RAT, WEDDING and BOW – three little words, one big mystery
BBC Sherlock creator Steven Moffat has announced these three words as a hint about series three. He was speaking at the Sherlock Masterclass as part of the Media Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival, and threw out this teaser to fans – as if trying to work out how Sherlock faked his suicide wasn’t bad enough.
The last series was summed up by the words – Woman, Hound and Fall. So, what can we deduce about series three from this new information?
Rat – well, the creators have already made it known that the first episode will be based on The Empty House but how this fits in with the word ‘rat’ I have no idea. Clues from the canon could be The Giant Rat of Sumatra , an adventure which Watson mentions in The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire or the words of a dying man in The Boscombe Valley Mystery. His son hears him say something about a rat, which Holmes deduces to be a reference to the Ballarat Gang – a group of Australian bushrangers. Interestingly, the witness in The Boscombe valley is called Patience Moran and, as we know, The Empty House is all about Colonel Sebastian Moran, so could there be a link? Could RAT be an acronym, just as H.O.U.N.D was in series two?
Wedding – The most obvious choice is the marriage between John and Mary Morstan but in the original stories, John marries Mary before Holmes’ fake death. Mary herself dies during Holmes’ time in hiding. I think the idea of John getting married is plausible and realistic for the character but perhaps a bit too obvious. Drawing from the canon, I can think of the attempted forced marriage in The Solitary Cyclist, the runaway bride in The Nobel Bachelor and of course, Holmes’ engagement to Charles Augustus Milverton’s maid. Perhaps he is going to take things a stage further in Sherlock and actually marry the poor girl. I’m sure Milverton will feature somewhere in series three. Frankly, it could be anyone getting married – Mrs Hudson, Lestrade who was on the brink of divorce at the end of the last series. Or how about Irene Adler’s marriage to Mr Norton?
Bow – Could this be a reference to His Last Bow? The story in which Holmes ‘bows out’ of the detective game and disappears off to Sussex to tend his bees? Or is this too obvious?
Oh the suspense! Can’t wait to find out the truth.
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Some interesting theories!
Patience Moran wasn’t the love-interest, she was the young girl who saw the father & son argueing by Boscome Pool (Alice Turner was the love interest).
Well spotted Gwyneth, you are absolutely right and I have corrected the mistake in my blog. I was just so excited about the three words, my brain was fizzing with ideas and I simply had to put them out there – clearly did this a little too quickly! Thanks for pointing out the mistake.
I am thinking BOW might refer to his violin bow. There is also the possibility of Bow Street.
I can’t wait either, I just watched the last episode on netflix and cried! now I am reading to books, finished A study in Scarlet and A Scandel in Bohemia and I will start another tonight! I was never intersted in SH before seeing the BBC version and now I am addicted!