Sherlock: The Empty Hearse
June 4, 2014 6:11 PM - Season 3, Episode 1 - Subscribe
Watson has moved on in the years since Sherlock's presumed death. But when London is threatened by terrorists, Sherlock decides it's time to return.
This is a funny episode. In fact this whole series is pretty funny, (see episode 2 in particular). The solution to the fake death is pretty clever: essentially arguing "there were lots of ways he could have done it, so picking one isn't productive." This sort of works, I think, but it is really frustrating when Moffat had been teasing the idea that there was "a" solution. None of the proposed solutions in the episode quite work. Even the most straight forward one really makes one ask why on earth this entire set up was done just for John Watson. After all, its stated that the assasins were apparently taken care of by Mycroft, so its quite an elaborate set up. Especially considering the sheer number of people required for it!
The mystery in this episode isn't much of one (and relies on Sherlock's inability to count!) but I don't think that matters too much, as the mystery that this episode centres round is really Sherlock cheating death. Mary is instantly good, and is a really well introduced new character. Having her being encouraging of John and Sherlock was a masterstroke, as too often the "wife" character gets to be the "Stop having fun guys" character. It also introduces another female character into the very male world of Sherlock.
posted by Cannon Fodder at 11:57 PM on June 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
The mystery in this episode isn't much of one (and relies on Sherlock's inability to count!) but I don't think that matters too much, as the mystery that this episode centres round is really Sherlock cheating death. Mary is instantly good, and is a really well introduced new character. Having her being encouraging of John and Sherlock was a masterstroke, as too often the "wife" character gets to be the "Stop having fun guys" character. It also introduces another female character into the very male world of Sherlock.
posted by Cannon Fodder at 11:57 PM on June 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
I am madly in love with Mary. Of course, the flip side of this is that if I start feeling like the show's mistreating her, that might kill the show for me entirely. An interloper, I wouldn't care if they'd get rid of her at some point later. This Mary? No. If this Mary gets fridged, there ought to be rioting.
posted by Sequence at 3:44 AM on June 5, 2014
posted by Sequence at 3:44 AM on June 5, 2014
I've only seen this and the pilot (hey, friends were getting together, whatever), but I loved this one. The Sherlock Death Truthers were hilarious.
posted by Pope Guilty at 3:48 AM on June 5, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Pope Guilty at 3:48 AM on June 5, 2014 [2 favorites]
The whole time, I was hoping that the real twist to the Sherlock Death Mystery was going to be that Moriarty survived! But nope. I don't really know why they put on an entire stage play for John. It seems counterproductive? Also, if all these randomly recruited people could be trusted to keep the secret, including Sherlock's daffy parents, who didn't even attend his funeral, then why couldn't John? And Mycroft just *murdered* some gunman during that death-staging? He didn't have him taken into custody? Damn.
In general, though, I definitely enjoyed it. Everybody giving John grief for his grief-mustache, the boyfriend-who-is-exactly-the-same-type-as-Sherlock, Sherlock's utterly boring parents, the Mycroft and Sherlock hat-detection-show-down. They handled John and Sherlock's reconciliation really well, I thought, both in the restaurant and in the time-lapse in the deli? bakery?, where Sherlock would say something dumb and time would jump to him having a split lip or something. Also, I loved the incredible awkwardness when Sherlock tried to do a movie-style "comedic" renunion at the restaurant and everyone was like THAT'S NOT HOW EMOTIONS WORK DUMBASS. I even loved Sherlock putting on iconic hat.
But I do miss Moriarty. What can I say, he was the best!
posted by rue72 at 4:53 AM on June 5, 2014 [4 favorites]
In general, though, I definitely enjoyed it. Everybody giving John grief for his grief-mustache, the boyfriend-who-is-exactly-the-same-type-as-Sherlock, Sherlock's utterly boring parents, the Mycroft and Sherlock hat-detection-show-down. They handled John and Sherlock's reconciliation really well, I thought, both in the restaurant and in the time-lapse in the deli? bakery?, where Sherlock would say something dumb and time would jump to him having a split lip or something. Also, I loved the incredible awkwardness when Sherlock tried to do a movie-style "comedic" renunion at the restaurant and everyone was like THAT'S NOT HOW EMOTIONS WORK DUMBASS. I even loved Sherlock putting on iconic hat.
But I do miss Moriarty. What can I say, he was the best!
posted by rue72 at 4:53 AM on June 5, 2014 [4 favorites]
Sherlock's utterly boring parents
Who, it's worth noting, are actually his parents.
posted by Sequence at 4:59 AM on June 5, 2014 [16 favorites]
Who, it's worth noting, are actually his parents.
posted by Sequence at 4:59 AM on June 5, 2014 [16 favorites]
That's hilarious. I love that they did that.
posted by rue72 at 5:03 AM on June 5, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by rue72 at 5:03 AM on June 5, 2014 [2 favorites]
Oh! Duh, which I guess if it's worth noting that for anybody who didn't know already, then it's also worth noting that Amanda Abbington is also Martin Freeman's actual longtime partner.
posted by Sequence at 5:07 AM on June 5, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by Sequence at 5:07 AM on June 5, 2014 [5 favorites]
Rue: Yeah its super odd. Also if you think about it Sherlock acts pretty upset at the death of Moriarty given he had put a massive amount of effort into preparing for said eventuality. I guess maybe he just super liked Moriarty?
I did love the restuarant scene. I think Moffat is, in general, pretty great at writing comedy, I enjoyed Coupling, although it had the same woman issues all his writing does.
posted by Cannon Fodder at 6:37 AM on June 5, 2014
I did love the restuarant scene. I think Moffat is, in general, pretty great at writing comedy, I enjoyed Coupling, although it had the same woman issues all his writing does.
posted by Cannon Fodder at 6:37 AM on June 5, 2014
I kind of gave up on the show in this season. Too much cutesy character interaction and faux-Bourne, too little actual mystery. I'm totally OK with these elements in any generic show, but I think Sherlock Holmes stories should be at least 50% about the mystery.
posted by selfnoise at 6:51 AM on June 5, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by selfnoise at 6:51 AM on June 5, 2014 [2 favorites]
Sherlock Holmes stories should be at least 50% about the mystery
Absolutely. The previous two seasons were wonderfully mystery-driven, then this season came around and it was like being repeatedly punched in the face with character development, which is fine I guess, but it came at the expense of what made the show great.
posted by troika at 8:16 AM on June 5, 2014 [5 favorites]
Absolutely. The previous two seasons were wonderfully mystery-driven, then this season came around and it was like being repeatedly punched in the face with character development, which is fine I guess, but it came at the expense of what made the show great.
posted by troika at 8:16 AM on June 5, 2014 [5 favorites]
I don't think the explanation Sherlock gave to Anderson was the real one. Moffat and Gatiss pretty much say so in one of the DVD extras and laugh about being liars when it comes to these things. I like that it's still ambiguous because, as the conversation with Anderson implies, no explanation on its own would have been satisfactory.
Sherlock and Mycroft's deduction scene with the hat was the crown jewel of this one.
posted by futureisunwritten at 8:18 AM on June 5, 2014 [3 favorites]
Sherlock and Mycroft's deduction scene with the hat was the crown jewel of this one.
posted by futureisunwritten at 8:18 AM on June 5, 2014 [3 favorites]
Also I really liked the cases and the character development. Kind of hard to be strictly solving cases when the main character has been presumed dead for the last two years.
posted by futureisunwritten at 8:20 AM on June 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by futureisunwritten at 8:20 AM on June 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
So Sherlock's "wanna know how I faked my death" lies are the new "wanna know how I got these scars?" And that they're all lies is kind of the point?
I'm OK with that!
posted by rue72 at 8:38 AM on June 5, 2014 [2 favorites]
I'm OK with that!
posted by rue72 at 8:38 AM on June 5, 2014 [2 favorites]
no explanation on its own would have been satisfactory
But that is what we look for from great mysteries. Something seemingly impossible happened, you scratch your head trying to figure out how it could have, and then when you're presented with the solution it wows you because you hadn't seen it coming yet it's both ingenious and convincing. The whole point is that the author has a more-than-satisfactory explanation to give you when you really couldn't see how there could be one.
The fact that Moffat teased us big time with the puzzle but didn't have a brilliant solution to show us was a let down for me.
That kind of failing to deliver is not uncommon in TV shows, but he's pulled such things off amazingly well in the past, so I had hopes he might have something great up his sleeve.
posted by philipy at 9:46 AM on June 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
But that is what we look for from great mysteries. Something seemingly impossible happened, you scratch your head trying to figure out how it could have, and then when you're presented with the solution it wows you because you hadn't seen it coming yet it's both ingenious and convincing. The whole point is that the author has a more-than-satisfactory explanation to give you when you really couldn't see how there could be one.
The fact that Moffat teased us big time with the puzzle but didn't have a brilliant solution to show us was a let down for me.
That kind of failing to deliver is not uncommon in TV shows, but he's pulled such things off amazingly well in the past, so I had hopes he might have something great up his sleeve.
posted by philipy at 9:46 AM on June 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
I'll have to rewatch the episode so that I don't mix in information from the rest of the season, but in general I really enjoyed this episode. The multiple explanations for the fall was a smart way to deal with the fact that owing to the huge gap between seasons it was probably impossible to create something that hadn't already been guessed across the internet. Also it gave us that fantastic swing through the window and Molly kissing scene. Besides the canon explanation was hardly a stellar example of mystery resolution.
I love any time Mycroft and Sherlock interact and the fact that Sherlock was trying to engage Mycroft emotionally was an interesting change of pace.
Mary - loved the introduction of Mary and the way she handles Sherlock and John was brilliant. John's handling of Sherlock's inept attempt at a reunion rang quite true for me as well (who wouldn't punch him for his behavior in the restaurant)
posted by Julnyes at 1:40 PM on June 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
I love any time Mycroft and Sherlock interact and the fact that Sherlock was trying to engage Mycroft emotionally was an interesting change of pace.
Mary - loved the introduction of Mary and the way she handles Sherlock and John was brilliant. John's handling of Sherlock's inept attempt at a reunion rang quite true for me as well (who wouldn't punch him for his behavior in the restaurant)
posted by Julnyes at 1:40 PM on June 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
The multiple explanations for the fall was a smart way to deal with the fact that owing to the huge gap between seasons it was probably impossible to create something that hadn't already been guessed across the internet.
Yeah, I think at core I agree with this. There was just no way to live up to the fact that so many fans had been speculating so long about it. So they just hung a lampshade on it and called it enough.
posted by Sequence at 3:38 PM on June 5, 2014 [2 favorites]
Yeah, I think at core I agree with this. There was just no way to live up to the fact that so many fans had been speculating so long about it. So they just hung a lampshade on it and called it enough.
posted by Sequence at 3:38 PM on June 5, 2014 [2 favorites]
The thing I couldn't get over with this episode (and indeed with the whole season) is how much it feels like fanfic that just happens to have been written and produced by the creators. I love fanservice, but this was a little too excessive for me.
posted by Andrhia at 5:49 AM on June 6, 2014 [9 favorites]
posted by Andrhia at 5:49 AM on June 6, 2014 [9 favorites]
The thing I couldn't get over with this episode (and indeed with the whole season) is how much it feels like fanfic that just happens to have been written and produced by the creators. I love fanservice, but this was a little too excessive for me.
I look at it this way. Anything created after Doyle stopped writing it is fanfic. All the movies, the books written by other authors, the television series, etc. Anytime it diverges from the original text it becomes fanfic to me. It may be slickly produced but Sherlock BBC is just a Modern AU of Sherlock Holmes.
posted by Julnyes at 7:01 AM on June 6, 2014 [4 favorites]
I look at it this way. Anything created after Doyle stopped writing it is fanfic. All the movies, the books written by other authors, the television series, etc. Anytime it diverges from the original text it becomes fanfic to me. It may be slickly produced but Sherlock BBC is just a Modern AU of Sherlock Holmes.
posted by Julnyes at 7:01 AM on June 6, 2014 [4 favorites]
I loved the updating of the hat deductions from the Blue Carbuncle mystery.
And Mary. Everything about Mary.
posted by RainyJay at 7:44 AM on June 6, 2014
And Mary. Everything about Mary.
posted by RainyJay at 7:44 AM on June 6, 2014
Anything created after Doyle stopped writing it is fanfic
It's one thing to be fanfic, another to *feel* like fanfic.
By saying "it feels like fanfic", we're probably saying it has some failings common in fanfic but comparatively rare in published writing. For example Peter Jackson's LOTR trilogy doesn't feel like fanfic to me, but his Hobbit one does.
Mostly Steven Moffat hits the right balance with his Sherlock and Doctor Who, but sometimes he does overindulge his fannish tendencies with both.
probably impossible to create something that hadn't already been guessed across the internet
I don't know if this was part of the thinking, but if it was I'd say it's an example of Moffat overindulging in fannishness.
Out of the millions that love and watch Sherlock, it's very likely only a small minority that actively immerse themselves in the internet speculation. I certainly didn't.
The episode seemed one big in-joke about the ways of fandom, the goofy theories that people come up with, etc. That might be delightful if you've been part of all that speculation, but if you're just a regular viewer and you haven't thought about it much since last season, you were just looking forward eagerly to seeing the big reveal, and there wasn't one.
posted by philipy at 12:42 PM on June 6, 2014 [3 favorites]
It's one thing to be fanfic, another to *feel* like fanfic.
By saying "it feels like fanfic", we're probably saying it has some failings common in fanfic but comparatively rare in published writing. For example Peter Jackson's LOTR trilogy doesn't feel like fanfic to me, but his Hobbit one does.
Mostly Steven Moffat hits the right balance with his Sherlock and Doctor Who, but sometimes he does overindulge his fannish tendencies with both.
probably impossible to create something that hadn't already been guessed across the internet
I don't know if this was part of the thinking, but if it was I'd say it's an example of Moffat overindulging in fannishness.
Out of the millions that love and watch Sherlock, it's very likely only a small minority that actively immerse themselves in the internet speculation. I certainly didn't.
The episode seemed one big in-joke about the ways of fandom, the goofy theories that people come up with, etc. That might be delightful if you've been part of all that speculation, but if you're just a regular viewer and you haven't thought about it much since last season, you were just looking forward eagerly to seeing the big reveal, and there wasn't one.
posted by philipy at 12:42 PM on June 6, 2014 [3 favorites]
I don't know if they took into account the fan speculation which took place on and off the internet, I just found it a neat way around it (whether deliberate or not).
The one thing I didn't love about the episode was the change of Moran from Moriarty's right hand to a politician turned terrorist.
Is Masterpiece still showing an edited version of the show?
On another topic. I have to mention how much I love the set design and cinematography on this show.
posted by Julnyes at 2:27 PM on June 6, 2014
The one thing I didn't love about the episode was the change of Moran from Moriarty's right hand to a politician turned terrorist.
Is Masterpiece still showing an edited version of the show?
On another topic. I have to mention how much I love the set design and cinematography on this show.
posted by Julnyes at 2:27 PM on June 6, 2014
Oh oh... I though the version Sherlock gave on his faked death was the real one. If that was a lie too I have to admit I feel cheated. I do want to know how he faked that. I think it's lazy to not include how he did it. There are a lot of silly, nonsensical elements to the show, but they fit because they are not too outlandish and give a comedic flair. But Season 3 with the faked death and people coming back to life and Sherlock working in Serbia undercover and getting beat and then he comes back home looking like he's spent the last two years in a spa... Season 3 has been a little too silly even for me.
posted by manderin at 3:38 PM on June 7, 2014
posted by manderin at 3:38 PM on June 7, 2014
I was really unsatisfied with this episode, and I didn't buy how Sherlock supposedly faked his death. I wasn't even going to watch the rest of the series, except for the opportunity to discuss it on here... thankfully the next episodes are better. (This is only my opinion, so not a spoiler, right?)
I also figured out the underground tunnel thing *and* the Guy Fawkes/blow up the parliament thing, and I am one of those people who has a really basic level of plot comprehension (seriously; I'm the one asking "why did he need to do the foo with the bar?" when it's perfectly obvious to everyone else), so I find it hard to believe that a genius like Sherlock wouldn't have cottoned on immediately.
posted by pianissimo at 2:55 AM on June 9, 2014
I also figured out the underground tunnel thing *and* the Guy Fawkes/blow up the parliament thing, and I am one of those people who has a really basic level of plot comprehension (seriously; I'm the one asking "why did he need to do the foo with the bar?" when it's perfectly obvious to everyone else), so I find it hard to believe that a genius like Sherlock wouldn't have cottoned on immediately.
posted by pianissimo at 2:55 AM on June 9, 2014
I just saw this episode on Netflix. Lots of good stuff, really like the truther who came up with the Moriarty / Sherlock kiss. The Molly kiss was pretty good stuff too.
posted by bunderful at 2:52 PM on December 5, 2014
posted by bunderful at 2:52 PM on December 5, 2014
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posted by bq at 6:24 PM on June 4, 2014 [2 favorites]