BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » Was Cam Sherlock's First Kill?

SpiralStaircase · January 24, 2014 11:18 am

I've seen that there is a thread for Sherlock shooting Cam but my question is slightly different. I hope it's Ok making it a new topic.

Was Cam Sherlock's very first kill or has Sherlock killed before? I was thinking about his two year hiatus and wondered whether he was forced to kill anyone during that time.

Could Cam have been his first (cold blooded...if that's the right word) murder but he might have killed before in the line of protecting his own life while working his way through Moriartie's web? Even unintentional kills.

I ask because I'm curious as to what affect killing Cam will have on Sherlock in the long run. Will it affect him pschologically or will he find it easy to move on because Cam was such a bas**rd.

I'd be interested to hear what other people think.

shezza · January 24, 2014 11:31 am

Good question. In the canon, if I'm not mistaken, Sherlock Holmes never kills anyone. However, I find it difficult to believe that this particular incarnation never killed a man. I mean, even at the end of ASiB he's slaying people left and right with his scimitar to save Irene. Or during his two years "holiday", as Mycroft put it, it's unlikely he never had to defend himself... with a gun.

However, I do think this is the first time he killed in cold-blood. Sherlock basically executed him. And I don't think he'll be particularly affected by it, he despised CAM with all his heart.

SpiralStaircase · January 24, 2014 11:37 am

shezza wrote:
I mean, even at the end of ASiB he's slaying people left and right with his scimitar to save Irene.

Oh, I forgot about that. How could he not kill anyone in that situation? Unless of course, it wasn't real, though I always like to believe that it happened.

shezza · January 24, 2014 11:52 am

It was real, surreal as it looked

saturnR · January 24, 2014 11:54 am

SpiralStaircase wrote:
I ask because I'm curious as to what affect killing Cam will have on Sherlock in the long run. Will it affect him pschologically or will he find it easy to move on because Cam was such a bas**rd

saturnR · January 24, 2014 11:59 am

I think Moriarty's apparent suicide had a bigger impact on Sherlock than him killing CAM because even though Sherlock was calculating his downfall, he wasn't actually prepared to kill Moriarty. He was prepared to kill CAM.

Plus he somehow related better to Moriarty than to CAM. CAM is just an arse but Moriarty was a genius. Nope in the long run, his game with Moriarty will still have a greater influence on him than his game with CAM.

SpiralStaircase · January 24, 2014 12:11 pm

I wondered whether something happened during the two years he was away that has hardened him enough to kill Cam so easily. That's why I wasn't sure if it was his first kill.

Thanks for everyone's input so far.

zeratul · January 24, 2014 12:58 pm

Didn't he throw a guy out of the window in Baker St., who had hurt Mrs. Hudson?

SpiralStaircase · January 24, 2014 1:13 pm

zeratul wrote:
Didn't he throw a guy out of the window in Baker St., who had hurt Mrs. Hudson?

Yes, but I think he did it in a way where it wouldn't kill him, just injure him a bit (and rightly deserved after he treated Mrs Hudson that way!;))

zeratul · January 24, 2014 1:16 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8_YQ7_Jo8k

Hmm sure he didn't die from that?

anjaH_alias · January 24, 2014 1:20 pm

We saw him later at the plane . No, he didn´t die.

zeratul · January 24, 2014 1:25 pm

Okay I still have to rewatch it, since it's 2 years now...

Willow · January 24, 2014 1:42 pm

zeratul wrote:
Didn't he throw a guy out of the window in Baker St., who had hurt Mrs. Hudson?

He did; it was Neilson, the CIA man who had tortured Mrs Hudson to try and get the phone. It's an incredibly good scene because it demonstrates that even back at the beginning of S2 Sherlock was deeply fond of her; certainly not the sort of thing which an emotionless sociopath would feel.

However, we subsequently saw Neilson alive later on in the episode so he's not guilty on that one, though he certainly had quite a few injuries, prompting Lestrade to ask:

'And exactly how many times did he fall out of the window?

Sherlock replies:

'It's all a bit of a blur, Detective Inspector. I lost count.'

I love the way the actors deliver those lines

silverblaze · January 24, 2014 1:46 pm

I was under the impression that CAM was his first kill, at least his first direct kill. In the two years he was away he solved cases and dissolved Moriarty's network, nowhere it's suggested that he does this by assassinating people.
I don't think he'd suffer psychological consequences, two main contributors to PTSD are terror and guilt, both of which are absent for him. The decision was very rational for him and he was rather resigned to its consequences. He was probably a bit shaken up by it, but got over that after a while.

The only thing he might suffer from is disapproval from the people he's close to, as far as they know, but John and Mary are probably just happy that CAM's dead and Mycroft knows how to keep a secret.

tonnaree · January 24, 2014 2:40 pm

zeratul wrote:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8_YQ7_Jo8k

Hmm sure he didn't die from that?

I thought it was very considerate of Sherlock to aim for Mrs. Hudson's bins.

Willow · January 24, 2014 2:42 pm

tonnaree wrote:
zeratul wrote:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8_YQ7_Jo8k

Hmm sure he didn't die from that?

I thought it was very considerate of Sherlock to aim for Mrs. Hudson's bins.

Though she didn't seem very appreciative

SpiralStaircase · January 24, 2014 4:23 pm

Willow wrote:
tonnaree wrote:
zeratul wrote:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8_YQ7_Jo8k

Hmm sure he didn't die from that?

I thought it was very considerate of Sherlock to aim for Mrs. Hudson's bins.
Though she didn't seem very appreciative

I soooo love that scene. Makes me laugh every time. And Sherlock looks so sexy as he is walking up the stairs as he is deducing about what happened. *fans self* ;)

Davina · January 24, 2014 6:36 pm

I don't think he tickled people with the sword at the end of ASiB. He may not have hung around to see if they were dead or alive though.

Willow · January 24, 2014 6:59 pm

Davina wrote:
I don't think he tickled people with the sword at the end of ASiB. He may not have hung around to see if they were dead or alive though.

Yep; that is not the sort of weapon which allows much in the way of subtlety I agree that they were too busy running to check the head count...