The Science of Reichenbach

Dear setlockers: I found a thing!

Hey guys?  Has anybody noticed one of our twitter promo photos for “The Sign of Three” is actually, secretly, sinister as hell ?

Oh look!  Birds on the card!  How nice!  Only, wait, where have we seen a lot of birds before recently?  Oops!

Oh dear.   Jim’s personal seal in The Reichenbach Fall is this image of a “thieving magpie”, which is seen on the envelope he sends the fairy tale book in and in the envelope full of breadcrumbs.  It looks a lot like the bird on the above card.  They’re not identical, but please note that from the lighter patches on the wings, the shape of the head, the long, slightly curved beaks and (especially) the long tail, a very good case could be made for the birds on the card being magpies.  They’re sure as hell not doves.

In fact, there are also bird motifs all over The Reichenbach Fall: in the IOU graffiti seen painted in the background of scenes (which has large feathery wings) and in the soundtrack (“The Thieving Magpie” by Gioachino Rossini).  In case you’re wondering why Jim’s symbol is a magpie, it’s partly because they’re traditionally bad luck and famously known for stealing things, but it gets better.  What was it again that prevented Hansel and Gretel from following their breadcrumb trail home after they narrowly avoided being murdered in the woods?  Birds.   And now Sherlock is now trying to come home after playing dead for three years and BAM.  Birds. 

(Follow jump for the part of this thought that includes proper spoilers, if inclined.)

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Thoughts on the (spoilered) shape of things to come

Just a quick note on the big thing that apparently happens in 3x02 — which has nothing to do with the fall puzzle solution, but what the hell? Hopeful thoughts for Johnlockers and people just generally put off the the concept after the jump. Also SPOILERS, so mind the gap.

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No Ball, No Clones, No Fish: This Is My (Fringe) Theory On How Sherlock Survived the Fall

I’ve posted a lot of non-fall-related Reichenbachian theories recently, but I suppose I can only put off addressing the big question for so long.  How did Sherlock Holmes jump off a four-story building and live (plus what was up with him looking very dead on the street a few seconds later)?

Below is my theory on the matter.  It’s a little different from other theories I’ve read so far, possibly because I’m coming at it with a different set of biases regarding what constitutes an acceptable solution to the puzzle.  Or maybe because I just plain never liked the ball.

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Why I don’t think Sherlock stopped his pulse with a ball.

So if you’ve at all been keeping up with internet Reichenbachian speculation, by now, you’ve almost certaintly heard about idea that Sherlock might have used a rubber ball to make it seem like he had no pulse — a fairly well known magic trick.

It’s a pretty cool idea, and admittedly, we do see Sherlock bouncing a ball around the lab at Barts just prior to his meeting with Jim.  I’m just not convinced it makes a ton of sense when you start examining it closely.

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Some further explanation of the Mycroft Hypothesis.

So, this works out to be more-or-less part two of my previously posted Mycroft-was-in-on it Reichenbach scenario.  So if you haven’t read that, go do that first, and then follow the link back over here.   Otherwise it’ll all just sound crazy.

This part gets a bit complicated, but is meant mainly to address how Mycroft’s newspaper gambit would have worked to prevent John from digging any further into Kitty Riley’s story after Sherlock’s fake death.  (Okay, maybe more than a bit complicated.)

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Well, I don’t know what THIS is, but it looks a lot like something.

Here’s a little quirk in “The Reichenbach Fall” that I don’t think anybody’s talking about yet.  Apparently, if we just take the dialogue in the episode at face value, Sherlock’s level of understanding of the computer key code is suspiciously variable.

Here, chatting with Jim in 221B, he has a handle on the fact that a key that will let you break into any bank is not something you need to sell:

Even after Jim gives him an excuse and tries to change the subject? Sherlock is not having any of that:

But wait, there’s more.

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