I just came across this very interesting meta on Tumbr (from here)

edit: may I just point out this is not mine and I still liked the episode, but I do agree with most of these points.

Would be interesting to hear your throughts guys.


TextHLV rewatch: Continuity/logic. The gloves are off.

Okay, nitty-gritty venting will commence below. Negativity about continuity and logic problems, you have been warned.

On rewatch, I’m so hugely disappointed with this script, and thus, the arc of the season. I wanted to love this so much! And yet. And yet…

Too many smart people in one story.

This was like watching a comic book where the superpowers of the characters were just too powerful…they’ve created an impossible situation where everyone is smarter than everyone else. We’re meant to believe that Sherlock Holmes is the most brilliant man ever. Except for his brother Mycroft. Or maybe Irene Adler. Or Moriarty, because wait, HE’S just as smart as Sherlock. Or, actually, Mary Morstan, who turns out to be an intelligence agent. Except then there’s Charles Augustus Magnussen, who has his own mind palace which apparently puts Sherlock’s to shame. What’s in the water in England, seriously?

With so many ridiculously intelligent people introduced, it makes Sherlock, what… the twelfth smartest person on the show, or something? 

And it causes huge logic problems:

Either Sherlock knows from the beginning that Mary is an intelligence agent AND ASSASSIN and doesn’t tell John (which seems like a HUGE detail to keep from your best friend who’s about to get married), OR Sherlock doesn’t know! He doesn’t figure it out! SHERLOCK HOLMES. Seriously. Are either of these scenarios plausible?
Mycroft, being even smarter than Sherlock, must have known Mary was an assassin. Which makes it even crazier that he didn’t say anything. What could possibly have been his motivation, considering this all led to basically heartbreak and near-death for his beloved little brother?
Once Sherlock returns from his 2 years away, why doesn’t Mary come clean to him straight away? If she knows Sherlock is an actual genius, why try to conceal a secret from him? Is she more intelligent? Because if so, WTF.
Magnussen outsmarted Sherlock, in the endgame…which is, again, Sherlock being outsmarted, if in fact Mary managed to do it. (And unfortunately, we didn’t really get enough time to see how brilliant Magnussen was. I wish he’d been more fleshed out.) His mental mind palace filing cabinet was interesting but again, how many sneaky genius-level people can we fit into the script?

Mary shooting Sherlock:

I’m sorry, someone really needs to explain this to me, because in hindsight (and on a second rewatch), it makes no logical sense whatsoever.

A trained crack shot extraordinaire assassin is in a room with 1) the man who is blackmailing her, and 2) Sherlock Holmes, who happens to be her husband’s best friend. And she shoots Sherlock. WHY? 

"Shoot Sherlock for Magnussen’s benefit" makes no sense. In that case, kill Magnussen. He’s unarmed and on his knees. He will remember nothing as soon as you pull the trigger.
"Shoot Sherlock because John will be a suspect if you kill Magnussen" ALSO MAKES NO SENSE, and it’s Mary’s actual reason for doing it. Think about it: Even if she shoots Magnussen and John IS a suspect, SHERLOCK HOLMES IS IN THE ROOM and can prove to the police in a matter of seconds that John Watson didn’t do it. THAT IS WHAT SHERLOCK DOES. I’ve seen him. I’VE READ THE BOOKS.
Then we’re left with the fact that, as a crack shot who can shoot a hole in a fucking coin, Mary looked like she had ample time to shoot both Magnussen and Sherlock before escaping. There is actually no reason I can think of that she would ever leave Magnussen alive, especially if she was there to kill him in the first place. Leaving him alive gives him even more dirt, because hey, he has info that she tried to murder him! Mary, are you an idiot, a drunk, or a criminal?
…all of which makes it even more baffling that Sherlock argues that Mary tried to save his life. (When he did, in fact, flatline.)

How powerful is Mycroft anyway?

He can run CCTVs, he IS the British Government, he’s the one man Magnussen wants, he’s basically Mr. Influence, and… he has to send his brother out into the field on a 6-month death mission, there’s really no other choice? What would be really cool would be if he’d orchestrated all the Moriarty TV so that he could bring Sherlock home, but… would the writers actually do that? I’m starting to think they wouldn’t be so clever.

How much time passed in this episode?

What happened after Sherlock got shot and John referred to “months of silence” with Mary? Did John move out? Why don’t we see any of that? Because if he moved out, that’s a big fucking deal, and if he lived with her without speaking to her for months, that’s also a big fucking deal.

But mostly, what was disappointing in HLV was that I felt manipulated. The music swelled up SO dramatically during all the intense, hushed conversations, and I felt like I was being told what to feel even though the actual script never answered my questions. I mean, crank up the violin strings and I will start to cry, but at the end I felt like the stakes and the drama and emotion in this episode were manufactured rather than grounded in anything that made sense.

What I love about the original Sherlock Holmes is that he is extraordinary in an ordinary setting. And when John asked in HLV, “Is EVERYONE here a psychopath?” I think that was a very valid question. No, John. Not everyone was originally a psychopath. I think we must be at least two or three psychopaths over our quota.

Last edited by Ozma (January 15, 2014 2:06 pm)

It has been this way several times. "Explanation" in the next episode.

yes maybe there is even MORE about Mary that we don't know yet...there's really a point in that tumblr post you posted with why didn't Mary shoot CAM right in his office but instead shot sherlock and then left...I was wondering about that aswell after watching the episode again...it doesn't really makes much sense to me.

Last edited by Mali (January 15, 2014 2:23 pm)

I agree with you that we are not done. Not sure if it will be a long time or not...but we're not done.

silverblaze, I agree. Mycroft as deus ex machina simply isn't good plotting. Why would Sherlock & Co get into so many difficulties in the first place, if powerful Mycroft can fix everything anyway.

mrshouse wrote:

...This is not marys show, this is not soapy-little-watson-family-changing -the- nappies- and- breastfeeding. Wonder how this will be solved.

Rest assured that it will be in the most painful way possible 
 

mrshouse wrote:

So if Mary is the cool assasin and fulfilling johns need for both normal family life AND adrenaline, where does sherlock fit in?

That's my biggest issue with her, too. I like her and I liked her plot , I have never seen something like that before on tv!, but I just see no future with her anymore. She's too much like Sherlock.  But I think we have to trust Moftiss that they'll deal with it in an interesting way. It's a challenge, but it can be absolutely stunning. Imagine how great the payoff will be, if they build up such a problem and solve it somehow.

(Just a half-disconnected thought, but I wonder, if tumblr will  melt, if Mary dies in childbirth and John and Sherlock raise a child practically together......... I'm sure the hiatus will produce tons of fanfiction like that.)

Last edited by Hera (January 16, 2014 12:38 pm)

Hera wrote:

mrshouse wrote:

So if Mary is the cool assasin and fulfilling johns need for both normal family life AND adrenaline, where does sherlock fit in?

That's my biggest issue with her, too. I like her and I liked her plot , I have never seen something like that before on tv!, but I just see no future with her anymore. She's too much like Sherlock.  But I think we have to trust Moftiss that they'll deal with it in an interesting way. It's a challenge, but it can be absolutely stunning. Imagine how great the payoff will be, if they build up such a problem and solve it somehow.

(Just a half-disconnected thought, but I wonder, if tumblr will  melt, if Mary dies in childbirth and John and Sherlock raise a child practically together......... I'm sure the hiatus will produce tons of fanfiction like that.)

I don't think she is interested in runing around solving cases with John and Sherlock. She gave up that life years ago (five at least) and the only reason why she came back in action is because Magnussen theatened her. But she understands John's and Sherlock's need for adrenaline and she won't complain or try to stop John from working with Sherlock. She might even help once in a while. So I don't have problems with her staying around. What really worries me is the baby. John would probably think twice about risking his life if there is a baby. So the baby has to go  I feel like a psycopath saying this but the baby really needs to go.

Mrs. Watson wrote:

Hera wrote:

mrshouse wrote:

So if Mary is the cool assasin and fulfilling johns need for both normal family life AND adrenaline, where does sherlock fit in?

That's my biggest issue with her, too. I like her and I liked her plot , I have never seen something like that before on tv!, but I just see no future with her anymore. She's too much like Sherlock.  But I think we have to trust Moftiss that they'll deal with it in an interesting way. It's a challenge, but it can be absolutely stunning. Imagine how great the payoff will be, if they build up such a problem and solve it somehow.

(Just a half-disconnected thought, but I wonder, if tumblr will  melt, if Mary dies in childbirth and John and Sherlock raise a child practically together......... I'm sure the hiatus will produce tons of fanfiction like that.)

I don't think she is interested in runing around solving cases with John and Sherlock. She gave up that life years ago (five at least) and the only reason why she came back in action is because Magnussen theatened her. But she understands John's and Sherlock's need for adrenaline and she won't complain or try to stop John from working with Sherlock. She might even help once in a while. So I don't have problems with her staying around. What really worries me is the baby. John would probably think twice about risking his life if there is a baby. So the baby has to go  I feel like a psycopath saying this but the baby really needs to go.

It could be a psychological thing. John knows who Mary is now (well, not exactly, but it's enough, I guess), so his need for adventure is already partially fulfilled with her just being there doing nothing at all.   But that's just my take on things, from what I know now at the end of series 3. It could be entirely different after watching five minutes of series 4.

I suppose all options are open; although they do not have to resolve the Mary issue for some time. She could spend the next five years  at home looking after the baby and become a minor character like Donovan or Anderson.
Can't see another story based on keeping her past secret; they have already done that.  
And I think any attempt to turn the programme into Team Sherlock/John/Mary would defeat the whole point of the show. It would no longer be Sherlock.