The Final Problem - How Did Sherlock Fake His Death?

There's just one more thing, one more thing, one more miracle, Sherlock, for me.
Don't. Be.
Dead.

Going by the evidence of Doyle's original story, the final seconds of Sherlock's last episode and that we know season 3 is going to air some when within this millennia starring Benedict Cumberbatch, you don't need to be Sherlock Holmes to deduct that he must have faked his really realistic looking death in "The Reichenbach Fall". So, the more advanced question is how he did do it.

How does one survive jumping from the top of a building? The answer is, you don't. But assuming that it was possible, it might be logical to say that Molly helped him with it. After all, we see him seeking her help. And when you're Sherlock Holmes, that's not something you'd usually do. And being familiar with Moffat's trolling capabilities that's what he may have been pointing at when saying the clue is all there... However, the episode offers us more than this.

First of all,  let's not forget that Sherlock is the one inviting Moriarty to join him on the rooftop. He's the one setting the when and where. Therefore, it's just logical to assume that he did not show up there without making some preparations.

The night before jumping Sherlock is constantly playing with a rubber ball. And given the fact that John only checks Sherlock's wrist and not his neck for pulse, there is the possibility that he used it to create the illusion that his heart stopped beating. (Of course he's doing it right after jumping off a building, which makes this [if this was real] even more remarkable).

But there is even more. We can assume that Sherlock is telling John Moriarty's lie because he does not want John to suffer. He hopes that by implying how much he betrayed him John will terminate their friendship or at least, he will take things more easily. The last time they see each other he makes John mad at him by implying that he does not care about Mrs Hudson having a possibly life-threatening incident, something he has obviously came up with for this very purpose. Sherlock does not gain anything by this, in fact it hurts his own feelings because John's opinion and his friendship are important to him. Sherlock shows when he has to choose between his reputation and John, that John's the winner. Putting the sentimental aspect of this aside, and focusing on the fact that Sherlock is obviously not wanting to hurt him, he nevertheless asks him a rather inappropriate thing to do: to watch him jump. He wants John to keep his eyes on him, while he's falling.

 There may be several reasons for this request, however, the most rational one is that he does not want John to notice what is happening around him. But before going into further detail, let's focus on the location of Sherlock's 'suicide'.

The  hospital from John's point of view

Looking at the two first pictures on the left we learn the building off which Sherlock jumps has 2 floors.

The red-brick building

Just in case you are wondering if that picture shows the right building, it does. The red-brick base is a second building standing between the hospital and John, from where he watches Sherlock jump This becomes more obvious when we take a look at the situation form Sherlock's point of view

And John from Sherlock's point of view.

(picture 3 on the left).

This fact is interesting because we know that the first thing Sherlock tells John on the phone is precise directions where to stand. And Sherlock wants him to stand behind the red brick building which doesn't allow him to see Sherlock hitting the ground. To get to Sherlock he has to go round it and that's when the cyclist runs into him. This means, that John is not really able to see how Sherlock hits the ground. The brick building is simply blocking his view.

Having settled this point there is also the fact that Sherlock's 'fatal' injuries do not match the way he hits the ground.

When falling we know that Sherlock does not flip. The building has only 2 floors and we see both of them in this picture. It is obvious that it will be his feet which will touch the ground first. Not his head, or torso.

Nevertheless, when John finally sees his friend, he has a head injury. How on earth is it possible to get a head injury when falling like that? It simply does not match, i.e. the head injury is not real.

Sherlock's and the truck's position is wrong.

Taking only the rational aspect of this into account he may have got several other injuries, but he certainly does not damage his head, not like that.

The last thing which may, or may not, require an answer is that in the end Sherlock seems to have rotated 9o°C  between falling and hitting the ground. Knowing that he lands 'on his feet', more or less, there is the possibility that when hitting the ground his weight isn't shifted equally and he falls over. However, there should be noted that even if he falls over his feet have already absorbed most of the impact, i.e. when his head finally touches the ground the result is certainly not such a sever looking injury.

Unfortunately, the only thing which cannot be explained away is the distance between the rooftop and the pavement. Because no matter what, Sherlock has to jump. He has to make the killers believe that he takes his life. Sherlock certainly figures out in advance what Moriarty is up to, the whole conversation on the rooftop is mostly a show. This means that Sherlock could have taken preparations to guarantee himself a somewhat softer landing. But he can't risk doing something obvious*. Maybe the fact that when entering the rooftop he's keeping his hands behind his back has something to do with this. And when standing the first time on the edge he asks Moriarty to give him a moment. Does he really need it? Is it part of the show? Or does he use it to do something else?  Besides, I don't think that Sherlock simply needs Molly to give him a rubber ball and to fake an autopsy. She helped him, somehow. And finding out how she helped him performing his magic trick is the reason why I'm looking forward to the next episode. I know Sherlock Holmes wouldn't agree with this, but I think being able to deduct the whole story would leave us with just too many spoilers.

__
*Yes, there is that truck packed with some soft-looking washing bags, as we can easily see in the last picture... but wouldn't that be too obvious? Besides, if you're comparing it with this picture you'll notice that the truck is standing wrongly. If it had been standing where Sherlock landed, to get into that position afterwards, the driver would have had to backup. Something he certainly did not, given the fact that it would have been much easier not to back up and to drive away.

The Mighy Moff's Dream Comes True...

According to the Radio Times it seems the Mighty Moff gets his way as the big guys of 'Doctor Who' "won’t be announcing the new Doctor until early autumn", which is when they'll start filming the Christmas special or maybe even season 8. This means the speculations of who's going to be the next Doctor will last for several more weeks, if not longer. After all, no one is promising us that we'll actually know who's going to be the next Doctor by then. And knowing how much Moffat loves secrets it's not difficult to picture him laughing gleefully at being able to  keep things wrapped up as long as possible.

Another interesting detail revealed by that article is that apparently some people hoped that filming the Christmas special will start earlier, in late summer. There can be two obvious reasons for this shift. First of all, it may be Matt Smith's hair needing more time to grow back (well, I'm obviously joking; at least I hope I am). The second, and much more likely reason is that Steven Moffat has a pretty tight schedule this year. He's responsible for two shows with really demanding (not to say ridiculously complex) plots and sadly, those scripts won't write themselves. Also the fact that filming Sherlock was delayed too and only started in March may have affected his plans*. So, it's not only us who, when confronted with impossible-to-make deadlines, wish the TARDIS  was real...

As for the names mentioned who may (or may not) become the next Doctor, in my humble opinion, Moffat will choose someone who is not known as 'the guy from [insert popular cine-/telematic masterpiece here]'. Because whoever will get the part will be known as "the guy from 'Doctor Who'" and not vice versa.

___

* On the plus side,  the seemingly endless wait for season 3 is going to come to an end on October 31st.

'The Ocean at the End of the Lane' on BBC Radio 4

Funnily enough most of my friends know Neil Gaiman as the grand writer of awesome short-stories and fantasy, while to me he has been the guy who wrote 'The Doctor's Wife', which is, by the way, one of the most beautiful episodes in my humble opinion.

Luckily, the media has been busy correcting my personal (rather distorted) image of him, as recently his new novel got published: 'The Ocean at the End of the Lane". 

Frankly, as much as I love books and Neil Gaiman, I wouldn't have been drawing this to your attention, because I hate showing people what I can't give them access to. However, the lovely Beeb announced that they got Michael Sheen to read the book for BBC Radio 4’s Book At Bedtime strand. It's going to be broadcast in July, Monday to Friday at 10:45 pm which means that you'll be able to listen to the programme life, no matter where you're living. Plus, if you should miss it you're going to be able to catch up with it later via their lovely site. So, save the date.

Why Gallifrey's Sky Is Red

It seems that one of the most stunning optical qualities of Gallifrey were its two suns orbiting the Shining World of the Seventh System in a red-orange sky. 

Red...

And even though 'Doctor Who' does not feature many episodes which are set on the Doctor's home planet, or show glimpses of it, when it does, its skies are not always red ("The Five Doctors" or more recently "The Name of the Doctor"). 

... and not so red.

So, did the big guys responsible for the show get something wrong (again)? Not necessarily. Because, surprisingly, this time there may be a physical explanation behind it.

Now, when our sun sets or rises, our skies are usually tinted red too. This is because at sunset the light hits earth at a different angle which makes it travel longer distance than at noon. And the shorter wavelengths of the light (green and blue) become scattered on the way. It's only the longer wavelengths (red, pink, orange) which manage to make the long way. But to get the best effect it also takes a lot of particles (e.g. clouds, oxygen) in the sky which allows the light-waves to bounce off and to become visible.

Gallifrey has two suns and if one of them is setting or rising the air becomes flooded with long reddish wavelengths and the skies turn red. However, when none of them is the sky is of an ordinary blue.

On the Chances of Steven Moffat Casting a Female Doctor

Every time we are sort of in-between Doctors, there is one rumour which never fails to come up: could the next Doctor be female? While several sites are already speculating about this possibility, this time we are actually able to pinpoint things down a bit, after all, Steven Moffat seems to be the one who'll play a significant role in making that pretty important decision.

Interestingly enough, back in 2010, after being almost halfway into season 5, 'Newsarama' asked the Mighty Moff about the possibilities of having a female Doctor flying the TARDIS. And this is what he said: 

Well, never say never.  I'd never rule anything out.  I didn't contemplate it this time.  I'd have my worries about it, only from the point of view that, would you still believe it was the same person?  Is that taking it that one step too far?  What is River Song (Alex Kingston) going to think?  [laughs]  I would worry, but maybe someone with a bigger imagination than me will prove me wrong on that score.  You can get carried away with the idea of the regenerating Doctor. 

What I mean by that is, there aren't eleven Doctors.  There is one Doctor with eleven faces.  The primary idea is that you have to show the audience that this is fundamentally the same person with a makeover.  I think I would worry that the makeover, turning him into a woman would just take that one step too far.  That's not me saying I don't think a woman is good enough to be the Doctor by the way.  [laughs]  At all.  It's just that I'd worry that you'd lose the sense.  You might just fragment the sense that it's still him.

I know, Moffat lies, people change and that's a 3 years old interview. However, somehow I think that was really his opinion back then, and he certainly had his reasons. And there is a good chance that he still has those reasons today. I, at least, hope so. Because only because it is possible to have a female Doctor, does not mean that you should actually have one. If there are the right motivations (e.g. it adds something important, and not only something new to a story), then go for it.. I'm not saying I'll be happy with it, but if there are the right arguments, then there is not much you can do. But doing it only because you can, is the wrong attitude, because then you're running into danger of screwing things up.

Then again, the Mighty Moff loves screwing and breaking rules and to be fair, that is the only rule he has not touched yet (or rather smashed to pieces, only to put them together again). I for my part hope that his love and respect for 'Doctor Who' will be stronger than his craving. Because IMHO I have to agree with what he says there: chances are high that it would take things one step too far.

'How Long Are You Goint To Stay With Me?' - 'Forever'.

Matt Smith is leaving 'Doctor Who'. It's official, after all, publishing it on the BBC's official 'Doctor Who' page is as official as it gets. And surprisingly it's already this Christmas when we say good-bye to his Doctor. 

Luckily, Steven Moffat does seem to stick around a bit longer. Even though, ever since he declared that he'd love to stay forever as Who's showrunner, I've been worried that he'd leave the show at the next convenient opportunity. After all, that's what 'staying forever' seems to stand for in this fandom (just take this Steven Moffat interview as reference, regarding Matt Smith's time on 'Who')

But back to Matt Smith. Surprisingly, I'm not devastated by his decision. I'm not saying I didn't like his Doctor. Matt Smith did a good job. I like what he did with the role and I appreciate it. But at the same time I hope the next actor getting 'the best job in the universe' will be just as good (or even better). So, today's date will certainly not burn itself into my memory as the day Matt Smith decided to leave the TARDIS (unlike the 28th October 2008) simply because 11 is not my Doctor. If he's yours, well, welcome to the ever growing club of Whovians to whom the current Doctor is not the one who made them fall in love with this show. Because you have to fall in love with the talent, and not the actor. Being a Whovian there are two lessons you have to learn: first, Moffat lies. And, the even harder one, 'Doctor Who' is about changes. If you can't handle that, then, I'm sorry, but you're not a proper Whovian. 

So, the next question to answer is  'who will be next?' and more importantly, 'will he be ginger?'