THE, VERY BIG, HIDDEN , ELEPHANT
This is probably, perhaps, it’s one of those cases in which it is possible I want to see much more than is necessary, but the coincidence (hemmm) is too tempting.
When Moriarty tells Mycroft that his plan for the Flight of the Dead is blown, he uses the term “Jumbo Jet”. That makes perfect sense, the same Sherlock uses it, because the plane in question is a 747 called indeed Jumbo Jet (but also Queen of the Skies …. yes precisely.). But he only says this: Jumbo Jet.
(in front at the Big Ben…dear Lord…) The name comes from the custom, formed in the last twenty years of the 1800s, of indicating, with the word Jumbo, things of enormous dimensions. This is thanks to a huge elephant that had traveled between zoos and exhibitions in Europe and America. Jumbo precisely.
”the biggest elephant in the world” …. is it John Watson on the elephant’s trunk ?! So we could say that we have again another hidden elephant. A really giant one. We also say that it’s Sherlock’s transport that his brain has filled with dead emotions to prevent desire and homosexuality from taking control. But something went wrong. In fact, in TF there is still someone awake on board.
Ha - great catch @raggedyblue ! And isn’t it ironic, as it seems, that the only vehicle they didn’t use to drag poor Jumbo around in Victorian times was a great big airplane - probably because they weren’t invented yet. :)) But they still named one after him. And he was definitely forced into a locked ’room’, a bit like all those dead passengers.
I love the idea that the little girl on the jumbo jet in TFP (=Eurus=Sherlock’s emotional self) is still awake, and the plane won’t crash, she just needs to get in contact with some people on the ground.
wow, i had forgotten that "jumbo" doesn't just mean big -- or, it means big because of an elephant!