Wholocked, I brought this point up, because Anderson seems to assume, that Moriarty is dead (as I do as well). But you are right, what exactly happened to his body, might be worth a new thread. I think, it's worth speculating about. I guess, many people assumed him to be in Sherlock's grave, but if we go by what Sherlock told Anderson, then this Sherlock lookalike should have been probably buried for him.

Mattlocked, they explained it thrice, and called the most plausible, albeit flawed one into question with Anderson's and their own remarks after the airing. And there are so many loose ends, that you could make a paint brush out of them all. That's not proper explaining, at least IMO. But again, it's a matter of taste, some loathe it, others think, it's brilliant.

I liked the kiss and the hair ruffle, too! But it was Anderson's theory, which makes it doubtful... Is Anderson secretly in love with Molly, and his subconscious played him a trick?
On a more serious note: to put all Moriarty return theories to bed, has there ever been a public acknowledgement, that Moriarty's body has been found and that he is dead? Anderson fantasizes about a mask on Moriarty's dead body. Does that mean, he knows about Moriarty being dead? If so, where did his body end up in the end? It cannot have been on the roof, because then Anderson wouldn't speculate, that Moriarty's body had been used. Or has Anderson gone completely gaga? Or Mofftiss didn't think this through and just wanted their gag, which was a good one, btw.

jacco111, unfortunately, they don't have to give us a clear cut answer. If they decide, they like it that way, it's their artistic decision. That doesn't mean, we have to like it, though. Maybe, this discussion is more fruitful, when we have seen all new episodes.

besleybean, though I also thought, that the place was weird, I took it the same way as you. That it was time to tell the truth. I really can't make up my mind, if that was it, or if something more will transpire. The scene at the end seemed to indicate, that eventually, Sherlock will tell more to John. A lot of theory 3 is plausible, but there are elements in it, which are just too weird, but if I knew, that was it, I'd just move on, as others have done

Mrs.Wenceslas, I agree. That's the most jarring part of theory No 3. Even, if i let the need for an extra body on the pavement slide, the existence of a believable double, who winds up conveniently in Molly's morgue, is just too much. And think about it: even, if such a doppelgänger existed and was willing to do some stage work for Moriarty, and was killed after frightening the little girl, wouldn't Moriarty destroy this body? This would be exactly the kind of evidence, which would clear Sherlock from the suspicion of having been involved in the kidnapping, and Moriarty knew, that Molly was very familiar with Sherlock. She would recognize the similarity, too, especially, since the suspicion of Sherlock was out there. Masks can be very realistic, btw. We've seen one  on Moriarty at the beginning of TEH. Was pretty good, wasn't it? And a man, wearing a Sherlock mask, would only have to show himself briefly, maybe in darkish light, to frighten the girl.

silverblaze, this line of Mycroft and the way, he looked at John convinced me early on, that Mycroft was in from the very beginning. He knew, what was coming and felt very sorry for John. and he kept tabs on him all the time. He could tell Sherlock right away, where he could find John..At least the part of Mycroft's involvement in theory 3 is probably true.
silverblaze, I kind of expected, that the new episode wouldn't clear up everything. It was too good a cliffhanger, lol! I didn't expect, that some of us might start all over debating again. And this might go on for a while. Next episode probably won't bring much more clarity. I've read a spoiler free review, and it says, the next episode will be a fluffy piece of wedding cake, with crime solving being postponed for at least 40 minutes into the episode. The review said, it is a lot fun with some great punchlines, but I wish, they would go back to their crime solving best with some gravitas. Moriarty might be dead, but there are still other baddies out there. I really hope, 'Sherlock' doesn't go down the comedy alley completely.

I believe, Sherlock wanted to 'die' (pretend to be dead) all along, because he told Molly so in TRF. Molly asks Sherlock in that very touching laboratory scene, if he is alright, and that he is always looking sad, when he thinks, John cannot see him. Sherlock admitts after denying it first, that he is not alright, and then says: 'Molly, I'm going to die'. Her answer is (strangely, I think): 'What do you need?'. At that point, Sherlock couldn't know at all, what Moriarty had in store for him on the rooftop, but he was already sad, because he might not see Sherlock for a while, or knew, that he was going to make him sad. And remember, Mycroft also feels sorry for John, when they meet in his club, before the whole plan of Moriarty materialized. He says: 'I'm sorry" to John in a very emotional way. We all thought back then, he was apologizing for his blunder, but we now know, there was no blunder. He was feeling sorry for John, because of what was in store for him: Losing Sherlock at least for a while. So, yes, I think most of the other plans of Mycroft and Sherlock involved pretending to be dead, too. Because that way, he could operate undercover against Moriarty's net.

stayin alive, I don't share your optimism re: Moriarty's eventual comeback, but you've got a few points: My biggest gripe with ALL theories was always, that Moriarty had to be dead or out of the way somehow. What, if he hadn't killed himself obligingly? Do we really think, he wouldn't have taken a look after Sherlock jumped? Did Mycroft's people plan to take him down? What then? Many fans believed, that Sherlock had planned all along to talk Moriarty into committing suicide. I'm glad, that the writers didn't go down that alley and shut the door on that theory, by having Sherlock say, that he didn't know about Moriarty's suicidal state of mind, even if there might have been a lingering death wish. I won't go into detail here, because it opens up a whole new can of worms, and most people don't want to discuss TRF anymore in debth. But it may well be, that the version, Sherlock told Anderson, is intended to be an 'official' or 'understood to be true' version for a while. An important clue may be, that it was taped. Such a version has to be at least semi plausible and cover some ground. But who knows, what Mofftiss have in mind for future episodes or seasons. But if there is more to the jump than we were told so far, we will certainly get a hint at the end of this season. If such a hint won't be given, I will believe in theory No 3, however flawed it may be.

Mattlocked, I agree, if they come up with a cliff hanger of epic proportions, they should know, what was coming in the age of the world wide web and technically unlimited viewing possibilities. But do you agree, that the whole thing would've been much less effective, if they hadn't shown us the actual crash of the body?