I was suspicious of Mary, too until this episode.  There are, and probably still are, those who think she might have been one of Moriarty's assassins at the pool; but now I really think she did want to  leave her past behind and attempt a 'normal' life with John.  There still could be a twist on this in the end but I no longer think so.  Now her message tells us she is desperate to "Save John Watson" from something. She gives this to Sherlock as a mission/case. She doesn't say, "Take care of John for me after I'm gone". She doesn't even mention Rosie, so baby must not have even been in the picture when she made the recording. No, she knows something (from her before-life) and knows John needs to be saved from something real and dangerous - not just his own folly or stubbornness.  And of course, there are those already pointing out that "Hell" is a real place in Norway; and I can also add there is a town called "Hell" in the Grand Caymans because I've been there.

I've just re-watched and took notes.
My daughter came in right at the end, so I asked her  to stay and watch Mary's message and tell me what she thought Mary meant.
She said: what do you mean, what she means?  It's obvious.  She's telling Sherlock to save John and to go to hell, save John and bring him back with him.

Having said that, I really noticed this time how Mary speaks so much like Moriarty!

Last edited by besleybean (January 4, 2017 5:04 pm)

I presume we were the only ones to see Moriarty's final appearance...and I never really understood the point of that.

I meant the one after the credits.

As to Amanda Abbington's  or any other actor's interpretation of their roles: that's certainly interesting but unreliable. Since they shoot so much material, they might not fully know themselves what is exactly going on at the time when it's filmed. BC once said that he himself didn't know for sure how Sherlock faked his suicide.
At the time it was shot Amanda Abbington might well have been told that she is supposed to play a woman who reacts instinctively. If later scenes contradict this version she's most certainly not allowed to tell us ;)
I'm not saying that we have seen a doctored scene. But I don't exclude it anymore.

Schmiezi, but Lestrade didn't see the final, very soft "Miss Me", where Jim almost looks a little sad. It lasts only for a few seconds and doesn't belong to the public broadcast.
So far this hasn't been addressed, and I don't know what's the point of this little scene.

Ah, now I got it. I never thought it served any purpose so I never wondered much about it. :-)

sherlocked wrote:

Schmiezi, I have no idea either and didn't really think about this moment a lot. But since it did not belong to the broadcast, it's also possible that Mary's GoToHell didn't belong to the dvd recording, but is something solely the audience is aware of. If that's so, it could indeed  lend itself to a different interpretation.

That's a good thought. If it meant "Go to hell and back to save John", why place it at such an odd spot? We knew about that already from the rest of Mary's Save-John pep-talk.

IMO it only make sense if it has a different meaning. Hence my belief that it means "Go to hell, you f***ing b***ard"

besleybean wrote:

Although after our little discussion...
The difference is:  Jim's initial appearance was meant for public consumption.
But both Mary's appearances were only meant for Sherlock.

I doubt that Mary's second appearance was meant for Sherlock. More like something Mary said when recording her speech. Something we saw but Sherlock did not.

Last edited by Schmiezi (January 4, 2017 6:53 pm)

besleybean, please read my last edited comment. If GoToHell wasn't part of the dvd recording we can't know at all whether she meant Sherlock or someone else should go to hell. She might have done the recording for Sherlock - and then we are privy how she wishes  whoever threatens John would go to hell.