Hello everyone. Back again since a long time ago just to drop my "The Reichenbach fall" theory about what happened. Of course, if you haven't seen the episode (Sherlock, Season 2, Episode 3) this could be a great spoiler, so please stop reading, watch the series (you're late for TV, but it's already on DVD) and then come back. Also, I include some pictures but I intend no copyright infringement (every picture Copyright is BBC property), commercial use or anything like that, it's just to show you why I think this points could be right so please don't get me into trouble with the BBC.
Well... from here on I'll supose everyone has seen the episode, so it's a lot faster than explaining everything. Let's start with the guessing.
Sherlock asks Molly for help. From that moment to the Moriarty meeting it's an unknown lapse of time, but I guess it's big enough so that Molly could make a face mold of Sherlock. Why? Well, it's long enough so Moriarty can arrive to the Hospital, go to the rooftop and get bored, even Watson has enough time to fall asleep, so, big time. Why a mask? Ok, we're going with that now.
Obviously, Sherlock didn't died on the fall, so that body couldn't be his, and unless they made plastic surgery to anyone it's easier to think about a mask. So, a Sherlock mask, and complete access to corpses, Molly looks for a tall, thin corpse, puts the Sherlock mask on him and waits.
Next step. Rooftop. Moriarty wants Sherlock to fall, Sherlock already thought about that, he chose the place to be literal about the fall. Moriarty wants him to jump
right now.
No... not now. Too many people, a bus... "Can I have a moment, please?" Of course, timing is needed for this trick. Yes, a trick, he says that later to John, it's a magic trick.
Watson arrives, comes too near.
No good, we need a good point of view. Sherlock makes him go back to the perfect place. He makes him stop in an exact point where John can see him on the rooftop
but he couldn't see him hit the ground. There's a small building between them.
Ok, some talk, I think about some clues (the magic trick for example), and time to jump. Not a fall, a jump.
It's hard to calculate the distance from the building, but we can guess he didn't fall, he jumped far from the building. How much? Long enough, I'm going to explain right now, but before just check one little thing: do you see that white undershirt? Ok, just so you know it's there, nothing else right now. Anyway... he hits the ground when no one else is around. Also, notice that Sherlock jumps from the building looking forward, that is, head towards the road, feet towards the building, but he falls with both head and feet on the sides, it's a 90º turn.
I must add here that maybe it's a filming mistake, but he falls on his face, yet on the next shot you'll see him facing the truck.
A thing I love about being filmed in real world and not computer made or cinema studio is Google Maps help. Here are some pictures from the place. First: How far is Google car from the building?
It's on the road, driving, so a bus lane between the car and the sidewalk. How far is that?
This far. Remember: sidewalk, bus lane, and road. How do we see the building from here?
Not the same camera angle, of course, but, if we compare the falling Sherlock picture and this one, we can guess he wasn't falling just 1 meter from the wall, he was far enough to fall on the bus lane.
Who sees him fall? Just John Watson. "I need you to do this, John". Yes... being the only eye witness. But he has to move to get to him, turn around a building, and behind a truck, there's Sherlock.
It's impossible to see him hit the ground from Watson position, no one else around and a truck... which wasn't there before. Remember the bus? Well, now there's a truck, with no top and a soft landing for someone who could calculate distance, gravity and that kind of things in a second. Sherlock. How convenient, isn't it?
Also, I've read some comments about two jumping locations. No, absolutely no. First, Sherlock wouldn't do anyone kill himself for him, so we need a trick to save the second one, and if a trick is needed, why a second Sherlock? Why not himself? Second, Sherlock looks to the ground from his location and we can see the bus stop where he falls into, he is not in another building, not another part of the building or anything like that. And third, Watson's point of view.
If the fake Sherlock was on the corner of the building, and the real one in the middle part jumping into the little roof, we could see both Sherlocks from here and we could see the real one not falling, actually, the second roof is high enough so it's almost the same height from our viewpoint. There are not two Sherlocks jumping, and not two jumping locations.
So, Sherlock is now on the floor, people gather around him, and the truck leaves. Good timing.
Watson arrives at the body. Sherlock's? No. Absolutely no. Not just because we know he's alive, but for a couple of clues. First of all. Remember the white undershirt?
Not there. Ok, this could be a mistake while filming, or maybe the white shirt is just too short and we can't see it from here, but there's a better clue.
Watson grabs Sherlock's hand, which seems quite rigid. Rigor mortis. If Sherlock had just died it's impossible he could have already rigor mortis. This proves it's a corpse. One of Molly's.
Ok, everything fast. Molly makes a Sherlock mask. Chooses a corpse with Sherlock's complexion. Puts the mask. Put clothes. Sherlock waits for the best moment, best point of view. Jumps to the truck. Molly throws the corpse from a window. Sherlock falls on the truck, the truck leaves. A corpse who looks like Sherlock remains in the place. Fake DNA test, eye witnesses fooled... Sherlock's dead (not).
And that's all. Sorry for this to be too long, but I wanted to explain everything I remember it's important. Maybe there's something I didn't see, maybe I'm wrong about this theory, but I think it has very good points.
I hope everyone like this.
