Squeeful Review: “His Last Vow”

[shadowfireflame]

How is it over again so quickly?!



In short, almost everything worked for me. First I’ll squee about the things I loved.

For this series, “The Sign of Three” is still my favorite, then “The Empty Hearse,” then this one. “His Last Vow” was excellent, I liked it, but after the absolute perfection that was “The Sign of Three,” I’m afraid nothing can compare. And there were parts of this that I could just feel were written by Moffat? Particularly the rushed ending? This episode felt much more “Sherlock-y” than the previous two, like Sherlock’s back in business, and I’m okay with that if it helps keep people on board and enjoying it, and I got what I wanted from this series (oh, man, did I ever). But those first two episodes in this series transported me to another world in terms of quality. Whereas this one was just the kind of amazing I’ve come to expect from Sherlock. No complaints. But in the future, I would prefer if all three of the writers wrote all the episodes together. :)

So here are things I loved:

• Nobody died. Soooooo happy that nobody I love died in this episode (silly me, being afraid) and that in fact it seems that Moriarty may actually be brought back from the grave (I actually kind of doubt this will end up happening though)...I should have known that killing people is not really Moffat’s style; he misses them too much. In fact, looking at Doctor Who, it seems that unkilling them is more his milieu.


• The emphasis on family. There is a running theme in this episode regarding women and family that I find fascinating. The parallels are there between Mary, Mummy Holmes, Lady Smallwood, and even to an extent Mrs. Hudson (and possibly Kate, John and Mary’s neighbor). In all their cases, the women are stronger-willed than the men in their lives (their husbands and sons), are in difficult, demanding, stereotypically male professions that likely dominated their whole lives, and are forced to make what seems like an impossible decision. And all of the women end up doing whatever it takes to protect and take care of their families. Mummy chooses to give up her career as a mathematicion to raise her genius sons with her more ordinary husband. Mary’s past as a CIA assassin is much more shady, but she loves her new life as a nurse with John and has a baby on the way, and she is willing to do whatever it takes to protect her family and her life. Lady Smallwood is a politician who bravely faces humiliation in order to protect her husband from his past mistakes. Kate also faces a difficult, potentially humiliating conversation with her neighbors in order to save her son, Isaac. And Mrs. Hudson helped to run a drug cartel out of loyalty to her husband-whose name, I will remind you, she still keeps even now that he’s dead. Mrs. Hudson to Mycroft in Scandal: “Family is all we have in the end, Mycroft Holmes.” Is it any wonder that this is such a family affair to many of the writers and actors on this show? Moffat, the Vertues, Gatiss’ husband, Martin and Amanda and their dog, Benedict and his girlfriend at the time, Benedict’s parents, Moffat and Vertue’s son...See how important family is to them all.


• The Britishness. This is not talked about much, but maybe because my dad is British, I notice these things. Sherlock may be one of the best tourism exports Great Britain has ever produced. It’s played to so many international audiences, and it’s so great at showing things that are particularly British institutions, things that show London’s history and peculiarities-red telephone boxes, the Queen’s Guard with their bearskin hats, Mycroft’s picture of Queen Elizabeth, Guy Fawkes, Parliament, the Tube, the Union Jack pillow, the skylines, fish and chips, the different accents-as well as its more contemporary quirks (CCTV, the London Eye, the graffiti, the different pubs, the contemporary slang, discrepancies between the very rich and the very poor). When they updated this show from Victorian times, it still works because of its continued awareness of place. Magnussen is such a threat because he not only insults Sherlock, he insults Great Britain herself. And for all he pretends to disdain following in Mycroft’s footsteps, Sherlock adores London (and looking out Byronically at her from rooftops). “Who needs me this time?” “England.” That’ll do it.


• John is fucking scary. “I hope I don’t have to threaten you as well,” Mycroft says to John. “Well, I think we’d both find that embarrassing,” John replies. “You’re mental, you are,” Billy tells John. I’m like, Finally somebody gets it. Magnussen repeats this: Magnussen called both Mary and John psychopaths. “Mr. and Mrs. Psychopath,” to be exact. FINALLY SOMEODY GETS IT. JOHN IS FUCKING SCARY, OKAY. Sherlock’s the dangerous one in their relationship? Don’t make me laugh.


• So Mary is actually Moran, which is great. (Empty house, sniper, trying to shoot Sherlock, Sherlock suddenly mentioning the gambling.) I do hope she isn’t Moriarty’s right hand, though. :) (Does “AGRA” secretly stand for Amanda Abbington, lol?)


• Sherlock’s undercover name is “Shezza.” *facepalm*


• Sally was right, people. Sally was right about Sherlock. She was wrong about the reasons, of course, but eventually right about the outcome. Sherlock did become a murderer. (Now, did her actions perhaps influence him upon that path...? These are soul-searching questions for Sally.)


• Kidneys... Sherlock gambled and nearly lost his kidneys with the Clarence House Cannibal, a woman who was “quite a gambler.” This just begs for fic, doesn’t it? :)


• Can we talk about shirtless Sherlock?!?! This is not being discussed nearly enough. Hnnnnnnnnnnngh that chest. Those shoulders. *nods*


• Nursing. New headcanon regarding Mary: she chose to give up her CIA assassin ways and became a nurse so that she could help save people instead of hurt them.


• Redbeard. New headcanon regarding Redbeard: the Holmes family got a dog when Sherlock was quite young. At that time Sherlock still wanted to be a pirate, and they let him name the dog. He chose that pirate-sounding name and enlisted Redbeard to be part of his crew (perhaps his First Mate?). He stopped wanting to be a pirate when they had to put Redbeard down because he couldn’t handle losing a member of his crew (still can’t). Also Redbeard reminds me so much of Rosebud that I assume it must be deliberate, and I love it. Sherlock’s face.


• Molly slapping the shit out of Sherlock and being a reliable voice in his head in a crisis. Just...yes.


• I feel that Janine’s words to Sherlock really echo the sentiment Sherlock shows to Mary. “Why didn’t you just trust me with the truth in the first place? I know you; I know who you really are, even if I don’t completely understand your scary side. I would have helped you.”


• You know what happened to the other one. You know what happened to the other one. You know what happened to the other one. OH. MY. GOD. Sherrinford Holmes, I presume? Or is every brilliantly rendered AU story by awanderingbard going to become canon? :) But I get a sense that Sherrinford is definitely older than Sherlock (maybe the middle brother), given how protective Mycroft is over Sherlock and how he sees Sherlock as a child when he’s in trouble. Does this mean that Sherrinford died? Or is imprisoned, as Mycroft seems to suggest? Perhaps he’s just deep undercover somewhere else...? Oh, the possibilities. This is the best thing to come out of this episode.


• Mycroft. Mycroft represents the fandom when he says that Sherlock’s only been gone for four minutes and he already needs him again. :DDD I’m with you there, Mycroft! And basically everything about Mycroft and Sherlock in this episode. The smoking and being caught by Mummy, oh my God. Sherlock’s entire plan against Magnussen has the motive of, yes, fixing Mary’s problem, but secretly, his motivation is making Mycroft proud by giving him all the info in that vault. You read that right: Sherlock desperately wants to make Mycroft proud. And “Your loss would break my heart,” and “Mycroft’s pressure point is his junkie detective brother,” oh my God, what even is this perfection?!?!


• Billy. SO. MANY. BILLYS. IN. THIS. SERIES. Billy the skull, Billy Kincaid, Billy the chemist (love him), Sherlock’s first actual name is William...Sherlock just likes the name Billy.


• Speaking of Billy, Sherlock is genuinely angry at John in the morgue at Bart’s when Billy the chemist lets it slip that John hurt him. Pissed that John hasn’t contacted him for a month? Pissed that John got violent on a civilian? Pissed that John got violent on someone Sherlock is quickly recruiting to his homeless network? Just generally pissed because he’s high and everyone’s being mean to him?


• Can we just talk about Amanda Abbington’s acting for a second? Because wow. When she’s pissed she’s scary, cold like an assassin, and sarcastic, but when her future’s secure again, she’s warm and funny and her face is perfect...ah, she reminds me so much of John: cuddly on the outside but with a core of steel. Except that John secretly revels in that part of himself, whereas Mary is actively trying to eradicate it and move past it.


• Two things from all my favorite fanfics ever: Sherlock getting shot (oh my God, yesss, Sherlock whump) and John being a total BAMF (mmm, yes). Sherlock attracts BAMFs who don’t mind killing. But I wanted more comfort in my h/c, particularly from John.


• William Sherlock Scott Holmes. This has been my headcanon since it happened in impishtubist’s breathtaking The Fall of Gods, having “William” be Sherlock’s given name but it not being exotic enough for him, so he goes by Sherlock instead. Makes me wonder what Mycroft’s real first name is. (EDIT: Oh, I see now: Mycroft is his actual name, then Mummy decided to be less dramatic with “William,” but he wanted to be just as dramatic as his big brother, so he decides to go by Sherlock. Adooorable.)


• I can’t tell you how much it moved me to see Sherlock’s “pressure points.” I mean, everybody else has one or two, maybe, but Sherlock has at least five or six, all of which keep scanning through as if Magnussen can’t decide which is jucier.


• I do miss Moriarty. This series has bumped that pairing way higher for me. I’m pleased that it looks like he’s coming back in some manner. I would love if he and Sherlock could actually work together on something for once. But for all that, there are lots and lots of ways to interpret that “Miss me?” video, while keeping Moriarty still dead, which I think is the way they will eventually go. (Having this be the government or a Moriarty henchman or someone else using Moriarty as a puppet, etc.) There are way too many to reliably speculate about, so I’m not going to try (at this time, anyway, ahaha).


• Childhood role models. I adore the Holmes parents. Having the Holmes parents emulate Sherlock and John’s relationship in their clothing and mannerisms (the genius well-dressed one who talks a lot and the more “ordinary” one who supports them) that is now obviously a deliberate choice. So yes, Sherlock does think John’s pretty. :)


• Stayin’ alive by committee. Sherlock keeping himself alive by everyone in his mind palace committee helping him, though? Absolutely precious. I squee every time I hear Molly say, “Gravity’s working for us” or “We need to decide which way you’re going to fall.” Using first-person plural in your own head is very cute. I love that Sherlock’s mind palace is full of everyone in his life he loves and trusts to some degree-Mycroft, John, Molly, Irene, even Anderson. And even Moriarty. Note how profoundly Moriarty has influenced Sherlock’s psyche.


• The similarities between Mary and Anthea. They both appear to be BAMFs who are surprisingly sociable and cheerful when they’re not doing their work. They both chose to choose new names that better reflect who they want to be. Cute.


• Murder... Sherlock kills a man in this episode. Question: do we think this is the first time? Or was he on a post-Reichenbach killing spree? It could go either way for me at this point until I see further evidence. But the fact that he chooses to go there as an option at all makes me think that his post-Reichenbach shenanigans have really influenced him, just in more subtle ways than people were expecting. I mean, look at how he deals with finding the unconscious ex-con white supremicist. “Who cares?” From this I guess that he’s had to deal with lots of life-or-death situations and that he’s met some truly despicable people while in hiding.


• Charles Augustus Magnussen. Lars Mikkelsen, my goodness. Many villains show they’re scary by acting crazy, like meglomaniacs, or being physically intimidating, or both. He does neither: there’s no maniacal laughter or overacting here. He shows his contempt for others with quiet little rape-reminiscent movements that push past the borders of normal social contact and propriety. Your personal space, your home, your food, your body-none of things matter to him because you don’t matter as more than anything but a file, a number. Your suffering is a little light entertainment to him because you’re not the same species (he’s in a species all on his own). Moffat has something to say here about corporate indifference being more of a threat than flat-out insanity, and I think he’s right.


• I love-I adore-they way they did Magnussen’s glasses/mind palace connection. They make it look like he’s reading the whole time, but that’s just his mind palace’s organizational scheme. He literally beats Sherlock at his own game. Brilliant. This is just like the fake “computer code” situations in Reichenbach, leading us to think Magnussen has special glasses. Of course such technology doesn’t exist (um, yet, creepy Google Glass?), but how clever to lead us on. Even Sherlock was fooled by it; he learns nothing from that exchange, but Magnussen ends up adding “Pressure point: Morphine” to his file on Sherlock. Damn, that was great.


• Face flicking. You know Magnussen pushed Sherlock over the edge by deliberately taunting John in such a physical and humiliating way. That’s why I liked Magnussen a lot: his need to not only own but also humiliate. Eating Sherlock’s olive and washing his fingers in Sherlock’s water and urinating in the living room of 221B, oh my God. Could you find a better way to piss Sherlock off? Well, by humiliating John, Sherlock’s BAMF John. It was actually difficult to watch that one. Even Moriarty, who was (is?) probably certifiably insane, allowed Sherlock to have privacy and dignity. I also like the architechture of Magnussen’s Appledore. It’s all twists and turns and snaking around. As always, the set design and choices on this show are breathtaking.


• Mind palaces. Also, did anybody notice that when Magnussen is going through his mental files on Lady Smallwood and then on Mary, he follows the exact same path? Like, they even used the same footage of him perusing the files for the right one. That should have given it away, but it’s hard to keep track of these things on a first viewing.


• (Random White Collar fandom sidenote in case any of you are listening: I SO THOUGHT THAT AIRPLANE WAS GOING TO EXPLODE; WHITE COLLAR, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME.)


• ONE LAST THING: I recently saw the cute animated movie Frozen, which works as a perfect AU for Sherlock and Mycroft’s relationship, and now obsessioniskey on tumblr has done a Sherlockian version of one of the sweetest songs from that-here. Oh my god, I teared up. Both while watching this scene in the movie and while hearing this take on that song. Lovely. EDIT: Um. And of course it’s called Frozenlock.

Ahahaha, this is too long now, good lord. So I will start up a new discussion post for deeper thoughts after this. :)