I know, I have suspected the writers, to possibly make it up, as they go along, but I also said, that we might see some things with different eyes after season 4. And if we really can place Mary in TRF, it shows, there IS apparently a continuing story arc. And I think, we can place her in that street scene in TRF, since same hair colour, combed back hair, bare shoulders, same figure, brown shoulder strap on the right shoulder, are just too many matching points for this being a coincidence, especially, since she's in the same frame as John.

This might be shattering for those, who still believe, Mary has cleaned up her act after her identity change, and learned to know John as a part time nurse. Maybe, John did, but certainly not Mary!
So, we know, Mary is an assassin and a crack shot. Now, where do we have an overflow, a whole bunch of those guys? Yes, in TRF! When I looked at CAM's 'files' of Mary again, I noticed, that those pictures of Mary, he has stored in his mind palace, look a lot like the pictures, Mycroft gave John, when he informs him about all the killers, who moved into his neighborhood. Now, what has CAM got? A coloured and a black and white photo. Let's start with the coloured first: We see Mary with combed back hair, bare shoulders and a  kind of brown strap on her right shoulder... and Cam's shuckling, how wicked she is. I decided to have a look at TRF again, and see, if I could find Mary in context with the assassin subplot (which never made a whole lot of sense to me, without further facts to come forward, to be honest).
When John arrives at 221b Bakerstreet, after he had his talk with Mycroft, the camera scans quite a few people, who are with John on the street at that moment: Is Mary amongst them? Yes, I think, she is... and in the same frame as John for about 2 seconds! Go to 0:31:09, and you see a woman crossing John's path, with blond bleached hair, size 12 (lol! that's Sherlock's measurement of Mary, not mine), bare shoulders, a nude tank top, and a bag with brown shoulder straps of the same colour and width as in CAM's picture! We see only her back and are thrown off the scent a bit by the fact, that she has a pony tail,but the hair colour is Mary's shade of blonde. I'm sure, it's her.... right with John at Baker street! In Cam's picture, it could well be a pony tail, instead of this combed back bob, she sports now. And before anyone says, she might just have been strolling around innocently, let's take a look at the black and white picture, CAM also has in his mind palace: I

This review is certainly over the top (especially the part about series 3 changing her live!), and she missed many subtler hints , but IMO she has some valid points. For example, I thought, it was a terrible idea to completely change the 'flavour' of Mrs. Hudson's character. Some things are better left unknown. That's a minor point, though, but she addresses bigger plot holes as well. The longer you think about the reasons, Mary shot Sherlock, the less it makes sense. Maybe, we will see this with different eyes after season 4, but increasingly, I harbour the suspicion, that all sorts of clues and hints and suggestive dialogs are thrown in, which keep us busy, but they are really making it up, as they go along. As our board member The Doctor said, I find it chilling, that the makers admitted, that they made TRF too early.
Whoever is interested, might like to read the review in GQ couk. The reviewer makes a convincing argument, why the digital revival of Moriarty was really a bad artistic move, since it can only end in disappointment. Either, he's really alive with all sorts of credibility problems in toe, or he isn't, which makes it a cheap sensationalistic cliffhanger. Mind you, there's still the chance, that they come up with a very good explanation, one way or the other, but it's worthwhile to follow the links, given in that article. Moffat apparently has a well documented tendency to build up big expectations with many tantalyzing hints thrown in, only to come up with a very unsatisfying solution, or deliver none at all.

Sherlock thinking is much sexier than Sherlock having sex, lol!

Agree, Willow. I wrote on the other thread, that Mary might well turn out to be Sherlock's great brilliant (though not necessarily villainous) adversary in the next season, even, if they seem to toe the line together atm.

besleybean wrote:

Mycroft?

He's one candidate, but I'm not a friend of always having Mycroft as deus ex machina, when something happens, that can't be easily explained. Though he certainly wouldn't want Sherlock on a suicide mission.

IMO, Mary is no doctor's wife material, but she has everything, it takes, to be a brilliant adversary of Sherlock. I'm deliberately not saying villain, but adversary. And she might be more dangerous than Moriarty and CAM together, because she's acting out of love, not hatred. Oh, it was a brilliant move to make her pregnant, and we go all squishy on her! But there's no way, she was just a part time nurse the last couple of years. She's still a crack shot, she still can climb skyscrapers. That kind of thing needs practice and being in shape. A pregnant part time nurse couldn't do that.

I do get, though, that, if you are in 'squee' mode, you want to share those feelings and rather not face mood dampeners.
Maybe, there should be a 'squee and rant corner' , where everybody can starts threads for likeminded posters, like "I love Mary", "I'm sooo into Anderson" , "I hope, HLV was only a bad dream', etc.....
Everybody, who doesn't share those sentiments, can stay away from those threads...
Just a suggestion

I don't get that, Susi. Just as an example: If someone starts a thread about, what worked in season 3, I should be allowed to disagree. If I start a thread about what didn't work, I should be prepared to face disagreement, as I would. And I would respect different views. It happened actually: Hanka opened a thread about how she disiked HLV. The majority of answers came from people, who liked HLV. Should they have respected the negativity of that thread? Should this thread have been reserved for posters, who agreed with Hanka? I don't think so.

@The Doctor (11:42),  I agree with most of what you said.
Let me start with this: I've always have been a fervent advocat of a polite tone and being respectful towards everybody. Each opinion counts, and tastes are wildly different. As are our head canons. But I don't get the argument "why go to a fan forum, if you don't like the show'. That argument only cuts, if you never liked the show to begin with. Then, indeed, why come here? But those of us, who disliked a lot about season 3, and voice that criticism, are here because we care for the show and want it to succeed in the future (though there is certainly no danger right now). Why should criticism of Mofftiss be off limits? It's their show, and they can take it , where ever they want, but why should the minority of us, who didn't like the directiion, the show has taken, be silent? And believe me, there are many people out there, who didn't like season 3. Most of them just don't post here.I just had a long phone conversation with my son, who, together with his friends and room mates used to be a more than casul fan of 'Sherlock'. He basically said, that it's still better than most tv shows, but that he and his friends saw a steep decline in comparison to the previous seasons, and didn't like the change from a detective show to a show about a detective.  And he blamed it on the superstar status of the show. I know, it's an unpopular opinion, but why shouldn't we voice our disappointment? We are disappointed, BECAUSE we are great fans of the show. And criticism doesn't imply, we don't respect the opinion of those, who liked most of season 3. That would be arrogant indeed. As I said, tastes are different.
As to the heated moral discussions: Personally, I think, they are great. If a tv show inspires these kind of discussions, it's certainly not pop corn tv. The makers must've done something right. Maybe, they even wanted to inspire discussions about moral values. The discussions should stay respecful, of course. And