Sherlock episode 2 thread!

[Allthingsprettyreturns]

Who is with me?

I have to admit I wasn't paying great attention at the time, but if Mary (and John) were expecting a guest who may not arrive and had arranged a room (this is what I'm tenuous about) then there is every reason why Mary would know what number he was in. Also, Mary was sitting by John when Sherlock told John that Sholto was the intended victim, so she could have found out quick enough.

Sherlock looked far more childlike in that episode. I'm guessing part of it is make up, but Benedict really does a very good job with his eyes at portraying different "maturities" - I noticed this very clearly in Hounds of Baskerville.

Elephants - are you thinking about the Father Brown story Sign of the Broken Sword?

Huevos - if Mary is a bad'un who has gone deep undercover to help the big bad then not getting Sholto's room number would have blown her cover and it really would not have been worth it as Sholto's murder is not her primary objective and may not even be related to the big bad at all.

That said, while Moffiss/Gattat are taking some liberties with the stories I don't think they would contradict them sufficiently to make Mary an out and out baddie. More likely scenario is that if she is involved then it's in a coerced way.

I watched part of the very first episode of Sherlock on the Alibi channel last night, A Study in Pink. Soooo much better than the current series. Proper suspense, even with me knowing the ending!

At the start of the ep Mrs Hudson was talking about her best friend who cried all through her wedding and then left early "Who leaves a wedding early?" I think Sherlock leaving early was a reference to that.

I also think CAM is an ex of Mary's and she's frightened of him. I can't see her being a baddie.

I'd be surprised if they kill a pregnant woman off.

IF they are taking anything from the Noble Bachelor - the story goes that it's on her wedding day that her husband, whom she previously thought dead, turns up at the wedding and so she goes missing during the Reception.

It would be too delicious a storyline for Gatiss to miss. It's the only story in the Canon which features a wedding. Someone from the past haunting the bride......

Oh and you know when Watson was kidnapped and put in the bonfire? They never got to the bottom of that did they? But that was the point which drew Watson and Sherlock back together. Mary was really gunning for Watson to meet Sherlock again but he refused, then he was kidnapped and Sherlock saved him. What was the motive?

Who did Mary go running to when Watson went missing? How did she know the text was a code?

Sorry to say that I think they do make Mary a bit of a bad 'un, after all they've taken liberty with other characters and Mary was hardly a major player in the books.

Having not read the books, and by no means being a Sherlockian, just picking up on what you all say.... could the mention of 'Cam' in the telegrams be the equivalent of "thought-to-be-dead husband turns up at wedding"?

Well Huevos that would be a big secret wouldn't it? That she had been married before?

All speculation but there is no doubt that Mary has a secret and somehow, at that wedding I think it came to haunt her. I also think that Watson was put in that bonfire for a reason and that hasn't come to light yet.

'Tis intriguing, which is how it should be.

Maybe she has a child with the big evil guy, and he is using this to control her. Or is that a bit too kill bill?

Cliff, yes, that is intriguing about John in the bonfire. I was a bit cross with them because I thought they'd contrived it just to be able to stage an 'exciting' motorbike chase (although it wasn't very exciting at all!), but maybe it actually felt slightly inconsequential because there is more to it, that will be revealed...

"I also think that Watson was put in that bonfire for a reason and that hasn't come to light yet."

Anyway, what are our loose ends?

• who put john in the bonfire?
• who/what is redbeard?
• who is Cam?
• what happened to Mary's family?

Anything else?

I wondered who would pick up on that elephants

Cam surely is Charles Arthur (?) Magnussen?
= baddie!

MILVERTON

Charles Augustus Milverton - the Master Blackmailer. Huevos you sure you haven't read the Canon? You are a GENIUS!

He's Magnussen in this, the beardy Danish guy you all seem to be lusting over
See the trailer :)

Anyway, Cam's telegram seemed significant to Mary, it was "shame you have no family at the wedding" or something, wasn't it?
Bit odd, for a wedding message, hardly necessary, or keeping up the cheery tone.
And she looked upset iirc.

Well that's it then, they are going for the Master Blackmailer.

Whopper.

But in the trailer, CAM and Mycroft seem very very close....

Well in that case I'm definitely plumping for she did her family in as a child. She's got a new identity etc. Or something else, something she's got away with? If they're going to use her to threaten John or Sherlock's life then it'll have to be something incredibly serious they can hold over her. Because, well, you'd just suck it up and go to prison wouldn't you, rather than put someone else in danger?

CAM's obvs got something on Mycroft though hasn't he? We know nuffink about him, he could have done anything. And Sherlock always calls him the man who runs the country.

Could that tie in with "the secret" that all the ladies working for Sholto had? i.e. they were all being blackmailed by CAM?

I found it overly sentimental, I'm not surprised the Dr Who writer is writing this as I found many of the new Dr Who episodes too sentimental with overly complex links and clues from one episode to the next.

Yes, as the parent of totally SH and DrW obsessed DDs I do find the sentimental, clue dropping fanzine feeding style of Mr Moffit very smug, self important and down right irritating.

Both Dr Who and Sherlock should be able to stand up for themselves as single episodes or 2 parters, not as up their own arse semi soaps.

Mr Master Blackmailer who "has something on everyone of importance" is clearly going to have something juicy on Mr British Government.

Maybe he's found himself a goldfish to get emotionally attached to.

Moffat can do it "the girl in the fireplace" was superb.

He needs to resist letting the obsessed teens on Twitter, brought up on HP and Twilight, with their desire to over analyse every angle, getting in the way of strong main stories.

Another possible loose end - did the rest of Lestrade's team actually manage to catch the bank robbers in the act when Sherlock called him away? and if so, did they get a conviction?