the bbc sherlock series by the dr who 'bloke' and starring tim from the office

ruins the series for anyone

idk what this spoiler is yet but lol

Spoiler 1 was a bit obvious and Spoiler 2 was kind of "ah well, okay I guess"

What I mean is the spoiler is REALLY a BFD and affects both episodes from this series in a huge way.

Like if you knew Darth Vader was Luke's father before you saw Star Wars (or A New Hope if you're that way inclined) for the first time. <homerleavesthecinema.gif>

This episode almost made up for the previous two, for me.

still sad that the reveal wasn't that Magnuson was a terminator. the mind palace visualization stuff was a little too obvious after they spent time with Sherlock going through his own.

Was it suggesting that if an individual employed by the police and/or the state was to shoot another individual (albeit one who was a bit creepy and who was blackmailing others), this might be sanctioned by the UK government?

Daily Mail was upset about the programme's left-wing bias, in today's paper.

Is that thing about magnetic swipe cards and smartphones true IRL? Cos I keep them together like that basically.

So the end credits thing: not some swashbuckling Renaissance-period action thing??

http://members.questline.com/Article.aspx?articleID=17783&accountID=1285&nl=10213

this says no to the mag strip thing

Regarding the end spoiler: it was just animated gif, right? (Unless you count the post-credit scene, but I take that was more of a meta gag, not something diegetic.) So it could be anyone behind it, not necessarily the person in the gif? Of course the Rules of Drama would require for it to be him, but OTOH Sherlock has occasionally managed to bend those rules in an interesting way, so I hope they're doing it with this reveal too. (Or at least I'm hoping that, if it really is him, the explanation won't revert to some "identical brother" or "he just faked it" silliness.)

Also, while I mostly enjoyed this episode, I thought the way they defeated Magnussen felt a bit too easy, since the writers' and the actor had done a nice job in making him a memorably icky villain. For a supposed mastermind, he was pretty stupid in revealing the secret of his secret vaults to Sherlock and Watson, right? I mean, after that he was fair game for anyone who wanted him dead; even if he was sure Sherlock and Watson wouldn't kill him, they could've simply tipåed off someone who would be willing to do it, and based on what Magnussen's actions, there probably wouldn't have been a shortage of candidates.

In fact, I was pretty sure the twist at the end was gonna be that Mycroft's men were actually gonna shoot Magnussen, since it seemed Sherlock wanted to make it clear Mycroft would learn his secret by shouting it out loud. But now I don't quite get it: what was the point of Sherlock shouting it, if it wasn't for Mycroft's benefit?

"tipåed" = "tipped"

just watched. enjoyed.

Elliot Gould's Marlowe.

Just sayin...

i agree all of tuomas's objections , which makes me feel weird

well, Magnussen's (*cough* Milverton's) murder in the original story wasn't super-exciting either.

When does this show in the US? I want to talk about it but don't want to spoil

i think it premieres in the us on sunday. i will say i thought this episode was pretty great and the thing at the end i don't think you can (or they would) do w/o it actually being real though i do think their explanation is going to be a cheat for sure judging by how they handled it last time.

I did like how the end was a homage to a scene in Tinker Tailor

Same plane

need mycroft and sherlock to meet in a wimpy

Do we really need to totally avoid spoilers in this thread? People were talking pretty freely about the previous two episodes as soon as they'd aired. Personally I avoid this thread until I've seen the latest episode, I was kinda assuming everyone does the same. Are there people reading this who haven't yet seen "His Final Vow"?

What did the episode title a refer to, btw? What was the "final vow"? In the previous two the title was dropped in the dialogue, but it was less clear in this one... Or did I miss it?

It was from last week - at the wedding he says that thing about how he's never made a vow, and never will again, but he's making this one to protect John and Mary. Or something like like that. Can't remember if he actually says "final vow"

Also one of the final Holmes stories is "His Last Bow" which this ep pulls a few references from (Watson's final lines about an east wind coming, Holmes retiring to be a beekeeper in Sussex Downs)

Is that thing about magnetic swipe cards and smartphones true IRL? Cos I keep them together like that basically.

Don't think it's true but I did wipe a hotel keycard by putting it in my phone case which has a snap-shut magnetic catch, so, any "don't keep your hotel keycard in with your phone" instructions are probably for idiots like me

I'd hope credit cards are more robust than hotel cards which are designed to be wiped and restriped every day or two though but I don't know if that's technically possible

(this is probably not relevant to the show at all, haven't seen this episode yet. so I've also stopped reading several posts ago for spoiler fear)

nah, your phone would throw off a completely different type of radiation, not magnetic. might be a bit of an effect, although I would think sunspots would be about as likely to scramble your card. nice plot device, though.

I'm hoping we see more of Sherlock's homeless understudy

Has anyone noticed that the writers seem to be fond of the same material that's pretty popular on blogs documenting novel or secret architecture? I'd read about both unused train stations and that apartment facade hiding a train ventilation system before.

I dunno, I think of those things as London general knowledge really; I have never knowingly read a blog about novel or secret architecture (though I read the odd architecture blog here and there) and I knew something about both of those.

Actually, I'm not sure if the London one is real, but here's a similar setup in Brooklyn:
http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/brooklyn-vent.html

And here's a guide to possible future episode locales!
http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2005/11/london-topological.html

Ah, here we go, was this the one from the episode? http://www.urban75.org/london/leinster.html

yup.

It's really bugging me where I first heard about those facades, like a few months ago. Wee they in another film or documentary prog on UK telly?

Has anyone noticed that the writers seem to be fond of the same material that's pretty popular on blogs documenting novel or secret architecture? I'd read about both unused train stations and that apartment facade hiding a train ventilation system before.

Yes, I mean, people know about this stuff apart from on blogs but they are a mainstay of a certain set of British blogging

There's also a lot of texting, tweeting and blogging within the show itself. Not sure how I feel about this, seems to work within the show/be used interestingly?

kind of an accepted part of real life these days

i think it's good: partly because it forces you to address certain mechanics about how these things work in your plots (text updates to get Watson out of bonfire, can't keep anything secret cos of Twitter), which in turn forces the writer to consider glib use of plot mechanics, also refreshes the language and visual presentation - total effect is to produce something that is aware and receptive to technology in the world, even if it also means getting it wrong sometimes (in a Scandal in Belgravia persistently referring to a phone that could take photos as a 'camera phone' for instance).

The Leinster Gardens facade i've known since god knows when, tho can't remember where I first heard it. Fairly commonly ref'd as prank played on newly-recruited... fucking finding a gender neutral term for postman is a bastard - I'm going to go for the appropriately 19th C PO term 'letter carriers'. It's mentioned in a few tube histories as well.

I didn't really like the whole swipe card thing because it was Rube Goldberg sort of solution, when the best Sherlock stuff to me hinges on his inhuman ability to observe and recall things. Of course in the original story he doesn't really perform any feats of that kind... they just kind of watch Milverton get his comeuppance and stay out of the way.

I read it as less of him relying on a technical glitch and more his observation of how human nature would make people react to variations on that situation

I think the fact that he's proposing to Janine merely to get into Magnussen's apartment was sufficient Sherlockian antics for the scene, and the swipe card stuff was too gimmicky. The idea that a bunch of security guards will come running because someone unauthorized tries their swipe card on his private elevator is pure silliness. It just wouldn't open the elevator. If Magnussen was that paranoid, he'd station a guard next to the elevator.

One thing bugging me about the episode: How did SPOILER#1 get in the office?

I thought Sher's mom's book on the mathematics of combustion might tie into Watson's burning, but no.

Also, a bit ironic that they seem to be getting their science facts from British rags like Murdoch's tabloids.

One thing bugging me about the episode: How did SPOILER#1 get in the office?

I thought Sher's mom's book on the mathematics of combustion might tie into Watson's burning, but no.

these things bother me less when they're not central generally - but let's say as an assassin her approach wdve been less to deceive Janine than, idk, steal her card and get it copied, maybe (she's dressed in black the in the brightest building in the world) she got in from outside w'out using the lift "somehow".

I thought Sher's mom's book on the mathematics of combustion might tie into Watson's burning, but no.

The mom's book seemed to be a Moriarty reference; in "The Final Problem" Moriarty is a former math professor, and in some other story it's said he's written a book with a similar title. Because of this, some internet folks have speculated that Sherlock's mom was actually behind the final plot twist, and will be the main antagonist for season 4... I guess there are a couple things that support such a theory: during the Christmas dinner scene, we find out Mrs. Holmes is quite protective of Sherlock ("Somebody's put a bullet in my boy, and if I ever find out who, I shall turn absolutely monstrous!"), and the plot twist certainly gets him out of a bad situation.

Spoiler #1 got in through Janine somehow, it's in the dialogue. Sherlock compares notes with her about building a fake relationship just to get in - in the fake house iirc.

One thing that bugs me is the USB stick containing the files on her former life... IIRC they go straight from the fake house to Baker Street, so she must have had the stick with her when she went to the fake house, but why would she? At that point she didn't know she would be exposed. I guess that could be a simple continuity error, but why did she have those files in the first place? If she wanted no one to know about her past, shouldn't she have destroyed them long ago?

Yeah. During the episode I assumed she got it from Magnussen, but the ending means that's unlikely.

Maybe she keeps it with her at all times so she knows where it is?

Maybe Magnussen typed it all out for her in plaintext ASCII for convenience?

Maybe she keeps it with her at all times so she knows where it is?

Maybe, but why would she have that stuff on file in the first place, if she wants no one to find out about the past? What if John had accidentally found the files and taken a peek?

Ahh, that explains everything, Tuomas! She carries it on her everywhere, and to ensure that John will never peek at it, she sets up the entire Magnussen plot so that after an initial interim of tension, John will take a principled stand and refuse to read her files AND destroy the USB drive FOR her. Ingenious! CIA training!