Setlock Series 3 Episode 2 – What We Know So Far

So this is our first article about the second episode, but the truth is there just hasn’t been as many spoilers released. Part of this could be the fact that Benedict Cumberbatch is off galavanting to movie premieres for Star Trek and part of it might be that there are just a lot of indoor shoots, thus, less of a chance for #Setlock fans to get near the set. Still, we plan on seeing this #Setlock thing through to the end. So without further ado, here is everything we know about the second episode. For all spoilers from episode one, please check out our Spoiler Masterpost.

Image from Steve Lawes
Image from Steve Lawes

The episode title The Sign of the Three is a play on ACD’s The Sign of the Four. In the book, Sherlock takes on a case from a woman named Mary Morstan, the very character that many of us are suspecting that Amanda Abbington is playing. If it follows ACD canon, this is the story where John and Mary get engaged. Of course Sherlock doesn’t always follow canon perfectly so who knows what we should expect, A tweet from Sue Vertue (yes, that Sue Vertue) and pictures from the set seem to indicate that there is a wedding in this episode and Amanda Abbington’s character is involved. They were filming the wedding scene for at least a week so it’s obviously going to have a huge part to play in the episode.

wedding image
Image from Sue Vertue

A long long time ago we were given the clues “Rat,” “Wedding,” and “Bow.” Assuming that it’s one clue per episode and given the story that this episode is based on, the wedding shouldn’t really be a surprise to any of us. I do wonder if this will calm the other theories down about the identity of Amanda’s character. It’s Mary, guys. We’ve heard her name said on set. We’ve seen her at her wedding in the episode named after the story she and John got married in. I’m not sure how much more definitive proof we need, but I still see people speculating and theorizing that she’s someone else. We are Sherlockians, though, so coming up with crazy ideas is kind of our MO I suppose. But from here forward I’m just going to be referring to her as “Mary” because saying “Amanda Abbington’s character” is getting to be too much to type.

This episode is also going to have at least one scene filmed at the grotto at Goldney Hall. This location was tweeted by Sue Vertue (yes, I know). The grotto is a bizarre looking place covered in tons of seashells, quartz, and crystals. Whether this is just going to be a pretty spot during the wedding or some ominous place for the episodes conflict isn’t sure. Either way, it’s a little bit too extreme to just be a casual backdrop.  This was also tweeted in the midst of all the wedding craziness so it’s possible the two or related.  Or maybe I’m just blowing smoke out my ass.  Whatever.  Either way, it’s an interesting looking place.

There was also a rather unusual night where #Setlock went bar hopping. No seriously. The entire cast and crew visited several bars in one night. One of them may have even been a gay bar. Or possibly not depending on who you ask. The bar/pub night was filmed in Cardiff. I’m not sure what that tells us but there ya go. Rupert Graves was spotted on the bar crawl, which means it could just be the guys out having a good time or a case. It could go either way. If it’s pleasure, not business, my money is on this being John’s bachelor party/stag party. This also seems like the common theory among fans and with the small amount of information we have to go on, sure, sounds great.

So that’s all we have so far. Hopefully they’ll do some more outdoor shoots soon and we can get some good spoilers flowing again.

Author: Angel Wilson

Angel is the admin of The Geekiary and a geek culture commentator. They earned a BA in Film & Digital Media from UC Santa Cruz. They have contributed to various podcasts and webcasts including An Englishman in San Diego, Free to Be Radio, and Genre TV for All. They’ve also written for Friends of Comic Con and is a 2019 Hugo Award winner for contributing fanfic on AO3. They identify as queer.


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