History Fridge / Sherlock

* It's played for laughs at the time, but Mary and Sherlock both tell an unimpressed John that he has to put his full name on his wedding invitations - Mary points out it's tradition, while Sherlock thinks it's just funny. Then in ''His Last Vow,'' we find out that [spoiler: Sherlock goes by ''his'' middle name and has never revealed his full name to John before, and Mary's using a false identity and alias. In the end, the only person who was honest about their name was John all along.]]

** Also in "Game", people who abducted and placed victims in public areas of the city and then waited somewhere for hours aiming them with riffles should have been recorded on some camera in a city with so many ones.

* Sherlock's naïve assumption that the Watsons will just have a "domestic" about his shooting (and then get over it and reconcile quickly to again work together) is based on his experiences. After all, it took John only a couple of days to freely forgive him for faking his own death for ''two years,'' and he's aware now that he's John's best friend - the strongest relationship he has ever experienced. Since Sherlock doesn't really understand romantic relationships or marriages from an emotional perspective, he doesn't understand why Mary's lying to John (for a similar amount of time, about a pretty ''similar thing'') would affect him much more deeply.

* Something quite obvious, but the codename Sherlock and Mycroft utilized for the plan to fake the former's death, '''''Lazarus''''', apart from recalling [[ActorAllusion a role by]] MarkGatiss in a ''DoctorWho'' [[{{Recap/DoctorWhoNSS3E6TheLazarusExperiment}} episode]], was primarily also harkening the story of [[TheBible the resurrection of Jesus's friend Lazarus]]... and how, for that matter, the resurrection of Lazarus was well-questioned and speculated upon as a an elaborate hoax by Jesus's enemies.

--> The difference between Moriarty and Magnussen.

* It may be that when John is approached by a strange, beautiful woman standing outside his door, he initially assumes that she's a prostitute. [[note]] And hey, she works for Irene, which means she may well be a sex worker of some description.[[/note]] She asks what he's up to on New Year, and he responds by asking what she had in mind, which all sounds very much like a PG rated proposition. If this was the case, it would show that John has been emotionally tense over Sherlock's moping around to a point where he's willing to abandon his friend for a random prostitute.

*** Two things: 1) Sherlock dismisses the injured man in Magnussen's office by telling John he's a white supremacist and for John not to bother helping him. Sherlock knows Janine is Magnussen's PA. Sherlock LOATHES Magnussen. Sherlock probably also knows *exactly* how much of Magnussen's "work" Janine is involved with. I doubt it bothers Sherlock much at all that he's manipulating Janine. (and I question whether she's actually in love with Sherlock, or if she's even capable of it -- YMMV) 2) when Magnussen is flicking John's eye, he says "Janine managed it once. She makes the funniest noises." Yes, and what *else* did Janine let Magnussen do to her, that she'd be making "funny noises"? The idea that Sherlock was willing to be *any* kind of intimate with a woman who may have been intimate with Magnussen is a Fridge Horror of an entire different kind ... and says worlds about his devotion to John and Mary.

*** Two things: 1) Sherlock dismisses the injured man in Magnussen's office by telling John he's a white supremacist and for John not to bother helping him. Sherlock knows Janine is Magnussen's PA. Sherlock LOATHES Magnussen. Sherlock probably also knows *exactly* how much of Magnussen's "work" Janine is involved with. I doubt it bothers Sherlock much at all that he's manipulating Janine. (and I question whether she's actually in love with Sherlock, or if she's even capable of it -- YMMV) 2) when Magnussen is flicking John's eye, he says "Janine managed it once. She makes the funniest noises." Yes, and what *else* did Janine let Magnussen do to her? The idea that Sherlock was willing to be *any* kind of intimate with a woman who may have been intimate with Magnussen is a Fridge Horror of an entire different kind ... and says worlds about his devotion to John and Mary.

*** Two things: 1) Sherlock dismisses the injured man in Magnussen's office by telling John he's a white supremacist and for John not to bother helping him. Sherlock knows Janine is Magnussen's PA. Sherlock LOATHES Magnussen. Sherlock probably also knows *exactly* how much of Magnussen's "work" Janine is involved with. I doubt it bothers Sherlock much at all that he's manipulating Janine. (and I question whether she's actually in love with Sherlock, or if she's even capable of it -- YMMV)
2) when Magnussen is flicking John's eye, he says "Janine managed it once. She makes the funniest noises." Yes, and what *else* did Janine let Magnussen do to her? The idea that Sherlock was willing to be *any* kind of intimate with a woman who may have been intimate with Magnussen is a Fridge Horror of an entire different kind ... and says worlds about his devotion to John and Mary.

* When I first saw this episode, the big twist about Moriarty [[spoiler: living a second life as a television actor]] struck me as an AssPull, until I realized that it actually makes perfect sense as a strategy against Sherlock. It gives Moriarty a respectable cover identity to hide behind, yes, but it also leaves very little risk of Sherlock recognizing him and figuring out his scheme--since, as we know from the show ''and'' the blogs, [[spoiler: Sherlock is blissfully ignorant of pop culture, and he practically never watches TV]]. Considering how much research Moriarty did on Sherlock prior to this episode, it's likely that he knew this and decided to exploit it.

* This one hit me incredibly hard. Back in The Empty Hearse, when John tells Mary that he doesn't shave for Sherlock Holmes, she tells him that he should 'put that on a t-shirt'. When confronting Magnussen at Appledore and telling him he doesn't understand how [[spoiler: Magnussen's Mind Palace]] works, he gives him the exact same line. At first I thought it was coincidence, but then I realized that John was abducted not long after his conversation with Mary. ''How much would you like to bet that Magnussen or someone loyal to him was listening in on John and Mary's conversation?''

* During a later scene in the episode, there is a very brief snippet of a newspaper heading that reads 'Lord Smallwood Suicide'. Evidently, Magnussen decided that the involvement of Sherlock Holmes [[spoiler: and later Mary Watson]] was enough grounds to use his leverage on Lady Smallwood's husband, which likely led directly to his death.

* Major Sholto tells Sherlock that he thinks they are alike. He doesn't explain ''why'' he thinks they are alike, but he's just listened to Sherlock's best man speech. The one where he describes himself as an "unpleasant, rude, and all-round obnoxious arsehole" who is redeemed only by the warmth and constancy of John's friendship. He describes himself as the man John has "saved, so many times, and in so many ways." Sholto is even more emotionally closed off than Sherlock is, but he obviously identified with Sherlock because he also feels that it was only John's friendship that redeemed and saved him after his war trauma. And his love for John is the only reason he doesn't commit suicide on the spot... John has saved him again.