'His Last Vow' -- Sherlock 3x03

Warning: Spoiler Alert

Yet again, another episode that makes me almost certain that everything that has been happening since the finale of series two has been inside John's mind. The fact that this episode seemed to focus so much on John (and having Sherlock tell him that the psychopaths are the ones that he choses to be around), and that we were shown a dream he was having from when he was in Afghanistan, makes me think even more that he's had a break as a result of his PTSD.

I'm still not sure how I want to headcanon Mary into all of this (who she actually is, I mean). I had originally thought that she might have been a nurse at a VA hospital, or perhaps a therapist that he was seeing, but now that she's turned into a CIA agent (and super assassin) ... I wonder if she might actually have been someone that he knew while he was still in Afghanistan (perhaps an American soldier that he came into contact with at some point). And as far as the flashdrive that had all of her information on it ... I don't see a former CIA agent having incriminating information like that in one (easy to steal) place. It just seems like a stupid move on her part, since it would put her in so much danger if someone managed to nick it from her. But then, if this really is all a psychotic break on John's part, the flashdrive was probably a representation of the part of his mind that really did know (and remember) who she was.

Having Mary be a former killer does bring a new dynamic to the character (and to the show). They could have very easily have kept her being the "little woman," even if she was really good for John (and she was good at making sure that the boys still went out and played with each other every once in a while). The fact that she was someone who was actually pretty dangerous, but who wanted to be with him cuz she loved him may say a bit about her as a person (that she's a bit tired of her old life, maybe?), but it can also mean that the boys have an added bit of muscle if they need it. I will admit, however, that it irked me a bit that Moffat seemed to feel the need to make her a for CIA agent who is able to shoot Sherlock with enough accuracy to make sure that she injured him without killing him, but had him make a comment about her inability to make the "kill shot" when she was shooting a coin that had been thrown in the air. It felt a bit like Moffat's old sexism and a need to make sure that we know that it's possible for girls to be strong and do stuff, but they're still not as good as boys at doing it. It might be that I'm being a little over-sensitive to his portrayal of female characters, but at this point, it's probably like when you build up a tolerance after using something for a long time ... after getting so many female characters (over different fandoms) that I have been at least partially unsatisfied with, I might be even more unsatisfied than I would normally be if there hadn't been a handful of them in a row from him.

I still don't know how they're going to bring back Moriarty, unless they have someone else doing his dirty work now. There was no way that he would have been able to come back after shooting himself in the head, so the only way that I can see right now for them to do something that would make a lick of sense would be if he had someone start up an emergency "If Sherlock manages to survive the pwn I'm about to lay down on him" protocol. I don't know who he would trust enough to make sure to do that for him, since I don't see him putting that video on a timer (one that would have to be reset by him every so often) without knowing that Sherlock and John were being BFFs again. It makes more sense if there was someone there who would have instructions to do some random things to get the ball going ... and what would make it even more fun would be if the person who had the instructions didn't know what they were doing, so they were causing all sorts of damage cuz they were logging into some account somewhere and clicking an ad (or something equally innocuous).

But since I really do think that this is all part of a psychotic break of John's, ultimately, Moriarty is coming back cuz John needs him to be there for some reason ... maybe so he can work out the issues he probably has with Moriarty causing Sherlock's death. So, his return will probably go just as unanswered as Sherlock's.

'The Sign of Three' -- Sherlock 3x02

Warning: Spoiler Alert

Yet another episode that makes my headcanon much more sure that Sherlock is actually dead and part of a delusion of John's. I'm handwaving most everything that happened at the wedding as John imagining what Sherlock would have said if he were involved and supporting it by a very healthy series of flashbacks to times when the two of them had actually been together. And I'm also going to kind of headcanon the fact that he left pretty much as soon as the party portion of the reception started. Sure, that can be explained away as him being awkward around people, but I like the idea more that John didn't need him to be there anymore, since he had so much to occupy his mind once the party really started. I can also almost see John and Mary moving into 221B after they get back from the honeymoon ... if she was as understanding as she seems to be, she might understand that he needed a way to say goodbye that may involve him staying there for a while as he cleaned out Sherlock's things. But that's all crazy imaginings of how much I would love for this twist that is totally going on in my head turning out to be completely true per canon.

As far as the wedding ... when Sherlock was talking about how Dean Thomas the guard had almost gotten killed, and he was asking for audience interaction from the wedding guests, I kind of wanted to smack Lestrad and Tom on the back of the head for not getting what Sherlock was going for. I completely understood what Sherlock wanted from them, and I still kind of don't see how they didn't know that he was trying to get them to say that John was freaking awesome, cuz he was such a good person that his only concern in that moment was to try and help someone who could have died. It was also kind of fabulous that Sherlock didn't understand why everyone was crying to the things that he was saying about John and that John wanted Mary to make sure that he didn't hug Sherlock. I was struck with a serious case of "Oh, boys!!"

This episode only cemented my love of Mary. Like I've said before, I don't normally like it when someone who has a RL relationship with an actor/actress on a show makes an appearance on the show that they're on (cuz it feels too much like a cheat and like they were given the role because of their relationship with the person on the show without having to earn it), but the actress (I think her name is Amanda?) is amazing in the role. Plus, it makes me super happy that she gets on so well with Sherlock (made even more awesome by the fact that he is such an important person in John's life and that he isn't easy to get on with). I kind of get the feeling that they kind of have a brother/sister relationship, and this is the sibling relationship that Sherlock should have had, cuz it's the one that is based on love and affection.

It also only makes me love her more that she knows when Sherlock is lying about how he knows something, and she will have none of it. How awesome it was that she saw through him when he tried to pretend how he knew how to fold napkins, and she wouldn't let him pretend that anything other than "I saw it on YouTube" was what had actually happened. But if that scene had been between Sherlock and Mycroft, it would have been completely different, cuz it would have been the two of them trying to one-up each other in the clever department, and there wouldn't have been the inherent affection that is there between Sherlock and Mary (and the feeling that she just wants him to be honest with her, regardless of what the truth is).

And oh, how I loved that she was working them both to try and make sure that they went out and did something together. She could easily have been one of those chicks who gets all weird about her mister going out with his friends, but I think she realizes just how important they are to each other, and just how good they are for each other.

I am kind of surprised how long it took Sherlock to figure out that the chick who came to them with the case about dating a ghost was hinky. I didn't pick up on the fact that she used John's middle name (even though I thought it was kind of weird for her to use it), only cuz I thought that it might have been mentioned at some point (in a newspaper article, or a blog post, or something), but the moment she mentioned the wedding while they were online together, I instantly had a case of "PAY ATTENTION TO HER, STUPID!!" Yeah, Sherlock was thinking about something else at the time, but the fact that she knew about something that she shouldn't have known about should have caught his attention (cuz, really, who knew about the wedding?).

I would really love to have a scene where John tells Sherlock that he wants him to be the baby's godfather, cuz you know that John is going to want that. It would be kind of amazing to see Sherlock kind of go a bit nutty over the fact that he doesn't want to be the baby's godfather, cuz what does he know about kids? The writers may do a scene somewhat close to what they did for John asking him to be the best man, but I don't see them doing something completely the same (since that would be a bit repetitive at this point).

'The Empty Hearse' -- Sherlock 3x01

This post brought to you by "The Boys are Back" by DKM (much like season three opener of "Spartacus: War of the Damned").

Warning: Spoiler Alert

I'm going to say right off the bat that I do not trust any of the explanations as to how Sherlock survived (up to and including his own). The first two were ones thought up by people who didn't really understand him, and the one he gave had the feeling of being something that he thought that people might think was somewhat logical ... or at least enough so that they would stop asking him questions and let him get on with his life.

Not only that, I don't think that anything that happened in this episode actually happened. I have the feeling that I'm going to headcanon whatever happens in the series from now on (and really starting with the very end of "The Reichenbach Fall") as being inside of John's mind. In my headcanon, he's so torn up by what happened to Sherlock (the one real connection that he's made since coming back from Afghanistan) that he can't handle it. As a result, he's created this fantasy where Sherlock is really alive (the "miracle" that he asked for), and the two of them are out and about solving cases again. Of course, the whole thing with Sherlock letting Anderson videotape his explanation ... I don't see why he would do that. The two of them never really got along (so, I don't see why they would now, despite Anderson now becoming the president of Sherlock's fan club). If he were really going to lay everything out for someone, it would have been John. I would actually have liked to see Anderson rewind the video so that we could see what was really on it (only to find out that there was nothing). And it seemed somewhat significant that after giving the explanation, Sherlock makes a hasty exit as soon as Anderson's back is turned; making me think even more that that scene (at least) didn't happen (since Anderson seemed like he needed to have something that made sense to him, but if too many questions were asked, he might have realized that the story that was told didn't make as much sense as he thought at first).

I'm glad that this episode was spent mostly in getting the boys to make up, and less in the Guy Fawkes mystery that was going on. And even while there's probably only so many ways that they could have taken the story if they were going to use a Guy Fawkes plot to blow up the government, I couldn't help thinking of V for Vendetta and expecting to see V inside of the subway car.

And speaking of the subway car ... the switch on the bomb ... it felt like a rather cheap and anti-climactic way for them to get out of the situation that they were in. If Sherlock had really called the police before they headed out (since we didn't see him do it after they left 221b), why couldn't he have made sure that the bomb squad was also a part of the detail. He was sure that there was going to be a bomb in the subway, and he's supposed to be clever ... so, why not have the people who know how to stop a bomb at hand in case one is found? It isn't as though Lestrade wouldn't have listened to him if he rang and said, "ZOMG! We totes need the bomb squad! Stat!" It just gave me one more reason to headcanon this all as being part of John's "I need a Sherlock shaped miracle."

I kind of loved the fact that Mary liked Sherlock (another thing that makes me want to headcanon the whole thing, seeing as how people don't take to him that quickly ... and it seems like something that John might imagine: giving himself someone to love, who also happened to be keen on the other most important person in his life), and I do have the feeling that he's going to like her as well (if for only that she loves John so much, but also cuz she seems pretty sharp and willing to jump right in with their investigations when it's needed). Normally I don't care for people associate in RL with the actors in the shows I like getting parts on the shows; it feels a bit too much like cheating and not necessarily the best thing for the show itself (like I'm still rather iffy about Seamus Dever's RL wife playing his character's wife on "Castle"), but I rather liked the interactions between Martin Freeman and his RL partner (who played Mary). There was a comfortability there between the two of them that I think was needed for the characters at that moment in time, what with Mark Gatiss (the writer of the episode) trying to show how much of a struggle it still was for John with what had happened to Sherlock, and him having someone who was truly and unconditionally there for him. And then, when I found out that Benedict Cumberbatch's parents played Sherlock's parents, I got a bit more glee out of that scene with them; mostly at the thought of how much fun it must have been for him to do that scene.

Also with the love? The fact that every time that Sherlock got flippant with him in the beginning of the episode, John ended up trying to beat the hell out of him ... and the fact that they ended up scaling down in the eatery that they were in. Oh, boys. Never change.