By Cookie 'N' Screen
On the evening of January the 15th 2012 a television phenomenon had a national and soon the world gripped in turmoil. It is has been over a year since this event and we are still shaking with hopelessness and emotions. On that date, The Reichenbach Feels...I mean Falls, the finale of Sherlock Series Two, aired. On that dreadful day we saw Sherlock throw himself off of a tall building to his death only to revealed as alive, faking the whole thing. No sooner were we mourning the loss of this great television figure than we are gripping each other screaming “how the hell did he do that?”
On the evening of January the 15th 2012 a television phenomenon had a national and soon the world gripped in turmoil. It is has been over a year since this event and we are still shaking with hopelessness and emotions. On that date, The Reichenbach Feels...I mean Falls, the finale of Sherlock Series Two, aired. On that dreadful day we saw Sherlock throw himself off of a tall building to his death only to revealed as alive, faking the whole thing. No sooner were we mourning the loss of this great television figure than we are gripping each other screaming “how the hell did he do that?”
Yes, the evil genius of Mark Gatiss, Stephen Moffat and writer Stephen Thompson have had our brains ticking over with all sorts of theories on exactly how he did it. With only small hints at Comic Con that all we needed to solve this riddle was in the episode itself and a 30 second sneak preview at Series Three that was about as helpful as Anderson, a whole sleuth of consulting detectives have been picking apart the fall and coming up with their own theories.
And lucky for you, since my introduction in May, I have trawled the internet to find the best theories in hopes to come up with my own explanation in order to make sense. So here are the most popular Sherlock theories about The Reichenbach Falls and my expectations for Series Three as I still quiver with hope and confusion. Here we go:
And lucky for you, since my introduction in May, I have trawled the internet to find the best theories in hopes to come up with my own explanation in order to make sense. So here are the most popular Sherlock theories about The Reichenbach Falls and my expectations for Series Three as I still quiver with hope and confusion. Here we go:
The Building/Truck Theory
When Sherlock orders John to stay where he is and watch Sherlock jump, the actual permanent destination is obstructed to John. This means that when and where Sherlock lands is completely out of sight to Watson and presumably to the snipers who want to see Sherlock die. Sure, John sees him jump, but not hit the floor. When John finally makes it to Sherlock, after being knocked over by the biker, Sherlock is dead on the ground. What people have presumed from this theory is that Sherlock actually landed in the truck then either rolled himself out, was covered in blood and played dead while John, disorientated, believes he has just seen his friend leap to his death. Or a body double was slipped out and the real Sherlock rode away in the truck, hidden.
This theory is probably the most popular of theories. After all, if the garbage truck was there for any other purpose, it is hard to believe the truck driver, after witnessing the suicide, would just drive off. That being said, if you look at the position of the truck to the leap, unless Sherlock propelled himself off the wall mid flight, it would be a bit difficult to land in the truck. Yet the picture above makes it seem effortless.
When Sherlock orders John to stay where he is and watch Sherlock jump, the actual permanent destination is obstructed to John. This means that when and where Sherlock lands is completely out of sight to Watson and presumably to the snipers who want to see Sherlock die. Sure, John sees him jump, but not hit the floor. When John finally makes it to Sherlock, after being knocked over by the biker, Sherlock is dead on the ground. What people have presumed from this theory is that Sherlock actually landed in the truck then either rolled himself out, was covered in blood and played dead while John, disorientated, believes he has just seen his friend leap to his death. Or a body double was slipped out and the real Sherlock rode away in the truck, hidden.
This theory is probably the most popular of theories. After all, if the garbage truck was there for any other purpose, it is hard to believe the truck driver, after witnessing the suicide, would just drive off. That being said, if you look at the position of the truck to the leap, unless Sherlock propelled himself off the wall mid flight, it would be a bit difficult to land in the truck. Yet the picture above makes it seem effortless.
The Baskerville Drug Theory
So with this theory, you add everything from the above but you somehow expose Watson to the hallucinogenic drug that we witnessed in The Hounds of Baskerville. If you watched that previous episode, you will see that subjects are prone to suggestion, even conjuring images from their imaginations. Combine this with Sherlock’s very suggestive phone call that he is leaping to his death, if Watson was exposed to this drug, then he could have imagined anything. He could have not seen Sherlock leap, he could have seen a different body with all that blood and all sorts. The limits are endless here.
But this too easy solution has so many plot holes. For a start, we know the drug is released in steam or fog and we don’t see Watson at all come close to fog. Unless the biker injected/dosed him when they collided, there was no way he could have unknowingly been administered the drug. Also, we, as the audience, see Sherlock jump, there is no question. He had to have jumped to ensure the snipers are called off. So we are definitely sure that Sherlock did jump.
The Body Double/ Dummy / Moriarty Theory
Sherlock didn’t jump; he threw off one of these.
Yeah, no. Sherlock definitely jumped.
So with this theory, you add everything from the above but you somehow expose Watson to the hallucinogenic drug that we witnessed in The Hounds of Baskerville. If you watched that previous episode, you will see that subjects are prone to suggestion, even conjuring images from their imaginations. Combine this with Sherlock’s very suggestive phone call that he is leaping to his death, if Watson was exposed to this drug, then he could have imagined anything. He could have not seen Sherlock leap, he could have seen a different body with all that blood and all sorts. The limits are endless here.
But this too easy solution has so many plot holes. For a start, we know the drug is released in steam or fog and we don’t see Watson at all come close to fog. Unless the biker injected/dosed him when they collided, there was no way he could have unknowingly been administered the drug. Also, we, as the audience, see Sherlock jump, there is no question. He had to have jumped to ensure the snipers are called off. So we are definitely sure that Sherlock did jump.
The Body Double/ Dummy / Moriarty Theory
Sherlock didn’t jump; he threw off one of these.
Yeah, no. Sherlock definitely jumped.
The Ball, The Mortician and The Homeless Network
While that would be an amazing name for a band, this theory is more on how John was convinced Sherlock actually died. As we see, a very distinguishable Sherlock lies on the floor covered in blood. With Watson screaming “I’m a Doctor”, it seems a little strange that people wouldn’t let him through to examine the body. That’s because all those people are actually Sherlock’s homeless network. We know from the exchange with Molly that Sherlock figured out Moriarty’s plan to force him to commit suicide. In fact, the whole exchange on the roof top has Sherlock acting dumb while Moriarty mocks him. Sherlock knew there was no key code; he was just biding time to set up his cronies. The “beats like digits” was Sherlock playing the fool to which Moriarty is outraged (more on that later). When he invites Sherlock to jump, Sherlock asks for a moment of privacy. Easy, Sherlock asked this to check that everyone is in place.
When Moriarty shoots himself, Sherlock begins to hyperventilate which is extremely useful in the process of slowing your breathing down. When on ground, using the rubber ball under his arm, he cuts off the circulation to his pulse. The other doctor checking his pulse before Watson isn’t a doctor at all, but part of the plan to keep Watson from checking himself as Sherlock slowed his pulse down. Watson checks briefly but that was enough to convince him that Sherlock was dead. With a bag of blood, a bump on Watson’s head, and a crowd of people, Watson and the snipers, from their view, were convinced Sherlock was dead. Add Molly, a person with a heap of records and dead bodies, it was pretty easy to falsify the death officially.
There are no qualms with this theory. It is highly logical and seems to make the most sense. Except it doesn’t explain how he survived the jump.
While that would be an amazing name for a band, this theory is more on how John was convinced Sherlock actually died. As we see, a very distinguishable Sherlock lies on the floor covered in blood. With Watson screaming “I’m a Doctor”, it seems a little strange that people wouldn’t let him through to examine the body. That’s because all those people are actually Sherlock’s homeless network. We know from the exchange with Molly that Sherlock figured out Moriarty’s plan to force him to commit suicide. In fact, the whole exchange on the roof top has Sherlock acting dumb while Moriarty mocks him. Sherlock knew there was no key code; he was just biding time to set up his cronies. The “beats like digits” was Sherlock playing the fool to which Moriarty is outraged (more on that later). When he invites Sherlock to jump, Sherlock asks for a moment of privacy. Easy, Sherlock asked this to check that everyone is in place.
When Moriarty shoots himself, Sherlock begins to hyperventilate which is extremely useful in the process of slowing your breathing down. When on ground, using the rubber ball under his arm, he cuts off the circulation to his pulse. The other doctor checking his pulse before Watson isn’t a doctor at all, but part of the plan to keep Watson from checking himself as Sherlock slowed his pulse down. Watson checks briefly but that was enough to convince him that Sherlock was dead. With a bag of blood, a bump on Watson’s head, and a crowd of people, Watson and the snipers, from their view, were convinced Sherlock was dead. Add Molly, a person with a heap of records and dead bodies, it was pretty easy to falsify the death officially.
There are no qualms with this theory. It is highly logical and seems to make the most sense. Except it doesn’t explain how he survived the jump.
You Just Fell Off A Big Tower, You Creep
I hope by now we are all agreed that Sherlock actually jumped and it was a bit of a suspension of belief that he landed into the truck.
So how exactly does Sherlock fall and you know, not die. Well, there are actual people who do that. Reading the post on Tumblr (below), you can see how Sherlock is positioned. He didn’t dive head first. In fact, he flailed his legs, crouched in a landing position.
His head makes contact after his body. Sherlock knew damn well how to survive a fall that high and how to position his body. Now you can argue that regardless, something would have to have broken. Well, luckily, the awkwardly positioned truck could also supply a crash mat that Sherlock had set up. Simple, he lands on the mat and the truck removes it, leaving Sherlock’s body on the floor. John and the snipers wouldn’t see this because of said truck.
I hope by now we are all agreed that Sherlock actually jumped and it was a bit of a suspension of belief that he landed into the truck.
So how exactly does Sherlock fall and you know, not die. Well, there are actual people who do that. Reading the post on Tumblr (below), you can see how Sherlock is positioned. He didn’t dive head first. In fact, he flailed his legs, crouched in a landing position.
His head makes contact after his body. Sherlock knew damn well how to survive a fall that high and how to position his body. Now you can argue that regardless, something would have to have broken. Well, luckily, the awkwardly positioned truck could also supply a crash mat that Sherlock had set up. Simple, he lands on the mat and the truck removes it, leaving Sherlock’s body on the floor. John and the snipers wouldn’t see this because of said truck.
It is possible for someone to survive that kind of heighted fall with the aid of stuntmen techniques.
In Conclusion
Now that is all said and done, there are many possible solutions for Sherlock to have survived. Evidently, a combination of all these theories with the exception of a body double and the exclusion of the body double in a telephone box swap (because, just no, Sherlock is being escorted to a hospital where he could easy swap out his body without broad daylight.) We are also clear that there was no drug administrated. Somewhere, my own theory has mashed up to the stuntman jump, the ball slowing hyperventilating magic trick and with the help of Molly and the homeless network.
This is all very nice and conclusive but with Gatiss and Moffat at the helm, there is literally no knowing which way the evil genius’ will go. With the first episode wrapped up in production, all we have to do is wait some more for the reveal that has been tightly hidden from us.
Can you handle the wait? No, check out the official Series 3 teaser trailer below!
In Conclusion
Now that is all said and done, there are many possible solutions for Sherlock to have survived. Evidently, a combination of all these theories with the exception of a body double and the exclusion of the body double in a telephone box swap (because, just no, Sherlock is being escorted to a hospital where he could easy swap out his body without broad daylight.) We are also clear that there was no drug administrated. Somewhere, my own theory has mashed up to the stuntman jump, the ball slowing hyperventilating magic trick and with the help of Molly and the homeless network.
This is all very nice and conclusive but with Gatiss and Moffat at the helm, there is literally no knowing which way the evil genius’ will go. With the first episode wrapped up in production, all we have to do is wait some more for the reveal that has been tightly hidden from us.
Can you handle the wait? No, check out the official Series 3 teaser trailer below!
TTFN
Cookie
Stay tuned as next week I reveal my Sherlock season 3 expectations.
References
http://all-sherlock-theories.tumblr.com/
http://whohasamonkey.tumblr.com/post/57555796224/my-sherlock-theory
http://inatardis.tumblr.com/post/57314498230/do-you-have-any-of-your-own-theories-as-to-how-sherlock
http://imcastielsassbutt.tumblr.com/post/54852653843/imcastielsassbutts-sherlock-theory
Cookie
Stay tuned as next week I reveal my Sherlock season 3 expectations.
References
http://all-sherlock-theories.tumblr.com/
http://whohasamonkey.tumblr.com/post/57555796224/my-sherlock-theory
http://inatardis.tumblr.com/post/57314498230/do-you-have-any-of-your-own-theories-as-to-how-sherlock
http://imcastielsassbutt.tumblr.com/post/54852653843/imcastielsassbutts-sherlock-theory
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