tobeornot221b wrote:

Having rewatched Reichenbach several times now (you really don't want to know how many times exactly! ) the hardest thing to bear is that I feel so sorry for John.

In addition to his grief about the loss of his best friend there has to be some sort of feeling of guilt.
Remember that his last words to Sherlock in the lab before leaving for Mrs. Hudson were:
"Friends protect people."
Due to the imminent events the worst thing he could possibly have said.
He must ask himself after the fall: "If I had been there – could I possibly have saved Sherlock like I did the other day?"

In his context I understand his "I'm angry." at the cemetery.
Yes, it's not in the sense Mrs Hudson explained HER being angry with Sherlock (though her complaints about Sherlock's bad manners like the marks-on-the-table thing certainly are her way to come to terms with her grief, I think!). John's angry because Sherlock left him no chance to save him.
Grief plus feelings of guilt: The worst combination. Poor John. I so feel for him.
(Even worse: All that will turn out in the end as having been totally unnecessary…)

I find your thoughts here very interesting. I have watched my favorite parts of TRF about 15 times, no lie, and I've watched the entire episode through about 5. I just ordered the DVDs-- decided to stop fooling around, pay the 40ish bucks for the two seasons from amazon, and just do it, lol.

Yes, John. God love him. What a mess. And IMO Sherlock knew what he was doing to him, and felt it had to be done. Standing up on the roof edge, tears streaming and dripping, face twisted up, "I'm a fake. Tell everyone who will listen...." Poor John couldn't say much besides, "No!" and, "What?" So helpless. And then the final, "SHERLOCK!", watching his friend fall to his death right before his helpless eyes. Terrible. The writer(s) of the show couldn't have dragged the fans over the coals any more thoroughly, could they.

If John thinks he's "angry" about Sherlock doing what he did, wait'll he looks up one day and the man is standing in front of him! Whoa, mama....  I don't know what the writers have planned for them, but I know John is one tough son of a bitch (they both are), and I don't think it's going to be pretty. Or easy. And why should it be? Look what that f-ing Moriarty forced Sherlock to do, to both of them! 

John is going through hell, and he's lonely and pissed off and feeling helpless (men hate feeling helpless, even on a good day). I hope he's not feeling guilty-- I mean, what the hell could he have done to change anything? He knows Sherlock is his own man, his own country, and Sherlock will do (and say and be) what Sherlock will do (and say and be), no matter what. He is what he is, and as he said, "I can't just turn it on and off like a tap, you know." Sherlock sent John away that day, needed him to be busy and distracted and somewhere else while he did what he had to, and John couldn't have known what was going down-- nothing to feel guilty about. I do realize that guilt can be an irrational emotion, not based on truth or actual events, but even still-- what could he have done, when Sherlock didn't want him there?

<<<Grief plus feelings of guilt: The worst combination>>>  Especially mixed with regret. Awful.

Lord, I love this episode. So much hurt.... but I'm gobsmacked that we have to wait another year for the comfort we (and John and Sherlock and Mrs. Hudson and Lestrade and Molly) need so bad.

Fetchinketch wrote:

What I find interesting, on my rewatching, is that there is practically nothing in the episode that I want to fast-forward through.  I've watched the entire episode at least 10 times.  Of course, I'll replay the best scenes...

Yes, John will be angry when Sherlock returns...that vein in his forehead will surely pop this time!   

I FF over that scene where Kitty meets up with Sherlock in the men's. I love certain lines in that scene (the two kinds of fans thing, for instance), but for some reason, having seen it through 3 or 4 times, that was enough.

I can never see the whole thing in Kitty's apartment often enough. Moriarty on the throne, "No rush." The "note" phone call with John on the rooftop. The cemetery scene, "One more miracle, Sherlock, for me. Don't. Be. Dead. Just stop it...stop this." Preparing to go out to the police car for the ride to court, trotting down the stairs together, and then in the car, "Intelligent, fine, but let's give smartass a wide berth....are you listening to me?" And later, "What did I say? I said don't get clever."  The bit where John pops the police inspector in the nose for calling Sherlock a weirdo and a vigilante. Oh, and the humorous bits in the beginning, when S is being such a little dick about receiving the gifts from his grateful public. And putting on the deerstalker hat, "Just get it over with...." And the scene back at 221B, with Sherlock accosting the hat, "What is it? Why does it have two fronts? Is it a death frisbee? It has ear flaps, it's an ear hat, John!"  Bachelor John Watson. CONFIRMED bachelor John Watson. "What in hell are they implying?"   lolololol

Last edited by ancientsgate (July 10, 2012 1:20 pm)

Davina wrote:

A deerslayer hat sounds so violent!

"It has ear flaps! It's an ear hat, John!"   Or a death frisbee, lololol

Davina wrote:

You did mean deerstalker though didn't you? Lol.

Yep. Typo. Went back and fixed it for posterity there in that post.

If I watch it on TV, I cry when there are ad breaks.
Does that count?

KeepersPrice wrote:

Sherlock Holmes wrote:

I often fast forward the parts with John at the psychiatrist...makes me want to cry!

Noooo SH.....that's one of the best parts!  It takes us all the way back to the beginning when he looked so sad and haunted when we first met him in series 1.  It's where so many of the "feels" come from.  We gotta have the feels!

You enjoy the feels? You're a sadist!

What kills me too, is John. Rewatched it tonight for the second time (hey, I've only been a fan a week and a half) and that scene with his therapist - shit, I was a mess before the opening titles started rolling...I then blubbed like a fool as John sat gazing at Sherlock's empty chair and then at his grave. I did watch everything so much closer this time especially the last 20 mins trying to gleen clues from Sherlock and what he was planning.

Not sure where to add this comment but - Sherlock acts too "dumb" on the rooftop when talking to Moriarty right up until he starts laughing and then steps off the ledge - then it's like having the true Sherloc back... Damn the writers, we need to know every detail of that plan in ep 1 of series 3 or I shall implode.

Well, I liked that they didn't make it a "is he or isn't he dead?" cliffhanger, because really...even those who didn't read the stories would be thinking "eh, he's not dead".  Instead, they made it a "how did he survive?" cliffhanger, which I think was way more awesome.  Lots of debate, opinions and rewatching involved with that

I was so swept up in the excitement of it all that I really wasn't sad at all...I was just immediately preoccupied by how he did it, even before we saw him at the end.  I've always enjoyed these types of "set-up fugitive" stories (The Fugitive is one of my favorites XD), so I was just loving the whole thing.

Just rewatched it tonight for the fifth time... the end was all blurry cause I was looking through my tears...