherlock, was the one on the ground.
Not likely. Too different, too easy to spot at close range. But maybe. Also, when did they remove it, and why would they do that before they got him under cover?
-Hound gas in flake form again.
Sherlock landed in the truck and was still in the truck as it drove off. Mycroft assumed his position, relying on the gas effect and John's distress (yes, I want to punch them both if that's true) to make the crowd suggestible to the 'body' being Sherlock. Again, likelihood minimal. Buuuuut.... not impossible.
It might seem ridiculously over-wrought that Mycroft would stand in as Sherlock, but if it could be managed, it might solve a major security issue, in that everyone in on the set-up of Sherlock's death would know that he was still alive, and increase the risk of there being a leak in the operation now in progress. If all the people in on it know is that someone is faking a death by suicide and Mycroft Holmes will be standing in as the jumper at the bottom while the package is whisked away in a laundry truck. Buuuut then there's all the media coverage, and anyone involved would be just as much of a security risk when they put the name to the incident. So back to square one.
At the same time, I doubt that it wasn't Sherlock as the 'corpse'. But the guy on the gurney doesn't look like him. ARG.
SO. Really, at the moment I HAVE NO FREAKING IDEA. Though if Mycroft did act as Sherlock's stand-in, Mycroft has ample leverage for Sherlock to never ever mock his weight again. XD
I'm going to keep thinking on the snow and the not-Sherlock on the gurney though, and may eventually post further exploration of them in meta or fic form. Or not and just quietly go insane until series three when it's all revealed to just be random clue-chaff of no import at all.
And the LOL from The Hounds of Baskerville:
Here's Dewer's Hollow, shot from just before the title sequence.
Here's a section of the woods above, brightened and cropped.
And here's the Tardis.
Hahahhahaha. Well, Moffat does do both shows now. Between this and Sarah Jane's aunt's book being on Sherlock's shelves, I really do wonder if he isn't just quietly prompting for more crossovers.
Crossover Reason:
-Maybe the Doctor stopped by to make sure aliens weren't at all involved in this Hound business, and then took off to let the humans fix their own mess? He has done that once or twice before, has he not?
Most likely reason for all the things:
Moffat is screwing with us.
I kind of like it. It's like a game. Clue or Herring. It's all a little fishy. ;-D
No Spoilers for Sherlock Series Three, and no OFFICIAL answers or rumors for any of this (if official answers or rumors exist) in comments please. This post is Speculation-only, based on episodes that have aired in the UK, and that are airing right now on BBC Canada and Canadian iTunes.