oh God, I just chuckled all the way through your post!

Sherlock needs an upgrade! BRILLIANCE!

I might just love you.

This said, I think things are a bit more complicated than that; yes CAM is indeed disliked and hated but he is still a super powerful media mogul and if he wanted to have something printed, I doubt anybody could stop him; and Sherlock telling everyone it's all in his head - that would just be Sherlock's word against CAM's, and for the same reason as above, I am sure CAM would it really easy to shame Sherlock in front of the world and make him sound like a liar.

SolarSystem wrote:

Bruce Cook wrote:

First Impression #4: We're all going to feel cheated if the Return of Moriarty is just a trick Mycroft used to save money on jet fuel so Sherlock's plane could come right back to airport – and, of course, to save his brother from being sent to the Middle East, the place where tall white guys get beheaded on a regular basis. I know we're all desperately hoping Moffat and Gatiss aren't going to start season 4 with Mike slapping Sherl on the back and saying,  "Just kidding, little bro!  Moriarty is definitely as one with the worms, you might say.  Gotcha on that one, eh?"

Well, I don't know where you got your data from, but I for one certainly won't feel cheated if they reveal it's just a trick. On the contrary, I will feel cheated if they really bring Moriarty back, because IMO he's dead and he should stay dead.

Agree on that too I'm afraid... though I can already see Moffat's face smirking..

He did say at the Q&A last wednesday that dead people keep coming back and that they have a hard time keeping them underground... I think he was implying Moriarty is really alive and the general idea the room got from what he was saying was that.

Also, there was champagne on the plane. You don't want to let him drink that - it was expensive!

Bruce Cook wrote:

Ozma wrote:

I think things are a bit more complicated than that; yes CAM is indeed disliked and hated but he is still a super powerful media mogul and if he wanted to have something printed, I doubt anybody could stop him; and Sherlock telling everyone it's all in his head - that would just be Sherlock's word against CAM's, and for the same reason as above, I am sure CAM would it really easy to shame Sherlock in front of the world and make him sound like a liar.

True . . . all true.  But wait a second -- who would Sherlock really want to believe his claim that Mr. McGoo didn't really have magic glasses connected to a big computer chucked full of nasty secrets?  The general public? No, no, no -- the people Sherlock would want to inform about the true location of Charlies' blackmail info would be his victims, the poor folks who were being blackmailed, all of whom are powerful people who would just love for Charlie to ended up shaking hands in hell with Moriarty (assuming Moriarty is really dead, of course).

Sherlock wouldn't have to shout the news very loud and very long to cause at least one really ticked off victim to employ a few snipers to turn Chuck's data-packed brain into flying goo.

Hmmm. Come to think of it, I did miss the obvious, didn't I?  All Sherlock really needed to do was find out which victims he should quietly go to and let the cat out of the bag concerning Mr. Magnussen's easily demolished Mind Palace.  The powerful people like Mrs. Smallwood would know of Sherlock's reputation and would believe him when he told them how he found out about Magnussen's Achiles Heel.

They've all been assuming that Magnussen had a well-guarded vault filled with hard copies of the data.  For them to suddenly learn that all the incriminating evidence was in his head would be a really nice Christmas present, thank you very much.

Story wise this would allow Magnussen to be around for series 4, perhaps driven into hiding while he plotted revenge on Sherlock.

Anybody besides me like this idea?

yes, he could have. But remember, he was trying to solve Mary's case. And this meant John was involved, and in a really bad way, and Sherlock's emotions nowadays go all over the place when John is involved.

He could have waited and got one of the victims to do what ultimately he himself did, but that would have meant possibly more suffering for John, and he sure as hell wasn't going to allow that (it was his last vow after all...)

He was a victim too, really; so he did it himself.

Makes sense?

I honestly don't think Sherlock had one thought for himself.
He wanted to put an end to the sufferimg of John...and Mary too.

Bruce Cook wrote:

Well, hell -- you got me with that "emotions" thing.  There's no denyin' that Sherlock was definitely not carrying out a well-designed plan when he blew Magnussen's head off right in front of Mycroft and all those guys dressed in cool black outfits, armed with rifles that put those little red dots on your chest and make you pee right on the spot while you wait to eat a bullet.
 
Your suggestion that Sherlock is getting less-and-less like Spock and more-and-more like Kirk (or would it be McCoy – ever mind, I'm getting confused) sounds pretty darn valid.  I guess Magnussen just got too big for his britches and figured he could do anything he wanted.  He expected Sherlock to be cold and logical, an assumption which got him killed.  He thought he was a superior individual and nobody would outsmart him.
 
Hey, he sounds a little like Kahn!  Gosh, this is gettin' spooky!

there you go.

I don't think blowing CAM's head off was completely unplanned, meaning that I don't think Sherlock hadn't thought about it, but it was an extreme solution - and yet one he was more than willing to go for because like Mary, he is prepared to do anything - not to necessarily keep John with him (like Mary), but to avoid him any suffering - a way greater purpose and than just wanting to keep your husband from leaving you - but I digress.

besleybean wrote:

I'm not hundrerd per cent sure if Sherlock planned to kill CAM...but I saw his face when CAM was tormenting John.
Sherlock was gonna stop it and NOW.

I think him insisting for John to bring his gun wasn't a casual thing. And I don't think he wanted it for self-defence, either.

"True . . . all true.  But wait a second -- who would Sherlock really want to believe his claim that Mr. McGoo didn't really have magic glasses connected to a big computer chucked full of nasty secrets?  The general public? No, no, no -- the people Sherlock would want to inform about the true location of Charlies' blackmail info would be his victims, the poor folks who were being blackmailed, all of whom are powerful people who would just love for Charlie to ended up shaking hands in hell with Moriarty (assuming Moriarty is really dead, of course).

Sherlock wouldn't have to shout the news very loud and very long to cause at least one really ticked off victim to employ a few snipers to turn Chuck's data-packed brain into flying goo.

Hmmm. Come to think of it, I did miss the obvious, didn't I?  All Sherlock really needed to do was find out which victims he should quietly go to and let the cat out of the bag concerning Mr. Magnussen's easily demolished Mind Palace.  The powerful people like Mrs. Smallwood would know of Sherlock's reputation and would believe him when he told them how he found out about Magnussen's Achiles Heel.

They've all been assuming that Magnussen had a well-guarded vault filled with hard copies of the data.  For them to suddenly learn that all the incriminating evidence was in his head would be a really nice Christmas present, thank you very much."

If Sherlock had had unlimited time for that, sure.  But his plan to trick CAM with the gps in the laptop failed and Mycroft and the boys were coming for him and John to take them in as traitors.  Sherlock was backed into a corner and his decision to shoot CAM was made when he realized it was the only thing he could do to protect John.

Last edited by tonnaree (January 13, 2014 8:38 pm)

Yes, thinking that Sherlock knew his hands were about to be tied and his opportunities running out sort of pushed him into his decision.  Also, don't forget that the headline of Lady Smallwoods husband commiting suicide that very morning would still be fresh in his mind.  In addition, CAM would be free to move on Mary while Sherlock and John were being processed.  Mary could be dead by the time they talked Mycroft into letting them go, if that was even possible.

Otherwise yes, you make a good case.  Sherlock could quite easily convince someone else to do the deed - it the executioners blade was not hanging over Mary but a thread of intertermable length.

Although, don't forget that CAM was VERY well guarded.  Mary only made it through to him, as did Sherlock and John, because CAM wanted them too.  He needed Sherlock to learn of Mary, in order to start turning the screws.

Mxx

Last edited by Mirthxx (January 13, 2014 9:00 pm)

tonnaree wrote:

Another point.  Sherlock ask CAM how he could black mail people without proof.  CAM replied that he didn't need to prove anything he just needed to publish it.  In modern society this is true.  
You can ruin someone's life by publishing falsehoods about them.  And even if they are eventually proved false your life can never be the same.

yes. And imagine when the stuff you publish *are* true...