History Recap / SherlockS02E02TheHoundsOfBaskerville

* AbsenteeActor: Molly.

** The screaming monkeys in the lab coupled with the insane aggression of those exposed to H.O.U.N.D for too long are possibly a reference to ''Film/{{28 Days Later}}''.

* CastingGag: Russell Tovey playing a nervous man [[Series/BeingHuman haunted by wolves]].

* CastingGag: Russell Tovey playing a nervous man haunted by wolves.

** Holmes' idea that H.O.U.N.D. is in the sugar comes straight from the [[DoctorWho Second Doctor]] episode "The Moonbase" in which the Cybermen's virus was in the crew's sugar.

** Sherlock harpooning a pig carcass to solve a case comes straight from "Black Peter".
** When Sherlock is having his nicotine freak-out in the beginning, one of the places he looks for his hidden stash is in the toe of an old Persian slipper. This is where he keeps his pipe tobacco in the original stories (Watson mentions it in "The Musgrave Ritual").
** Sherlock's frustrated "I need something stronger than tea! Something 7% stronger..." is a reference to his famous cocaine habit in ''The Sign of Four'', where he injected a 7% solution.
** Sherlock's remark about his mind being "like an engine racing out of control, a rocket tearing itself to pieces on the launch pad" when he doesn't have work echoes "The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge," where the original Holmes says "My mind is like a racing engine, tearing itself to pieces because it is not connected up with the work for which it was built."

** Major Barrymore's beard is retained from the description of his namesake in the original.

** Sherlock spots the horse-racing section of a paper rolled up in the back pocket of a potential eyewitness. When the man is not forthcoming with his information, he pretends to have bet John that the man couldn't produce proof, and the man immediately gets very talkative. The original Holmes pulls the exact same stunt in "The Blue Carbuncle".

** Major Barrymore sports a thick dark beard, in spite of the fact that it's against army regulations. This is because the original character's most distinguishing physical characteristic was a black beard.
** The flashing lights on the moor that John takes for Morse code signals are a nod to the escaped prisoner sub-plot of the novel.
** "Once you've ruled out the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be true," is a favourite Holmes CatchPhrase employed in several of the original stories.
** Sherlock's remark that emotion is like "grit on the lens, a fly in the ointment", is a reference to the line "Grit in a sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a nature such as his" (From "A Scandal in Bohemia").

** Sherlock describes Lestrade as being "brown as a nut" (meaning his tan). This is a phrase used in ''A Study in Scarlet'', although there it was Stamford describing Watson.

*** Sherlock's experiment on Watson also recalls a remark of Stamford's in ''A Study in Scarlet'' that he could imagine Holmes "giving a friend a little pinch of the latest vegetable alkaloid, not out of malevolence, you understand, but simply out of a spirit of inquiry...".
** Henry Knight's name is a play on the knight, Sir Henry Baskerville, from ''The Hound of the Baskervilles''. Many of the other names are taken more or less straight from the original, including the surname of the original villain. Interestingly, the character with the original villain's name turns out to be a RedHerring who eventually helps Sherlock and John to solve the case, but the real villain of this story did actually share more similar personality traits with the original and also dies in a very similar way.
** Sherlock being asked to find a little girl's lost pet rabbit on the English moors is a reference to "Silver Blaze", where a client hired Holmes and Watson to find his lost racehorse on the English moors. Note that the pet rabbit's name is "Bluebell", which is a fairly common name for racehorses.

* NotHisSled: Stapleton has nothing to do with the hound.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: When [[GoingColdTurkey Sherlock]] declares he will take on the case of Bluebell, a missing rabbit, John immediately gets up and gives him a packet of cigarettes. John is also weirded out when Sherlock makes coffee for him. He's right to be.

* ShoutOut: Holmes' idea that H.O.U.N.D. is in the sugar comes straight from the [[DoctorWho Second Doctor]] episode "The Moonbase" in which the Cybermen's virus was in the crew's sugar.
** Also the screaming monkeys in the lab coupled with the insane aggression of those exposed to H.O.U.N.D for too long are possibly a reference to 28DaysLater

* UsefulNotes/AmericanEnglish: Becomes a plot point when Sherlock notices Frankland says "cell phone" instead of "mobile phone".

* CallBack:
** Before they're about to go into Baskerville for a second time, Sherlock tells John he'll have to go look for the hound on his own and says, "Could be dangerous". These are the same words he texted to John to get him to agree to help in "A Study In Pink".
** When John corrects Sherlock over his bad 'timing' in gloating over the case in front of his emotionally devastated client, Sherlock responds, "Not good?" This harks back to the first episode, in which Sherlock asked John the same question to understand that he had just said something that most normal human beings would consider too insensitive.

* Foreshadowing: John's apology to Sherlock in a graveyard can be seen as this for the next episode.
** Sherlock is also seen standing on a large, tall rock several times.

* BavarianFireDrill: Sherlock and John manage to use two consecutively. They sneak their way onto the Baskerville base and have a look around. First Sherlock pretends to be Mycroft to get them onto the base with an [[CrazyPrepared ID he "acquired"
long before, just in case;]] then John uses his ID showing his rank of Captain to get "the full tour" from the corporal who challenges their being there.

* BavarianFireDrill: Sherlock and John manage to use two consecutively. They sneak their way onto the Baskerville base and have a look around. First Sherlock pretends to be Mycroft to get them onto the base with an [[CrazyPrepared ID he ''acquired'' long before, just in case;]] then John uses his ID showing his rank of Captain to get "the full tour" from the corporal who challenges their being there.

* CallBack: Before they're about to go into Baskerville for a second time, Sherlock tells John he'll have to go look for the hound on his own and says, "Could be dangerous". These are the same words he texted to John to get him to agree to help in "A Study In Pink".

* ChekhovsGun: They mention a minefield at the beginning of the episode. It's not a matter of ''if'' someone gets blown up, it's ''when.''

* CastingGag: Russell Tovery playing a nervous man haunted by wolves.

* AffablyEvil: [[spoiler:Dr Frankland]] is very polite and friendly despite being a murderer involved in highly unethical scientific experiments.

* BeardOfEvil: Subverted with [[spoiler: the Major]].

* HeroicBSOD: Sherlock is badly shaken by his encounter with the "hound", almost to the point of tears. [[spoiler: He later realises that his out-of-character reaction was partly due to being drugged]].

* InsistentTerminology: One of the reasons Sherlock takes the case is that Henry refers to the thing that attacked his father as a "hound". [[spoiler: It is a hound. [[FunWithAcronyms Of sorts.]]]] Sherlock also refers to it as a hound, but John sticks to calling it a dog, until the night he reports the sight. "It was the hound!"

* LandMineGoesClick: [[spoiler:Dr Frankland dies this way, having unwisely decided to enter the Grimpen Minefield while trying to escape.]]

** The glowing bunnies are a nod to the original hound, which was [[spoiler: painted with phosphorus to appear supernatural]].
** The Grimpen Minefield is, of course, wordplay on the Grimpen Mire. [[spoiler: The villains in both stories die trying to flee through it.]]
** [[spoiler: The hallucinogenic fear gas]] is reminiscent of "The Devil's Foot", as is [[spoiler: Sherlock's experiment with it]], although in this case the results are [[WhatTheHellHero merely emotionally traumatising]] rather than life-threatening.
*** [[spoiler: Sherlock's experiment on Watson]] also recalls a remark of Stamford's in ''A Study in Scarlet'' that he could imagine Holmes [[spoiler: "giving a friend a little pinch of the latest vegetable alkaloid, not out of malevolence, you understand, but simply out of a spirit of inquiry..."]].
** Henry Knight's name is a play on the knight, Sir Henry Baskerville, from ''The Hound of the Baskervilles''. Many of the other names are taken more or less straight from the original, including the surname of the original villain. Interestingly, [[spoiler: the character with the original villain's name turns out to be a RedHerring who eventually helps Sherlock and John to solve the case, but the real villain of this story did actually share more similar personality traits with the original and also dies in a very similar way.]]

* NotHisSled: [[spoiler:Stapleton has nothing to do with the hound]].

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: When [[GoingColdTurkey Sherlock]] declares he will take on the case of Bluebell, a missing rabbit, John immediately gets up and gives him a packet of cigarettes. John is also weirded out when Sherlock makes coffee for him. [[spoiler: He's right to be.]]
** Sherlock reacting with fear to the Hound, when he normally stays very distant from emotional responses. He notices himself that this is OOC behavior, and deduces that [[spoiler:he's been drugged]].

** The Morse code John notices. It turns out to lead to [[spoiler:a [[StealthPun dogging site]] instead of anything relevant to the case, though it does at least provide Sherlock with a genuinely helpful EurekaMoment]].
** [[spoiler:Dr Stapleton]], especially for those familiar with the original novel. They're involved in genetic experimentation on animals of dubious legality, but are otherwise innocent -- [[spoiler: and her counterpart in the original turned out to be the killer]].
* RoomFullOfCrazy: [[spoiler: Moriarty's cell. Out of which Mycroft lets him.]] Leads into the next episode.

* ShoutOut: Holmes' idea that H.O.U.N.D. is in the sugar comes straight from the [[DoctorWho Second Doctor]] episode "The Moonbase" [[spoiler: in which the Cybermen's virus was in the crew's sugar]].

* StuffBlowingUp: Grimpen Minefield and [[spoiler:Dr Frankland]]'s fate.
* TraumaInducedAmnesia: [[spoiler:While under the effects of a hallucinogenic chemical Henry watched his father being murdered by a scientist; the 'hound' was something his mind invented from surrounding clues to cope with the trauma.]]

* YourMindMakesItReal: [[spoiler:The experimental drug acted as a fear stimulus that ended overwhelming and killing the test subjects.]]

* ActorAllusion: Henry Knight, a man afraid of a killer hound [[spoiler: that turns out to be a man]], is played by Russell Tovey, who plays a werewolf in BeingHuman.

* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** Sherlock finding John sitting gloomily in a graveyard foreshadows the next episode.
** When Sherlock is initially analysing a clue, he interprets it as a phrase meaning "In death there is freedom". This pretty much [[spoiler: sums up the events surrounding his "death" in the next episode.]]
** This exchange becomes exceptionally unnerving in light of the third episode:
-->'''Henry''' (to [[spoiler: Dr Frankland]]): Why didn't you just kill me?
-->'''Sherlock:''' Because dead men get listened to! He needed to do more than kill you; he had to discredit every word you ever said...

* HeyItsThatGuy: [[AffablyEvil Dr Frankland]] is [[GameOfThrones Greatjon Umber!]]

* ActorAllusion Henry Knight, a man afraid of a killer hound [[spoiler: that turns out to be a man]], is played by Russell Tovey, who plays a werewolf in BeingHuman.

* BavarianFireDrill: Sherlock and John manage to use two consecutively. They sneak their way onto the Baskerville base and have a look around. First Sherlock pretends to be Mycroft to get them onto the base with an [[CrazyPrepared ID he ''acquired'' long before, just in case;]] then John uses his ID showing his rank of Captain to get "the full tour" from the corporal who challenges them being there, claiming Baskerville is never subjected to inspections, ever.

* CallBack: Before they're about to go into Baskerville for a second time, Sherlock tells John he'll have to go look for the hound on his own and says "Could be dangerous"; the same words he texted John to get him to agree to help him in ''A Study In Pink''.
** When John corrects Sherlock over his bad 'timing' at thanking Henry Knight for the case [[spoiler: after just having talked the man out of committing suicide]], Sherlock responds; "Not good?" -- harking back to the first episode where Sherlock takes the hint that he's [[WhatTheHellHero stepped over the line]].

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Sherlock finding John sitting gloomily in a graveyard foreshadows the next episode.
** Also when Sherlock is initially analysing a clue, he interprets it as [[spoiler: Liberty In- paraphrased, in death there is freedom.]] Which pretty much [[spoiler: sums up the events surrounding his "death" in the next episode.]]

-->'''Henry (to [[spoiler: Dr Frankland]]):''' Why didn't you just kill me?
-->'''Sherlock:''' [[spoiler: Because dead men get listened to! He needed to do more than kill you; he had to discredit every word you ever said...]]