Supposing Magnussen is as important to Mycroft as he says, then assumably, the MI6 would keep close tabs on Sherlock and his doings – and yet, despite this being as blatantly obvious as it is, Magnussen manages to foresee Sherlock's entire plan, yet gloss over the fact that being the media mogul he is, and even by his own admission, he has no credibility nor proof with which to implicate Sherlock in his national secrets blackmailing-scheme. Instead, let's consider the idiocy of Magnussen's plan: we are shown that Mycroft's men (and women? That lady who's in charge? The show never bothers) are aware of Sherlock's involvement in the Magnussen ordeal. It's pointless to focus on such plot holes as why Magnussen's men frisk Sherlock and Watson in the latter's apartment, yet miss the gun permitting the plot to advance in the second encounter yes, it's unnecessary to focus in on the fact that Mary could have merely knocked Magnussen out before shooting Sherlock to avoid having to do the latter entirely and certainly, I could go on, but the list is probably as long as Mary Watson being a serial killer is ridiculous. The pinnacle of disappointment in series 3, however, comes in the form of the third episode. Instead, what we're left with is some bizarre dubstep remix of the main theme, and editing so choppy it seems to symbolize Moffat's nervous breakdown seriously, what the hell is up with using the main theme with some stock Windows Movie Maker transition to go between scenes? And it's not as if Sherlock is incapable of delivering interesting characters and quickly letting the audience familiarize – as far as the first and second episode of series 3 are concerned, Mary Watson is a pretty good character. Yet, long after the viewer has guessed the target, as well as the rest of the relevant information, Sherlock goes into another tirade that no one still around still cares to hear, and the whole thing ends up reeking of poor planning – why is it that the crime/mystery component of a detective show is relegated to the last 20-30 minutes? Perhaps the saving grace of the second episode is that, indeed, no one really cares about Major Sholto, so no one questions the implausibility and unnecessary level of complexity of the whole scheme to murder him. ![]() The physiological impossibility of the would-be murder, which makes up the crime of episode 2, is so absurd that it escapes description – and clearly, up until that second episode, Sherlock was a show that knew how to handle impossible-to-explain scenarios: don't bother. ![]() And worst of all, it's become the status quo – so much so that fans of the show are overlooking things in favor of Benedict Cumberbatch playing drunk for a few minutes. It's just such garbage. Characters forget all the nasty things they've done to each other at a moment's notice, and there is no continuity between the episodes on an emotional level. Going further, we observe also that Sherlock wears plot-armor when he murders Magnussen, because his exile is rescinded (according to himself) 4 minutes after it begins – and in a true twist of irony, it is so rescinded because Moffat decides he doesn't like the idea of Moriarty being gone from the show anymore, despite having killed him, and, as a result, the build up and resolution of the series 1 and 2 villain is destroyed. But maybe this is just a John Watson thing, because the latter is the same man who also immediately forgives his serial killer wife without so much as a second thought. And by saying all of this, I am trying to show that it's insulting to the audience when a character who just pretended to kill himself and not tell anyone can immediately reconcile with his best friend, whom he kept out of the loop for two years, and avoid any sort of emotional complication. Moffat has a thing or two to learn about high stakes and dramatic resolution – you can't simply raise the stakes in one episode, siphon the corresponding rise in tension for (the intended) effect, but then forget to follow through later on.
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