Sherlock
Season 3, Episode 3: His Last Vow
Posted by Sage
Anxiety. Dread. Ice cream. Alcohol. These are what Sherlock fans usually bring with them to a finale episode. Especially after the relative lightheartedness of this season’s first two stories, we seemed to be due for a haymaker right to the heart.
But even though Sherlock Holmes killed a man and John Watson’s new wife put a bullet in his best friend, “His Last Vow” was almost cheery compared to “The Reichenbach Fall.” I mean, Moriarty is back. And we did miss him. Very much.
Charles Augustus Magnussen is no Moriarty. Jim Moriarty is a cuddly little bastard. He carves private messages into apples. He has a Bee Gees ringtone! I’m not sure I’d turn down brunch with him. Sherlock tells us that Magnussen makes him feel physically sick, so chances are he’s used that “the whole world is wet to my touch” line more than once. We meet him as he’s intimidating Adelaide Brooke Lady Elizabeth Smallwood into dropping an investigation into his influence over the Prime Minister. He licks her face – so close to her eyeball that I actually wish I were dead – and in between shudders of revulsion I wonder just what was in the water at the Mikkelsens’ house.
Magnussen deals in information. Everyone has a weakness or two – “pressure points,” he calls them – and he uses this knowledge to hold people hostage. Sherlock is initially hired by Lady Smallwood to do something about this “shark,” which is how he ends up in the same smack house where John Watson goes to retrieve his neighbor’s junkie son.
The original Sherlock Holmes was fond of cocaine, which was totes not a big deal in the 1880s. Our Sherlock has substance issues too. He claims he’s undercover for a case. He is – he hopes to draw Magnussen out by advertising his drug habit as a pressure point – but John isn’t buying that as the only reason he finds “Shezza” lying on a dirty mattress in a pair of – gasp – sweatpants. And now is not the time to fuck with John Watson. He’s living in the suburbs, he’s bored, he’s dreaming nightly about war and Sherlock Holmes, and he’s just desperate for an opportunity to stick a tire iron in his pants and go sprain some people. “It’s just a tiny bit sexy,” Mary tells him, as we all nod furiously at home. “Yeah,” he answers. “I know.”
Also not thrilled with this development is our favorite pathologist, Molly Hooper. (Sherlock looks so busted when John calls her from the car. He doesn’t want to disappoint her again.) Molly Hooper got to snog and slap Sherlock Holmes in the matter of one series. Somewhere out there, The Woman seethes with jealousy. “How dare you throw away the beautiful gifts you were born with? And how dare you betray the love of your friends? Say you’re sorry.” She may say it louder now, but Molly has always called Sherlock on his shit. (“You always say such horrible things.”) And by not letting him off the hook for his bad behavior, as everyone else tends to do, she actually gets real apologies from him. But not this time. “Sorry your engagement’s over,” he counters, making this the third consecutive episode where he’s brought up Molly’s relationship status in conversation. He’s being petulant, but this low blow feels so much more personal than his usual lashing out. We don’t get an answer to that question because Molly won’t take the bait. But we see her flinch at the pain of it, and what is going on with these two?
In related news, I spent an hour tonight looking at Molly Hooper-inspired sets on Polyvore and pricing colorful sweaters.
Mycroft has engaged Anderson and his Holmes fan club to clear 221B of whatever gear his brother has hidden before Mrs. Hudson finds it and tries to sell it, probably. He clenches up at the mention of Magnussen, riling up John and Sherlock with his warnings to leave the creepy guy alone. Mycroft knew then that Magnussen would try to get to him through Sherlock; he’s aware of his own pressure point. Can I get some pity for Mycroft Holmes, over here? This poor guy has spent his entire life protecting his brother, and it’s definitely not because he’s getting any credit for it. (“Your loss would break my heart.”) What must it feel like for him to see Sherlock connect so easily with John? Maybe that’s the real reason he skipped the wedding.
Which brings us to the Janine problem. Sigh. As delightful as it was to watch Sherlock Holmes cuddle with buxom brunette and to watch John Watson reacting to Sherlock Holmes cuddling with a buxom brunette, the Janine storyline irks me still. We see that Sherlock has regressed since faltering at the wedding – it’s not a stretch to imagine that he’d push his sense of decency far enough aside to use a woman for the sake of a case. But Janine: how could you? The girl fawning all over the detective can’t be the same one we met when John married Mary. That lady was savvy and cool and figured Sherlock out in one afternoon. They understood each other. They were partners-in-crime. Now she buys this doting boyfriend act? Whatever happened to, “I wish you weren’t…whatever you are”? Is she really so desperate for a ring that she’s not the tiniest bit suspicious that her detective boyfriend wants access to the heavily guarded office of a controversial and dangerous man? Did she fall onto his penis and forget her own name? That is a hallmark of a Moffat woman, I suppose. We’re supposed to be okay with all of this after the scene in the hospital when Janine turns out to be just as capable of exploiting people as Sherlock and they forgive each other. But the assassination of her character isn’t just infuriating. It’s totally nonsensical. Here again we have Moffat refusing to honor the agency and truth of a female character, choosing instead to manipulate her so that he can get from story point A to story point B a little faster. Sherlock could have just as easily buddied up to Janine and engaged her in the plan. She even says so herself. “You shouldn’t have lied to me. We could have been friends.”
It’s almost a comfort to know that Sherlock Holmes can still be surprised by people. And he can, very much, be blinded by sentiment. Despite all the clues – which he later recounts, because he noticed them all on some level – Sherlock doesn’t deduce Mary’s secret. He just doesn’t want to. Yes, Mary Morstan is more than she initially seemed. But as we got to know her in the last two episodes, I became more and more adamant in my belief that she couldn’t possibly be revealed as a true bad guy, especially once she became pregnant. And I refused to believe that her relationship with our John was a lie. So, our Mary has killed a few people. Who on this show hasn’t? It’s practically a requirement to hang with this crew. She didn’t betray John. That would have been unforgivable.
In fact, she’s the perfect match for John. I love that the prototypical Dr. Watson – the one who just wants his chair and a cup of tea and “I say, old chap” and all that – is just a story that John tells himself. That is not who he is. He is as addicted to danger as Sherlock – maybe even more so. And he subconsciously picked himself a (nearly) rehabilitated assassin for his bride. What’s the big deal? I’d pity the nice, normal girl without a cat burglar outfit stashed in the back of her closet, who gets involved with these psychopaths. As Moffat said to Vulture, “Have we forgotten that John shot someone in the back in episode one? And then had a giggle about it?”
I’m grateful to this storyline for cementing Mary as a part of the team and for giving Martin Freeman further opportunity to knock my socks off. “This is where they sit,” he spits out, when he points Mary to the client chair. And then he has us just as nervous as she is when he comes to her in the Holmes’ sitting room. He’s unreadable at first. (That was a cruel time jump, wasn’t it?) Since I’ve called out Moffat at his worst, I will also recognize him at his best. “The problems of your past are yours,” John tells Mary. “And the problems of your future are my privilege.” “You don’t even know my real name,” she half protests. “Is Mary Watson good enough for you?” LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, JOHN HAMISH WATSON. How dare anyone threaten this beautiful OTP and their unborn child? I would have shot Magnussen myself.
We also have Mary to thank for sending Sherlock to his Mind Palace. These ultra-meta sequences are what this show does best. Not only is it beautiful to look at; every last detail reveals something about the true Sherlock Holmes. First of all, it’s not random that Molly and Mycroft show up to guide him through this life or death moment. Does Mycroft even know that Sherlock is, at least metaphysically, always looking to him for direction? And sweet, steady Molly. How long has she been there? When The Woman showed up there in “The Sign of Three,” he dismissed her. “Not now, I’m working.” She is distraction and fixation. Molly, on the other hand, is constancy. Safety. She instructs Mycroft to find something to calm Sherlock down and that’s when we meet Redbeard, the last being that Sherlock loved so unconditionally. His childhood dog. His most loyal companion. You see where I’m going with this. Redbeard is John. “They’re putting me down now, too,” he says, in case you had any uncried tears left in your body. “It’s no fun, is it?”
Beyond the people he looks to for help, past his childhood memories, Sherlock keeps the most dangerous part of him locked up. Moriarty is what Sherlock could be if he hadn’t chosen the side of the angels. But right now, harnessing some of that cold, inhuman strength might not be a bad thing. He needs to know how Moriarty managed to not feel any pain. “You always feel it, but you don’t have to fear it.” Remember that, Sherlock. Remember it the next time you think that keeping your distance from people is your best method of protection.
Once he’s in the clear, Sherlock Holmes the dragon slayer sets out to keep the promise he made at the wedding. Mary and John won’t be safe until Magnussen is neutralized. The plan is foiled when we realize that Magnussen’s information is kept in a way creepier Mind Palace, rather than a physical vault. (How does Lars Mikkelsen make flipping through files look so perverse?) Sherlock had Plan B in mind long before they got to Appledore; he’d made sure John brought his gun. We see the moment that he decides to go through with it – right around the time Magnussen amuses himself by making John his bitch. He’s not a “villain,” he insists. But he has boundless power and a clear motive to destroy John’s life. Sherlock, “the most human human being” Dr. Watson’s ever known, takes one last look at John and it actually hurts. “Give my love to Mary. Tell her she’s safe now.”
Mycroft always knew that things were headed in this direction. “Oh, Sherlock. What have you done?” He sounds exhausted. Even with his limitless power, he couldn’t protect his brother from himself. Sherlock was right -“human error” was his downfall after all. It’s Moriarty who turns out to be Sherlock’s savior, and I’m having Unbreakable flashbacks. Every hero needs a villain. And we’ve got a lengthy hiatus to bundle up against that east wind.
Random Deductions
- Here’s hoping Sherlock’s junkie protege Bill Wiggins sticks around for series 4.
- Sherlock couldn’t stand staring at John’s empty chair. He hid it from himself because he also couldn’t stand to throw it away. Goodbye, cruel world.
- John is a foot shorter than Mycroft and I have no doubt that this is true.
- “Trying to put me off?” “God, no, I’m trying to recruit you.”
- Sherlock on relationships: “It’s very affirming.” “You got that from a book.”
- “I’m the only one who really knows what you’re like.” “Don’t go letting on.” Back to the Janine problem one last time. If Moffat explicitly tells me that this line indicates that Janine was in on the whole thing and played her part beautifully, all will be forgiven.
- John is one of Sherlock’s pressure points, but Sherlock isn’t one of John’s. And that’s forever going to be the story of their friendship.
- “It’s actually four pounds.” “Mary and I think seven – see you later.”
- “Don’t go into shock, obviously.” I would like Mark Gatiss to teach a class on how to speak with every word dripping in posh disdain.
- Best heading from Janine’s tabloid spree: “He Made Me Wear the Hat.”
- The people demand more Lestrade.
- One of Sherlock’s “bolt holes” is Molly Hooper’s bedroom. He sits on her bed and absentmindedly pets Toby while going into his Mind Palace. Molly makes them tea. No, really, I’m fine.
- “What have I ever done, my whole life, to deserve you?” “Everything.”
- The people also demand more Holmes Family Christmases.
- “Your best friend is a sociopath who solves crimes as a substitute for getting high. That’s me, by the way, hello.”
- These children:
- “But it’s Christmas.” “I feel the same! Oh, you mean it’s actually Christmas.”
- “Don’t worry – I’ll keep him in trouble.” “That’s my girl.”
- William Sherlock Scott Holmes. William Sherlock Scott Holmes.
- “To the very best of times, John.”
How did “His Last Vow” stack up for you in the tradition of epic Sherlock finales? And how will we ever survive another two-year wait? Leave it in the comments.
“She didn’t betray John.”
Eh, I dunno. I’d say shooting his best friend is a pretty big betrayal. And she did actually KILL him, if only for a few second. I find it hard to buy the whole surgery line when Mycroft even says to Sherlock in his mind palace that he’s been “murdered” (or might be, balance of probability).
I’ve not made up my mind on if I like her or hate her. It’s like the writers are telling me one thing while the episode itself is telling me another – like the scene in the hospital with Mary threatening Sherlock in a creepy, sing song voice while he’s in bed. That just doesn’t scream ‘sympathetic character’ to me..
And I’m not sure Sherlock isn’t some sort of pressure point for John. The shit that John did for him in the first two series is the same as Sherlock did for him this series (kill people, put him above everyone else including his girlfriends, be prepared to sacrifice his life and his freedom for him). The only reason Magnussen didn’t have it in his ‘file’ on Sherlock was because it was of no use to him. He needed to manipulate Sherlock for his plan, not John.
But think about it – if Sherlock and John hadn’t shown up, Mary would have gotten rid of Magnussen and they’d never have been the wiser. She put herself at risk in the interest of leaving them out of it. And what choice did she have, really, when he walked into that room? When I say that she didn’t betray John, I mean that she married him because she genuinely loved him. She wasn’t using him to get to Sherlock. She wasn’t in Magnussen or Moriarty’s pocket. And let’s not forget that over the years that Sherlock was gone, she SAVED John’s life. She’s a complicated character (i.e. her threat to Sherlock, that you mention), but isn’t John? Isn’t Sherlock? And Mycroft? And Mrs. Hudson, even? All of them have bent rules – for themselves, for each other. They’re constantly making choices about the lesser of two evils and the relative worth of people. In the scene right before he’s shot, Sherlock tells John to give Janine all his attention because the guard who’s knocked out has a swastika tattooed on his wrist. John’s killed for Sherlock and in war. Sherlock’s killed for John. We don’t know what Mary has killed for, but neither of these men takes an absolute moral stance against taking a life. I think she’s sympathetic because she’s flawed. I don’t think that we should be looking for fundamentally good or fundamentally bad people in Sherlock.
That’s an interesting point about the pressure points! I hadn’t thought of it that way.
Thanks for reading and for your comment! –S
But all the people that John has killed we’re supposed to believe were for reasons of ‘justice’ and defending others. Queen and country etc. He kills the cabbie to save Sherlock’s life. He kills the assassin in TBB to save Sherlock and Sarah. Everything we see John do has been for the protection of others. And when we see Sherlock kill someone it’s a completely selfless act where he basically sacrifices everything for John and Mary.
Mary shooting Sherlock serves one purpose – to protect herself. To protect her marriage. She even says in the empty house that her fear is “losing John forever” and that there is “nothing she would not do to stop that”. Which includes almost killing Sherlock who up until that point has been her friend. All the morally ambiguous things the others have done never involved putting someone they cared about in danger. What Mary did was a completely selfish act. Granted she tried to ease her conscience by calling the ambulance and shooting Sherlock where he might have a ‘small chance’ of pulling through (why not in a limb? or knock him out like she did Magnussen?’).
The thing is, I have no real problem with her shooting Sherlock out of say panic, that’s understandable and it’s believable for that situation. People make bad choices when they’re scared and I can sympathise with that. Had that been all it is then I would have been satisfied with her as a complex character. But the problem is that her ‘redemption’ is all tell and no show.
We’re told, via Sherlock, that she called the ambulance and tried to shoot him where he might live. We’re told she saved his life. But we never see Mary show any remorse for what she’s done after the shooting. We never see her cut up that one of her friends is fighting for his life. We never see her try to make it up to him for putting him in hospital. We never even see her say ‘thank you’ to Sherlock for helping save her marriage and for what he does for them in the end. All she’s concerned about is hiding her secret and keeping John. Her threat at the hospital bed comes cross as more; “Don’t tell him or I’ll finish the job!” Can you imagine Sherlock or John saying that to one of their friends? She’s even ready to pull a gun on him again in the empty house. I can forgive her that it’s for her protection but still, why not show some of the warmth we saw in the character before? Why have her be so cold in the rest of the episode up until John forgives her?
I loved Mary in the first two episodes. I want to like her still but I struggle to understand why the episode seemed to show her so sinister like. Why not show her feeling genuine guilt for almost killing Sherlock (no, I don’t think the ‘sorry’ she gives after pulling the trigger counts considering what follows)? Why have Sherlock justify her without having her saying much herself other than that people like Magnussen ‘deserve to die’? I just feel like I was being told; “no it’s all okay!” without actually seeing it from the character. She didn’t come off as complicated; she came off like everything before was just a mask and this was the real her and why should I still want her around etc?
As for her past, again, why is she convinced that’s what on there would stop John from loving her? She would know he’s a soldier, which means he’s had to do dangerous things involving murder and god knows what else for others. What could she have done that would make him less of her? Especially considering he’s ‘attracted to dangerous people’; wouldn’t it make him love her more in that case? It just seemed like set up for a big romantic gesture and reconciliation that didn’t make much sense IMO. I can get John deciding it’s not a big deal as all that matters it the here and now but why keep it from him in the first place?
Heh, sorry for the long ramble of a response. The whole Mary situation is just what’s frustrated me most with this series (like I honestly couldn’t care less if Moriarty is back or not *shrug*). I did love her, I want to still love her and believe in this awesome OT3….but I can’t watch those scenes in HLV without squirming uncomfortably. Like I can forgive her for the shooting – it’s the threats that came after that I don’t like.
I’m just hoping for more to add to it all in S4 I guess.
Yeah, I guess I just don’t see Mary killing Magnussen to protect herself and her marriage as a reason not to trust her. If she’d gotten to do it, she’d have saved Sherlock from having to put a bullet in the guy’s head himself. I don’t need her apologizing over and over again to him. Firstly, because she was – at least at one time – a SUPER badass assassin, and we’ve never seen her be effusively emotional. I’m THRILLED we didn’t see her tearfully throwing herself at their feet. I don’t need another female character like that. She also GETS Sherlock, from the first moment she meets him. They have a kinship and a shorthand. He’s not the type of person who puts much stock in apologies. All Sherlock’s ever really needed from her is her devotion to John. And nothing she does in this episode really throws that into question. The threats, I think, are desperation.
And like I said in another comment, Mary has made the decision to leave the life she had behind. She doesn’t want that anymore. And who’s to say she never would have told John about her past? But just because they’re married doesn’t me he owns her – he doesn’t get to demand detailed notes on everything she ever was. I think Mary deserves a new life. She puts that drive in his hands because he’s her partner. And if he needs to know, she will show him. But he doesn’t read it, because he knows she doesn’t want him to. She wants to bury it all and be Mrs. John Watson. –S
She didn’t need to throw herself at his feet and be in tears about it – just a simple “*shrug* Sorry I shot you. Really am glad you’re alive. We cool, bro?” or something would have sufficed. I guess there was something like that in their hug on the tarmac but it went by too quick and came a bit too late to mean much for me. Which is a shame because I’ve loved their relationship in TEH and TSO3.
I can get her leaving that life behind and I really do hope S4 delves into what forced her to leave. Did she refuse to finish a contract? Why did she change her mind? I hope burning the flash-drive doesn’t mean her past is never going to be touched again. They do have the potential for a fascinating character here it just depends on whether they take advantage of it.
I agree! No matter what, more of Mary and her backstory! –S
John’s declaration that Mary’s past didn’t matter would have been more touching if he knew what that past really was. Burning the drive unread suggests that he thinks his love isn’t strong enough to handle the truth. Mary’s history is part of who she is – if he doesn’t understand it, then he can’t really understand her. Even if he saw it as a grand romantic gesture, it’s selfish of him to hide from something that puts his wife at risk of blackmail, arrest, perhaps even murder. Especially with a child on the way.
Overall, I was perplexed by this episode. The first two shows of the season were all about how much Sherlock, John, and Mary cared for and trusted one another. But although there were some lovely moments here, the characters spent most of the episode treating one another carelessly, even cruelly. They shot, drugged, lied to, bullied and manipulated each other without seeming to give it a second thought. This is the first season I’ve watched Sherlock, so maybe I just misunderstood the dynamics, but they were like different people in HLV.
I do think that there’s an element of John wanting to retain that ignorance and keep her relatively untainted in his mind. But ultimately, he didn’t read the drive because she didn’t want him to. It was enough for him that she handed it over. Not even something she HAD to do once she got caught. Who would expect her to have a flash drive containing all the details of her identity and her past work? He couldn’t demand it or go looking for it if he didn’t know it existed. She puts it in his hands and lets him make the call. And I think that loving someone and accepting them as they are doesn’t mean that you automatically have ownership of everything they ever were. If Magnussen hadn’t come sniffing around, Mary would have still married John, had his child, grown old with him, and never set a foot back into her old life. It makes her a “liar,” but it doesn’t make her a bad guy. Everything he loves about her is who she really is. It’s who she is now. –S
Since Mary’s past is having such a dramatic, dangerous impact on John’s present and future, he does in fact own it. It got him embroiled in blackmail, treason, and murder and very nearly killed his best friend. Mary’s life as an assassin isn’t some youthful indiscretion they can ignore, because it isn’t over. Even though Magnusson is dead, there are other people out there who know her story. She needs to tell him about it and he needs to ask so they can be better prepared next time.
I just like Mary. I think she’s funny and warm and complex and brilliant. She makes good choices and bad choices. And whatever happened with Magnussen, John’s chosen not to let it define their future. No one’s pulled John into more danger than Sherlock, and he couldn’t be closer to him. If you asked John if he would give up Mary for none of that business to have happened – even Sherlock being shot – I’m 100% sure he wouldn’t go for it. –S
This is my favorite of all of your Sherlock recaps/ totally staggeringly brilliant, all of it.
“Here again we have Moffat refusing to honor the agency and truth of a female character, choosing instead to manipulate her so that he can get from story point A to story point B a little faster. Sherlock could have just as easily buddied up to Janine and engaged her in the plan.” YES.
“In fact, she’s the perfect match for John. I love that the prototypical Dr. Watson – the one who just wants his chair and a cup of tea and ‘I say, old chap’ and all that – is just a story that John tells himself.” That’s gorgeous.
“But right now, harnessing some of that cold, inhuman strength might not be a bad thing. He needs to know how Moriarty managed to not feel any pain. ‘You always feel it, but you don’t have to fear it.’ Remember that, Sherlock. Remember it the next time you think that keeping your distance from people is your best method of protection.” I LOVE this line reading.
I’m not sure I’d turn down brunch with Moriarty, either. Can we make this happen? Fly to Dublin? kthanks
You know what I’m going to miss the most in this hiatus? Fawning over each other’s recaps. Think of the bloggers, Moffat. Think of the bloggers.
And yes, brunch with Moriarty ASAP. He did say he wanted to get himself some pet normal people. Why not us? –S
Nice recap! Just wanted to say though, while I like what you say about ‘Molly, and I do hope they end up together somehow (or at least figure themselves out), it was actually Mycroft who told him to look for Redbeard: “there must be something in this ridiculous mind palace of yours that can help calm you down. Find it.”