Rewatch: Sherlock - The Great Game (Part 1)
Back to awesomeness...as we conclude the first series of Sherlock :)
Standard "Love" Disclaimer: I talk about "love" and being "in love" in this rewatch, but I don't actually mean romantic-love - though, you are free to interpret it that way if it makes you happier. :)
Warning: Although this is a rewatch of 1x03, I DO make passing references to events in Series 2. So BE WARNED.
We begin our adventure in Minsk, Belarus. Where Sherlock decides to sound SO MUCH like Alan Rickman that it's uncanny. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.
I should really mention, at this point, how much I love the cinematography of Sherlock. The visuals are amazing. Also, the sets/locations - the sets lend such an authentic and "real" feel to the show. I MUCH prefer the way they laid out and decorated Baker Street in the aired series, rather than the unaired pilot. It's got that "Victorian" richness and root, while still being wholly modern.
Anyway, back to Minsk...
"...so, we get back to the hotel, we end up having a bit of a ding-dong, didn't we?"
*Sherlock audibly sighs*
-I think at the use of the word "ding-dong" Sherlock knew that not only was the guy guilty, but Sherlock was not going to enjoy this conversation. :P
But, uh, I have another question: Obviously, this is a British citizen who was in Minsk when he murdered his partner...my question is: Who the hell vacations in Minsk? Uh...no offense to any fine citizens of Belarus, but when I lived in Europe, I found that people liked to Vacation in...well, sunnier places, let's say. Maybe Karen (the girlfriend) was from Minsk. Yeah...yeah, that's what I'll believe, otherwise, I just don't understand what this dude was doing in Minsk (besides chatting up waitresses and killing his girlfriend).
"She was always getting at me. Saying I weren't a real man."
"Wasn't a real man."
"What?"
"It's not weren't, it's wasn't."
"Oh"
-Not to use this as a grammar-rant...but that's exactly what I'm going to do...this incorrect conjugation reminds me that: PEOPLE NEVER USE THE GODDAMN SUBJUNCTIVE. It drives me nuts. I mean, I know I read mostly fanfiction and I get what I pay for - but it drives me crazy. If I were to write a hypothetical sentence, then I would use the subjunctive....see what I did there? See how LOVELY that sounds? If I were someone else, maybe I'd be able to ignore when people forget to use the subjunctive, but sadly, I'm not someone else, nor have I ever been someone else...which is why I said "If I were" rather than "If I was" at the beginning of that sentence. Even professional writers, journalists, and (obviously) editors seem to forget the proper use of the subjunctive case these days. It's a sad world. /rant
I love Sherlock's faces in this conversation. Also, I like how Sherlock briefly looks at the guy's hands when he says that his father was a butcher - as though Sherlock is seeing if there's any way he could have known that without the guy having to tell him. But, yeah, I love his faces, how he can correct the guy's grammar with a look. :P
I also like how you see Sherlock does have morals - he could easily mislead the police for money...but he's not going to get a guilty man off a murder charge. And he doesn't condemn innocent men either, which is how we know that Mr. Hudson must have DESERVED the death penalty.
Sherlock shooting the face on the wall!
See, so, I have a memory of seeing him spray-paint that face - but it wasn't in the Blind Banker...so maybe I'm nuts...actually, I KNOW I'm nuts, because right there on the coffee table is the can of spray paint. Which means that he JUST DID IT.
Before we see Sherlock start shooting, we actually hear John come home - the front door is really loud, and you can hear his feet on the stairs. I like little details like that. I once lived in a dorm building where I could tell who was coming towards my room by their footsteps in the hall.
"What the HELL are you doing?"
"Bored."
-Oh John...poor long-suffering John. That being said, Sherlock is a fantastic shot, blind and with his left hand.
-Also, why don't any of the neighbours call the cops? The walls can't be THAT thick in those old row houses. Geez.
John apparently does have a lockbox for the gun. that's good.
"I don't know what's got into the criminal classes. Good job I'm not one of them."
"So you take it out on the wall?"
"The wall had it coming."
-For some reason "the wall had it coming" is a line that stuck in my head. I actually repeat it to myself whenever I take my frustrations out on inanimate objects...even if they are not a wall.
I love how comfortable John moves around the apartment... and around Sherlock. I mean, of course he would be comfortable, it's his apartment too. But he has his own relaxed body-language about it - even when he's exasperated by Sherlock and the mess in the kitchen, he's still completely comfortable there.
Well...except when he finds the severed head in the Fridge.
"It's a head...A SEVERED HEAD!"
"Just tea for me thanks"
-Oh, Sherlock, how I love your wit.
"Well where else was I supposed to put it? You don't mind, do you?"
*John makes little helpless noise*
-John's little helpless noise is the most endearing fucking thing. And yes, it is so endearing that I needed to swear there. No wonder Sherlock loves him.
"I see you've written up the taxi driver case [...] a Study in Pink."
"Well, pink lady, pink case, pink phone - there was a lot of pink. Did you like it?"
"Uuumm...no."
"Why not, I thought you'd be flattered."
"Flattered? 'Sherlock sees through everything and everyone in seconds, what's incredible though is how spectacularly ignorant he is about some things'"
"Now hang on a minute. I didn't mean that in a-"
"Oh, you meant spectacularly ignorant in a nice way..."
-Ah yes, Sherlock is in a mood because John pointed out that he's not perfect...or rather, that because he's let John in, John knows his weaknesses as well as his strengths.
"...Look, it doesn't matter who's Prime Minister or who's sleeping with who-"
"Or whether the earth goes 'round the sun. yeah"
"Oh that again - It's not important."
"Not- It's primary school stuff. How can you not know that?"
"If I ever did, I've deleted it."
"Deleted it?"
"Listen, this is my harddrive and it only makes sense to put things in there that are useful. Really useful. Ordinary people fill their heads with all kinds of rubbish, and that makes it hard to get at the stuff that matters. Do you see?"
-I'm actually reading a book on memory right now, and it doesn't QUITE work like that. There's not a finite amount of space up there. You aren't sacrificing some memorized facts for the sake of others, unless you're purposefully remembering long strings of numbers or something and then you want to memorize another long string of numbers.
"But it's the solar system!"
"*frustration noise* How- How does that matter?! So we go around the sun, if we went 'round the moon or 'round and 'round the garden like a teddy bear, it wouldn't make any difference! All that matters to me is the Work, without that my brain rots. Put that in your blog. Or better still, stop inflicting your opinions on the world." *curls up in a ball to sulk*
*John gets up to put on his jacket*
"Where are you going?"
"Out. I need some air."
-I love how Sherlock is upset that John isn't going to hang around to be ignored. :P
"You too have a little domestic?"
-I love Mrs. Hudson. She knows a life-partnership when she sees one, regardless of sexual orientations.
Oh, also, before John put on his coat - you could once again hear Mrs. Hudson come in downstairs. No one can really sneak up on Sherlock or John with a door that loud.
I also love how Sherlock walks over the coffee table to get to the window - and does so with his robe half off his shoulder...and I love how he watches John walk away with a pout.
"Look at that Mrs. Hudson - Quiet, calm, peaceful. Isn't it hateful?"
"Oh, I'm sure something will turn up, Sherlock. A nice murder. That'll cheer you up."
"Can't come too soon."
"Hey, what have you done to my bloody wall?!" *Sherlock smiles* "I'm putting this on your rent, young man!"
-I think Sherlock gets a kick out of annoying Mrs. Hudson...or at least getting her angry enough to say "bloody". haha. But I digress...
-I like Sherlock and Mrs. Hudson's relationship - Mrs. Hudson doesn't blink at Sherlock wishing for a murder. She's so nonchalant about it. Probably because she used to be married to a murderer...but still, it's a really cool dynamic they have going. If they were evilly smirking, you'd think they have no morals.
I also love the way Sherlock smiles at the smiley face. I'm of the belief that Sherlock doesn't actually have any diagnosable "personality disorder", but that being said, it reminds me of those mood-faces that people use in therapy for autistic kids.
The explosion is really cool too.
"Morning"
"Morning" *John rubs his neck*
"See, I told you you should have gone with the lilo."
"No, it's fine. I slept fine. It's very kind of you."
"Well, maybe next time I'll let you kip at the end of my bed, you know."
"What about the time after that?"
"Would you like some breakfast?"
"Love some."
"Well, you'd better make it yourself, because I'm going to have a shower."
-John and Sarah's relationship interests me. At first, I thought she was doing the slow-pull back to friends thing...like, rejecting him without having to openly reject him, you know? Girls do that all the time because of our social programming...or at least *I* do that all the time. Yet, if she wasn't interested at all, she wouldn't have made that "kip at the end of my bed" remark. But obviously, John hasn't been sleeping with her, because he's frustrated...so, maybe she just wants to be really slow? They obviously don't have very good communication. Now, that all being said, maybe it has something to do with the fact that John might just show up to spend the night when Sherlock's pissed him off, and Sarah knows this...maybe she doesn't want to sleep with him unless he's there because of HER and not because of Sherlock.
Martin Freeman is a good actor. I just love the whole sequence from him watching the news to him running up the stairs at Baker St. I don't think it's just because of the music that you feel this huge tension coil in your gut, even when you KNOW Sherlock's fine...you still feel John's worry right along with him.
Mycroft and Sherlock. I'm not going to copy out this conversation, but I love Mycroft's face when he says "leg work"...Mark Gatiss is really good as Mycroft. I guess, because he's the writer and an actor, so he knows exactly how Mycroft should be acting...but still, guy deserves props.
"How's Sarah, John. How was the lilo?"
"Sofa, Sherlock, it was the sofa."
"Oh yes, of course."
-I like how they do the "Mycroft is 'smarter' than Sherlock" thing - subtle, not over the top.
"Sherlock's business seems to be booming since you and he became...pals. What's he like to live with? Hellish, I imagine."
-I like how even Mycroft doesn't know Sherlock's sexual orientation.
-This is another instance, though, where it's evident that Mycroft has a relatively low opinion of Sherlock. I mean, you could pass off the 'hellish' comment as a joke, but there's always truth in jokes.
"Well, I'm never bored."
-I like John's answer here. It's vague, which is how you need to speak to Mycroft. He can already access far more information than anyone would be comfortable with, there's no need to volunteer more.
"Jumped in front of a train?"
"It seems the most logical assumption."
"But?"
"Hm?"
"Well, you wouldn't be here if it were just an accident."
*Sherlock laughs*
-I love how much Sherlock LOVES John during this conversation. All of John's responses to Mycroft cause Sherlock to smile or laugh, and just LOVE John...and Mycroft knows it and gets increasingly subtly annoyed...which of course, is why Sherlock loves John so much. It's a beautiful little snippet of one of the reasons Sherlock and John get on so well. John and Sherlock are a team, even against Mycroft.
"...the plans for it were on a memory stick."
*John laughs* "That wasn't very clever."
*Sherlock smiles*
*Mycroft annoyed* "It's not the only copy..."
-See, this is just adorable.
"...Don't make me order you."
"I'd like to see you try."
-I wonder if Mycroft has ANY sway over Sherlock...like, COULD he order him? I doubt it.
"Goodbye, John. See you very soon."
-Mycroft knows that Sherlock's going to delegate.
"Why'd you lie? You've got nothing on...[...] why'd you tell your brother you were busy?"
"Why shouldn't I?"
"Oh, nice. Sibling rivilry. Now we're getting somewhere."
-I've never really understood what sibling rivelry is...do Sherlock and Mycroft count as sibling rivilry? I kind of feel like their relationship is an extremely complicated soup of isolation, bitterness, and misunderstanding....but maybe that IS Holmsian sibling rivilry.
"Lestrade. I've been summoned. Coming?"
"If you want me to?"
"Of course. I'd be lost without my blogger."
-I know this is a tribute to the "I'd be lost without my Boswell" line, but it's also more than that. Sherlock and John's 'domestic' the night before had been about John's blogging and how what John blogged hurt Sherlock's feelings...and this is Sherlock telling John that he's forgiven. Even though John did just piss him off a little again by saying him and Mycroft were a case of sibling rivelry.
"That's the phone - the pink phone!"
"What? From A Study in Pink?"
"Well, obviously it's not the same phone, but it's supposed to look- A Study in Pink? You read his blog?"
"Of course I read his blog! We all do. Do you really not know that the earth goes 'round the sun?"
*Sally laughs*
*John looks guilty*
-This is where John starts to see Sherlock's point. John's accidentally undermined Sherlock's mystique a bit - undermined people's opinions of his genius. Now, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. John HUMANIZES Sherlock for others. I know popular interpretation is that John humanizes Sherlock PERIOD...but Sherlock was already human before he met John - he perhaps doesn't want to be, but he is. John doesn't change that. What John does for Sherlock is to humanize him FOR OTHER PEOPLE. And it's both good and bad. But, I digress - here, John starts to see how he's accidentally opened Sherlock up for ridicule at work...which, of course, is a problem when you (John) happen to be one of the only people who recognize that Sherlock has feelings to hurt.
"...which means your BLOG has a far wider readership."
-And another Sherlock disapproval of John's blog...it's a possible beacon for murder fetishist and copycats.
The stakes are always so much hirer in detective shows when the detectives are being targeted themselves, rather than solving a crime that's already been committed, or escalating, or whatever. It makes me nervous...which is I guess why detective shows do it so much.
"You'd a look, didn't you, Sherlock? When you first came to see about your flat...[...] I can't get anyone interested in this flat. It's the damp, I expect. That's the curse of basement apartments. I had a place once when I was first married - black mold all up the wall-" *everyone goes down the stairs and ignores her* "-oh, dear me."
-I always kind of want to yell at them all for being rude to Mrs. Hudson. I mean really...but I suppose I was just brought up to be more polite.
-Also, MRS. HUDSON BACKSTORY. So, we know her husband was a murderer who traveled to Florida...and when she was first married they lived in a REALLY crappy basement apartment.
"Shoes...he's a bomber, remember."
-I like Sherlock's small pause.
"Who's talking. Why are you crying?"
"I'm not crying. I'm typing and this stupid bitch is reading it out."
"The curtain rises."
"What?"
"Nothing."
"No. What did you mean?"
"I've been expecting this for some time."
-I do like how Moriarty doesn't really catch Sherlock off guard.
Oh, I have to say that I also love the way they do still shots with that miniture affect.
"Who do you suppose it was?"
"Hm?"
"The woman on the phone. The *crying* woman."
"Oh, she doesn't matter - she's just a hostage. No lead there."
"For God's sake, I wasn't thinking about leads."
"You're not going to be much use to her."
"Are they trying to trace it? Trace the call?"
-Here we get our second source of tension between John and Sherlock in this episode. What I love about this fundamental difference between the two of them is that neither one is in the right nor the wrong. John, being a doctor (and a soldier), focuses on the person who is in immediate distress. He wants to SAVE people. Sherlock, being a detective, wants to catch the criminal. So, John focuses on the victims and Sherlock focuses on the criminal. The victims are data-points to help, but they aren't the end goal...and it would only be a disservice to them for Sherlock to lose focus.
"...Pass me my phone."
"Where is it?"
"Jacket"
*John looks over at Sherlock and looks severely unimpressed before walking around the bench to rifle through the pockets of the Jacket that Sherlock is WEARING*
"Careful!"
"Text from your brother."
-I love this for several reasons. 1)Sherlock uses his phone as a distraction for John - he wants him to stop worrying about the crying woman and refocus. 2)John is annoyed by this request, but he still does it...albeit it roughly at first. You see this a lot in this episode with John, he wants desperately to be of help to Sherlock...to the point where Sherlock really can order him to do things that John is wildly uncomfortable with, but he'll still do it if he believes that he's helping. It's an easy thing to abuse - the fact that John's basically Sherlock's foot-soldier - but despite the silliness of not answering his own phone, I don't think Sherlock ever abuses John, which, again, just proves to me how much Sherlock cares for him. (was that sentence run-on enough for you?)
"...The only mystery is this: Why is my brother so determined to bore me when someone else is being so delightfully interesting."
"Try to remember that there's a woman here who might die."
"What for? This hospital's full of people dying, Doctor, why don't you go and cry by their bedside and see what good it does them."
-The phone distraction does not last long. And here Sherlock deliberately emphasizes the problem by calling John by his doctor title rather than his name. This is Sherlock (coldly) telling John that detective work is different than doctoring. Though, I think what he doesn't realize is that John is upset at Sherlock's use of the word "delightful" as though he is not taking this as seriously as he should be - he's not treating it like life and death (Doctors have to treat nearly everything as life or death, since even the smallest problem, if improperly cared for, could mean death.) Sherlock though, has been expecting Moriarty for some time now - he KNOWS he's up against someone smart - someone who is "more than a man"...and I think Sherlock needs to diminish Moriarty in his mind by calling him "delightful" as though he's nothing more than a particularly engaging crossword puzzle, rather than someone who is "more than a man." I think Sherlock has to keep that veneer of being amused, because if he acted as grave as John is, then he'd make everyone more nervous, including himself. But, that's just my opinion. There's also the fact, of course, that Sherlock IS amused. People don't usually engage him directly - it's enough to peak anyone's interest, but for Sherlock, there's the amusement that someone thinks that they CAN engage him on his own level.
Speak of the devil...
"Jim, this is Sherlock Holmes, and uh...sorry..."
"John Watson, hi."
-This is interesting, because at this point Molly doesn't know John enough to remember his name. Have the even met before? She apologizes which means that they probably have been introduced at least once before - perhaps when Sherlock came in, as Molly originally greets with "Any luck?" which means that she knows Sherlock is looking for something in particular. So, between this season, and next season, John and Molly end up meeting a lot more - because at this point, I don't actually think she's at the stage where she'd go 'round to Sherlock and John's flat for a Christmas party.
-I guess I like this introduction because Molly kind of completely ignores John in this exchange - it's interesting, because we see Molly before he realizes that John is important to Sherlock...that, in the language Molly will later use, John "counts."
-John is also annoyed here - not because Molly forgot his name, but because Molly and Jim are a distraction to Sherlock. He's annoyed for the same reason Sherlock is, which I find adorable.
"Jim works in IT upstairs, that's how we met, office romance."
"Gay"
"Sorry, what?"
"Nothing, um, hey."
-To his credit, Sherlock does look slightly panicked when Molly asks him what he says...and he does try to cover. Though, as we'll see, I think Sherlock wants to avoid "Jim" making a scene.
"What do you mean gay? We're together."
"And domestic bliss must suit you, Molly, you've put on 3 pounds since I last saw you."
"Two and a half."
"Hm, three."
John: "Sherlock..."
-I have to wonder why Sherlock puts Molly down here...does he not realize that telling a woman she's put on weight is an insult? He knows it's an insult when he says it to Mycroft, so I think he should. Is it a dig at her because he can tell that she's not actually happy with Jim? That it's not working out...that she's about to call it off?
"He's not gay! Why do you have to spoil- He's not."
-What I find interesting here is that Molly starts to say "Why do you have to spoil everything?" That's what Sherlock's deductions do - they spoil things. It's why Sebastian and Sherlock's uni "friends" hated him. Think of it this way - say your husband is cheating on you? What's worse - discovering it yourself, or having a friend explain how it's obvious and how you should have known? Not only do you get the shock of the betrayal, but you also get to feel like a naive idiot for being the last to know, or at least not the first like you feel you should have been. But then, if you look at it from Sherlock's pov, (or in my example case - your friend's) is it not his duty to tell you when you are being betrayed? Would not keeping silent also be a betrayal?
"With that level of personal grooming?"
"What? Because he puts product in his hair. *I* put product in my hair."
"You wash your hair, there's a difference."
-I like the fact that John thinks shampoo counts as "product." Also, that John is not putting up with gay stereotyping.
"...that plus the extremely suggestive fact that he just left his number under this dish here, and I'd say you'd better break it off now and save yourself the pain."
*Molly runs out*
"Charming. Well done."
"Just saving her time. Isn't that kinder?"
"Kinder? No, no, Sherlock. *That* wasn't kind."
-The thing about this is that Sherlock GENUINELY looks surprised and lost when Molly runs off upset. He really did think he was prefoming a kindness. For someone who acts as well as Sherlock can act, you'd think he'd realize that the problem was in his delivery...yet, let's think about Sherlock for a moment...Sherlock, when talking to people he ISN'T trying to emotionally manipulate or lie to, is unabashedly himself. He's honest about who he is, to a fault really. This, although not kind, is actually, I believe, our first indication that Molly has begun to "count"...the two times before this that we've seen Molly, Sherlock has been deliberately manipulating her to get what he wants - compliments to get into the morgue to see bodies, smiles that he drops as soon as she looks away. This is actually the first time we see Sherlock NOT put up any sort of front with Molly...it's a harsh slap in the face for Molly on so many levels because of that, and she doesn't realize what it MEANS, just like she doesn't realize who John is.
"Go on then?"
"Hm?"
"You know what I do, off you go."
-It's interesting that immediately following the Molly fiasco, Sherlock makes John attempt a deduction. It's a weird transition, but I kind of see it as Sherlock saying, "well, I just spectacularly failed at what you do best, let's see how *you* do at what *I* do best."
"I'm not going to stand here while you humiliate me, while I try and dissemi-"
"An outside eye, a second opinion, it's very useful to me-"
"Right-"
"REALLY!"
"Fine."
-Again, we see how far Sherlock can push John...as long as John really believes that he's being of use. It's an interesting character trait (flaw?) of John's.
"Carl Powers...it's where I began."
-I love how Moriarty immediately makes it personal in such a profound way. Sherlock tried to solve this case as a CHILD, before he could get the support of men like Lestrade.
-I also love the way Sherlock phrases this - as though Sherlock, as we know him, did not exist before the Carl Powers case...and perhaps he didn't.
In the cab, after Sherlock explains about Carl Powers - I like the look on John's face as he turns and looks out the window. John is our surrogate in this show and he's feeling as worried as we are about the fact that not only is this criminal targeting Sherlock - he seems to know Sherlock even more intimately than John does.
"Can I help? I want to help? There's only five hours left?"
-I love John. I love how much he cares...so does Sherlock, even though I don't think Sherlock will ever admit that.
-Also, I love how we get a chance to see the sliding kitchen doors closed. I love the body language of John not opening them enough to enter the kitchen, of staying on the other side of them - he's trying to give Sherlock space to work, but he also wants to feel useful. John HAS to feel useful in order to be happy and whole.
"It's your brother. He's texting *me* now. How does he know my-"
"Must be a root-canal."
-Oh John. Oh Sherlock. Oh Mycroft. :P
"Look, he did say "National Importance""
"*laughs* How quaint"
"What is?"
"You are. Queen and Country."
-Oh Sherlock, do not make fun of John's service to his country - it cost him his career. Calling the ideal quaint belittles his sacrifice... and it pisses him off.
"You can't just ignore it!"
"I'm not ignoring it. I'm putting my best man onto it right now."
"Right, good. Who's that?"
-Haha, Oh John, who do you think? I do love how Sherlock goes from rude to praising in the span of two sentences. He calls John quaint and belittles his life choices, but then turns around and calls him his "best man" and trusts him with a case of "national importance" (even if he does follow along behind).
I don't like how John gets dressed up for Mycroft though - nor do I like the fact that he suddenly seems nervous in his presence. I know it's probably because he's lying, and John is a crap liar (and probably knows he is) - but one of the things I love about John and Mycroft's relationship is how much John ISN'T afraid of him, nor feels the need to change himself or Sherlock in Mycroft's presence. Mind you, the fact that John IS wearing a suit and being nervous, probably let's Mycroft know that Sherlock STILL isn't working the case - but we already know from Mycroft's comment earlier that he expected it to be deligated from the beginning.
That all being said, John looks very nice in his suit...and I like the fact that wardrobe gave him one that is obviously of lesser quality than the ones Mycroft and Sherlock wear.
"Poison"
Mrs. Hudson: "What are you going on about?"
*Sherlock slams his hands down on the table and begins to explain*
*Mrs. Hudson flees the room*
*John points at her retreating back and raises an eyebrow to Sherlock, before getting distracted by what Sherlock is saying*
-I love the conversations that are had without words. It's interesting though, how quickly Mrs. Hudson reacts to the hand-slam noise...Sherlock shouts at her a fair bit, I'd think she'd be used to it.
Timeline - Carl Powers died in 1989, and according to Sherlock, the shoes are 20 years old - which means that this episode takes place in 2009...assuming Sherlock is in his early thirties here, then he would have been a pre-teen/early teens when he "began" with the Carl Powers case. At least, that's my rough idea...I'm sure Sherlock has continuity issues when it comes to the timeline, so take this with a grain of salt...also, technically, if the shoes are 20 years old but Carl had managed to go through multiple pairs of laces, then really, 1989 would have happened less than 20 years ago.
"If she had deviated from one word, the sniper would have set her off."
"Or if you hadn't solved the case."
"Oh, elegant."
"Elegant?"
-Oh dear - The words we use are so important, aren't they?
"Freak? It's for you."
- ...the words we use are so important, aren't they?
I like the fact that John spots immediately that Sherlock is talking to "the bomber." For all John misunderstands Sherlock's words sometimes - he's very attuned to Sherlock's body language.
"He laughed at me. So I stopped him laughing."
-Don't bully people, kids. You will turn them into psychopaths that kill you.
"You've stolen another voice, I presume."
-I like that description of what Moriarty is doing. It's very poetic.
Listen - I'm not a Londoner...but um, if you saw some dude crying on the street, wouldn't you ask him if he was okay? I guess maybe he's been instructed to tell people he's fine...but geesus...you'd think one of those people milling around him would overhear enough of the conversation to think "uh, that sounds vaguely threatening, I think I should call the cops." That being said, maybe Moriarty would explode him if the cops were called prematurely...so maybe it's good that no one cares?
*Sherlock pretending to be a concerned friend* "Well, that was Ian, that was Ian all over."
"No, it wasn't."
*Sherlock being himself* "Wasn't it? Interesting."
-I know I didn't copy out the whole conversation - but I think this is my favourite of Sherlock's "disguises." He even goes to fare as to have the OPT (One Perfect Tear, as the SPN crew call it). This is why I don't think Sherlock has Autism/Aspergers - he's far too good at emotional manipulation. You have to understand emotion in order to manipulate it. Sherlock might not understand "sentiment" but he does understand emotions and he knows how to recognize them and respond to them...at least in other people. It might be a different story when it comes to himself.
"Why did you lie to her?"
"People don't like telling you things. They love to contradict you."
-Sherlock's a smart man.
"Past tense, did you notice?"
"Sorry, what?"
"I refered to her husband in the past tense. She joined in. Bit premature, they've only just found the car."
"You think she murdered her husband?"
"Definitely not. That's not a mistake a murderer would make."
"I see. No, I don't. What do I see?"
-I actually kind of take issue with this "clue" - I often use the tense of the person speaking to me. Now, mind you, I've never had my husband 'die', so what do I know...maybe I would object to using the past-tense prematurely in a weird confusing conversation that I have with a complete stranger who claims to know my husband. But, yeah, whatever.
"Fishing! Try fishing!"
-That's Sally calling out hobbies to John, by the way - what I love about it is that John looks back at her and he's SO ANNOYED. "Sherlock isn't a hobby, twit, he's my LIFE-PARTNER."
I love the silhouettes they put in this show. Sherlock and John walking away there is brilliant.
"Have you got any change for the cigarette machine?"
"What?"
"I noticed one on the way in and I haven't got any change. I'm gasping."
-I love how Sherlock works his way around the room, asking 'dumb' questions and having the guy focus on John.
-This is the first time I'd ever heard the phrase 'I'm gasping' used like that...at least in my memory. To me, it makes Sherlock sound like someone else, like he's playing another part...which he is, so I guess it's supposed to do that.
"I've got change if you still want to-"
"Nicotine patches, remember! I'm doing well."
-There are a couple things I like about this. 1)It shows that unlike in fics, John doesn't actually care that much whether Sherlock smokes or not. 2)I love the fact that Sherlock says 'I'm doing well' - I guess just because it's not something you hear people say very often. He's proud of himself, and not many people admit that.
I like John's jacket too. I'm not sure if I've said that yet. People always go on about Sherlock's coat - but I quite like John's just as much.
I really hope Moriarty lets that guy sit down every once in a while. I've seen cadets fall over after standing for shorter periods of time than that - mind you, they were just cadets, but I highly doubt that random dude on the street is a trained soldier who knows how to avoid fainting.
Also, back to my earlier comment about why no one is stopping to ask if that guy is okay...um, why is no one noticing the red dot dancing around his chest? I mean, seriously. If I was walking through a busy intersection and had to walk around a dude who was just standing there, looking distressed, with a red dot dancing around his chest...I think I would be able to put two and two together and freak the fuck out.
"..we were made for each other, Sherlock."
-It's interesting, because Moriarty is set up to be Sherlock's counter-point, or his "there, but for the grace of God, go I" - but, and I'll talk about this a bit more later...I think he's actually Mycroft's counter-point.
"Mr. Hewitt of Janus Cars had a 20,000 Columbian note in his pocket. Quite a bit of change too."
-Haha, I wonder if Sherlock means Columbian change, or regular change. If it's regular change, then Mr. Hewitt's kind of a dick....well, on top of being a lying criminal and all that.
"Now go and arrest them, Inspector, that's what you do best. We need to let our friendly bomber know the case is solved. I am on FIRE!"
-It IS nice to see Sherlock so happy. Haha...but yeah, it's a hard thing when what makes you happy is solving horrible crimes. Not that this particular crime isn't horrible, but the reason Sherlock has to solve it is. I guess it's kind of like defense attorneys who defend probable murderers - are they allowed to be proud of themselves when they win? Sherlock's job is actually (arguably) less morally grey than that - but still, there's this pervasive idea that he shouldn't ENJOY the work...which just seems odd to me. I mean, why do something you don't enjoy? I think people do less of a good job when they don't enjoy their work. I'd much rather have Sherlock Holmes work on my murder case than someone of equal or greater intelligence who doesn't enjoy the work (like, Mycroft).
I hope it was Lestrade who turned off those lights - otherwise, well, Lestrade is just standing there in the dark.
"He says you can come and fetch me. Help. Help me, please."
-I love the smile that Sherlock gives John. It's not just a smile about how he's "on fire", it's very much a "aren't you proud of me?" smile.
Part 2
Standard "Love" Disclaimer: I talk about "love" and being "in love" in this rewatch, but I don't actually mean romantic-love - though, you are free to interpret it that way if it makes you happier. :)
Warning: Although this is a rewatch of 1x03, I DO make passing references to events in Series 2. So BE WARNED.
We begin our adventure in Minsk, Belarus. Where Sherlock decides to sound SO MUCH like Alan Rickman that it's uncanny. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.
I should really mention, at this point, how much I love the cinematography of Sherlock. The visuals are amazing. Also, the sets/locations - the sets lend such an authentic and "real" feel to the show. I MUCH prefer the way they laid out and decorated Baker Street in the aired series, rather than the unaired pilot. It's got that "Victorian" richness and root, while still being wholly modern.
Anyway, back to Minsk...
"...so, we get back to the hotel, we end up having a bit of a ding-dong, didn't we?"
*Sherlock audibly sighs*
-I think at the use of the word "ding-dong" Sherlock knew that not only was the guy guilty, but Sherlock was not going to enjoy this conversation. :P
But, uh, I have another question: Obviously, this is a British citizen who was in Minsk when he murdered his partner...my question is: Who the hell vacations in Minsk? Uh...no offense to any fine citizens of Belarus, but when I lived in Europe, I found that people liked to Vacation in...well, sunnier places, let's say. Maybe Karen (the girlfriend) was from Minsk. Yeah...yeah, that's what I'll believe, otherwise, I just don't understand what this dude was doing in Minsk (besides chatting up waitresses and killing his girlfriend).
"She was always getting at me. Saying I weren't a real man."
"Wasn't a real man."
"What?"
"It's not weren't, it's wasn't."
"Oh"
-Not to use this as a grammar-rant...but that's exactly what I'm going to do...this incorrect conjugation reminds me that: PEOPLE NEVER USE THE GODDAMN SUBJUNCTIVE. It drives me nuts. I mean, I know I read mostly fanfiction and I get what I pay for - but it drives me crazy. If I were to write a hypothetical sentence, then I would use the subjunctive....see what I did there? See how LOVELY that sounds? If I were someone else, maybe I'd be able to ignore when people forget to use the subjunctive, but sadly, I'm not someone else, nor have I ever been someone else...which is why I said "If I were" rather than "If I was" at the beginning of that sentence. Even professional writers, journalists, and (obviously) editors seem to forget the proper use of the subjunctive case these days. It's a sad world. /rant
I love Sherlock's faces in this conversation. Also, I like how Sherlock briefly looks at the guy's hands when he says that his father was a butcher - as though Sherlock is seeing if there's any way he could have known that without the guy having to tell him. But, yeah, I love his faces, how he can correct the guy's grammar with a look. :P
I also like how you see Sherlock does have morals - he could easily mislead the police for money...but he's not going to get a guilty man off a murder charge. And he doesn't condemn innocent men either, which is how we know that Mr. Hudson must have DESERVED the death penalty.
Sherlock shooting the face on the wall!
See, so, I have a memory of seeing him spray-paint that face - but it wasn't in the Blind Banker...so maybe I'm nuts...actually, I KNOW I'm nuts, because right there on the coffee table is the can of spray paint. Which means that he JUST DID IT.
Before we see Sherlock start shooting, we actually hear John come home - the front door is really loud, and you can hear his feet on the stairs. I like little details like that. I once lived in a dorm building where I could tell who was coming towards my room by their footsteps in the hall.
"What the HELL are you doing?"
"Bored."
-Oh John...poor long-suffering John. That being said, Sherlock is a fantastic shot, blind and with his left hand.
-Also, why don't any of the neighbours call the cops? The walls can't be THAT thick in those old row houses. Geez.
John apparently does have a lockbox for the gun. that's good.
"I don't know what's got into the criminal classes. Good job I'm not one of them."
"So you take it out on the wall?"
"The wall had it coming."
-For some reason "the wall had it coming" is a line that stuck in my head. I actually repeat it to myself whenever I take my frustrations out on inanimate objects...even if they are not a wall.
I love how comfortable John moves around the apartment... and around Sherlock. I mean, of course he would be comfortable, it's his apartment too. But he has his own relaxed body-language about it - even when he's exasperated by Sherlock and the mess in the kitchen, he's still completely comfortable there.
Well...except when he finds the severed head in the Fridge.
"It's a head...A SEVERED HEAD!"
"Just tea for me thanks"
-Oh, Sherlock, how I love your wit.
"Well where else was I supposed to put it? You don't mind, do you?"
*John makes little helpless noise*
-John's little helpless noise is the most endearing fucking thing. And yes, it is so endearing that I needed to swear there. No wonder Sherlock loves him.
"I see you've written up the taxi driver case [...] a Study in Pink."
"Well, pink lady, pink case, pink phone - there was a lot of pink. Did you like it?"
"Uuumm...no."
"Why not, I thought you'd be flattered."
"Flattered? 'Sherlock sees through everything and everyone in seconds, what's incredible though is how spectacularly ignorant he is about some things'"
"Now hang on a minute. I didn't mean that in a-"
"Oh, you meant spectacularly ignorant in a nice way..."
-Ah yes, Sherlock is in a mood because John pointed out that he's not perfect...or rather, that because he's let John in, John knows his weaknesses as well as his strengths.
"...Look, it doesn't matter who's Prime Minister or who's sleeping with who-"
"Or whether the earth goes 'round the sun. yeah"
"Oh that again - It's not important."
"Not- It's primary school stuff. How can you not know that?"
"If I ever did, I've deleted it."
"Deleted it?"
"Listen, this is my harddrive and it only makes sense to put things in there that are useful. Really useful. Ordinary people fill their heads with all kinds of rubbish, and that makes it hard to get at the stuff that matters. Do you see?"
-I'm actually reading a book on memory right now, and it doesn't QUITE work like that. There's not a finite amount of space up there. You aren't sacrificing some memorized facts for the sake of others, unless you're purposefully remembering long strings of numbers or something and then you want to memorize another long string of numbers.
"But it's the solar system!"
"*frustration noise* How- How does that matter?! So we go around the sun, if we went 'round the moon or 'round and 'round the garden like a teddy bear, it wouldn't make any difference! All that matters to me is the Work, without that my brain rots. Put that in your blog. Or better still, stop inflicting your opinions on the world." *curls up in a ball to sulk*
*John gets up to put on his jacket*
"Where are you going?"
"Out. I need some air."
-I love how Sherlock is upset that John isn't going to hang around to be ignored. :P
"You too have a little domestic?"
-I love Mrs. Hudson. She knows a life-partnership when she sees one, regardless of sexual orientations.
Oh, also, before John put on his coat - you could once again hear Mrs. Hudson come in downstairs. No one can really sneak up on Sherlock or John with a door that loud.
I also love how Sherlock walks over the coffee table to get to the window - and does so with his robe half off his shoulder...and I love how he watches John walk away with a pout.
"Look at that Mrs. Hudson - Quiet, calm, peaceful. Isn't it hateful?"
"Oh, I'm sure something will turn up, Sherlock. A nice murder. That'll cheer you up."
"Can't come too soon."
"Hey, what have you done to my bloody wall?!" *Sherlock smiles* "I'm putting this on your rent, young man!"
-I think Sherlock gets a kick out of annoying Mrs. Hudson...or at least getting her angry enough to say "bloody". haha. But I digress...
-I like Sherlock and Mrs. Hudson's relationship - Mrs. Hudson doesn't blink at Sherlock wishing for a murder. She's so nonchalant about it. Probably because she used to be married to a murderer...but still, it's a really cool dynamic they have going. If they were evilly smirking, you'd think they have no morals.
I also love the way Sherlock smiles at the smiley face. I'm of the belief that Sherlock doesn't actually have any diagnosable "personality disorder", but that being said, it reminds me of those mood-faces that people use in therapy for autistic kids.
The explosion is really cool too.
"Morning"
"Morning" *John rubs his neck*
"See, I told you you should have gone with the lilo."
"No, it's fine. I slept fine. It's very kind of you."
"Well, maybe next time I'll let you kip at the end of my bed, you know."
"What about the time after that?"
"Would you like some breakfast?"
"Love some."
"Well, you'd better make it yourself, because I'm going to have a shower."
-John and Sarah's relationship interests me. At first, I thought she was doing the slow-pull back to friends thing...like, rejecting him without having to openly reject him, you know? Girls do that all the time because of our social programming...or at least *I* do that all the time. Yet, if she wasn't interested at all, she wouldn't have made that "kip at the end of my bed" remark. But obviously, John hasn't been sleeping with her, because he's frustrated...so, maybe she just wants to be really slow? They obviously don't have very good communication. Now, that all being said, maybe it has something to do with the fact that John might just show up to spend the night when Sherlock's pissed him off, and Sarah knows this...maybe she doesn't want to sleep with him unless he's there because of HER and not because of Sherlock.
Martin Freeman is a good actor. I just love the whole sequence from him watching the news to him running up the stairs at Baker St. I don't think it's just because of the music that you feel this huge tension coil in your gut, even when you KNOW Sherlock's fine...you still feel John's worry right along with him.
Mycroft and Sherlock. I'm not going to copy out this conversation, but I love Mycroft's face when he says "leg work"...Mark Gatiss is really good as Mycroft. I guess, because he's the writer and an actor, so he knows exactly how Mycroft should be acting...but still, guy deserves props.
"How's Sarah, John. How was the lilo?"
"Sofa, Sherlock, it was the sofa."
"Oh yes, of course."
-I like how they do the "Mycroft is 'smarter' than Sherlock" thing - subtle, not over the top.
"Sherlock's business seems to be booming since you and he became...pals. What's he like to live with? Hellish, I imagine."
-I like how even Mycroft doesn't know Sherlock's sexual orientation.
-This is another instance, though, where it's evident that Mycroft has a relatively low opinion of Sherlock. I mean, you could pass off the 'hellish' comment as a joke, but there's always truth in jokes.
"Well, I'm never bored."
-I like John's answer here. It's vague, which is how you need to speak to Mycroft. He can already access far more information than anyone would be comfortable with, there's no need to volunteer more.
"Jumped in front of a train?"
"It seems the most logical assumption."
"But?"
"Hm?"
"Well, you wouldn't be here if it were just an accident."
*Sherlock laughs*
-I love how much Sherlock LOVES John during this conversation. All of John's responses to Mycroft cause Sherlock to smile or laugh, and just LOVE John...and Mycroft knows it and gets increasingly subtly annoyed...which of course, is why Sherlock loves John so much. It's a beautiful little snippet of one of the reasons Sherlock and John get on so well. John and Sherlock are a team, even against Mycroft.
"...the plans for it were on a memory stick."
*John laughs* "That wasn't very clever."
*Sherlock smiles*
*Mycroft annoyed* "It's not the only copy..."
-See, this is just adorable.
"...Don't make me order you."
"I'd like to see you try."
-I wonder if Mycroft has ANY sway over Sherlock...like, COULD he order him? I doubt it.
"Goodbye, John. See you very soon."
-Mycroft knows that Sherlock's going to delegate.
"Why'd you lie? You've got nothing on...[...] why'd you tell your brother you were busy?"
"Why shouldn't I?"
"Oh, nice. Sibling rivilry. Now we're getting somewhere."
-I've never really understood what sibling rivelry is...do Sherlock and Mycroft count as sibling rivilry? I kind of feel like their relationship is an extremely complicated soup of isolation, bitterness, and misunderstanding....but maybe that IS Holmsian sibling rivilry.
"Lestrade. I've been summoned. Coming?"
"If you want me to?"
"Of course. I'd be lost without my blogger."
-I know this is a tribute to the "I'd be lost without my Boswell" line, but it's also more than that. Sherlock and John's 'domestic' the night before had been about John's blogging and how what John blogged hurt Sherlock's feelings...and this is Sherlock telling John that he's forgiven. Even though John did just piss him off a little again by saying him and Mycroft were a case of sibling rivelry.
"That's the phone - the pink phone!"
"What? From A Study in Pink?"
"Well, obviously it's not the same phone, but it's supposed to look- A Study in Pink? You read his blog?"
"Of course I read his blog! We all do. Do you really not know that the earth goes 'round the sun?"
*Sally laughs*
*John looks guilty*
-This is where John starts to see Sherlock's point. John's accidentally undermined Sherlock's mystique a bit - undermined people's opinions of his genius. Now, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. John HUMANIZES Sherlock for others. I know popular interpretation is that John humanizes Sherlock PERIOD...but Sherlock was already human before he met John - he perhaps doesn't want to be, but he is. John doesn't change that. What John does for Sherlock is to humanize him FOR OTHER PEOPLE. And it's both good and bad. But, I digress - here, John starts to see how he's accidentally opened Sherlock up for ridicule at work...which, of course, is a problem when you (John) happen to be one of the only people who recognize that Sherlock has feelings to hurt.
"...which means your BLOG has a far wider readership."
-And another Sherlock disapproval of John's blog...it's a possible beacon for murder fetishist and copycats.
The stakes are always so much hirer in detective shows when the detectives are being targeted themselves, rather than solving a crime that's already been committed, or escalating, or whatever. It makes me nervous...which is I guess why detective shows do it so much.
"You'd a look, didn't you, Sherlock? When you first came to see about your flat...[...] I can't get anyone interested in this flat. It's the damp, I expect. That's the curse of basement apartments. I had a place once when I was first married - black mold all up the wall-" *everyone goes down the stairs and ignores her* "-oh, dear me."
-I always kind of want to yell at them all for being rude to Mrs. Hudson. I mean really...but I suppose I was just brought up to be more polite.
-Also, MRS. HUDSON BACKSTORY. So, we know her husband was a murderer who traveled to Florida...and when she was first married they lived in a REALLY crappy basement apartment.
"Shoes...he's a bomber, remember."
-I like Sherlock's small pause.
"Who's talking. Why are you crying?"
"I'm not crying. I'm typing and this stupid bitch is reading it out."
"The curtain rises."
"What?"
"Nothing."
"No. What did you mean?"
"I've been expecting this for some time."
-I do like how Moriarty doesn't really catch Sherlock off guard.
Oh, I have to say that I also love the way they do still shots with that miniture affect.
"Who do you suppose it was?"
"Hm?"
"The woman on the phone. The *crying* woman."
"Oh, she doesn't matter - she's just a hostage. No lead there."
"For God's sake, I wasn't thinking about leads."
"You're not going to be much use to her."
"Are they trying to trace it? Trace the call?"
-Here we get our second source of tension between John and Sherlock in this episode. What I love about this fundamental difference between the two of them is that neither one is in the right nor the wrong. John, being a doctor (and a soldier), focuses on the person who is in immediate distress. He wants to SAVE people. Sherlock, being a detective, wants to catch the criminal. So, John focuses on the victims and Sherlock focuses on the criminal. The victims are data-points to help, but they aren't the end goal...and it would only be a disservice to them for Sherlock to lose focus.
"...Pass me my phone."
"Where is it?"
"Jacket"
*John looks over at Sherlock and looks severely unimpressed before walking around the bench to rifle through the pockets of the Jacket that Sherlock is WEARING*
"Careful!"
"Text from your brother."
-I love this for several reasons. 1)Sherlock uses his phone as a distraction for John - he wants him to stop worrying about the crying woman and refocus. 2)John is annoyed by this request, but he still does it...albeit it roughly at first. You see this a lot in this episode with John, he wants desperately to be of help to Sherlock...to the point where Sherlock really can order him to do things that John is wildly uncomfortable with, but he'll still do it if he believes that he's helping. It's an easy thing to abuse - the fact that John's basically Sherlock's foot-soldier - but despite the silliness of not answering his own phone, I don't think Sherlock ever abuses John, which, again, just proves to me how much Sherlock cares for him. (was that sentence run-on enough for you?)
"...The only mystery is this: Why is my brother so determined to bore me when someone else is being so delightfully interesting."
"Try to remember that there's a woman here who might die."
"What for? This hospital's full of people dying, Doctor, why don't you go and cry by their bedside and see what good it does them."
-The phone distraction does not last long. And here Sherlock deliberately emphasizes the problem by calling John by his doctor title rather than his name. This is Sherlock (coldly) telling John that detective work is different than doctoring. Though, I think what he doesn't realize is that John is upset at Sherlock's use of the word "delightful" as though he is not taking this as seriously as he should be - he's not treating it like life and death (Doctors have to treat nearly everything as life or death, since even the smallest problem, if improperly cared for, could mean death.) Sherlock though, has been expecting Moriarty for some time now - he KNOWS he's up against someone smart - someone who is "more than a man"...and I think Sherlock needs to diminish Moriarty in his mind by calling him "delightful" as though he's nothing more than a particularly engaging crossword puzzle, rather than someone who is "more than a man." I think Sherlock has to keep that veneer of being amused, because if he acted as grave as John is, then he'd make everyone more nervous, including himself. But, that's just my opinion. There's also the fact, of course, that Sherlock IS amused. People don't usually engage him directly - it's enough to peak anyone's interest, but for Sherlock, there's the amusement that someone thinks that they CAN engage him on his own level.
Speak of the devil...
"Jim, this is Sherlock Holmes, and uh...sorry..."
"John Watson, hi."
-This is interesting, because at this point Molly doesn't know John enough to remember his name. Have the even met before? She apologizes which means that they probably have been introduced at least once before - perhaps when Sherlock came in, as Molly originally greets with "Any luck?" which means that she knows Sherlock is looking for something in particular. So, between this season, and next season, John and Molly end up meeting a lot more - because at this point, I don't actually think she's at the stage where she'd go 'round to Sherlock and John's flat for a Christmas party.
-I guess I like this introduction because Molly kind of completely ignores John in this exchange - it's interesting, because we see Molly before he realizes that John is important to Sherlock...that, in the language Molly will later use, John "counts."
-John is also annoyed here - not because Molly forgot his name, but because Molly and Jim are a distraction to Sherlock. He's annoyed for the same reason Sherlock is, which I find adorable.
"Jim works in IT upstairs, that's how we met, office romance."
"Gay"
"Sorry, what?"
"Nothing, um, hey."
-To his credit, Sherlock does look slightly panicked when Molly asks him what he says...and he does try to cover. Though, as we'll see, I think Sherlock wants to avoid "Jim" making a scene.
"What do you mean gay? We're together."
"And domestic bliss must suit you, Molly, you've put on 3 pounds since I last saw you."
"Two and a half."
"Hm, three."
John: "Sherlock..."
-I have to wonder why Sherlock puts Molly down here...does he not realize that telling a woman she's put on weight is an insult? He knows it's an insult when he says it to Mycroft, so I think he should. Is it a dig at her because he can tell that she's not actually happy with Jim? That it's not working out...that she's about to call it off?
"He's not gay! Why do you have to spoil- He's not."
-What I find interesting here is that Molly starts to say "Why do you have to spoil everything?" That's what Sherlock's deductions do - they spoil things. It's why Sebastian and Sherlock's uni "friends" hated him. Think of it this way - say your husband is cheating on you? What's worse - discovering it yourself, or having a friend explain how it's obvious and how you should have known? Not only do you get the shock of the betrayal, but you also get to feel like a naive idiot for being the last to know, or at least not the first like you feel you should have been. But then, if you look at it from Sherlock's pov, (or in my example case - your friend's) is it not his duty to tell you when you are being betrayed? Would not keeping silent also be a betrayal?
"With that level of personal grooming?"
"What? Because he puts product in his hair. *I* put product in my hair."
"You wash your hair, there's a difference."
-I like the fact that John thinks shampoo counts as "product." Also, that John is not putting up with gay stereotyping.
"...that plus the extremely suggestive fact that he just left his number under this dish here, and I'd say you'd better break it off now and save yourself the pain."
*Molly runs out*
"Charming. Well done."
"Just saving her time. Isn't that kinder?"
"Kinder? No, no, Sherlock. *That* wasn't kind."
-The thing about this is that Sherlock GENUINELY looks surprised and lost when Molly runs off upset. He really did think he was prefoming a kindness. For someone who acts as well as Sherlock can act, you'd think he'd realize that the problem was in his delivery...yet, let's think about Sherlock for a moment...Sherlock, when talking to people he ISN'T trying to emotionally manipulate or lie to, is unabashedly himself. He's honest about who he is, to a fault really. This, although not kind, is actually, I believe, our first indication that Molly has begun to "count"...the two times before this that we've seen Molly, Sherlock has been deliberately manipulating her to get what he wants - compliments to get into the morgue to see bodies, smiles that he drops as soon as she looks away. This is actually the first time we see Sherlock NOT put up any sort of front with Molly...it's a harsh slap in the face for Molly on so many levels because of that, and she doesn't realize what it MEANS, just like she doesn't realize who John is.
"Go on then?"
"Hm?"
"You know what I do, off you go."
-It's interesting that immediately following the Molly fiasco, Sherlock makes John attempt a deduction. It's a weird transition, but I kind of see it as Sherlock saying, "well, I just spectacularly failed at what you do best, let's see how *you* do at what *I* do best."
"I'm not going to stand here while you humiliate me, while I try and dissemi-"
"An outside eye, a second opinion, it's very useful to me-"
"Right-"
"REALLY!"
"Fine."
-Again, we see how far Sherlock can push John...as long as John really believes that he's being of use. It's an interesting character trait (flaw?) of John's.
"Carl Powers...it's where I began."
-I love how Moriarty immediately makes it personal in such a profound way. Sherlock tried to solve this case as a CHILD, before he could get the support of men like Lestrade.
-I also love the way Sherlock phrases this - as though Sherlock, as we know him, did not exist before the Carl Powers case...and perhaps he didn't.
In the cab, after Sherlock explains about Carl Powers - I like the look on John's face as he turns and looks out the window. John is our surrogate in this show and he's feeling as worried as we are about the fact that not only is this criminal targeting Sherlock - he seems to know Sherlock even more intimately than John does.
"Can I help? I want to help? There's only five hours left?"
-I love John. I love how much he cares...so does Sherlock, even though I don't think Sherlock will ever admit that.
-Also, I love how we get a chance to see the sliding kitchen doors closed. I love the body language of John not opening them enough to enter the kitchen, of staying on the other side of them - he's trying to give Sherlock space to work, but he also wants to feel useful. John HAS to feel useful in order to be happy and whole.
"It's your brother. He's texting *me* now. How does he know my-"
"Must be a root-canal."
-Oh John. Oh Sherlock. Oh Mycroft. :P
"Look, he did say "National Importance""
"*laughs* How quaint"
"What is?"
"You are. Queen and Country."
-Oh Sherlock, do not make fun of John's service to his country - it cost him his career. Calling the ideal quaint belittles his sacrifice... and it pisses him off.
"You can't just ignore it!"
"I'm not ignoring it. I'm putting my best man onto it right now."
"Right, good. Who's that?"
-Haha, Oh John, who do you think? I do love how Sherlock goes from rude to praising in the span of two sentences. He calls John quaint and belittles his life choices, but then turns around and calls him his "best man" and trusts him with a case of "national importance" (even if he does follow along behind).
I don't like how John gets dressed up for Mycroft though - nor do I like the fact that he suddenly seems nervous in his presence. I know it's probably because he's lying, and John is a crap liar (and probably knows he is) - but one of the things I love about John and Mycroft's relationship is how much John ISN'T afraid of him, nor feels the need to change himself or Sherlock in Mycroft's presence. Mind you, the fact that John IS wearing a suit and being nervous, probably let's Mycroft know that Sherlock STILL isn't working the case - but we already know from Mycroft's comment earlier that he expected it to be deligated from the beginning.
That all being said, John looks very nice in his suit...and I like the fact that wardrobe gave him one that is obviously of lesser quality than the ones Mycroft and Sherlock wear.
"Poison"
Mrs. Hudson: "What are you going on about?"
*Sherlock slams his hands down on the table and begins to explain*
*Mrs. Hudson flees the room*
*John points at her retreating back and raises an eyebrow to Sherlock, before getting distracted by what Sherlock is saying*
-I love the conversations that are had without words. It's interesting though, how quickly Mrs. Hudson reacts to the hand-slam noise...Sherlock shouts at her a fair bit, I'd think she'd be used to it.
Timeline - Carl Powers died in 1989, and according to Sherlock, the shoes are 20 years old - which means that this episode takes place in 2009...assuming Sherlock is in his early thirties here, then he would have been a pre-teen/early teens when he "began" with the Carl Powers case. At least, that's my rough idea...I'm sure Sherlock has continuity issues when it comes to the timeline, so take this with a grain of salt...also, technically, if the shoes are 20 years old but Carl had managed to go through multiple pairs of laces, then really, 1989 would have happened less than 20 years ago.
"If she had deviated from one word, the sniper would have set her off."
"Or if you hadn't solved the case."
"Oh, elegant."
"Elegant?"
-Oh dear - The words we use are so important, aren't they?
"Freak? It's for you."
- ...the words we use are so important, aren't they?
I like the fact that John spots immediately that Sherlock is talking to "the bomber." For all John misunderstands Sherlock's words sometimes - he's very attuned to Sherlock's body language.
"He laughed at me. So I stopped him laughing."
-Don't bully people, kids. You will turn them into psychopaths that kill you.
"You've stolen another voice, I presume."
-I like that description of what Moriarty is doing. It's very poetic.
Listen - I'm not a Londoner...but um, if you saw some dude crying on the street, wouldn't you ask him if he was okay? I guess maybe he's been instructed to tell people he's fine...but geesus...you'd think one of those people milling around him would overhear enough of the conversation to think "uh, that sounds vaguely threatening, I think I should call the cops." That being said, maybe Moriarty would explode him if the cops were called prematurely...so maybe it's good that no one cares?
*Sherlock pretending to be a concerned friend* "Well, that was Ian, that was Ian all over."
"No, it wasn't."
*Sherlock being himself* "Wasn't it? Interesting."
-I know I didn't copy out the whole conversation - but I think this is my favourite of Sherlock's "disguises." He even goes to fare as to have the OPT (One Perfect Tear, as the SPN crew call it). This is why I don't think Sherlock has Autism/Aspergers - he's far too good at emotional manipulation. You have to understand emotion in order to manipulate it. Sherlock might not understand "sentiment" but he does understand emotions and he knows how to recognize them and respond to them...at least in other people. It might be a different story when it comes to himself.
"Why did you lie to her?"
"People don't like telling you things. They love to contradict you."
-Sherlock's a smart man.
"Past tense, did you notice?"
"Sorry, what?"
"I refered to her husband in the past tense. She joined in. Bit premature, they've only just found the car."
"You think she murdered her husband?"
"Definitely not. That's not a mistake a murderer would make."
"I see. No, I don't. What do I see?"
-I actually kind of take issue with this "clue" - I often use the tense of the person speaking to me. Now, mind you, I've never had my husband 'die', so what do I know...maybe I would object to using the past-tense prematurely in a weird confusing conversation that I have with a complete stranger who claims to know my husband. But, yeah, whatever.
"Fishing! Try fishing!"
-That's Sally calling out hobbies to John, by the way - what I love about it is that John looks back at her and he's SO ANNOYED. "Sherlock isn't a hobby, twit, he's my LIFE-PARTNER."
I love the silhouettes they put in this show. Sherlock and John walking away there is brilliant.
"Have you got any change for the cigarette machine?"
"What?"
"I noticed one on the way in and I haven't got any change. I'm gasping."
-I love how Sherlock works his way around the room, asking 'dumb' questions and having the guy focus on John.
-This is the first time I'd ever heard the phrase 'I'm gasping' used like that...at least in my memory. To me, it makes Sherlock sound like someone else, like he's playing another part...which he is, so I guess it's supposed to do that.
"I've got change if you still want to-"
"Nicotine patches, remember! I'm doing well."
-There are a couple things I like about this. 1)It shows that unlike in fics, John doesn't actually care that much whether Sherlock smokes or not. 2)I love the fact that Sherlock says 'I'm doing well' - I guess just because it's not something you hear people say very often. He's proud of himself, and not many people admit that.
I like John's jacket too. I'm not sure if I've said that yet. People always go on about Sherlock's coat - but I quite like John's just as much.
I really hope Moriarty lets that guy sit down every once in a while. I've seen cadets fall over after standing for shorter periods of time than that - mind you, they were just cadets, but I highly doubt that random dude on the street is a trained soldier who knows how to avoid fainting.
Also, back to my earlier comment about why no one is stopping to ask if that guy is okay...um, why is no one noticing the red dot dancing around his chest? I mean, seriously. If I was walking through a busy intersection and had to walk around a dude who was just standing there, looking distressed, with a red dot dancing around his chest...I think I would be able to put two and two together and freak the fuck out.
"..we were made for each other, Sherlock."
-It's interesting, because Moriarty is set up to be Sherlock's counter-point, or his "there, but for the grace of God, go I" - but, and I'll talk about this a bit more later...I think he's actually Mycroft's counter-point.
"Mr. Hewitt of Janus Cars had a 20,000 Columbian note in his pocket. Quite a bit of change too."
-Haha, I wonder if Sherlock means Columbian change, or regular change. If it's regular change, then Mr. Hewitt's kind of a dick....well, on top of being a lying criminal and all that.
"Now go and arrest them, Inspector, that's what you do best. We need to let our friendly bomber know the case is solved. I am on FIRE!"
-It IS nice to see Sherlock so happy. Haha...but yeah, it's a hard thing when what makes you happy is solving horrible crimes. Not that this particular crime isn't horrible, but the reason Sherlock has to solve it is. I guess it's kind of like defense attorneys who defend probable murderers - are they allowed to be proud of themselves when they win? Sherlock's job is actually (arguably) less morally grey than that - but still, there's this pervasive idea that he shouldn't ENJOY the work...which just seems odd to me. I mean, why do something you don't enjoy? I think people do less of a good job when they don't enjoy their work. I'd much rather have Sherlock Holmes work on my murder case than someone of equal or greater intelligence who doesn't enjoy the work (like, Mycroft).
I hope it was Lestrade who turned off those lights - otherwise, well, Lestrade is just standing there in the dark.
"He says you can come and fetch me. Help. Help me, please."
-I love the smile that Sherlock gives John. It's not just a smile about how he's "on fire", it's very much a "aren't you proud of me?" smile.
Part 2