Series/Sherlock

Well, when it comes to a new big baddie, Milverton would certainly be a good choice - though I wouldn't be surprised if they used Moran this season and Milverton the next.

I guess after this season (for which the stories are more or less picked based on the information we got so far) they will be through with the Novels, which leaves the short stories and pastiches. I really, really hope that they do the treasure hunt at one point, which would have the additional bonus of Victor Trevor being introduced. Copper Beeches is a great story, but not really easy to adapt for the show, because the most suspenseful moments are experienced by the client and not by Sherlock or Watson.

I'm holding out for the third episode being Red-Headed League. John Clay as an international con-man and thief for Big Bad.

I think we've already seen Victor Trevor. He currently resides on the mantlepiece of 221B, providing occasional companionship for Sherlock and helping John hide the cigarettes.

Considering the fact Sebastian Moran plays a significant role in both elementary and A Game Of Shadows they might just decided not to use him.

They couldn't know about Moran in Elementary before they started filming. I doubt that they would change plans the very last moment. And even if they don't want to make him the villain of the season, he has to turn up in the first episode. It wouldn't be a proper adaptation without him.

They're not gonna leave out one of the most popular characters, just because someone else used them. They didn't with Irene or Moriarty, and they won't with Moran.

So, the Beeb has left us a puzzle to solve relating to the title of the third episode. I don't live in England, so I can't watch the repeats to get the clues (I have the DVD, but I'm getting the impression these clues have been edited into the reruns), but can anyone else catch them?

Damn...I would love to figure them out by myself...but I guess, the solution will all over the internet, soon.

People posted the first clue on Tumbler, it's His. Some are speculating if it refers to His Last Bow. The next clue should be out this Friday.

If this will be the solution, I'm not surprised, though I bet that it will be a word play on the title instead of being identical with it.

Or it'll involve bow ties. Or ribbon.

edited 17th Jul '13 9:01:10 AM by Nicknacks

I bet they'll replace the "b" with a "v"....

That's a good guess, and it can tie in with a central arch for the whole series, as they usually do.

Moffat did give "bow" as the third hint word... but I'm almost positive he was just trolling the fans.

Well the previous hint words, "rat" and "marriage", weren't part of the titles of the two announced episodes. But changing "bow" to "vow" could make sense within the story.

"Wedding" doesn't fit with the title, exactly, but set pics have revealed that there is a wedding in one of the episodes. Also, in the original stories, Watson gets married to Mary Morstan soon after the end of The Sign of the Four.

I know that, that's why I said specifically that the words "rat" and "marriage" weren't part of the titles, the titles being The Empty Hearse and ''The Sign of Three. Neither of them has "rat" or "wedding" in the titles, so if the final episode has the word "bow"in the title it would be a first.

edited 17th Jul '13 2:55:12 PM by Dream_Huntress

By the precedent of this series, yes, although two of the clues from last series ("Hound" and "Fall") were included in the titles.

The clues are usually very straightforward...they were not that obvious this time around, because "rat" fits two cases (though one of them is only mentioned in passing an never told), and "wedding" at least three, but I thought that "Bow" was fairly obvious.

And there isn't much trolling involved with that...every Sherlock Holmes Fan who really knows his stuff knows that "bow" most likely refers to the story in which Sherlock Holmes came out of retirement - not the one, in which he stopped being a detective.

edited 17th Jul '13 6:59:08 PM by swanpride

The world might be ready for the Giant Rat of Sumatra.

Trolling may not have been the right word, but every fan knows that LAST is the final story, chronologically. When I heard the clues, I imagined Moffat was trying to rile up the fans by giving them a word that they would immediately connect to the last Sherlock Holmes story, and get them worrying that this may be the end.

edited 17th Jul '13 7:04:51 PM by kalel94

Half the fun of "Bow" is that Holmes and Watson are both old men and haven't seen each other seen each other in years, but still manage to kick arse. While the basic spy thriller story format could be done as the third ep of S3, I think it would lose a crucial element of the original if it were to be done now.

Since when do they adapt the stories in the proper order? If they would stick to the time-line, John would be already married. And I for my part would prefer to get the adaption of The Last Bow now, rather than hoping that Sherlock will still be done in 20-30 years.

Flash-forward?

They don't follow the book time-line, no, but like Chainsaw said, part of the point of LAST is the fact that it's... well, his last bow. It's the end of an era, not the middle of one.

edited 17th Jul '13 8:39:19 PM by kalel94