nakahara wrote:

Whisky wrote:

Doesn't make sense. She is alone in that room with Sherlock. Her being who she is, if she wanted Sherlock dead and he isn't yet, she could have killed him easily off in that hospital room.

Patients with Sherlock´s injuries have pulse monitors and other things attatched to them, so that the nurses would be alarmed if patient´s heart suddenly stopped. So maybe it was too risky for Mary kill him there? She could be seen and identified by some chance if she did try to harm Sherlock there? Because in Lenister Gardens, Mary didn´t seem to hesitate anymore and pulled out a gun on Sherlock - but she obviously didn´t dare to do it i hospital.
 

A shot in the hospital would not be the cleverest way to kill a critically injured patient, especially if you have medical training. I do not think she intended to kill Sherlock at Leinster Gardens either; here is why: She could have just opened fire the moment she entered, but she didn’t. What is more, Sherlock was so sure she would not fire that he put John in his place, any error on Sherlock’s side would have John killed. Sherlock would not do that if he was not sure. He even dares to ask her to show off her skill. Only now does she draw the weapon. She makes a threat and Sherlock explains the significance of the projection, but if Mary is such a brilliant assassin (one who outsmarted Sherlock for quite some time, while being in very close proximity to him) she would hardly need that explanation. So if she had any intention to kill him that night, she could have just done so and than deal with the projection afterwards (the sound of gunfire does not seem to be a concern for either of the involved). All this time Sherlock lets John sit in his place, I cannot imagine him doing that if he had any fears of Mary trying to kill him that night. The projection might have truly been there for dramatic effect. He goes through great lengths there to get them both to Leinster Gardens, but they both have phones. He could have just phoned them; on their phones. Seems like Sherlock will not let a minor inconvenience like internal bleeding stop him from living out his theatrical side. She probably brought the gun as a safety measure, maybe to be able to shoot her way out should anyone try to trap her or hand her over to the police (or CAM or any of the people who hate her and likely want her dead).

Last edited by Lola Red (March 17, 2015 8:02 am)

If she meant to kill him in the first place, it would make much more sense for her to simply shoot him in the head (as is shown in the alternative version). She is a trained assassin, it's her job to kill quickly and effeciently. The way she shot him was not quick and effecient, a bullet to the brain would have been.

tykobrian wrote:

Like I mentioned many posts back I think Mary didn’t shoot Sherlock in the head because when he’d arrive John would know he was beyond help and may decide to chase after the killer instead of giving her the distraction she needs to make a clean getaway.
 

Yes, that is true. I remember your previous post about this, and that is a good point.

When do you think he works that out?   I thought he worked it out before he set up the confrontation with Mary - so when he's still scared of her.   If he hadn't worked it out (and thought Mary was really trying to kill him) then would he try to keep her with John?  I don't know.   But I suppose it maybe only dawned on him during the confrontation.   Maybe he didn't need that information to know that Mary wasn't trying to kill him - after all, he pictures a head shot when he's talking about it, so maybe he had been questioning why she didn't shoot him in the head.     It could be that it's only after she shoots the coin, and he calls for the ambulance that it dawns on him.   Interesting idea. 

Vhanja wrote:

Here's a very interesting meta dealing with several aspects of Mary in HLV - what Mary's intention was when visiting Magnussen and why she wanted Sherlock to live and therefore shot him the safest place she could.

http://wellingtongoose.tumblr.com/post/74542270602/mary-did-not-intended-to-kill-sherlock-or

This is an interesting meta,thank you forposting it.

There are some aspects of it (like the analysing of Magnussen) I agree with, and some (like whether Mary wanted to kill Sherlock or not) that I don't agree with.

There is one statement, for example, "She wants to be a better person than she is but she cannot find the strength to do so under these circumstances." My problem here is that I do not see any proof for Mary WANTING to be a better person. Maybe someone can help me with that.

And after talking to several people working in the medical field I also disagree with the anatomic description in that meta. That has been discussed before, I know. According to what I have been told, she shot Sherlock in a very dangerous place, no safe shot at all. But I am intrigued to see that apparently, even experts can differ on that specific topic.I wonder if the writers chose that spot because of its ambiguity.
 

I think Mary quitting her profession as an assassin and trying her very best to start a normal life (marry a decent guy, baby and life in the suburbs...) is a sign that she is trying to become a better person. Apart from the great lie, she is also a great support to John (something he says in his own words during the proposal and something that is shown in how she pushes him to not only reconcile with Sherlock but also spend more time with him during the wedding preparations).

I am certainly no medical expert myself, so I can't argue whether the shot was in a dangerous place or not. Well, it was of course dangerous, I don't think anyone can argue that it wasn't. As I read the meta, it was the safest place Mary could shoot him while achieveing her two goals: a) incapaciate him and b) scare him.

Also, she does link to a study showing that out of 153 bullets to the liver, only 8% resulted in death. So it couldn't be that far from true?

Interesting that they come to different conclusions. Seeing as I am not a doctor myself, I have no idea which of these analysis are "right" (there are however a different meta on the site I linked to that is devoted entirely to the shooting). 

They both mention IVC, though, which he first meta says is more or less an accident because it's very hard to know the exact position of the IVC (both because it's precise location can vary between individuals and because Mary, as an assassin/nurse, would probably not know such a detailed part of the anatomy). Also, because of the clothing covering up the upper body making it even harder to pinpoint such exact locations.

An interesting counter-question, though: If Mary were to shoot Sherlock somewhere that would incapacitate him and scare him, but give him a high probability of surviving, where should she have shot him if not where she did?

Schmiezi wrote:

Did you ever look at this? (I feel like posting this link for the nth time,sorry if you have seen it already.)
http://archiveofourown.org/works/1235479

It is a lot more detailed in analysing the wound and comes to a different conclusion. See for example chapter 9 "They are trying to tell me that I have tickets to see a one-night-only aria performance by opera diva "The Liver", when in actual fact I end up witnessing a violin quartet featuring "Heart & Co." instead. Co. in this case being: lung, liver and IVC. What I am trying to say, and I appreciate that I might be doing this poorly, is that a shot in that anatomical location, renders an isolated liver injury impossible."

Fantastic meta. And it looks very convincing to me.
It was a worthwhile read, but made me angry with Mary all over again. She shot to kill, that x!%7°!

If you are tired of it, perhaps it's best to just ignore that part of the discussion? This thread is for discussions about Mary, and that include the shooting. According to Sherlock himself, she did not shoot to kill, so there is ample argument to support that theory (even though there is of course argument to say that she did intend to kill as well).

 

So if that is a wise word, does that mean I am free to go into Johnlock threads and say I am tired of the metas over-analyzing every scene and angle? Would that be wise words as well?