As somebody who's internet has only just come back, is there anywhere where I can watch this online from Australia? I've been looking forward to this for months, and then we had a 6 hour power cut.

 

It could be available on BBC Iplayer. It could be unavailable as you don't live in the UK, but I don't think that'll be a problem.

Edit: Just checked BBC Iplayer and it's definitely available. Enjoy

 

Check your messages CJC , sent you a link I just used.

 

Anyone who have seen the filming of Sherlock series 3 will know that there is one theory that is particularly interesting.

All I have to say is the scenes they shot did not appear in this episode.

 

Was anybody else irritated by the excess of special effects? I need to re-watch the previous episodes, but I'm pretty sure the first two seasons were far more streamlined.

 

I was a bit disappointed. I knew it wasn't going to be A-Scandal-in-Belgravia good, but I wasn't expecting it to be worse than Hounds was.

 

The mystery fell a bit flat - when we arrived at the climax I was still expecting another 2 or three twists, but in the end it was very simply resolved. I guess because they were combining a "Sherlock returns" episode with a "mystery of the week" episode... for me the combination didn't work. The "Sherlock returns" stuff was unsatisfying (no firm answer on how he survived) and the mystery was short and simple.

They've made a joke of how unsatisfying their resolution to Sherlock's death is, but the gag doesn't stop it being unsatisfying. I get why they're doing it: they fear that any answer they give will be unable to live up to expectations of how clever it was. But if they didn't have a clever answer for how he survived ready, they shouldn't have faked his death. (Alternatively, they could just make it incredibly simple, which is even better than clever).

Perhaps the most disappointing thing is that what they've done is essentially reset everything to how it was before Sherlock's death. Molly isn't over him, Watson has forgiven him and their old camaraderie is back, 221B Baker Street is untouched, and I suspect Watson's relationship isn't going to fare all that well either. They've passed over basically all opportunity for development.

Oh well, things are set up neatly for decent "mystery of the week" episodes 2 and 3. I just hope they don't try to make this new shadow figure as epic as Moriarty was.

 

Anyone know when BBCiplayer will allow Americans to watch it?

 

Never.

 

Is Tom a new character? It looked liked Sherlock knew him. Or were they just creating tension between Tom and Sherlock?

 

lol.

Tom looks like sherlock. coat, height, scarf, even hair. That is why everyone is bewildered.

 

I would agree if his fiancee was against Sherlock, but since she likes him they will probably stay together.

Anyway, a problem with this episode may be that it was too fan-indulgent instead of focusing on being another good adventure of Holmes.

 

As he's supposed to be based on Charles Augustus Milverton, the master blackmailer from the books, I suspect he'll be a very different sort of villain than Moriarty. By no means was Milverton supposed to be a criminal mastermind.

They'll probably go the creepy route instead of the crazy route.

 

That's Martin Freeman's wife. I think she's gonna be around for the long haul.

Sherlock's parents are Cumberbatch's actual parents too.

 

Did no one else get a feeling that Mary is some kind of Mycroft plant? When Sherlock looked at her and did his deducing thing, he gave her a strange look, like he had realised something important about her.

 

Here's the pop-uppy bits:

Linguist
Part-time nurse
Only child
Shortsighted
Guardian
Clever
Lib Dem
Bakes own bread
Size 12
Liar
Cat lover
Romantic
Appendix scar
Secret tattoo (or possibly secret and tattoo as separate items)
Disillusioned

Nothing incredibly damning. 'Liar' sounds bad, but we already knew that because of the whole moustache thing. Disillusioned? Who isn't? And in the books, Mary Morstan was quite benign - a governess that was peripherally involved with the Sign Of The Four case, married Watson, and lived as a housewife until her off-screen death between books, which was probably solely intended to get Watson shacking up with Sherlock again.

 

I considered that to be him wondering why she was so convinced that she could bring John around to his way of thinking.

 

Drunk Sherlock is best Sherlock.

 

I'm...not sure what to think. On the one hand, there's a part of me that thinks it was too much fanservice. Drunk Sherlock, epic amounts of JohnLock feels, tons of case references, flirty Sherlock on several occasions, an hour and half on the wedding, kinda. On the other hand, it was so much fun.

 

Really enjoyed this episode. Much better than the previous one and I like how it was structured around Holmes' speech.