S03.E03: His Last Vow

[nymusix]

A case of stolen letters leads Sherlock Holmes into a long conflict with Charles Augustus Magnussen, the Napoleon of blackmail, and the one man he truly hates. But how do you tackle a foe who knows the personal weakness of every person of importance in the Western world?

[David T. Cole]

Ahhhhhhh that was goooooood.

Tara might have squeed at the ending.

[TravisNelson76]

That was EXCELLENT.  And I'm so glad I flew to England rather than waited.  Because I'm sure that when it airs on PBS there will be a round of "make sure you don't spoil the third episode" talk that would have inadvertantly clued me in on the Mary shenanigans.

The plotting is just so tight on this.  I love, for instance, how they visually introduced the idea of Sherlock's mind palace well before cluing us in on the villain's mind palace.  We as viewers weren't even aware that it was essentially Checkov's Mind Palace!

[nymusix]

This was sort of a harder episode to follow for me, maybe it's just because I was watching it pretty late. Regardless, very good villain, and some big twists and turns in the episode. 

Can't believe we have to wait another year (or even two) to deal with the (SPOILER) return of Moriarty. Did you miss me? I'm all sorts of excited to see him back, there's really no other character quite like Moriarty on TV. Plus, the Irish accent is so fun. 

[ApathyMonger]

This was sort of a harder episode to follow for me, maybe it's just because I was watching it pretty late. Regardless, very good villain, and some big twists and turns in the episode. 

Can't believe we have to wait another year (or even two) to deal with the (SPOILER) return of Moriarty. Did you miss me? I'm all sorts of excited to see him back, there's really no other character quite like Moriarty on TV. Plus, the Irish accent is so fun. 

I'm not at all convinced the Moriarty resurrection is real. I hope it's not.

I did mostly love the rest of the episode. Freeman was great.

For those wondering about the whole fake housefront for the trains to go by, there's an article on it here: http://www.urban75.org/blog/the-fake-houses-at-23-and-24-leinster-gardens-bayswater-london-w2/

I think it must have been going around Twitter or something a few months back, because I guessed what it was straight away when Sherlock told Mary to look at the houses.

[jellysalmon]

I also hope the Moriarty resurrection isn't real.

Does anyone else think that he sounds like this guy? I can't take him seriously as a villain when he sounds like a stroke victim.

[LisaM]

Finally watched last night and loved it. I thought it was the strongest episode of the three this year. Loved the Mary twist and also loved that she and John are still together because I really like how she, John and Sherlock interact. Particularly liked the scene in the fake house where John turned out to be sitting at the end of the hall. I also liked the Sherlock/Janine "relationship".

I hope that Moriarty is indeed still dead and that there is some other reason for his face being broadcast on every tv.

[daisycat]

I've not heard this theory aside from in my own head (and not a spoiler - this only exists in my head - that I know of!), but I totally think that Moriarty's "return" was orchestrated by Mycroft. I mean, he needed/wanted Sherlock to stay, and he's been shown to be perfectly capable of hijacking CCTV and the media, so why not? I'm not sure they should try to pull off another back from the dead storyline. Moriarty should stay dead, and live on only in Sherlock's mind palace (where he was f'ing TERRIFYING).

I thought there were a lot of holes in the plot. Like, why did he need to pretend to be a drug addict? He already had drugs in his past so that would already be seen in Magnusson's mind palace as a pressure point. And how did Janine know that he was faking the entire relationship, enough to have gone to the papers? Barring Sherlock himself telling her, which he was in no condition to do, she had no way of knowing that he was using her.

BUT to be honest, despite these and the other dangling plot holes (don't you think Lady Smallwood would have moved the earth to reward Sherlock for taking out the blackmailer?), I really, really enjoyed the episode. It was a case of style over substance for me, and I adore the characters, the gorgeous filming, and the pace so much I can overlook these in favor of just sitting back and enjoying the ride.

And yo, Magnusson was probably the creepiest villain I've ever seen. I can't even watch the face-flicking scene: I have to leave the room whenever it's being rewatched.

[Neurochick]

I'm not at all convinced the Moriarty resurrection is real. I hope it's not.

 

 

Ugh, "NO, I did NOT miss you."  I can't stand the guy playing Moriarty; he's short and he reminds me of a cockroach or Steve Urkel.  

 

I applauded when Sherlock shot Rupert Mur...I mean Magnusson.  For a second I thought Sherlock was going to give him a drug that would make him go senile or something, since the "vault" was inside his head.   I found that part to be silly, Magnusson looked over fifty and believe me, you start to forget stuff at that age.  

Edited September 1, 2014 by Neurochick

[BradyB66]

I love the scene with Sherlock and Moriarty in Sherlock's mind palace.  Andrew was absolutely freakin' awesome in that.  "It's raining, it's pouring, Sherlock is boring.  It's raining, I'm crying, Sherlock is dying." and his face when he calls Mary "that wife" of John's.  Absolute love.

 

Also love Sherlock fighting his way up the stairs/back to life.  The well placed slams of his fist, pulling himself up by the bannister, it all gives me the chills, it's so beautifully done!

[Boton]

My God.  I just watched this episode last night, and I am completely wrung out.  (In the best possible way.)  TV like this has been going on under my nose, and I didn't know about it!  

 

The shooting scene was at once the most metaphoric and the most accurate depiction of losing consciousness I've ever seen.  Sherlock running down the spiral stairs of his mind palace as he swirls into darkness, finding his inner torment and craziness, and then slowly pulling himself back out as he wills his heart to beat -- all just gave me chills.  

 

And the layers that were exposed on the characters.  I am a Sherlock Holmes virgin (a condition I am rectifying immediately), but I was so taken by Sherlock's casual descent back into his drug habit (for a case?  not for a case?  does it matter?) and the mirroring darkness in all the supporting cast:  Watson is our lovable Watson, except he truly has a thing for "high-functioning sociopaths."  Sweet Mary is an international spy that will shoot a man in cold blood.  Mrs. Hudson is not your housekeeper, but she IS a (former?) exotic dancer and typist for a drug ring.  And even buttoned-up Mycroft loves his little brother so much that's his only "pressure point," but he'll also send him on a mission that will get him killed in six months.

 

Seriously, guys, I don't know how to deal with this.  Season 4 happens in 2016????  WTF?  If I volunteered to fly to England and cook and keep house for the writers and producers so they could work without distraction, do you think that would help?  :-)

[DietCokeJunkie]

I'm confused.  Once Sherlock ascertained that "Appledore" only existed in Magnussen's mind, why did he feel the need to shoot him? 

[rereader2]

Because, as Magnussen himself explained, CAM was going to use the fact that there was NO physical evidence that he was a blackmailer to nail Sherlock and John as traitors--they just gave him a laptop full of Mycroft's government secrets--thus gaining control of the UK via Mycroft. (And, incidentally, leaving Mary and her (and John's) baby in deadly peril.)

Edited November 24, 2014 by rereader2

[Boton]

Yes, rereader2 is right.  Plus, Sherlock needed to clear out the Appledore vaults; the only way to permanently keep him from blackmailing John, Mary, Janine, Mycroft, and tons of other people high and low across several other countries was to eliminate the information.  Sadly for CAM, the information resided in his head.  Sherlock cleaned out the Appledore vaults, plain and simple.

[ToxicUnicorn]

I adore the characters, the gorgeous filming, and the pace so much 

I truly do love this show.  It is unique and it holds a very special place in my heart.  This probably sounds crazy, but I've only just watched this episode last night because for some reason, it made sense to me to dole this season out slowly.  Having said that, my reaction to this episode was that it went WAY over the top.  I hope I change my mind when I watch it again.  In the meantime,  

 

Here are the things I did not like.

 

1.  There was a whole lot of displacement going on.  There was such an excessive amount of going back and forth.  I wanted more continuous, in between scenes where I could relax and simply enjoy the gang.

 

This was exhausting: Magnusson's mind palace, Sherlock's subconscious, flashbacks within the Christmas scenes, so many fake outs (Sherlock v Mary v. seated John in the hallway, Magnusson's "vault", Sherlock's suicide mission), the intercuts of Mycroft in front of the committee with Sherlock's exile, seeing flashes of everyone glimpse Moriarty.  If they had only used about 20% of these ideas, and taken their time with them, I think I would have enjoyed this episode a lot more.

 

2.  While I loved the idea that Sherlock loves John so much that he would sacrifice himself for John's happiness, and I think BC can do no wrong, I thought the way it played out was pretty maudlin.  To be honest, after the episode, I was thinking "whiplash?" when thinking about Sherlock shooting Magnusson, being sent away, and being brought back again, and then I thought ... no, what I feel feel is that I've been jerked around.  I thought that entire plot didn't have the panache that I was used to.

 

 

3.  I felt Mycroft's character changed dramatically for the worse.  I used to love Mycroft's attitude and demeanor: how put-upon, bored, superior, yet totally intertwined he was with Sherlock.  Here, he wasn't subtle or clever.  For example, his "Sherlock, what have you done?" line in the helicopter rang really false to me.  Former Mycroft figured out nearly everything Sherlock would do before he did it.

 

Before I get the thrashing I probably deserve, here is what I loved:

 

1.  John Watson.  I've always loved Sherlock most, but Freeman completely delivered.

2.  The Mary surprise.  This was a twist worthy of the show.  The reconciliation scene between John and Mary at Christmas was wonderful.  However, I didn't really believe Mary as an assasin, although I enjoyed her shooting that coin a lot.  

3.  

 

The shooting scene was at once the most metaphoric and the most accurate depiction of losing consciousness I've ever seen.  

 

This was fabulous visually and creatively.  I loved Sherlock thinking of what Molly and Mycroft would say.  For me, that was the best bit of writing of the season and BC's facial expressions were awesome..

 

4.

 

Moriarty should stay dead, and live on only in Sherlock's mind palace (where he was f'ing TERRIFYING).

I completely agree with this.  As long as Moriarty stays dead, though, I will be very, very happy to see him again.

 

Would love to hear responses, even though I am eons late.

[Boton]

 

1.  There was a whole lot of displacement going on.  There was such an excessive amount of going back and forth.  I wanted more continuous, in between scenes where I could relax and simply enjoy the gang.

 

When I first watched HLV, I felt it was very linear; I had no trouble figuring out what was happening when.  Then I got online and saw that a lot of people felt that there were unnecessary time jumps going on throughout the thing.  I don't know what my point is, exactly, other than to say that it scares me a little that I'm apparently screwed up in exactly the same was Moftiss are, in order for this to make sense to me. 

 

 

2.  While I loved the idea that Sherlock loves John so much that he would sacrifice himself for John's happiness, and I think BC can do no wrong, I thought the way it played out was pretty maudlin.

 

This is something I think ages well and improves on future viewings.  I felt a little bludgeoned by this point the first couple of times I watched, but after a while it made some sort of internal sense to me that, in the mind palace, Sherlock really didn't know what was going on with Mary, and he had every reason to think that his death could leave John married to a murderer and in imminent danger.  On the Appledore terrace, I think there were a lot of concerns there:  not eliminating Magnussen would likely result in Mary's death (Sherlock's friend, in addition to John's wife), because CAM would probably mess with her just to get back at Sherlock.  It would also destroy John, because he's very much in love with Mary even if he's still angry with her, and Sherlock knows this.  Then, there are the things that tipped the scale: When CAM says that Janine "makes the funniest noises" when he flicks her face, Sherlock's head snaps up, like it was another burst of anger for him -- he may not want to marry Janine, but he doesn't want her hurt.  And then Mycroft's copters arrive, and Sherlock knows that his being arrested for giving away state secrets in the form of Mycroft's laptop would destroy Mycroft's professional reputation.  So I think there's a lot more going on in that final scene than just wanting to protect John.

[ToxicUnicorn]

When I first watched HLV, I felt it was very linear; I had no trouble figuring out what was happening when.  Then I got online and saw that a lot of people felt that there were unnecessary time jumps going on throughout the thing.  I don't know what my point is, exactly, other than to say that it scares me a little that I'm apparently screwed up in exactly the same was Moftiss are, in order for this to make sense to me.

Heh.  I would love to be "screwed up" like the pair of you!  That sounds like so much fun!

 

It's not that I didn't understand what was going on.  I did, I just found it a very unrestful decision.  I love so many quiet scenes on this series: some of the awkward pauses have been the best parts.  I was complaining because I missed that.

 

So I think there's a lot more going on in that final scene than just wanting to protect John.

Thank you for this entire response, Boton.  Reading through it makes me think I missed a lot.  I'm glad - I am now curious enough to watch it again.  Maybe it wasn't needlessly melodramatic, after all.  Is there a phrase for needfully dramatic?

[KatWay]

I really disliked the Mary twist. I thought her character was great in episode one and two, but assassin Mary soured me on her retroactively. It especially bugs me because it wasn't necessary...Mary would have been fine as John's normal wife who had the boy's number. Now she's basically the worst of the bunch - they may call Sherlock a sociopath but he has nothing on Mary. She may be capable of normal human feelings but she still shot him in cold blood and while that injury gave him a fighting chance, he very well could have died, we even saw how close he came to dying. She would have shot her husband's best friend to protect herself and likely gone on without much remorse.

 

I know John is attracted to darkness and whatnot but I still thought it was a bit unbelievable that he would be totally a-okay with being married to a former assassin who murdered people for the highest bidder. If she hadn't been pregnant, I don't think he would have taken her back.

 

The episode overall was too much and too over the top. Sherlock was being sent away to his mostly certain death at the end of the episode all to protect John's wife and he's like, okay, see ya. It doesn't even have time to settle in because five seconds later, there he is again.

[Yokosmom]

Sherlock was being sent away to his mostly certain death at the end of the episode all to protect John's wife and he's like, okay, see ya.

 

He was also protecting Mycroft, to a certain extent. He'd just handed Magnussen a tool (the laptop) that could have led to blackmail or the possible sacking of Mycroft.

 

I wasn't fond of the twist either. I agree that John probably wouldn't have taken Mary back if she wasn't preggers.  I am glad that they at least put in a scene where he told her how pissed off he was at her. And I agree, the whole "she knew he would survive because it wasn't a head/heart shot" was ridiculous.  If she wanted to disable him, she could have shot him in the foot or leg (careful to miss that artery).

 

I'll be interested in whether the murder will be forgiven and forgotten next season, even if he does solve the whole "Moriarity's back!" puzzle.  It does seem like a point of no return for the character. Did the public at large know that he murdered Magnussen, or was that just knowledge kept in government circles? Does Lestrade know?

[rereader2]

He was also protecting Mycroft, to a certain extent. He'd just handed Magnussen a tool (the laptop) that could have led to blackmail or the possible sacking of Mycroft.

 

This, definitely--and because of Mycroft's position, Sherlock was also protecting the entire UK government. Magnussen was building himself total control of all the significant people in positions of political power--we were shown this via Lady Smallwood and that throwaway comment about the Prime MInister--and by inference over non-governmental people of power.

 

 

 

I'll be interested in whether the murder will be forgiven and forgotten next season, even if he does solve the whole "Moriarity's back!" puzzle.  It does seem like a point of no return for the character. Did the public at large know that he murdered Magnussen, or was that just knowledge kept in government circles? Does Lestrade know?

 

So far as I can see, the only way the series can continue is if the whole thing gets swept under the cover of "Official Secrets" and no one ever hears about it.

[VCRTracking]

I always thought Martin Freeman was good in the UK version of The Office, but man he was fantastic in the episode. The hallway scene and later in the den, wow.

 

I really like Janine, even if Sherlock was only using her. She was fun.

 

Having watched this episode after all the Marvel movies involving the Black Widow, who has her own character arc about redemption, I can't help feel bad for Mary and that she's sincere.

[Peace 47]

Having watched this episode after all the Marvel movies involving the Black Widow, who has her own character arc about redemption, I can't help feel bad for Mary and that she's sincere.

I've never seen the Marvel movies with Black Widow, and so I can't speak to the parallels, but I do know that a lot of people see sincerity in Mary, and I guess I just don't personally see it there 100%, but the ambiguity in Sherlock's and John's responses to her does madden me sometimes.

Mary shot Sherlock and he flatlined, and he was only saved by his own willpower to save John (from Mary herself!). Sherlock retroactively justifies that Mary could have just shot him in the head and been done with it, which is true. But incapacitating Sherlock and letting him slowly bleed out did keep John occupied while Mary made her escape, and so she may have had reasons in not killing immediately.

It's when Mary goes to the empty houses that she loses more points. She threatens to kill Sherlock when she says, "How badly do you want to find out?" and moves to draw her gun. Sherlock only seemingly talks her off shooting "him" (really, John) by saying that Scotland Yard would know that she was responsible if his body was found in a building with her face plastered on the side of it. Then, she kind of threatens Sherlock a third time when she tells Sherlock to understand that there is "nothing" that she wouldn't do to keep John from finding out about all this.

And she never apologizes for any of it, ever. But I don't know why Sherlock is determined to have John trust her so soon after the betrayal is discovered, or why John "forgives" her when she offers no apology. Like I've posted before, though, I don't know that saying the "problems of your future are my privilege" is really forgiveness, either.

[johntfs]

On 8/10/2015 at 5:10 AM, Peace 47 said:

I've never seen the Marvel movies with Black Widow, and so I can't speak to the parallels, but I do know that a lot of people see sincerity in Mary, and I guess I just don't personally see it there 100%, but the ambiguity in Sherlock's and John's responses to her does madden me sometimes.

Mary shot Sherlock and he flatlined, and he was only saved by his own willpower to save John (from Mary herself!). Sherlock retroactively justifies that Mary could have just shot him in the head and been done with it, which is true. But incapacitating Sherlock and letting him slowly bleed out did keep John occupied while Mary made her escape, and so she may have had reasons in not killing immediately.

It's when Mary goes to the empty houses that she loses more points. She threatens to kill Sherlock when she says, "How badly do you want to find out?" and moves to draw her gun. Sherlock only seemingly talks her off shooting "him" (really, John) by saying that Scotland Yard would know that she was responsible if his body was found in a building with her face plastered on the side of it. Then, she kind of threatens Sherlock a third time when she tells Sherlock to understand that there is "nothing" that she wouldn't do to keep John from finding out about all this.

And she never apologizes for any of it, ever. But I don't know why Sherlock is determined to have John trust her so soon after the betrayal is discovered, or why John "forgives" her when she offers no apology. Like I've posted before, though, I don't know that saying the "problems of your future are my privilege" is really forgiveness, either.

Mary loves John Watson and is willing to kill anyone who threatens to hurt him (even by revealing her lies).  Tell me that Sherlock doesn't relate to and approve of that on every level.

 

It's interesting to compare this episode with the Elementary episode, "Dead Man's Switch" which also features a blackmailing C.A.M.  As opposed to the face-licking (and face-flicking) and fireplace urination that this episode's C.A.M. does, Elementary's blackmailer demands money from (among other people) the fathers of rape victims in exchange for not releasing videos of the rapes onto the internet.  No need to "evil him up" as the demands are already plenty evil.

[Peace 47]

16 hours ago, johntfs said:

Mary loves John Watson and is willing to kill anyone who threatens to hurt him (even by revealing her lies).  Tell me that Sherlock doesn't relate to and approve of that on every level.

Maybe Sherlock does, but I'm not sure that I do.  Mary did it because she allegedly didn't want her secret getting out and destroying John.  But her secret did get out, and John was hurt, but if we don't question the dialogue and believe exactly what the show has presented, John forgave Mary despite knowing that she is a trained assassin--in fact, Mary's past makes her more attractive to John--and John is willing to move forward with Mary and build a happy life together.  If we don't question what we saw in HLV, John forgave her, and her past has no bearing on John's willingness to recognize her as Mary Watson going forward, other than John admitting that he's going to be a little pissed off for awhile.  So she therefore shot Sherlock in the chest for no reason (or at least a terrible reason) and also has a very low judgment of John's willingness to parse emotionally fraught situations, despite seeing how he forgave Sherlock after a substantial betrayal.

To my eye, there's not a moral equivalence between faking your death to save people's lives (Sherlock) and shooting someone to the point of nearly killing them to keep someone from finding out unpleasant news (Mary).  There's not a moral equivalence between killing someone who just threatened to kill your best friend's wife and possibly your best friend (Sherlock with CAM) and trying to kill someone to save your husband some emotional anguish (Mary with Sherlock).

Until S4 finally concludes this arc (after 3 long years) we won't know who's right and who's wrong about Mary's intentions, but I'll continue to die on my hill of thinking that Mary remains a villain in disguise until the show shuts me down at the end of S4.  I still think that she is the "Moran" of the story (she was even tricked by The Empty House).

Edited May 22, 2016 by Peace 47

[Chaos Theory]

I know I am in the minority but this is my favorite episode of the series.  I actually really liked the third season in particular because it was in large part about John Watson and what made HIM tick.  Why HE is who he is.     

I also really liked the Mary character.  John Watson's wife could have been written two ways.  The shrill harpy who didn't understand why her husband spent so much time with the Freak Sherlock Holmes or the intelligent clever woman who fit in to the world and the type of person John would want as a partner. 

There were of course things I didn't like about Last Vow.  The time jumps were annoying and I would have liked to see what was in the AGRA file even if John didn't and would have liked to see Mary's "interview".  

Other than that the episode was a big win and the season at large was as well.

[jeansheridan]

I kept thinking Mary was going to be a minor character so the fact that they made her a major character with a strong backstory is interesting.  I do wish Sherlock could have figured out a way to stop Magnussen without killing him in cold blood.  Something to discredit him thoroughly.  

And I thought the Merry Christmas line was WAY cheesy.  Nobody could have delivered that line.  Nobody.  Cumberbatch blew the "See.  You.  Later" line too in season one, but whatever.  

[Cowgirl]

On 2/24/2015 at 8:47 AM, Boton said:

1.  There was a whole lot of displacement going on.  There was such an excessive amount of going back and forth.  I wanted more continuous, in between scenes where I could relax and simply enjoy the gang.

I agree completely.  I hopped on here after arriving very late to the Sherlock viewing party, and was shocked to find that most people on here seem to have adored this episode.  Maybe I'd better watch it again to see if it improves for me.  It might be awhile though.  While I have gobbled up every other episode so far, this took me three attempts to complete my viewing.  

What I quoted above, coupled with a lot of the hand-held jerky kind of shooting, made me motion sick while watching this.  Maybe that's why this episode made me so grumpy.  I hated the time jump to Christmas too.  I hated the entire scene in the abandoned building.  How did John know where they were?  And to sit there listening in the dark? (Now that part maybe I just missed because I was so tired last night.) 

I both liked and hated the addition of the deducing junkie.  I liked the revelation that John is drawn to danger even more so than we originally thought. I also laughed out loud when their mother chided the boys for smoking and they both acted like they were kids with their responses.

[rereader2]

On 7/22/2015 at 5:19 PM, rereader2 said:

So far as I can see, the only way the series can continue is if the whole thing gets swept under the cover of "Official Secrets" and no one ever hears about it.

HA! Just saw I had made this comment way back then, and lo and behold, in the very beginning of the next season...