The second episode of Sherlock Season 3, "The Sign of Three," which made its American debut last night, is set during the wedding of John Watson and Mary Morstan. It takes place over the course of a single day, but is just as jam-packed with Easter eggs and references to the work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle -- especially his Sherlock story "The Sign of Four." Read on to discover the Easter eggs you might have missed.
WHAT WE SEE: John's sister Harry couldn't make it to the wedding and he remarks on her drinking problem.
WHAT IT MEANS: Harry and her drinking were first mentioned in the episode "A Study in Pink." In Doyle's original stories, Watson had a brother named H. Watson Jr. (first name never revealed), whose drinking led to his death before John ever met Holmes.
WHAT WE SEE: John's old mentor and friend Major Sholto arrives at the wedding.
WHAT IT MEANS: In Doyle's "The Sign of Four," Major Sholto was a major character involved in the case, as were his two sons. He and Watson never met, however.
WHAT WE SEE: Just before Sherlock calls him, Mycroft finishes a workout and checks his stomach.
WHAT IT MEANS: Mycroft is played by Sherlock co-creator Mark Gatiss. In Doyle's original stories, Mycroft was noted for being overweight and alarmingly lazy when it came to physical activity.
WHAT WE SEE: After Sherlock insists that he isn't getting emotionally involved, Mycroft asks if he remembers "Redbeard." Disturbed, Sherlock protests that he's no longer a child.
WHAT IT MEANS: This is the first mention of Redbeard. The meaning behind the name will be revealed in the next episode, "His Last Vow," but it also calls back to the episode "A Scandal in Belgravia," when Mycroft mentioned that Sherlock initially wanted to be a pirate.
WHAT WE SEE: Mike Stamford sends a telegram to the wedding and is mentioned by Sherlock as a possible choice for John's best man.
WHAT IT MEANS: Mike Stamford was introduced in the first Sherlock Holmes story by Doyle, "A Study in Scarlet," and also appeared in the very first Sherlock episode "A Study in Pink." In both stories, he was an old classmate of Watson.
WHAT WE SEE: Sherlock reads a telegram that says: "Oodles of love and heaps of good wishes from Cam. Wish your family could have seen this." Mary immediately looks distressed by the name "Cam."
WHAT IT MEANS: In Doyle's "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton," the titular blackmailer signed his messages as "C.A.M." This message is from Charles Augustus Magnussen, already seen and mentioned in the previous episode, "The Empty Hearse."
WHAT WE SEE: In a flashback to Baker Street, Sherlock mentions the difficulty in no longer smoking when he's bored and that he now has to find odd ways to occupy himself.
WHAT IT MEANS: In Doyle's original stories, Holmes smoked a pipe (or several) when he had to think deeply about a case. When he was bored for a prolonged time, he injected himself with a 7 percent solution of cocaine (a legal and common practice of the era), saying his mind needed the activity and rebelled at stagnation. After Watson's many protests, Holmes stopped this habit.
WHAT WE SEE: In his speech, Sherlock says, "I'm afraid, John, I can't congratulate you. All emotions, and in particular love, stand opposed to the pure cold reason I hold above all things."
WHAT IT MEANS: In "The Sign of Four," Watson announced his engagement to Mary and Holmes said, "I feared as much. I really cannot congratulate you." He then added that while he thought Mary was charming and a "decided genius" who could even be helpful in crime fighting, he still believed "love is an emotional thing, and whatever is emotional is opposed to that true cold reason which I place above all things."
WHAT WE SEE: During his speech, Sherlock refers to John's blog as a record of their adventures together.
WHAT IT MEANS: John Watson's blog was originally posted online during the show's first season. Each season it has been updated. (Molly Hooper also had a blog during the first season.) This is a modern adaptation from Doyle's original stories, where John published accounts of his life with Sherlock Holmes in The Strand magazine. (Even that was a bit of meta-fiction since The Strand was where Doyle published his detective stories.)
WHAT WE SEE: During a flashback montage to different cases, Sherlock says, "Oscillation on the pavement always means there's a love affair."
WHAT IT MEANS: Sherlock made the same comment in Doyle's story "A Case of Identity."
WHAT WE SEE: At the wedding, Sherlock remarks that the death of Private Bainbridge is a perfect example of a locked room mystery and Lestrade suggests the killer was a dwarf.
WHAT IT MEANS: Doyle's story "The Sign of Four" involved a murder victim discovered in a room locked from the inside, a killing committed by a man less than four feet in height.
WHAT WE SEE: While Sherlock is speaking to several women online, he dismisses John's reminder that he hasn't eaten.
WHAT IT MEANS: In Doyle's original stories, Sherlock would sometimes fast when he wanted to focus entirely on solving a case, saying he couldn't waste any valuable energy on digestion.
WHAT WE SEE: Just as he's about to toast the happy couple, Sherlock realizes that John's middle name Hamish provides a vital clue.
WHAT IT MEANS: In Doyle's first Sherlock Holmes story "A Study in Scarlet," Watson's middle initial was given as H but never explained. In "The Adventure of the Man with the Crooked Lip," Mary called Watson "James." To explain this error, some fans concluded that it revealed John's middle name was "Hamish," an alternate form of "James."
WHAT WE SEE: As Sherlock recalls trying to guess John's middle name, we see a flashback of him putting cigarettes inside one of his slippers.
WHAT IT MEANS: Doyle's story "The Musgrave Ritual" said that Holmes kept his tobacco in a Persian slipper on the mantel.
WHAT WE SEE: While thinking of John's middle name, Sherlock remembers that "The Woman" knew it.
WHAT IT MEANS: "The Woman" is Irene Adler, who appeared in the season 2 premier "A Scandal in Belgravia." In Doyle's stories, she outsmarted Holmes in "A Scandal in Bohemia" and then left for America with her husband. Despite his general distrust of women, Holmes developed a great admiration for Adler, keeping her photograph in a drawer and only referring to her afterward as "The Woman," for she eclipsed all other females.
WHAT WE SEE: As he considers the case, Sherlock and a mental avatar of Mycroft agree that coincidence shouldn't be trusted, since "the universe is rarely so lazy."
WHAT IT MEANS: In Doyle's "A Case of Identity," Sherlock told Watson that he saw coincidences as part of larger, complex chains of events that proved "life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent."
WHAT WE SEE: When Sherlock declares, "Vatican cameos!" John immediately understands that someone is in danger of being killed.
WHAT IT MEANS: Sherlock used this phrase to signal immediate threat of death in the season 2 episode "A Scandal in Belgravia." It is a reference to one of the untold tales of Sherlock Holmes. In Doyle's "The Hound of the Baskervilles," Holmes mentioned working for the Pope in a case involving Vatican cameos. Some fan websites have wrongly stated that the phrase is military slang from World War II.
WHAT WE SEE: John asks why Sherlock doesn't remember Sholto's room number and the detective protests that he'd have to delete some information in his brain.
WHAT IT MEANS: In Doyle's original story "A Study in Scarlet," and in the season 1 episode "The Great Game," Holmes told Watson that he made sure to forget information he deemed irrelevant to his work, such as that the Earth revolved around the sun and not vice versa.
WHAT WE SEE: Drawn to Sherlock, Jeanine remarks on his apparent asexuality and disinterest in women.
WHAT IT MEANS: In Doyle's stories, Holmes generally distrusted women and said they were more the doctor's expertise than his own. Watson noted that some women still found Holmes charming and that he seemed drawn to certain female clients, although he usually acted disinterested once their cases were solved.
WHAT WE SEE: The attempted murderer is revealed to be photographer John Small, in revenge for his brother dying under Major Sholto's command.
WHAT IT MEANS: In "The Sign of Four," John Small was a former soldier who targeted Sholto because the major had double-crossed him.
WHAT WE SEE: In this episode, John Small arranged for his victims to be accomplices in their own near-murders, where the removal of their own belts could cause death.
WHAT IT MEANS: This could be a subtle nod to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's novella The Poison Belt, the sequel to The Lost World.
WHAT WE SEE: Sherlock watches the others enjoy the wedding celebration and then quietly leaves early.
WHAT IT MEANS: This calls back to Mrs. Hudson's best friend Margaret, who left her wedding early and rarely saw her afterward. Mark Gatiss later admitted on Twitter that this end scene is also a reference to the ending of the classic Doctor Who story "The Green Death," which he said broke his heart as a child. Gatiss also referenced dialogue from "The Green Death" in the season 1 Sherlock episode "The Great Game."
Alan Kistler is the author of Doctor Who: A History.
