Going back to something Liberty said for a moment.  I do not think that CAM was pretending to be knocked out after making the phone call.

I believe that with what we are shown that CAM discreetly dialed emergency services while Mary was distracted with Sherlock.  By the time Mary knocks him out, the call has already been made.  He would not have to have actually spoken to emergency services.  With a call like that they would've traced the cell and sent out help.

Yes, I think that's possible, and Mary could still have picked up the phone and looked at it (as she does in Sherlock's imagination).   I think that if that was the case the police might have arrived before the ambulance, but that wouldn't necessarily happen in the context of the show (and it's also just possible that the police DID get there first - we just don't see them).  

But on the other hand, Sherlock makes that deduction.   If he thought Magnussen could have dialled, then why would he imagine that Mary must have dialled?  Because actually, the first conclusion anyone would jump to would be that it was Magnussen.  Sherlock would have to have thought of that first and dismissed it - why? 
 

Mary's motivation was simple survival.  She never set out to lie to John specifically; she had created a new identity several years before she met him, and was trying to leave her old life behind.  I just re-watched the wedding reception and saw Sherlock read a telegram from "Cam," who says, "Wish your family could have seen this," and Mary gets upset.  So no, CAM was not at the wedding, but he did send a telegram letting her know he knew her secret.  

Wow.  Just thought of this:  Mary has just gotten this message from CAM when she hears there's a murderer at her wedding.  She does not "stay here."  She jumps in to help.  I wonder if she were assuming the murder had something to do with CAM.  That is pure speculation on my part, of course.

She went to his office to kill him, was interrupted by Sherlock, and from there I follow his deductions.  She actually does apologize for shooting him, as she's doing it (!!).  She didn't want John to know, because she didn't want to lose him.  She loves him.  Her name and identity are a lie, but her relationship with John (and Sherlock) is true.  She shoots Sherlock, knowing he might die but trying not to kill him, because she's desperate and can't think what else to do.  As Sherlock says, she was "hoping to buy time to negotiate my silence."  John forgives her, eventually, because he knows her well enough to know *who* she is, even though he doesn't know *what* she is (or was).  He decides Sherlock is right and he can trust her.  He figures her past can be irrelevant to their future, if she still wants a future with him--which she does.

I am supported in my opinion of Mary by the special episode, "Sherlock Uncovered: The Women."  There's a lot they leave out, but they make it clear that Mary truly loves John and has become good friends with Sherlock as well.  They make it clear that they are excited to have her as part of the group, and I hope she stays that way.

Last edited by cmb711 (October 15, 2016 2:16 am)

Just wondering a bit how much the level of dislike for Mary in this group has to do with the number of people who really want John and Sherlock to be a couple.  Jealousy, maybe?

To be clear, I would have no problem with their being a couple, especially in this updated version.  I would think it would be quite possible that they might have been a very closeted couple in Victorian times.  Well, I would have a problem with it because of Sherlock's character--I still don't think he's capable of that kind of relationship--but I'm not shocked by the idea.  I'm just letting the characters speak for themselves, and John at least is quite clear about it, repeatedly.

I loved the discussion in the special about how to bring Mary in.  They needed something new; she's in the canon; but they didn't want to "do the usual misogynistic thing about the ball and chain," or have her "be a drag," or "spoil the boys' fun."  "She's not the little woman, she's right in there with them."  YES.  Thank you, writers!

Last edited by cmb711 (October 15, 2016 12:50 pm)

Hmmm.  Thinking again.  Mary and Sherlock are already good friends before the shooting.  Maybe she hopes that Sherlock, being Sherlock, might understand her well enough to forgive her, himself, or at least to keep his mouth shut long enough for her to explain, when he wakes up in the hospital and finds her still around?  If she had been trying to kill him, surely she would have left, and she's hoping he would realize that.

They put all their creative powers, lots of thought and money into a mind palace scene of amazing length just to show us Sherlock nearly dying, being desperate, afraid of death, in excruciating pain, and only coming back to life for John.
This is what stays in the mind, at least for me. Not some flimsy surgery explanation and a less than convincing Christmas scene in front of the fireplace. 
 

I cannot help but think we have been through all of that at least three times already.

It is really time for new episodes to air! :-D

Indeed. We are starved for new developments. 

And yet I am baffled who many new things there are still to discover. So why always coming back to the old ones? I have thinking a lot about EMP since TAB aired and it is a lot of fun to speculate about that. Much more than going over the same Mary arguments over and over again. 

Well, I see. We are thinking differently because after TAB I think anything can happen. It is not idle speculation to me, it is based on what I see. But if this is not your cup of tea, no problem. Everyone should choose whatever topics they like in here.