History Recap / SherlockS02E03TheReichenbachFall

* KickTheDog: Moriarty makes this episode an hour and a half of him doing nothing less than this. And then some more.

* SmithOfTheYard: Continuing the trend of series 2, Sherlock is becoming an internationally-renowned detective.

--->'''Sherlock:''' After all

-->''' Moriarty:''' Sherlock, your big brother and all the King's horses couldn't make me do a thing I didn't want to.
-->'''Sherlock:''' Yes. But I'm not my brother, remember? I am ''you.'' Prepared to do anything. Prepared to burn. Prepared to do what ordinary people won't do. You want me to shake hands with you in hell, I shall not disappoint you.
-->''' Moriarty:''' Nah. You talk big. Nah. You're ordinary. You're ordinary. You're on the side of the angels.
-->'''Sherlock:''' [[AntiHero Oh, I may be on the side of the angels. But don't think for one second that I am one of them.]]

-->'''Anderson''': Not much use, it doesn't lead us to the kidnapper.
-->'''Sherlock''': Brilliant, Anderson.
-->'''Anderson''': Really?
-->'''Sherlock''': Yes, brilliant impression of an idiot.

-->'''Moriarty''': That's your problem, you always want everything to be so ''clever''.

-->'''Sherlock''': This call is my note. It's what people do, right?

-->'''Sherlock''': There are two types of fans. Catch me before I kill again, Type A.
-->'''Fan girl''': What's Type B?
-->'''Sherlock''': Your bedroom's just a taxi ride away.

-->'''Moriarty''': All my life I've been searching for distractions and you were the best distraction and now I don't even have you because I've beaten you.

--->'''Sherlock:''' After all, you can't kill an idea, can you? Not once it's made a home... ''(Taps Lestrade's forehead)'' There.
** That's the whole point of the episode, with Moriarty managing to convince ''everybody'' that Sherlock is a fraud and that even "Moriarty" is a paid actor hired by Sherlock. He proves it by killing himself, forcing Sherlock to jump from a rooftop lest all his friends die.
* YoureInsane
-->'''Moriarty:''' [[InsultBackfire You're just getting that]] ''[[InsultBackfire now]]?''
* ZeroApprovalGambit: Sherlock, who, despite being a self-confessed sociopath, fakes his own suicide and allows his entire reputation as a consulting detective to be completely destroyed, along with being framed for murder and kidnapping, in order to call off snipers trained on his only three friends in the world. He even goes so far as to call John and make a fake confession, attempting to convince him of his guilt before forcing him to watch the faked suicide, so that the grief would be genuine enough to call off the snipers.
----

** The warehouse Sherlock uses the homeless network to find has ''Rhododendron ponticum,'' the same plant that Lord Blackwood used to fake his death by hanging in the first [[Film/SherlockHolmes Robert Downey Jr. film]].

* CastingGag: The incensed old man in the Diogenes Club was played by Douglas Wilmer, who played Sherlock Holmes on TV in the 1960s.

* IntrepidReporter: Kitty Riley is ''trying'' to be this, but Sherlock calls her out for being a HotScoop and StalkerWithACrush trying too hard to impress people. He gets burned for it, badly.

%%HandlingSpoilers: Recap pages: An episode recap page is, by default, a spoiler. Readers of these pages are expected to have watched the episode in question. Therefore, there are no spoiler tags on recap pages. Conversely, do not add spoilers for future episodes, even under tags. Those go on the later episode pages.

** The song that plays when Moriarty breaks into the Crown Jewels' case, unlocks all the doors in the penitentiary and opens the bank vault is overture from "The Thieving Magpie." The wax seals on envelopes he leaves have a magpie impression on them.

* KnuckleCracking: Moriarty cracks his neck right before staring his coup at the Tower of London.

* IrrevocableOrder: Moriarty says that he's "not going" to call off his hitmen. Sherlock realises that implies he ''could'' if, say, someone as ruthless as him tortured it out of him. Moriarty agrees, and promptly blows his own brains out to ensure there ''really is'' no turning back.

* DramaticDrop: Done as a RuleOfThrees when Moriarty breaks into the cabinet holding the Crown Jewels. First he takes out the CCTV cameras. The security guard monitoring them is holding a couple of coffee cups, which slop visibly as he quickly puts them down so as to call someone. Then Moriarty remotely opens the vault of the Bank of England; as the bank manager gapes at this impossibility, the cup he's holding tilts in his hand until it pours coffee into this lap. Finally someone bursts in on the Governor of Pentonville Prison to tell him that all the cells are unlocking. Cue the Governor knocking the coffee mug off his table as he leaps to his feet.

* ClearMyName: Moriarty makes Sherlock look like a fraud. Sherlock goes into hiding and tries himself to debunk Moriarty and clear his name. But Moriarty has just another as up his sleave.

* NoMrBondIExpectYouToDine: Sherlock {{TheAnticipator knows]] Moriarty is coming to find him, so he makes tea for two and settles in with his violin to wait. The confrontation ends peacefully, albeit creepily.

** The song that plays when Moriarty breaks into the Crown Jewels' case, unlocks all the doors in the penitentary and opens the bank vault is overture from "The Thieving Magpie." The wax seals on envelopes he leaves have a magpie impression on them.

* MaliciousSlander: This episode revolves around [[spoiler: Moriarty gradually destroying Sherlock's credibility, eventually leading the police to suspect that he made every case up just so he would look good when he "solved" them, and ending heartbreakingly with Sherlock's apparent suicide.]] [[WhamEpisode Quite the]] [[TearJerker depressing episode.]]

* WhamEpisode: The episode ends with [[spoiler: Sherlock being totally discredited, Moriarty killing himself, Sherlock [[FakingTheDead faking his own suicide]], and John going back in to therapy.]] In fact, "Reichenbach" is so much this that all resulting fanfic, and in fact the ''fandom itself'', can be divided into "pre-Reichenbach" and "post-Reichenbach".

** Donovan and Anderson manage to [[spoiler:sow the seeds of doubt regarding Sherlock's authenticity as a (relatively) aboveboard detective]]. When Lestrade [[spoiler:comes to warn Sherlock of his impending arrest]]:

** That's the whole point of the episode, with [[spoiler:Moriarty]] managing to convince ''everybody'' that Sherlock is [[spoiler:a fraud and that even "Moriarty" is a paid actor hired by Sherlock]]. He proves it by [[spoiler:killing himself, forcing Sherlock to jump from a rooftop lest all his friends die]].

** Moriarty's attempt to steal the Crown Jewels, as well as his being acquitted at trial even though everyone knows he's guilty, are both plot points from ''Film/{{The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes|1939}}'' (with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce).
** Likewise, the climax, in which Moriarty tries to talk Sherlock into jumping off a roof, seems to be based on a similar scene from the Basil Rathbone film ''Film/TheWomanInGreen''. Moriarty climbing the stairs while Sherlock plays his violin is also directly from that film, complete with the moment where he steps on a squeaky step, the violin stops for a second and then starts again.

* HollywoodHacking: Subverted. Moriarty appears to have written a small string of computer code (ridiculously small, if he can give it to Sherlock by tapping his fingers) that can hack any system on the planet. He demonstrates this at the beginning of the episode by breaking into the three most secure spots in London simultaneously, using a few smartphone apps. However, it is revealed at the end that Moriarty was making it all up: There was no code, [[MundaneSolution he simply bribed his way in]]. The mobile apps merely alerted his men on the inside. Which is good, because if this had been played straight, it would have been one of the most egregious examples out there. [[note]]The "code" was simple enough that Jim could tap it out in binary on his fingers during a single conversation. For comparison, the text that makes up this very page would take well over 100,000 "taps".[[/note]]

* HeroWithBadPublicity: This is one of Moriarty's objectives for the titular sleuth. For as-yet-unknown reasons, Sherlock himself seems to go along with it right at the very end, after having resisted throughout the episode.

* CallBack: Moriarty tells Sherlock he's already told him what "The Final Problem" is if Sherlock was paying attention. It happened in "A Scandel in Belgravia" when Moriarty's phone rang: "Stayin' Alive".

* ContinuityNod: While handcuffed and and forced to hold hands with Sherlock, John mutters "Now people will definitely talk", referencing his line in "The Great Game".

* HeroWithBadPublicity: this is one of Moriarty's objectives for the titular sleuth. For as-yet-unknown reasons, Sherlock himself seems to go along with it right at the very end, after having resisted throughout the episode.

* RealityEnsues:

* WhamEpisode

-->'''Sherlock''': [[BaitAndSwitchComment Yes, brilliant impression of an idiot]].

** IronicEcho: "You repel me."

* IronicEcho: "You repel me."

* NoMrBondIExpectYouToDine: Sherlock knows Moriarty is coming to find him, so he makes tea for two and settles in with his violin to wait. The confrontation ends peacefully, albeit creepily.