S06.E10: The Adventure of Ersatz Sobekneferu 2018.07.02

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

Sherlock and his father, Morland Holmes, attempt to repair their strained relationship upon learning of a death within their family. Also, Holmes and Watson discover a link between their latest case and the world of Egyptian antiquities when they search for a killer who tried to mummify his victim.

Promo:

[johntfs]

As much as I liked

Spoiler

and will Mycroft and enjoyed Rhys Ifans in the role

it's appropriate that the family member Sherlock needs to forgive and reconcile with is Morland.  Sherlock's relationship with his father has always been at the root of his problems to some degree or another.  Also, due respect to Fringe fans (and I am one), I think I enjoy Noble is this role more than any other I've seen him play including that of himself from 19 years ago or so filming Lord of the Rings: Return of the King in a cool, hilariously meta episode of

Spoiler

Legends of Tomorrow.

Edited June 27, 2018 by johntfs

[Driad]

Clyde! 

The Solitary Cyclist and The Priory School are ACD Sherlock Holmes stories, and "A loaf of bread and a clean collar; what does man want more?" is a line from The Hound of the Baskervilles.

History Detectives had an episode on art forgeries. They asked an expert who was the greatest art forger. The expert said, "We'll never know."

[woodstock]

Clyde!!!! Yep I totally squealed.

Plus a Kitty shoutout.

Moriarty is back! Can’t wait to see how Sherlock and Morland handle this.

[EAG46]

Julian Sands is still good-looking, even all weathered and craggy.  And Detective Bell got the best line of the night.  "Have you seen Raiders of the Lost Ark?  Doesn't go well for the guy with the sword; trust me."  

[thuganomics85]

Clyde is back!  Oh, yeah, and Morland too, but I'm just glad for a Clyde sighting!  Also happy that Sherlock actually has plan for his next owner, since he'll likely outlive both him and Joan.  Good to know Sherlock's got his priorities in order!

The case kept me guessing at least, since they were wise enough to cast both Julian Sands and Dylan Baker as suspects, since both of them usually play nefarious characters.  Still, I figured it would be Baker.  Those sunglasses alone screamed untrustworthy.

Bell got some good lines in this one.

So, apparently Moriarty has actually escaped and is now gunning for Morland.  Curious to see how this plays out.  A lot of it likely depends on if they were/are able to convince Natalie Dormer to come back.  Then again, I guess a recast could always happen.  But I hope it is Dormer again.  And I really want to see some more Moriarty/Joan face-offs.

Noticed Lucy Liu directed this one, which means she's at least directed one episode of this show for the past four years.  She also did the premiere of Luke Cage, so she seems to be taken an interest in this aspect of filmmaking.  She seems pretty good at it, I think.

Edited July 3, 2018 by thuganomics85

[paigow]

All the guest stars were guilty of something...The one time that Mirandizing a suspect is skipped on air...the dude fails to exercise his rights to silence and an attorney....

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, EAG46 said:

Detective Bell got the best line of the night.  "Have you seen Raiders of the Lost Ark?  Doesn't go well for the guy with the sword; trust me."  

I loved that! More, please.

 

1 hour ago, thuganomics85 said:

e kept me guessing at least, since they were wise enough to cast both Julian Sands and Dylan Baker as suspects, since both of them usually play nefarious characters.  Still, I figured it would be Baker

I was working on my computer while watching, but when I looked up upon recognizing Dylan Baker's voice, I almost didn't recognize him. He looks about 10 years younger—in a good way. But he really is type cast now as a sociopathic serial killer without an ounce of empathy.

 

I kept wondering if the episode was ripped from this recent headline: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/art-gallery-fake-painting-forgery-etienne-terrus-elne-france-a8327531.html
But wouldn't this episode have been written before the forgery story broke? Or not?

 

I really am not looking forward to the return of Moriarity. Just not a fan of arch villains with nine lives.

Edited July 3, 2018 by shapeshifter

[paigow]

Captain Holmes: Civil War

Is there a drinking game for each George Lucas reference?

Edited July 3, 2018 by paigow

[Vermicious Knid]

Forged in Fire had an episode using the khopesh. Which can be watched here. A bit more twisty than the episodes this season, featuring two murderers for the price of one. I wasn't familiar with either actor but figured right away the antiquities expert was suspect.

Man, that was Julian Sands? His hair is tragic. Maybe it was just for the character. He appeared in one of my all time favorite bad movies, Warlock. Also co-starring Lori Singer. It's a hoot.

There was a whole elaborate sword fight choreographed for that scene in Raiders but Harrison Ford was sick and running a 103 degree fever at the time. He wanted to get finished and said "What if I just pull out my gun and shoot him?"

This definitely smacks of tying up loose ends for the end of the series. The writers probably figured, like the rest of us, it would be the last season. So Mycroft's been killed off, Sherlock comes to terms with his father, and Moriarty is back for a last hurrah. I'm looking forward to the hopefully mythology free last 9 episodes once this is over with.

[meira.hand]

11 hours ago, Driad said:

Clyde! 

 

11 hours ago, woodstock said:

Clyde!!!! Yep I totally squealed.

 

11 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Clyde is back! 

The only Clyde I found in the full Elementary cast list on IMDb was someone who appeared in one episode in season 4. Who is he, who did he play here and why is everyone so excited about it?

[Kathira]

6 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

This definitely smacks of tying up loose ends for the end of the series. The writers probably figured, like the rest of us, it would be the last season. So Mycroft's been killed off, Sherlock comes to terms with his father, and Moriarty is back for a last hurrah. I'm looking forward to the hopefully mythology free last 9 episodes once this is over with.

I agree. I'm kind of glad that they were handling it that way, to give everyone closure. Too many series go the way of cliff-hanger desperation in their final seasons leaving everyone miserable. Sleepy Hollow, Lucifer, I'm looking at you.

Good episode overall. I prefer it when the end of the case doesn't get too far off from the original crime, chasing twists and turns. Joan's outfits are stellar as usual. Moriarty being back combined with Watson's desire to adopt reminded me that Moriarty has a child somewhere. Maybe Joan and Sherlock could adopt her.  I would normally strongly resist the idea of adding a precocious kid to a show but it could work. And if not, they can always ship the kid off to boarding school. Babies and toddlers are even more inconvenient on shows and tend to either be forgotten bythe writers or "with the nanny" a lot.

[Driad]

6 minutes ago, meira.hand said:

The only Clyde I found in the full Elementary cast list on IMDb was someone who appeared in one episode in season 4. Who is he, who did he play here and why is everyone so excited about it?

Clyde is the tortoise.  This is the first time we have seen him in a while.

[chitowngirl]

6 minutes ago, meira.hand said:

 

 

The only Clyde I found in the full Elementary cast list on IMDb was someone who appeared in one episode in season 4. Who is he, who did he play here and why is everyone so excited about it?

Clyde is Sherlock’s tortoise.

[Kathira]

15 minutes ago, meira.hand said:

The only Clyde I found in the full Elementary cast list on IMDb was someone who appeared in one episode in season 4. Who is he, who did he play here and why is everyone so excited about it?

Everybody beat me to it, but Clyde is the turtle. His original owner was an acquaintance of Sherlock's who was murdered. Sherlock adopted him. He initially told Watson he was going to eat him, but at the end allowed as to how he would never do such a thing - that they are magnficent creatures, and very long-lived. Clyde has featured in various episodes over the years, helping to wake up Joan, wearing fancy shell-cozies, etc. He's become quite the fan favorite.

Edited July 3, 2018 by Kathira

[cuppasun]

Joining the chorus of: CLYDE! We missed ya, buddy. Kinda loved the serious, matter-of-fact convo between Sherlock and Morland about the tortoise, while the whole of fandom squeed.

Loved the nod to ancient Egypt, and in particular one of the female Pharaohs. That stuff was one of my childhood obsessions. Always makes me a touch excited when it comes up in fiction. (Though Sherlock seems to have embellished Sobekneferu's history somewhat with suppositions not currently supported by known evidence. Because it's fiction. Still so fun!)

And then there's this:

7 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

Forged in Fire had an episode using the khopesh. Which can be watched here.

Salem, the winner of that episode, is a close friend of my daughter and son-in-law. (In fact, he & my s-i-l were staying with me a few months ago while he attended a knife show in town, and I've stayed with him and his wife while visiting my daughters, when I needed a more accessible place to bunk.). I've seen his work in person; it's gorgeous.

[Loandbehold]

Clyde!!!

And, Moriarty is due to return! Be still my heart to have Natalie Dormer back on the screen. Looking forward to Moriarty and Joan facing off again.

This episode's story was twisty, but not outrageously so (for this show). Glad they had two well-known actors involved so we couldn't be sure who the (most) guilty party was.

We also got a look at someone who should win next year's Most. Dumbest. Criminal. award in the Previouslies.

[iMonrey]

For some reason I didn't find this week's mystery particularly engaging, even with a well known guest actor. But I did like the personal stuff with Sherlock, Joan and Morland. And Clyde!

Can someone remind me where we left off with Moriarty? I can't remember the last time we saw her or what happened to her. I think I assumed she was dead.

[johntfs]

One other thing this show is really, really good at is turning the murder victims into real people.  "Mischa Farrow" was a corpse glimpsed in the dark and a picture.  By the end of the episode she was a complete person that I kind of wish I'd had a chance to meet because she seemed like a really cool person.

[Trey]

24 minutes ago, Loandbehold said:

We also got a look at someone who should win next year's Most. Dumbest. Criminal. award in the Previouslies.

He was dumb all right!! And seemed happy to spill the beans about everything, even murders he wasn't asked about.  But he's still alive, unlike the hitman Sherlock confronted - apparently he would rather be dead than be asked any more questions.  His jumping out the window just seemed so odd to me.

And Clyde was featured largely!! I loved that Morland showed concern for who would look after him when Sherlock and Joan were gone.  And we got a brief glimpse of Mycroft at the beginning.

Loved at the end, when Morland says Moriarty will come to get what's hers, then they stand there silently thinking:

Sherlock: Me!  Morland: my empire!

4 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Can someone remind me where we left off with Moriarty? I can't remember the last time we saw her or what happened to her. I think I assumed she was dead.

I thought she was still in prison.

[Athena]

I think she also struck a lot of deals with the FBI so they went easy on her, but Morland said her FBI handlers lost her a few months back or something?

I do wonder how the show will resolve this "final" season they planned now that they've been greenlit another one for next year. 

[TigerLynx]

Quote

 

I think she also struck a lot of deals with the FBI so they went easy on her, but Morland said her FBI handlers lost her a few months back or something?

I do wonder how the show will resolve this "final" season they planned now that they've been greenlit another one for next year. 

 

Yeah.  It looks like the show was preparing to wrap up Mycroft, Morland, and Irene/Moriarty since the show was ending.  Now they have another season, and will have to decide what to do about these plots lines, and the serial killer who seems to think he's Sherlock's friend and doing him a favor by killing people.

When that one suspect was confessing to any and everything, I killed so and so, someone hired me to do this, admitting this has got to count for something right, I was LMAO.  What made it even better was, "I've never seen someone so willing to confess with so little to offer."

Why is the Joan adopting a baby SL still in play?  It needs to go away.

Edited July 3, 2018 by TigerLynx

[Vermicious Knid]

Maybe her off-his-meds Dad fathered another child and Joan will end up with custody. It could happen!

That's pretty cool Cappasun. The only swords I see nowadays are at the Renfaire because Las Vegas, not so good with the museums. I'm going to the Tut exhibit at the California Science Center in September. *rubs hands with glee*

[BBG]

About 8 years ago I was in New York, and saw the play God of Carnage, which was Lucy Liu's Broadway debut.  Who played her husband? Famed HITG Dylan Baker (tonight's main villain).  Whom, of course, was also in the (very brief) TV series Book of Daniel starring Aidan Quinn.  The man gets around.

[Writing Wrongs]

I really hope they get Natalie Dormer back.

As soon as they showed Clyde, I knew everyone here would be excited. :)

[Magnumfangirl]

Really liked this episode, but I was thinking that the showrunners confirmed that Natalie Dormer would not be back this season.  Am I wrong?

I have liked Lucy's direction in the past, but what was the deal with all the nostril shots of Sherlock?

This season does feel like they were wrapping up the storylines. and that makes me wonder what direction they're going to go with rest of season 6 and all of 7.  I do not want this show to turn into Two Detectives and a Baby.

Edited July 3, 2018 by Magnumfangirl

[clb1016]

1 hour ago, BBG said:

About 8 years ago I was in New York, and saw the play God of Carnage, which was Lucy Liu's Broadway debut.  Who played her husband? Famed HITG Dylan Baker (tonight's main villain).  Whom, of course, was also in the (very brief) TV series Book of Daniel starring Aidan Quinn.  The man gets around.

I keep hoping this series will bring back his wife, Becky Ann Baker, who played one of my favorite characters back in Season 1--the snow plow driver in "Snow Angels." 

[AnimeMania]

7 hours ago, Kathira said:

I agree. I'm kind of glad that they were handling it that way, to give everyone closure. Too many series go the way of cliff-hanger desperation in their final seasons leaving everyone miserable. Sleepy Hollow, Lucifer, I'm looking at you.

That was not Lucifer's final season, it was picked up by Netflix.

[CaptainCranky]

This show was a trifecta. Morland is back, Clyde made an appearance and there is a probability that Moriarty is alive.

And the story line was great as well.

[Moxie Cat]

16 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

This definitely smacks of tying up loose ends for the end of the series.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Elementary renewed again? I buy that THEY thought it was the last season, though - summer runs for previously prime shows are not a good sign. In fact, while I think Elementary was always supposed to be mid season this year, this Morland stretch with all the fan-service mentions and guests make me think it was intended to be November sweeps.

I have no real interest in seeing Moriarty again unless she's played by Dormer. But heck, maybe somehow Joan will get custody of Moriarty's little girl. 

I would not be surprised if Mycroft surfaced next year if they nabbed Ifans again. Come on, a grave they're not going to exhume? Any soap fan can spot writers leaving the door open!

[Driad]

If I ever get a cat (I won't, I'm allergic) I may name her Ersatz Sobekneferu.

[lb60]

A little late to the party, but........

Clyde!!!!!!!!!  Good to see you, little fella.  I'm so happy your custody has been taken care of for the foreseeable future. 

Loved all the stuff with Sherlock and Morland.  That's the stuff I watch this show for.  Well, JLM is my first reason, but you get my point.  

I'm looking forward to where the show goes from here. 

[biakbiak]

23 minutes ago, Moxie Cat said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Elementary renewed again? I

Yes, it was renewed but it was done after this season was already in the can and appeared to be a surprise. I think the fan service was them wrapping things up not thinking about Sweeps.

[shapeshifter]

5 hours ago, Vermicious Knid said:

Maybe her off-his-meds Dad fathered another child and Joan will end up with custody. It could happen!

Too disturbing for my taste. I'd prefer he unknowingly fathered another daughter when he was not yet manifesting signs of schizophrenia, and that daughter is expecting a baby and located Joan's father through one of those ancestry DNA businesses in hopes of finding family to help her rear her child. 

 

 

54 minutes ago, Moxie Cat said:

I have no real interest in seeing Moriarty again unless she's played by Dormer. But heck, maybe somehow Joan will get custody of Moriarty's little girl

I did not ever want to have them revisit the Moriarity arc, but this is one plot I could get into. 

 

 

59 minutes ago, Moxie Cat said:

I would not be surprised if Mycroft surfaced next year if they nabbed Ifans again. Come on, a grave they're not going to exhume? Any soap fan can spot writers leaving the door open!

And although I really did not like the Mycroft-Joan pairing, I could enjoy the appearance of this trope on an otherwise serious show—although I associate it with scifi ("not dead if you don't see the [identifiable] body").

 

 

50 minutes ago, Driad said:

If I ever get a cat (I won't, I'm allergic) I may name her Ersatz Sobekneferu

Maybe "Ersatz Catz" for short?

[basil]

Quote

But he's still alive, unlike the hitman Sherlock confronted - apparently he would rather be dead than be asked any more questions.  His jumping out the window just seemed so odd to me.

Don't forget that Moran killed himself (or did he merely try to and was brain-damaged?), because he was worried what would happen to his family if he talked as well.

Quote

I kept wondering if the episode was ripped from this recent headline: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/art-gallery-fake-painting-forgery-etienne-terrus-elne-france-a8327531.html
But wouldn't this episode have been written before the forgery story broke? Or not?

There are dozens upon dozens of books about famous forgers. There is even a fairly recent book about forgers of old wines. 

Quote

One other thing this show is really, really good at is turning the murder victims into real people.  "Mischa Farrow" was a corpse glimpsed in the dark and a picture.  By the end of the episode she was a complete person that I kind of wish I'd had a chance to meet because she seemed like a really cool person

There was an excellent short-lived show called Rayne, who was the title character detective who solved homicides by "speaking" to the murder victims. He was the only person who saw them, and they changed accordingly the more he learned about them. The detective was portrayed by Jeff Goldblum. It had a lot of potentional, but I think only had 6 or 7 episodes. Well worth the watch if you can find it.

[Kathira]

11 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

That was not Lucifer's final season, it was picked up by Netflix.

Yes, but the writers must have known they were on thin ice, being chased by the Cancel Bear, which was the same same situation for the Elementary writers. I suppose the difference is that for Lucifer and Sleepy Hollow, they were desperately trying to revive interest in sinking shows, where the Elementary folks may have been resigned to it, figuring they had a pretty decent run with six seasons.

[andromeda331]

Clyde! Morland's back! Egyptian mummies! Moriarty has escaped! This was a really good episode. My favorite part of course being Clyde! I love that Sherlock has a plan for Clyde and that its Kitty. Then Kitty's son. The stuff with Morland and Sherlock talking about Mycroft, changing wills and talking how they expected Mycroft to out live them I really liked that part and can relate.  

[Ailianna]

On 7/3/2018 at 10:52 AM, Kathira said:

Everybody beat me to it, but Clyde is the turtle. His original owner was an acquaintance of Sherlock's who was murdered. Sherlock adopted him. He initially told Watson he was going to eat him, but at the end allowed as to how he would never do such a thing - that they are magnficent creatures, and very long-lived. Clyde has featured in various episodes over the years, helping to wake up Joan, wearing fancy shell-cozies, etc. He's become quite the fan favorite.

Love Clyde.  And don't forget his memorable performance as an ambulance in a heist plot!

[tljgator]

On 7/3/2018 at 3:51 AM, Vermicious Knid said:

Man, that was Julian Sands? His hair is tragic. Maybe it was just for the character.

Given that his hair was even worse (hard to believe it's possible, but, sadly, tis true) on The Blacklist a few months back, I'm gonna say no. *sigh* I bemoaned on Facebook then how sad I was that all the hot dudes of my youth are now playing old, creepy dudes, lol. It's okay, Julian, we'll always have A Room With A View.

Not only seeing Clyde, but having actual dialogue and story-points surrounding him made up for it, though.

[MissLucas]

The moment Sherlock opened his chest of big ol' swords I wondered about the adoption plot. Lo and behold the writers came through and the very next moment Watson mentioned that it needs to go if she's ever get that baby. So there's at least some awareness in the writers' room that the brownstone is in dire need of baby-proofing.

I loved the little discussion about Clyde's future - shout-out to the audience AND a great character moment for father and son. Not sure what to think of Moriarty's return - I hope they get Nathalie Dormer back. Clearly this was all written with the show ending after this season in mind. It will be interesting to see how they deal with that renewal curve ball.

[LennieBriscoe]

Dylan Baker did it in "L&O." Dylan Baker did it in "Monk." 

So when Dylan Baker showed up in this episode, I knew: He's the guy. 

[kay1864]

On 7/3/2018 at 3:00 PM, Athena said:

I think she also struck a lot of deals with the FBI so they went easy on her, but Morland said her FBI handlers lost her a few months back or something? 

I must have missed an episode.  I thought she was in a high-security prison all this time.  She got released b/c she made a deal with the FBI?

[Athena]

13 hours ago, kay1864 said:

I must have missed an episode.  I thought she was in a high-security prison all this time.  She got released b/c she made a deal with the FBI?

In S2x12 "The Diabolical Kind" the episode where Sherlock and Watson visits Moriarty in custody, she's already traded a lot of information to the FBI to get more advantages including being moved to more comfortable cell, painting a portrait of Watson, etc. After the whole thing with her daughter in the episode, she tells Sherlock she will be free soon before she is taken into custody again. They likely increased her security after that stint, but she's manipulated the authorities before to giving her more freedom. She has likely done that and finally escaped. She was always good about giving them enough but I don't think she admitted to anything about the crime syndicate.  She may not have been released. She likely escaped from a lower security prison/situation.

[iMonrey]

Quote

When that one suspect was confessing to any and everything, I killed so and so, someone hired me to do this, admitting this has got to count for something right, I was LMAO.  What made it even better was, "I've never seen someone so willing to confess with so little to offer."

What led them to this guy in the first place? I missed that. How did they manage to trace the weapon back to this particular guy?

[Athena]

31 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

What led them to this guy in the first place? I missed that. How did they manage to trace the weapon back to this particular guy?

Sherlock and Marcus said that the use of such a weapon would need a lot of skill since it's rather archaic and specialized. They also knew that the person would be a certain height. Marcus noticed the instructor when the was interviewing the owner of the fencing school.  

[Clanstarling]

On 7/3/2018 at 12:51 AM, Vermicious Knid said:

There was a whole elaborate sword fight choreographed for that scene in Raiders but Harrison Ford was sick and running a 103 degree fever at the time. He wanted to get finished and said "What if I just pull out my gun and shoot him?"

His feverish suggestion created an iconic scene - not a bad outcome.

[WatchrTina]

On 7/3/2018 at 12:38 PM, iMonrey said:

For some reason I didn't find this week's mystery particularly engaging, even with a well known guest actor.

Me too.  In fact I was so let down by this episode I came here for the first time to see if others felt the same way.  I really like Elementary and have been impressed with the long-term story arcs they introduce, while living within the solve-a-crime-a-week model.  But this episode stunk.  The writing felt so . . . off.  I felt sorry for Lucy Liu having to deliver some of those awkward lines (like that final scene when they got the guy.)  And the murderer who gave himself away at the sword school and then just confessed EVERYTHING before asking for an attorney . . . that was dumb.  I kept waiting for a twist wherein it was revealed that he was NOT the killer and had instead been blackmailed into confessing.  I don't know what to think.  I wonder if this show has just run out of gas.

[johntfs]

20 minutes ago, WatchrTina said:

Me too.  In fact I was so let down by this episode I came here for the first time to see if others felt the same way.  I really like Elementary and have been impressed with the long-term story arcs they introduce, while living within the solve-a-crime-a-week model.  But this episode stunk.  The writing felt so . . . off.  I felt sorry for Lucy Liu having to deliver some of those awkward lines (like that final scene when they got the guy.)  And the murderer who gave himself away at the sword school and then just confessed EVERYTHING before asking for an attorney . . . that was dumb.  I kept waiting for a twist wherein it was revealed that he was NOT the killer and had instead been blackmailed into confessing.  I don't know what to think.  I wonder if this show has just run out of gas.

I loved the bit with the eager-to-cut-a-deal murderer.  Plenty of shows would have cast that Asian actor and played to the strong, silent inscrutable "ninja" concept.  Here, nope.  He's selfish and kind of gloriously stupid.  Plus Bell's "We've all seen Raiders of the Lost Ark.  It doesn't go well for the guy with the sword."

[basil]

Quote

I loved the bit with the eager-to-cut-a-deal murderer.  Plenty of shows would have cast that Asian actor and played to the strong, silent inscrutable "ninja" concept.  Here, nope.  He's selfish and kind of gloriously stupid.

Thing is, that's so true to life. Criminals are, by and large, stupid people. They really are. Even Ted Bundy said he would have been a successful person if he spent the kind of energy he spent being, y'know, a thief and a psychopath, in more useful ways, he would have done well for himself. I mean, look at some of the polticians around.

Quote

 the murderer who gave himself away at the sword school and then just confessed EVERYTHING before asking for an attorney . . . that was dumb

Dumb, sure, but real life. It happens ALL. THE. TIME. Damn, if tv teaches you nothing else, it's "SAY NOTHING UNTIL YOU SPEAK TO YOUR LAWYER". You have nothing to gain by speaking, and everything to lose. The promise of "we'll put a good word in for you" is utterly valueless. 

Edited July 6, 2018 by basil

[jhlipton]

On 7/3/2018 at 10:43 AM, Trey said:

But he's still alive, unlike the hitman Sherlock confronted - apparently he would rather be dead than be asked any more questions.  His jumping out the window just seemed so odd to me.

I took that to mean that the hitman's employers threatened his family and would do them harm if he talked.  He killed himself so they wouldn't be harmed.