SHERLOCK: "The Reichenbach Fall" theory

Only just found out that SHERLOCK is back on PBS (so out of the loop I am) so I have not yet seen the return/premiere. Just wanted to get some goofy theorizing out there before I watch the new eps…

*SPOILERS* from "The Reichenbach Fall" follow!

The end of this second series is so *obviously* an homage to the original second film—duh! I mean, Sherlock goes and sees the doctor (Molly) before confronting the threat to his human friends. In that meeting he engages the doctor in a mind meld (not shown, possibly a *sexy* mind meld). Then he faces off w Moriarty and finds himself in the no-win situation. He shares his last moments with (Captain) John and then dies, saving them all.

John will think that Molly's odd behavior—involving the manifestation of a second, familiar, personality, with an offputting selfish attitude, eager to share incisive observations that while accurate, come off as rude and thoughtless—is no more than just a strange brand of mourning. But when Mycroft comes to him, seeking Sherlock's Katra in Watson's mind, he will realize that Sherlock must have melded with Molly before his fall.

Then it will be up to John and Mycroft, w some help from Lestrade no doubt, to get Molly and Sherlock's rebuilt, resuscitated (thanks to Baskerville Genesis tech), comatose body back to Vulcan to return Holmes's Katra into a proper vessel, bringing him back to boring old life.

And of course, the Sherlock we saw at the end of "Fall" was *Ambassador* Sherlock from the original timeline.

=)

Keep on keepin on~

P.S. Take a look at the captains' final words over their friends…

Kirk: And yet it should be noted, in the midst of our sorrow, this death takes place in the shadow of new life, the sunrise of a new world; a world that our beloved comrade gave his life to protect and nourish. He did not feel this sacrifice a vain or empty one, and we will not debate his profound wisdom at these proceedings. Of my friend, I can only say this: of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most… human.

Watson: You... you told me once that you weren't a hero. Umm,there were times I didn't even think you were human. But let me tell you this, you were the best man, the most human... human being that I've ever known, and no-one will ever convince me that you told me a lie, so there. I was so alone, and I owe you so much.

AGENTS OF SHIELD: WWNFD?

What would Nick Fury do?

Okay. You're in command of SHIELD, an intelligence agency dedicated to protecting humanity and the world. You've been made aware of threats by forces known, unknown, shadowy, and superhuman, intent on engaging in a "higher form of war." Thanks to a synchronicity of special individuals, events, and artifacts, you were able to help win the first spectacular engagement in such a war. Unfortunately, along the way, your secret, plan A, defense was revealed to be built on tech developed by or co-opted from the Bad Guys of earlier conflicts. When this is uncovered, the Good Guys (many of whom might individually be considered WMDs) take issue, apparently on moral grounds. So, the tech is destroyed, or at best, mothballed.

But how can you count on being AVENGERS-lucky in a consistent way when new, supernatural threats from unexpected quarters arise with greater and greater frequency? You can't.

We know that Fury wants Earth, humanity, but most especially, SHIELD to be ready, properly armed, to combat the powerful and dangerous forces involved when fighting a "higher form of war." But, he knows that the greatest advancements in tech and enhancement require taking steps that most men and women who believe themselves to be good, moral people, would not agree to. At least not in the light of day. So, how to take those steps without actually taking them?

Have the people who don't care about being seen taking those steps take them. The scientists and businessmen and despots and just plain villains who don't care about being branded "Bad Guys," or who consider themselves and their work beyond such a naive concept, they can develop and test the next generation of WMDs in the wild, unregulated, without oversight. SHIELD identifies and brands them as the enemy, a threat to security, the common good, even existence, then captures them and appropriates their advanced tech, weapons, and research.

Yes, such progress is made at the cost of others' well-being and safety, perhaps involving extortion, blackmail, mind control, and murder, but it's made. By the Bad Guys. Not SHIELD. But hey! Why throw away a perfectly functional Chitauri blaster, right? Why not reproduce and perfect the dimensional portal opener that accidentally trapped an unwitting guinea pig between dimensions? Why not use the super soldier serum knock-off since it's been perfected (after hundreds of mortal failures)? Some of these Bad Guys might be self-made, but others could be run from a disavowed, invisible arm of SHIELD, some branch granted its own initiative—kind of like a dark version of Coulson's team—branch that might produce something like Centipede.

So all this rambling means is that I like Centipede as a a straw man and incubator for SHIELD R&D. I would *LOVE* for it to have been masterminded by a SHIELD Agent from the future (who in our present might come to be called the Clairvoyant, no?). An Agent who survived a reality without Centipede and the stronger SHIELD that it enables, a SHIELD that is/would've been properly armed to deal with a catastrophic threat that destroys the world, or America, at least. =)

Maybe the future Agent is Nick himself, or a apocalypse-hardened Coulson, or… a Deathlok. Would *love* to see present and/or future Deathlok side-by-side w Cap in an episode or movie! =)

Hrm… Does "WWFD?" work better than "WWNFD?"

In a completely unrelated bit of theory crazy talk…

I would love for the ultimate conflict w Thanos (most likely involving a certain set of reality-shaping stones) to be resolved in part by Captain America seizing the gauntlet/staff/raincoat/whatnot of Infinity and using it to reverse all of the terror, tragedies, and deaths caused by the machinations of the Mad Titan and the Elders of the Universe, but, with just a little something extra—a little reality tweak for Cap himself, an order to the stones to rewrite the universe so that he could be reunited with his best friend Bucky Barnes, thusly rewriting a timeline that we may never see into the one that we do see in WINTER SOLDIER. That would be crazy, tho, right?

Keep on keepin on~

AGENTS OF SHIELD: "The Magical Place"

A *SPOILER*ful ramble on events and theories inspired by the events of this episode. If you have not watched, turn back now!

First off, a great episode and such a great performance by Gregg of Coulson in a wide spectrum of distress, anger, and determination, all the while maintaining his Coulsonity. Coulsonitude. Coulsonicity? Did I miss or forget Fitz's transformation into Dark Fitz/Ward, Jr.? An interesting development, tho, seeing Fitz imprinting on Ward and Skye upon May, wardrobe-wise, at least. Would've liked to have seen more from this "thing we've never done before" with the seven drones/dwarfs in the opening bit.

The series of surgeries IS a bit of a let-down, but the visual was so spectacularly creepy that I do NOT mind. I'm also hoping that the tech involved will lead to some dark places—Zola? Hydra? Skull/Soviet Winter Soldier techniques?

Speaking of which… I think this notion of secrets kept for our own safety/security, aka "Trust the system," is going to continue to develop/unravel and lead into the world and story of WINTER SOLDIER. What would the logical fallout of a "who watches the watchmen" storyline be in the Marvel Universe now? Hrm… An objective artificial intelligence set up as an overseer of all covert and superhuman ops, perhaps?

Regarding the series of surgeries revelation. On one level, I think it's a smart solution/response to all the fan guessing/theorizing Out There. Deliver an explanation that can go to completely new places—perhaps a doctor Octavius or Pym or Connors or Strange was involved with those surgeries.  On another level, we're still dealing with cover stories and implanted memories. Who knows how many layers of those there may be? Perhaps Doc Book's own memories were edited to match what Coulson recalled via the machine, eh? This idea opens up the possibility of circling back to fan faves—LMD, Infinity Formula, TimeLord regeneration, or a Valhallan spirit returned to its resuscitated human body.

Had some more crazy flashes of insight regarding the Clairvoyant…

He sees DREAMS? If that's not just flowery prose from Raina, then we may be talking mystic. A mystic who doesn't like physical contact. Hrm… Would be interesting to bring Dr. Strange in as a consultant in AGENTS, but that's probably out of sync w some Marvel master plan, right?

Still, maybe it IS just flowery prose. I'd kind of prefer it, because I *really* want the Clairvoyant to be someone (preferably someone we've already met and know) who got zapped back to the past from a possible future. Either he was Level 8+ or he pocketed a SHIELD sports almanac and is taking advantage of every scrap of info to set up an anti-SHIELD force ("Trust the system"). Maybe he jumped back intentionally, to prevent some catastrophic event/mission gone wrong. Or maybe he fell back sometime during the events of DARK WORLD, sucked into a convergence portal.

I'm still waiting to see some significant follow-thru on DARK WORLD portal jumping and weird physics. Who's curbing that Jotunheim pooch?

He knows personal things about our man Coulson, but can't see into his mind/read his fate like he apparently can other people. Perhaps he's a Coulson from the future.

The revealed insistence by Nick Fury that Coulson be saved, even against his own spoken "Let me die!" wishes, got me thinking that Fury brought Coulson back out of more than sentimentality and friendship (altho those are bonus factors, no doubt), but because he either knows that Coulson lives to see some event or events in the future, or knows that the scientifically resurrected Coulson will prove the perfect soldier against this Clairvoyant. In either case, how would Fury know? Because HE is responsible for the Clairvoyant. And MAYbe, the Clairvoyant is a future Fury, zapped back in time via manipulation of Asgardian superscience (portal fun).

How much do we know about Coul (as in Coulson's dad)? Was he in intel? Military? And his mother? I was really hoping that he'd be revealed to be Skye's father (or mother, Agent Philomena? =). Now I'm worried and kind of dreading the possibility that Raina is her mother. She talked about using the machine and I know it's her M.O., but seemed to be very sympathetic to Coulson's situation, as if she could actually relate. Having had secrets kept from her by someone. Perhaps she was a SHIELD agent, had her daughter, but for some reason or other couldn't be allowed to keep/raise her, so she was retconned. The Clairvoyant at some point helped her regain that memory, which of course would easily turn her against all things SHIELD.

Who's this Van Chat guy? How many other guys are in his line of work?

Those raids on Centipede facilities/stations cannot be surprise to the Clairvoyant. They are at least acceptable losses or disposable. At best, they are part of a plan, perhaps to get Centipede agents held as prisoners in SHIELD facilities.

Does anyone think that Raina actually minds being taken to "SHIELD headquarters" (Hand's words, I believe)?

Allright, I could go on and on, and probably will, but not just now. =)

Keep on keepin on~