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JOHN: “Yeah. And if you’re thinking gunshot, there wasn’t one. He wasn’t shot; he was killed by a single blow to the back of the head from a blunt instrument which then magically disappeared along with the killer.”
Oct 8th, 2016
“Sometimes a deception is so audacious, so outrageous that you can’t see it even when it’s staring you in the face.”
I am going out on a limb here, and discussing Hounds before ASiB. As @the-7-percent-solution pointed out some time ago here, there are clues that point to the absolute possibility of THoB having taken place before ASiB. And, the things I noticed on my re-watch may add even more proof to that theory.
Again in THoB, we are shown an increase in the mind palace visuals. The causation is questionable, but there is one element added into the mix here that we haven’t been made aware of in any of the three previous episodes:
I believe there is a case to be made that Sherlock’s exposure to the H.O.U.N.D. drug is the literal gateway to this expanded mind palace role within the series. Because once the ‘drug’ is introduced, the mind palace as we have seen it, is never the same.
This episode truly ups the ante and again, this coincides with the addition of drugs. Another unique element plays over from THoB, where we see Sherlock doubting himself, openly, to then having the first on-screen ‘failure’ of his deductive abilities:
There are three major differences we see this episode regarding the mind palace. 1) We actually get to see Sherlock inside it:
2) It is the first instance of Sherlock using ‘avatars’ within, after Irene has drugged him, they move as a unit. Irene essentially becomes Sherlock:
3) It’s the first time we see that time is not relative within the confines of Sherlock’s mind palace:
Time slows down, and in the seconds it takes Irene to kiss Sherlock’s cheek, he completes the Bond Air deduction.
This is the episode that also goes a long way to showing us just how much of a permanent fixture John is in Sherlock’s life- both real and imagined. This is a clear indication in gain of the mind palace experience and exposure they are building within the show. A leap from the pen-toss of TBB, and insight into Irene and Sherlock’s later conversation concerning John.
Plenty of meta has been written concerning the “hiker deduction” and whether John was there or not. Watching it again, I feel like there is a telling clue that he indeed is not in 221B when Sherlock is listening to the client’s re-telling of what happened.
We are shown a series of potential cases and clients in a flurry of images at the beginning of this episode- preceding the driver of the car which back-fired:
In all of those cases, we see John seated in his chair as they receive clients (and as we are later informed is their habit in HLV). But, when we are shown the man with the back-firing car, John is suspiciously loitering in the background, dressed much as we see him in a later questionable mind palace moment in TSoT:
For me, this is the next logical step from what we were shown in TBB as Sherlock always imagining John in the room even when he isn’t there, and the first instance of stealth mind palace scenes.
I stumbled for a bit when I got to this episode with my idea that, as the show progresses, so does the appearance of mind palace moments. There were only a minimal amount in this ep, and it bummed me out considerably, making me almost give up that I might have been on to something (which isn’t impossible, I am a noob when it comes to meta and thinky-thoughts) But, since I’m a glutton for punishment, I channeled my inner Brit and carried on.
There are several instances of on-screen deductions, but this ep is so mind palace lite™ I considered stopping there, feeling this all but invalidated the idea that the mind palace builds with each successive episoe. In an episode so deeply involving Moriarty, I would have imagined a lot of time spent in Sherlock’s head with him trying to figure out just what to do. I understand that they couldn’t give us that, not really, and keep the surprise of the fall a secret, but still, it feels sort of telling that we are hidden from Sherlock’s inner thoughts in some a pivotal episode.
Until, I noticed something I hadn’t really paid attention to before. Sherlock sits in his chair and recites- word for word- the judges own words.
Once the verdict is handed over, we see John, hurrying down the street. We assume he is in a hurry to get to Baker Street because he knows Moriarty will be headed there.
The funny thing is, Sherlock hangs up on John (ignoring Vatican Cameos??) and in the time it takes him to make tea, Moriarty arrives at the flat.
“Gothic enough for you? Mad enough?”
Honestly, I don’t know whether I believe this entire scene to be mind palace or not. There is just something about the entirety of the scene leaves me wondering if there is a case to be made that it is perhaps it is indeed another case of a stealth mind palace scene. Especially when you pay close attention to how the conversation goes as they sip their tea.
SHERLOCK: Why are you doing all of this? What is it all for?
Sherlock says this simultaneously as Moriarty continues on, without acknowledging Sherlock is even speaking. As if Sherlock were speaking to himself. Sherlock doesn’t even look at Moriarty.
And then we get this infamous scene, with the oddly over-lapping narration of Moriarty with his whistle of death.
Again, this scene is a toss up, and could just as easily be ‘real’ as it mind palace. I only felt it was just ambiguous enough to add it here as a possibility.
If it isn’t mind palace, then again, this episode diverts from the pattern of increasing our exposure to Sherlock’s inner world. Unless of course it doesn’t. Since this is a Moriarty heavy episode- just like TGG- does the lack of mind palace representation correlate to Moriarty in particular? Would showing us the who what when where and why of Sherlock’s thoughts on the game Moriarty has laid out for Sherlock be giving too much away?
|Part One| |Part Two| |Part Three| |Part Four|
That's an interesting thought about tea with jim being mind palace. It is at least very weird that jim can somehow BOOP from the old bailey to baker st so much faster than john can get there. And that oddly layered shot, when he's drinking tea, talking, and whistling all more or less at once... wtf is up with that, it always seemed weird to me.
Inside sherlock's head, solving the puzzle.
