The whoe bomb thing was totaly over the top and unecessary imo.

Appart from the fact that there is no way such a device could have been created and installed totaly unnoticed, it portrayed Sherlock in a way I simply cannot believe he would act.

Then to have countdown timers on a remotely detonated bomb and an on/off switch....come on!!!!

I have another theory.......anybody remember Bobby Ewing in the Shower?  Can't wait for series 4

For those of you too young to remember, the Bobby Ewing / shower reference is from an 80's soap called Dallas.

The Bobby character had been killed at the end of series 7. Series 8 started with him in the shower.

The whole of series 7 was wiped out by 'convincing' viewers that everything that happend throughout s7, every episode, was just his wifes dream.

If s4 starts with a shot of Mary asleep in bed be prepared!!!

shylock wrote:

The whoe bomb thing was totaly over the top and unecessary imo.

Appart from the fact that there is no way such a device could have been created and installed totaly unnoticed, it portrayed Sherlock in a way I simply cannot believe he would act.

Then to have countdown timers on a remotely detonated bomb and an on/off switch....come on!!!!

I have another theory.......anybody remember Bobby Ewing in the Shower? Can't wait for series 4

The bomb is a device for John and Sherlock's makeup scene, which I wasn't crazy about. 

I just can't get over the fact that Sherlock manipulates John into forgiving him  BY MAKING JOHN THINK THEY ARE GOING TO DIE.

Doesn't that seem like, once John knows, it should be something MORE to hold against Sherlock... shouldn't he be madder still after that...and yet, after that, things seem to be better between them?

Also, I've read a lot of mystery fiction where two people with unresolved sexual tension snark, argue, and say inane things to dance around their issues, until some brush with death forces them to spill their true feelings. So that whole "making up when you have minutes to live" thing felt very cliche and deja vu to me. I know that people (including on this forum) have criticized the unrealism of Watson, in canon, forgiving Holmes so easily..but given that it WAS canon, I would have preferred this series stuck to that.

There is a certain irony about John's assumption that Sherlock can dismantle the bomb: he asked for the miracle of Sherlock not being dead. Once that came true, he was unwilling to believe there was ANY miracle Sherlock couldn't pull off.

You know something, Moriarty in his story wasn't too far off in portraying Sherlock's true nature. If there hadn't happened to be a Moriarty, I think Sherlock would have been capable of inventing one.

 

Why would there be a working third rail in a tunnel that's not used? Makes absolutely no sense-- that and the tunnel being lit.

I felt bad for John after the I-forgive-you thing. When he realized he'd been tricked, I think he should have bitch slapped the bastard. And for Sherlock to stand there laughing, too. There was always that live third rail-- John could have pushed him out the door and right on top of it. Oops!

What was the original question? Oh, the on off switch. Please. It even looked like something someone rigged up in an 8th grade science fair project. I didn't buy it, but as I can see from everyone's comments, there was a lot about that whole bit that most of us didn't buy.

When I saw this episode, I thought that Sherlock was telling the truth about not knowing how to diffuse the bomb. When the bomb did not explode, he realized that he must have switched off the bomb by luck while he was frantically grasping at the bomb. I interpreted his laughter as a mixture of relief and amusement the off switch.
The concept of a disguised off switch makes more sense to me anyway. The bomber knows where it is in case he or she needs it, but bomb squad people are not likely to find in time.

As an aside... While my friends and I were watching them freaking out over the bomb, I shouted at the screen, "Look for the off switch!" as a joke. I watch too many animated spoof spy/secret agent shows, which love to joke about off switches and self-destruct buttons on doomsday devices. When it turned out there was a switch, my friends did not realize I had been joking and just thought that I was really smart.

Thank you.
I'm glad other people are also giving Sherlock the benefit of the doubt here.
In Baskerville Sherlock locked John in the lab (a supremely d----ish move), but it was clear that he did not relish it or find it amusing. Sherlock is often willing to terrorize or abuse people for the sake of a case, and I have no trouble imagining him fooling John into thinking they were dying if he thought that would somehow solve a case more quickly. I do have a lot of trouble imagining Sherlock being straight-up sadistic. He may be a narcissist, but he's not a psychopath.

In general I was disappointed with the reunion anyway and if I've one hope for season 4 it's that at some stage someone will sit John down and tell him that one of the reasons Sherlock did what he did was to protect him.
Likewise I'd like to see him acknowledge the potential sacrifice Sherlock made for his and Mary's happiness,
But back on topic - I thought the off switch thing was a bit of a lame way to repair the friendship.

I actually think that the whole thing was planned by Sherlock right from the start - that would explain why he told John not to get the police involved when he really had already informed them, as we later find out. It would also explain his really frantic and over-the-top behaviour and his inability to use his mind palace.

It makes total sense to me, in a twisted way. Neither Sherlock nor John are good with dealing with emotions, Sherlock just cannot bring himself to admit that he really screwed up and that what he did was absolutely horrible, and that he is geniunely sorry. At the same time John wants to forgive Sherlock but he neither can do it easily nor does he want to. They both want to get over this, but just don't know how. So by setting this whole thing up, Sherlock gives John the chance to say the things that he wouldn't want to say otherwise, out of pride and and because of all the pain that Sherlock made him go through. Sherlock, on the other hand, sees his only way to express his feelings by pretending afterwards that it was just an act, when it really wasn't. The things he said there - 'Please, John, forgive me for all the hurt that I caused you' - I think this is what was really going through his mind. He was aware of how much he'd hurt John and he was so scared that John would never forgive him. The look on his face when John says the he forgives him (the exact picture that I am currently using as my signature), that wasn't an act. That was genuine. And when he laughs, I don't think that he laughs at John. I think this is simply relief because John forgives him.

I'm not good at phrasing things, so I'm not sure if it's understandable what I'm trying to say. I think Sherlock did set up the whole thing but that the emotions behind that were genuine.
Or, to say it with Irene's words: a disguise is always a self-portrait.

Last edited by Lily (February 1, 2014 12:55 am)

Lily

I think you are very good at phrasing things!

Sadly of course, it is all too easy to make a bomb...