#elementary 2x12

[preacherboyd]

Elementary | 2x12 The Diabolical Kind

[amindamazed]

Elementary 4x23 spoilers here

It doesn't make sense to me that Vikner would be honoring Moriarty's “untouchable” command re: Sherlock & Watson - makes me wonder if he’s planting a sense of false security?

For the same reason, it also doesn't make sense that the succession was as smooth as Vikner implied, given the Moriarty we saw in 2x12. The fact that D’ohRob brought back The Giant Portrait of WTF makes me think he at least rewatched some of that episode, so I hope he also remembered how angry Moriarty was at the man who (she concluded) had leaked information about her child. I’d like to believe Moriarty is perhaps lulling Vikner into a false sense of security, and in the end will teach him the lesson in discretion she threatened in “The Diabolical Kind.”

When Sherlock told Watson that he can’t shake the feeling there’s someone else he should talk to, Watson assumed he meant Morland, and he didn’t respond except with a small grimace. That reaction is completely in character with any thought of his father, but I assumed he was choosing not to correct her (or irritate her) by explaining he actually meant Moriarty.

I also want this because the “endorsement” Sherlock suggested, that Moriarty had proclaimed Vikner her heir by genetic caveat is absurd (and absurdly sexist). It’s also inconsistent with the story she told Sherlock in s2, but of course we don’t know how much of that tale is to be believed or what part of it Sherlock believed. Still, she didn’t act as someone who willingly shared responsibility or credit for her daughter with someone else: Kayden was hers, and she was livid that anyone meddled with what belonged to her (and that is consistent with later action, e.g. Elena March).

[ekayes]

[amindamazed]

Shared with (almost) no comment:

I maintain...a dossier of interesting facts. (Moriarty, 2x12)

I had a capacity for storing facts. Quite a remarkable one....I became a sort of clearinghouse for MI6. (Mycroft, 2x23)

...I was a clearinghouse for MI6. I stored facts. (Mycroft, 2x24)

I'm not proposing that Mycroft is Moriarty's "dossier," but... it's a notable coincidence in any case.

[amindamazed]

beanarie replied to your post: Moriarty’s letters to Sherlock are add...

maybe he didn’t reply to the first one so she sent the rest to the PO Box? *puts more thought into it than the writers did*

He said the first one arrived before they left for London, so I'm speculating that the one we saw was not the first, since 2x03 took place mumble week(s) later. Also, the letter's closing line implies to me that she's been waiting for a reply already. However, that the first one went to a different address is the most logical option.

sanguinarysanguinity replied to your post: Moriarty’s letters to Sherlock are add...

Sooo… he wrote back to say “Don’t write me here, Watson will see! Write me at this imaginary PO Box!” And THEN he didn’t write until she threatened to stop writing?

He told Watson he didn't know how Moriarty found out about the PO Box. He could have been lying, of course, but I assume he stuck to only lying to himself in that scene.

There's no satisfying Watsonian way out of this Doylist conundrum, I fear.

[amindamazed]

"There is only Moriarty. And Moriarty is never gonna change."

1. I suspect this line may turn out to be like Moran's comment "Your girl. That was him. That was Moriarty." In other words, I agree with those who think the show is on the track of Moriarty being a title or generational position that is separate from the person wielding it at any particular moment. The current Moriarty's reference to a mentor who shared her enthusiasms supports this possibility. And in that context, Moriarty-the-role is never going to change. The face behind it, the personality and preference and focus might change but the force and purpose and power remain.

2. Separate from the issue of Moriarty-the-role, Watson's uncharacteristically hard-line position on this Moriarty's unchanging nature concerns me. It's a potential blind spot for her, an area of inflexibility that under sufficient pressure could snap like a rib with the same risk of internal injury. She told Sherlock that the only thing anyone can accurately predict about people is that they'll change, and her deviation from this view feels misguided. A misstep that could lead to a fall (ahem).

I do NOT mean to justify any sort of redemption arc for Moriarty. But if, and this is a big if, Moriarty's ego and narcissism allows, she may eventually gain some small comprehension of Watson's and Sherlock's partnership. And that will make her significantly more dangerous to it. I worry that Watson's almost Moriarty-like disdain (e.g. "Nothing crazy people do surprises me." vs. "Looking at a man and knowing all his secrets.") will leave her unprepared for this possibility.

[ace-and-ranty]

Openly gay man of color - and he's competent as hell. That makes me happy. 

"You'd be surprised to know you've been on my mind, Joan Watson?" Well, Moriarty, the PAINTING MIGHT HAVE GAVE HER PAUSE.

She's checking her out. She's totally checking her out.

Joan, bby, that was NOT a wise thing to say.

...YOU'RE WINDING HER UP. Woah, Joan Does Not Like You.

Moriarty is pissed because Joan took her toys. Abuser tactics, anyone? 

[ace-and-ranty]

Oh, look! The Purple Shirt showed up in Elementary as well!