I predict the following will be revealed in Season 4:
Mary and Irene are aquaintances of some sort.
Archie gets to see his beheadngs and Sherlock may be called upon to help with some naughty behavior that Archie is engaged in.  Remember, Archie helped solve the murder at the wedding, he is a smart kid and a bit demented.  
We get to learn some of why Sherlock says he is a high functioning sociopath.  His own research?  A diagnosis? Why was it a padded cell in a tower Sherlock went to when he had to deal with the pain of being shot?  His parents seem normal (at least his current parents...birth parents?) so we'll get a peek.  Why did his mother give up her career for children?  Who was it that made Mummy cry and why?  
Sherlock will fall off the wagon drug wise and that will lend the path for some of the exposure on Sherlock's past as well as perhaps his sexuality or seeming lack thereof...although when Magnussen is reading his pressure points Sherlock's porn preference is listed as "normal".
I think Sherlock has a cause to rescue, perhaps due to a failure to rescue, perhaps as a child. Perhaps a boy...that stirs his protective feelings towards John.  His femme fatale.  Oh, I also believe that it will revealed that Magnussen was the third brother referred to by Mycroft.  
In his two years in hiding, we will learn some of what did he did, what he set up for the future in case he needs it and did any of it involve Irene?  I think so.
Now, onto Jim.  Jim wears Westwood.  High end shopper.  Wormed his way into St.Barts.  So where would a criminal shop for people willing to do anything to live on high for a brief period?  The terminal ward.  Perhaps Jim shopped for a double there and in fact the man that blew his head off wasn't really Moriarty, just an actor playing the role.  Like they told us while Sherlock and John were confronting Kitty, "he hired me"...Who?  Note that Jim didn't say Sherlock hired me, just "he hired me, he hired me".  Moriarty already sponsored the taxi driver so perhaps that will explain Moriarty's return.  It was a last minute save for Sherlock so I really hope it's not something like his fan club or his brother...but it could be.
Finally, who will die?  Mary.  Possibly Mary and the baby. In the original stories John has a second wife.
I cannot wait to see which of the many Sherlock Holmes stories the next episodes are based on...it's really a lot of fun.  
ps.  If the show needs a volunteer to truss up Sherlock for a "recreational spanking" or such, I am available.  Gratis.  (This post edited by request of the moderator.  I misbehave.)


 

Last edited by 2old2play (July 13, 2014 10:54 pm)