Sherlock Rewatch: The Reichenbach Fall (Series 2 Finale) - Part One

And, here we are, at last.

The final problem. Our problem.

How does Sherlock do it?

One of my all-time favorite scenes in the series is when Jim breaks into the Tower of London, followed directly by the scene where Moriarty and Sherlock have tea. Hands down, top two scenes in the series for me.

I'm pretty sure I could act this episode out in my sleep.



The big theme here is fairy tales, but I'm pretty sure that's all smoke and mirrors. Moriarty explains to Sherlock that every fairy tales needs a good, old-fashioned villain. And, naturally, he's the best man for the job. He also explains to Sherlock that they're the same; he is Sherlock and vice versa. That means, at any given point, he can be the hero and Sherlock can be the villain. That is, essentially, exactly what happens here. The breadcrumbs, the gingerbread man, the book of Grimm tales, etc. - these all reinforce Jim's "storyteller" motif. He is playing the puppet master here, and the strings he is pulling are Sherlock's.

Or so he thinks.

If there's anything we know about Sherlock, it's that he's steps ahead of everyone (Except maybe Mycroft, and a little fuzzier when he's bored). But he's been expecting Moriarty for some time now. He expects him in A Study in Pink, even before he has a name. How much puppet mastery Moriarty is doing versus how much Sherlock has put in place in order for him to pull strings is debatable.

Particularly considering Sherlock's condemnation of Moriarty as a "spider at the center of a web". If Moriarty has a web, so, too, does Sherlock. And I'd argue that Sherlock is pulling them a lot sooner than Moriarty gives him credit for.

Moriarty's final problem centers around Bach. When he enters Sherlock's apartment (and is greeted by a fresh-made pot of tea, served to him, uncharacteristically by Sherlock who never serves anyone), he criticizes Sherlock's abrupt cessation of violin playing and begins a tale of a dying, old Bach, leaping out of his bed to play his unfinished melody on the piano. This is a made up story, from what I can gather. The writers spin this legend here for a reason, as Moriarty's "key code" is also from Bach. Add to the fact that he assumes the anglicized version of the name Reichen Bach, and I do believe we've got here a pattern of three that's hard to ignore.

After Moriarty tells the Bach story, Sherlock asks him how Moriarty intends to "burn him" - to which Moriarty replies, that's the final problem. "I've already told you, but did you listen?" We all listened to his "Stayin' Alive" ringtone at the beginning of the "Scandal in Belgravia" and he reiterates that one the roof that "staying alive" is "the final problem." But there's got to be more there, particularly since it's sandwiched between the two Bach incidents. And once more I'm struggling to figure out what a dying man's need to finish the melody has to do with Sherlock jumping off a building.

If Moriarty assumes the Bach role (and we assume that because he literally does take Bach's name), he is the dying man (and die he does, on the rooftop). Sherlock is co-opting his melody, playing him poorly, and stopping before it's finished (Sherlock does this earlier when he stops playing the violin before the song is done). So, what exactly is Moriarty's song? It's staying alive.

But, if that were the case, a dying Jim would leap up and finish the song for Sherlock once he'd stopped playing, right?

I've thought about this so long my head hurts.

We also know Sherlock has a far better understanding of what's going to happen then he lets on. He knows Moriarty's strength isn't in technology but in manipulation. Moriarty's weakness is that he loves playing with people's pressure points; Sherlock anticipates this. He knows that Moriarty will target anyone Sherlock seems to care about on more than a perfunctory level. This is why he treats Molly the way that he does. He has to give her enough to stay involved in his life but must mistreat her in order for Jim to not see her as anything more significant than a schoolgirl crush. He checks this theory on the roof when he gives Moriarty three names - John, Hudson, Lestrade - to ensure that Molly will go unnoticed, as she has too often by everyone else on the series. Her ability to hang in the periphery is exceptional and those are strings that Sherlock manipulates, not Moriarty.

None of that is particularly new, however.

Let's see if we can't decipher the missing clue as a break, shall we?

There are several strange Sherlock moments here.

1. His interaction with Kitty - this actually reminds me a lot of the scene with Irene Adler, he even gets very close to Kitty as if to check to see her pulse or pupil dilation or whathaveyou. Never before is Sherlock so condemnatory of the press. This is probably a deliberate move on Sherlock's part to help turn the press against him; what better way to get them to hate him then to pick a young, hungry journalist and practically hand her a reason to find his dirty secrets.

2. Sherlock makes tea and gets dressed for Moriarty. I think this is incredibly telling. Sherlock wouldn't even get dressed for the Queen, even though he knew exactly where he was going that day. The Queen (via Mycroft and Harry) also served him tea. What message then does Sherlock send Moriarty when he not only gets fully dressed but also serves him tea for his visit? The fact that he practically serenades him with violin music is just an added bonus.

3. Sherlock's apology to John on the roof - Sherlock made a big deal of not apologizing to Mrs. Hudson after hurting her feelings in "Hounds of Baskerville." It's not really in his nature, although he does do it on occasion (see: Molly at Christmas). The question then becomes "What is this apology really all about?".

4. Sherlock sitting with his feet up - Sherlock moves a lot. Even when it appears he isn't moving. And his thinking pose either involves his violin or holding his hands in a pyramid pose. He generally also moves his fingers (as he does when he plays with the squash ball, mirroring Moriarty's code tick). But the scene when John receives the call about Mrs. Hudson, Sherlock is sitting almost perfectly still with his feet up. Why is he elevating his feet here? There's something about his pose and the calmness of his demeanor that is very "not" Sherlock there.

5. Sherlock singing - I've watched all six episodes so much that I can quote them by heart now. I cannot remember one other instance of Sherlock singing. I also think it's strange that he jumps up and clicks his feet together, but that's more typical of his spry and giddy glee when he's excited. Like an acrobatic little puppy.

6. Leaving a "note" - The writers love a pun. I say that all the time and I think it's universally acknowledged to be true. In his final call to John, he tells him, using Moriarty's words, "that's what people do", that he is leaving John "a note." A note can refer to anything - a suicide note, a doctor's note, a music note, a bank note, or even an intonation. In that regards, Sherlock certainly is leaving a note of sadness, of apology, and of despair. Still, I feel like there is more to this phone call than people generally acknowledge. First, it's weird that it's an apology. It's also weird that it's a lie - that he's telling John to continue Moriarty's lie about him, even though John already knows it's untrue (because he lived it and because he spoke with Mycroft). There has to be something more going on there.

7. Sherlock's humanity - crying on the roof is misdirection. Think back to Ian Monkford and Sherlock's quick tears there. Don't mistake this for an out-of-character act. Sherlock is selling his lie here. Hard. He also has grown to like having John around. It isn't easy to do what he's doing but that doesn't mean that he's going soft. Remember, Sherlock is Jim and both men are actors. They can cry, if that's what the scene requires.

8. Sherlock's hands. Much is made of his hands in the rooftop scene, and for some good reason. At the beginning of the exchange, Sherlock has his hands clasped behind his back, the gesture is slightly open, as if to say, "nothing in here to see!". When he gives Moriarty back the code, he has the hands on top closed tight, again, as if to prove there is nothing inside his hands. After he deliberately angers Moriarty by pretending a key code exists, Moriarty calls him a doofus and flamboyantly shuffles around pretending to be ordinary Sherlock. Before this happens, however, we get a brief glimpse at Sherlock's hands again. We know that Sherlock is adept at sleight of hand (thanks, stolen ashtray and id card). When we see him again, his hands look like this. There is clearly something in there, probably the squash ball, because, let's face it, he has never played with one of those prior to this episode. The object looks blackish and squishy (technical terms) but the image isn't very clear; I suppose it could be a recorder or a phone, but he really wouldn't need one of those to be hanging out here. By playing stupid, Sherlock essentially cons Moriarty into letting his guard down. Moriarty takes his eyes off him and Sherlock places the object wherever he needs to do so in order or the next phase of his plan to take place. Whatever the object is, we know for certain it's out of his hands by the time Moriarty's done calling him names.

9. Sherlock's phone - it's weird enough that he calls. It's weird to me that they don't show him taking the phone out and calling John, focusing rather on his feet. We know where he put his phone prior to the encounter on the roof and maybe they're just going for drama, or maybe they're obscuring something we might not want to see until later.

I just checked the time. Right now, someone in England is getting the answer and I'm not. Sadness.

I'm posting this now but will be back in a few with more

Sherlock Rewatch: The Hounds of Baskerville (Season Two, Episode Two)

What's up with the middle installments being the weakest of each season?



I actually like this one much better than "The Blind Banker", to be fair. I think my problem is that it seems so disconnected from the Moriarty plotline. It makes me think there's got to be something else going on here, aside from hallucinogenic drugs and giant beasties traipsing all over the moors of England.

It does give us this photo:



which is foreshadowing at its finest.

This one gives us a flashback by way of intro - clearly a strong connection to the main narrative thread and introducing us to the concept of the Hound through the childhood eyes of terror.

While it's not my favorite episode, here are some things of note:

1. Sherlock's refusal to apologize to Mrs. Hudson. He refuses to, after revealing Mrs. Hudson's unintentional affair with the philandering shopkeeper. She leaves upset and Sherlock refuses to apologize to her, criticizing, or perhaps, envying John's mind for assuming it could be so simple. And yet we see him apologize to Molly, just an episode earlier, for cruelly lashing out about her crush on him. And, the more I think about that scene, the more I'm sure Sherlock knows exactly what he's doing. There's no way a man like Sherlock could not predict or simply read the tag off the gift and know its recipient. He's not jealous of Molly's beau, so what's really going on there?

2. Shaking fingers - "I know the signs". Henry is looking for his first cigarette of the day and Sherlock makes much of his shaking fingers, commenting he recognizes the sign of nicotine withdrawal. Have you ever watched Sherlock's body language? Like really watched it? In Scandal in Belgravia, you can see him shaking his feet/leg repeatedly under his sheet. His finger tick rapidly, particularly when thinking. Very rarely does he stay completely still. In Reichenbach Falls, he sits, feet up, quite relaxed. When else does he ever sit with his feet up? Or completely still? That's certainly not his thinking pose. Does this mean he's drugged at the end? Not in the sense of the hallucinogenic stuff from HOUND; that's got red herring written all over it. Just that there's something else going on with his body language at the end of season finale and we get a clue to it here.

3. I'm a show-off; that's what we do. - I love this line, but I also wonder if it's there for ulterior motives as well. It would be out-of-character for Sherlock not to show-off (i.e. perhaps by asking Molly humbly for help or admitting that he needs her). I'd say look for scenes where Sherlock doesn't show off or can't show off in the finale. Just a thought.

4. Skull and Cross Bones - Another pirate reference (the first one is in Scandal in Belgravia when Mycroft says that his brother has the mind of a philosopher or scientist and yet spends his time acting as a detective. He also comments that initially Sherlock wanted to be a pirate. Do with that what you will.

5. John's blog. I write a blog. Several of them. On average, I get maybe 30 hits a day, more if I write something about Blue Lagoon: The Awakening (that shit is blog GOLD). I have nowhere near the readership of John's blog. Neither does Sherlock. And, yes, John has mysteries and fiction working on his side, but everyone whose anyone in this series seems well-acquainted with John's blog. It's amazing he hasn't monetized it; they could live entirely off that. Here, Dr. Frankland is the avid reader/fan. I feel like John's blog must be getting some outside help in order to be as successful as it seems to be.

6. Much is made of Sherlock's pickpocketing in the first two episodes of this season. First, he nicks the ashtray from the palace and now he's conveniently stolen Mycroft's ID to sneak into Baskerville (which seems unnecessary since Mycroft later gets him 24-hour-access).

7. With your cheekbones and turning up your coat collar to look cool. - I just love this line, but it also speaks to Sherlock's perception of himself and his ego. He knows people are looking at him, watching him, judging him. He wants to project "mysterious" and "cool". It doesn't take a genius to see that.

8. I haven't got friends. I've just got one. - Not true. He has Mrs. Hudson. Lestrade. and John. And Molly. And, in some fucked up way, Moriarty. Definitely not true. But it makes me think of the title change. In the original, it's the Hound of the Baskervilles. Here, it's the HoundS of Baskerville. A nod to the name change more than a moment of truth?

9. Sherlock's "fear" - We get a more emotional side to Sherlock here, with his fear and doubt unsettling him (hand-shaking!). This is either the most human Sherlock has ever been OR this is a set up, a long-con, on Sherlock's part. Making Watson witness his humanity to believe the end he has in store or Reichenbach.

10. Sherlock's mistake - Sherlock assumed the poison was in the sugar, not the in the fog. Making mistakes is distinctly in character for Sherlock, thus his "code" snafu at the end of the season finale isn't particularly out-of-character. Even John says Sherlock is "human" in his blog. I'm not sold entirely on that concept, actually, but it's something to note if you think the out-of-character move is that Sherlock was fallible. Sherlock does say in A Study in Pink that there is always some detail he gets wrong; he's excellent with the big picture, but little things often elude him.

11. Frankland's overly-helpfulness/giving Sherlock his number - it's an old British murder mystery standard that if someone is overly helpful they're probably involved in the murder. Moriarty gives Sherlock his number in The Great Game. Irene practically programs herself into Sherlock's phone. Here, Frankland gives his number. Kitty Riley slips her card to Sherlock in The Reichenbach Fall. Let's just ponder that for a moment, shall we?

12. John's blog entry regarding the episode points out that Sherlock makes Henry look at the body of the dog so that he understands what is real and what is not. I think that is exactly why it is so important that he places John where he does in the Reichenbach fall. John can't see the bloody conclusion, but he must be able to see the body in order to fully believe the lie of Sherlock's death. It's an interesting spin here.

13. Acronyms. HOUND here is a pretty basic acronym of the last name of the drug's founders. This ties into my IOU feeling (that's it something more significant). And the writers love using things from previous episodes to help do that. Liberty, IN also ties into this (IOU could be an abbreviation, of sorts).

See you after the next one.

Sherlock Rewatch: Scandal in Belgravia (Season Two, Episode One)

Sorry, guys, I'm SOOOOOOOO changeable.



Not really. I just love Jim.

So, "Scandal in Belgravia" is hands-down one of my all-time favorite episodes of any television show anywhere. It's just so brilliant. And I'll explain why.

First, if you don't appreciate good cinematic juxtaposition, shame on you. The clever way in which Sherlock and Irene Adler mirror one another here is just such a lovely touch on the director's part. She looks at images of a sheet-clad Sherlock as he flips through surveillance photographs of her/her website. When they get ready for their meeting, he adds a "touch of color" by having John punch his face; she asks for "blood" red lipstick to be applied. Both have doting (to the point of sexuality questioning) sidekicks - John and Kate - who assist them in their preparations. They've both got flamboyant taste in wallpaper and a penchant for recreational drugs.

They're totes meant for one another.

Obviously, this one has to start with the resolution to last season's cliffhanger. It's not even a question. But I think that, too, is clever as it introduces us to the link between Moriarty and Irene Adler as well as reminds the reader that Moriarty may be off screen but he is certainly not gone.

We are also very early reminded of the oft-repeated line: you see but you do not observe.
Clearly, we are all missing something.

Personally, I'm struck by one of Mycroft's lines here. He mentions that "We are in Buckingham Palace; the very HEART of the British nation. Sherlock Holmes, put your trousers on!"

And, of course, since I've watched each episode now about 23 times, I'm reminded of Jim's lines about "burning the very HEART" out of Sherlock. This is just helping my sister's theory, but what if that's the goal here? Turning Sherlock against England/preventing the consulting detective from using his powers for good? Moriarty, after all, would have no use for a genius detective who plays "on the side of the angels".

This episode also reiterates that often times the writers rely on previous tactics. Sherlock uses the "if a mom hears an alarm" trick to figure out where Irene Adler is keeping her cellphone. This is eerily similar to the first episode in the series when he gets Jeff Hope to talk about his children and his impending death. As he does, Sherlock notes on which bottle his eyes fall; Sherlock is able to choose a bottle based on this unintentional revelation.

Most of this episode is the back-and-forth between Irene and Sherlock. It's the stuff psychotic love affairs are made of. I'm not going to get too much into that, as I'm really just trying to stick to observations that will assist in bettering my understanding of the events of "The Reichenbach Fall."

Observations:

1. Faking a death - Sherlock has done it before and can do it well enough to 'fool' Mycroft. Whatever his motives are - fucked up love feelings or bigger picture criminal web takedown - we need to believe that Sherlock is capable of fooling the British government into thinking anyone is dead. For obvious reasons. I should note that he does it with and without Molly's help. She isn't necessary, although she can be an asset if need be.

2. Stayin' Alive - This series is so interesting because it foils both Adler and Sherlock and Moriarty and Sherlock. Perhaps to suggest they are both his equals in different capacities, but there must be something deeper going on here. Moriarty's ring tone, however, is one of those genius little nods here - Holmes plays Bach as his thinking music. It thus makes perfect sense that his arch-nemesis and brilliant yang counterpart would list to the BeeGees off his cell phone. Is that the final problem? How do you stay alive when you're a Sherlock Holmes or a Moriarty, surrounded by the ordinary, and bored, quite literally, out of your wits?

3. Germany! - It's back and bigger than ever! The Dusseldorf case, for example. My preoccupation with Germany can continue!

4. I think we need to consider Sherlock's boneheaded play when "cracking" the code from the Ministry of Defence official for Irene. The simple, therefore most likely right way, to read this is, of course, an extension of what Mycroft says: a man whose never romantically met his equal before showboats a little, to impress her. I don't know if I buy. Yes, Sherlock is able to figure out Adler's "SHER"-locked key code and save the day, temporarily, but once more, he seems to make life pretty easy for mischief-making Jim M. This is similar to what happens on the rooftop in The Reichenbach Fall when Sherlock seemingly gives Moriarty the wrong solution and has to scramble to "save" face. If my sister's theory is correct, Sherlock must be willing to sacrifice his ties/loyalty to England, at least superficially, in order to infiltrate Moriarty's web. Giving away crucial information about the MoD would probably be one way to demonstrate new loyalty. Or at least a moral flexibility that would be appealing to Moriarty's crew. Of course, if we were going to look at this another way (because, you know, WHY NOT), it's, as I say, a pretty fucking boneheaded thing to do, even for a hot chick (clearly, Sherlock isn't familiar with the old "Don't be dumb; keep mum!" posters from WWII). If I were a powerful criminal mastermind, I'd probably not what someone who accidentally gives away top secret information to someone in a bathrobe.

Hole Poking in Own Theory: Mycroft's reaction to news his plan has been foiled seems pretty genuine. If he's in cahoots with Sherlock, there's no need for him to react this way. Unless we assume he's under surveillance too, which, considering Moriarty infiltrates Scotland Yard isn't unheard of.

5. "Looking takes ages; I'm just going to find them." I feel like this is a metaphor for what all the Sherlock fans are doing before the new season begins. A very extended metaphor.

6. The cigarette - Much is made of Sherlock's addiction in this episode. Mycroft gives Sherlock ONE cigarette, after Irene's first faked death, and warns John that tonight requires his constant vigilance in keeping Sherlock from slipping back into bad habits. In the next episode, Sherlock goes cold turkey, In The Reichenbach Fall, despite the highly stressful circumstances surrounding the plot, no major mention is made of Sherlock's addiction. Odd, no?

7. The Yellow Smiley Face - This should be something in The Great Game rewatch, but I just noticed it now. Obviously, Sherlock does this in a fit of boredom (sprays the wall with the paint from The Blind Banker). Later, in Reichenbach Fall land, when Moriarty writes Sherlock's name, he turns the O into a smiley face. Very similar to the one decorating Sherlock's walls. If my theory about Sherlock's apartment being under close surveillance from much earlier in Season One is correct, it makes sense that Moriarty would inform all those assassins of the code's location, and, perhaps, provide a clue with the face on the wall as well.

8. I keep thinking about the way Sherlock breaks down the hapless, overweight man whose car backfires in the beginning. This story is clever, but I like to think that it also shows us something about Sherlock and his ability to analyze a person's appearance rapidly. Then, look at what he does to Kitty Riley in The Reichenbach Fall. It's similar, but different. And we know Kitty is testing him and enjoying the exam process ("I'm liking you"). I'm wondering now if there is more than meets the eye to the strange appearance of Kitty Riley. Like she's inception-disguising - a journalist pretending to be a fan pretending to be a journalist. But is she more? We'll talk about her later, but keep that in mind. Especially since she goes the "fan" route and Jeff Hope tells Sherlock "you've got a fan" in the series's opener. Since the line "Disguise is always a self-portrait" gets repeated at the end here, we have to think about Kitty's fandom and the extent of it. She, like Jim, slips Sherlock her number. She also seems pretty keen to ruin him.



9. The American Beatdown and How Do You Solve a Problem Like Molly Hooper - Sherlock takes the abuse of Mrs. Hudson very, very poorly here. I don't blame him; she's awesome. And Sherlock's feelings seem entirely genuine. I don't doubt he does have those feelings, but, if he knows he's being watched, making sure whoever is watching associates his affection with the right people (Lestrade, John, and Hudson). Look at how coldly he treats Molly Hooper at Christmas. If he knows he's being watched, while he affords the poor girl a moment of sweetness in reparation, he must keep her at a distance if he will be able to use her later on when he needs her. Likewise, he has to make sure the person watching knows his softspots and weaknesses. Hence, throwing out Mrs. Hudson's abuser repeatedly out the window.

10. Trust. The word trust gets used a lot this season (Big Motif Warning!). So, do the words "ordinary" and "clever" and "bored". Moriarty tells Sherlock on the rooftop (Reichenbach) that Sherlock's big problem is that he always likes things to be so clever; and what is more clever this episode that cracking Irene's cute little "I am SHERlocked" password. As I've said before, the writers love a good pun. It's interesting here, too, in the sense of trust. Sherlock almost simultaneously

11. "Give him a puzzle and watch him dance" - Mycroft says this line on the plane. This is the exact same thing that the blind lady dummies to Sherlock, reading from Moriarty. In fact, the word puzzle here is particularly suspect since Moriarty, in Reichenbach, refers to "riddles" and "problems" - definitely not puzzles. Considering we meet Mycroft and he introduces himself as Sherlock's arch-enemy I feel like something else must be going on here. Unless Mycroft is simply parroting Moriarty as he's already worked out the trajectory of their relationship as well. Mycroft also says that Moriarty seems "almost desperate for [Mycroft's] attention." Whatever Moriarty's actual game is, it extends beyond just Sherlock.

12. Mycroft's reliance on Watson to do his emotional legwork. I find the Mycroft-John relationship fascinating. The strain between the Holmes's boys is fascinating, but the end of this episode always gets me. Why does Mycroft have John lie for him? And why tell John it's a lie? He must want Sherlock to know the truth (we've already seen that Sherlock can read John like a book in this episode; it follows logically he would know immediately when his "best friend" is lying to him). So, why go through the added step? Why not just tell Sherlock himself? Is it to help spare his feelings? To test John's loyalty to Sherlock? To give John access to information he might not otherwise be privy to? What's Mycroft's game here?

Sherlock Rewatch: A Study in Pink (Season One, Episode One)

My family is obsessed with Sherlock. We love him when he's post-Victorian. We love him when he's post-modern. We love him when he's in New York City and Watson is played by an American female.

But we love him most as Benedict Cumberbatch.



My sister and I recently (today, in fact) decided to do an entire series rewatch before the third season premieres. I've been searching for Moffat's mysterious clue (read more about that here) in the second season finale and it seemed like a good idea to review the earlier episodes.

To aid in the process of finding out what would be "out of character" for Sherlock and to ogle the British eye candy that is Benedict Cumberbatch.

I swear I'm not a stalker.

My sister has a pretty amazing theory of her own; I'll let her share that in her reviews. For me, this is about finding things that fit and don't fit; looking for clues to help decipher the one that got away later.

Shall we?

"A Study in Pink" is a decent series introduction. It's quick paced, flashy, and visually stimulating. Plus, I think the set designer is having the best time ever. Seriously, the man or woman who found this deserves to have their hand shaken.

But not if that means they're about to die, which seems to happen to a lot of the people Sherlock shakes hands with.



Here are some basic observations from the episode:

1. The story's "solution" is very much right in our faces from the very beginning. Now, I'd read the novella so I was anticipating a taxi driver/cab driver to be involved, but if you pay attention to the opening montage, the cab or the words "taxi' or "cab" are quite prominent. There is no attempt to hide what's happening; everything is right in front of our eyes. Misdirection is tricky, especially when it is so overt.

2. Germany. There are a lot of German/Germany references in these shows. The obvious one here is "rache" - which is German for revenge. Yes, I know, it's also a spin on the original tale which was, in fact, a murder motivated by revenge. That meaning has been supplanted here. However, considering the deluge of German references in later episodes (including, most notably, the recent minisode which had Sherlock presiding over a jury convened over "special circumstances" in a country which notably doesn't operate on the jury system. One might ask "why not just use a country that does use a jury system?"...I don't know. Something about Germany is significant, even if it's just the beloved birthplace of one of the writers or something).

 The fact that Reichenbach translates to Richard Brook seems to be a clear homage to this episode's subversion of the translation from the original. It makes me wonder a little if other episodes' clues will also get manipulated in "The Reichenbach Fall."

3. Sherlock isn't easily phased. I deliberately watched the final scene between Jeff and Sherlock carefully to gauge Sherlock's reaction when Jeff gets shot. Sherlock is remarkably poised. Not stoic, but not the flailing, coat-sniffing mad man that he is at the end of "The Reichenbach Fall." Important? Probably not, but I feel compelled to mention it.

4. Key words: bored (Jeff asks Sherlock if he is "bored", for example), ordinary, the description of Moriarty as "more than a man", Sherlock's repeated phrase "I have no idea" when we're pretty sure he does.

I'm not sure if there is anything here that I missed too much from previous viewings. We get the sense that Sherlock, from very early on in the show, has an understanding of Moriarty as an organization. If he senses that Moriarty is a criminal mastermind who enjoys game-playing (which is fairly easy to deduce from the facts at hand), then it's simple to assume that Moriarty is targeting Sherlock already ("you've got a fan, Mr. Holmes"). For me, that means everything that happens next happens with Sherlock's anticipation of Moriarty ever-bringing their worlds closer and closer together. He expects a direct confrontation. I would argue, he also probably predicts that their interaction will most likely end in death.

Although, it is tough to kill an organization.

See you after the next episode.