Well, Moriary said 'unless they see you jump'; that's, why Sherlock HAD to jump, and jump he did. Moriarty did not say 'unless they see you hit the ground', probably because he did not figure, Sherlock could save himself, once he was 'airborn', so to speak.
Also the idea crossed my mind, that Sherlock wanted John to stay at a certain place and distance, not only because he was not supposed to see Sherlock hit the ground, but because that made sure, the sniper, who was responsible for John, could not see it either. Though this thought is only relevant, if Moriarty had John's sniper as the lone observer of Sherlock and not someone else as well.

Last edited by sherlocked (April 13, 2012 10:45 pm)

Irene, Sherlock jumps indeed like a parachutist, but I really cannot imagine, he planned to hit the ground. Yes, you can survive that, if you are VERY lucky and skilled, which Sherlock probably isn't. And count on his luck? This is Sherlock! He certainly has a better and safer plan into place! (That's one reason, by the way, why I don't believe into the trolley theory of the 'final problem ' tumblr. Too risky as well). Also the body, which hits the ground, does so in the wrong angle. If this is Sherlock, and I think, it must be him, something must have broken his fall. It can be something, which causes him to roll onto the ground immediately and which can be removed very quickly, maybe by throwing it onto the truck.It could be even a net, which was attached with two point at the truck's reilling. Then only two people were needed to hold it up.But that's very speculative, of course. Sherlock probably jumps like a parachuter to controll his fall better. Also, moving his limbs shows the observers, that this is not a dead body or a dummy. That should be good enough for the sniper.
As to what Sherlock planned for Moriarty, that's another can of worms, but Moriarty certainly would not have peered over the edge of the roof, since he could not have afforded to be spotted by someone. He probably would have been contend to see Sherlock jump as well.
I also do not believe into the body switch outside of the hospital. That really seems too risky to me. Which means of course, that the different body on the stretcher, which can be seen just before it goes into the hospital entrance, must be a continuity error, but we have found quite a few by now, lol! Unless they aren't...
I also discover new points of brilliance, every time I watch. That's, why I don't get tired of analyzing the damn thing, lol!

Last edited by sherlocked (April 13, 2012 11:36 pm)

Yes, Sherlock would have made a great magician! I even saw something on youtube with wires, which were perfectly invisible from all angles in broad day light, but that was used for the magician flying, not falling; and wires have to be cut after the fall, which sounds tricky...

I'm definitely in favour of the landing net theory these days.

People see what they want to see. Sherlock is always saying that people see but do not observe. Clearly, if a sniper sees Sherlock jump off the roof he will assume that he will hit the floor with obvious consequences. If Moriarty merely stipulated to his men that they must see Sherlock jump and nothing more , then it is unlikely that they would have taken any more upon themselves. They do not know that Moriarty is dead, presumably, and doing more than they have been told might have dire consequences for them- remember his assassination of the Chinese woman in Blind Banker which clearly shows how ruthless he is (assuming that it IS Jim Moriarty in this scene of course, as we don't hear his voice).

A net does not have to be very big and does not need to be held by many people to work. Funnily enough my daughter was involved in such a rescue whilst on the ski slopes last week. A girl slipped from a chair lift and was being held by two men she was with. My daughter, her instructor, the liftie, plus two others held out a relatively small tarpaulin and the girl fell into it, safely and with no I'll-effects. The waving arms and legs of Sherlock could, maybe, him controlling his fall as in direction?

Irene, The Chief Superintendent's accent is from Northern England. To help you spot this sort of accent, the vowel sounds are different from standard English they are actually much more like  the vowel sounds of German, they are flatter in sound. What gets me is that he wears such BIG old-fashioned glasses!

Is it just there to look cool then? Cause it's working on me...

Davina wrote:

Irene, The Chief Superintendent's accent is from Northern England. To help you spot this sort of accent, the vowel sounds are different from standard English they are actually much more like  the vowel sounds of German, they are flatter in sound. What gets me is that he wears such BIG old-fashioned glasses!

Thanks, Davina. It's just something that was bothering me, because it sounded so different to all the other actors... and I didn't get what accent it was.
I agree about the glasses, by the way 

Davina wrote:

People see what they want to see. Sherlock is always saying that people see but do not observe. Clearly, if a sniper sees Sherlock jump off the roof he will assume that he will hit the floor with obvious consequences. If Moriarty merely stipulated to his men that they must see Sherlock jump and nothing more , then it is unlikely that they would have taken any more upon themselves. )

John’s sniper doesn’t put his gun down directly after having witnessed Sherlock’s jump but not earlier than the body is rushed into the hospital - when John’s standing alone outside the building. Maybe that is just for dramatic reasons, but if not, it shows that not the mere jump is crucial but its hitting the ground and the confirmation of death (which sort of does happen, reflected by John’s visible reaction after having taken Sherlock’s – not existing – pulse).

And there’ more:
Clearly, John’s sniper is watching the scene – but what about Lestrade’s and Mrs. Hudson’s? How can they “see"  Sherlock jump? They can’t, unless there is a kind of transmission. Or do they expect a phone call from either Moriarty or John’s sniper which will pull them off?

Last edited by tobeornot221b (April 14, 2012 4:17 pm)