I really wish Bradley Whitford had just been Red John.

In my head the show ended there.

Sherlock: Of course plot logic is not the show strong point, but still... Isn't Mycroft as good at deduction as Sherlock (or better)? Isn't he as much a sociopath? (See discussion about "caring" in ep 2.1 ?) So can Sherlock really break Moriarity where Mycroft couldn't? I guess we could argue, especially given the "bless you" that Moriarity was looking for an excuse to suicide, out of desperate boredom.

Also I'll be curious to see if explanation of how Sherlock survived the fall manages to avoid having gaping holes you could drive a whole fleet of London taxis through.

Also, if Moriarity and Sherlock really share the view that people are ants or lapdogs or whatever, Moriarity made a stupid life choice. Even from the point of few of interest in life: it is really easy to smash an ant farm and crush the ants, or murder a lapdog if you are sufficiently heartless. Keeping an ant farm thriving, or a lapdog alive and well and happy is much more of a challenge. If Moriarity really wanted to avoid that terrible boredom, he should have been on the "side of the angels".

[edit] Not that Sherlock actually has that view. At this point, as M took advantage of, he has three friends he cares enough about to die for. And I don't think it is just the affection one has for a pet (though that can be damn strong). Sherlock is not neurotypical, but I doubt the "sociopath" classification applies any more, if it ever did.

So peeps: did Molly provide a body to "be" Sherlock? And how in the world was the switch managed if that was the case?

did Molly provide a body to "be" Sherlock?

That’s my guess. I’m also surmising that she is the one who did the autopsy.

Keeping an ant farm thriving, or a lapdog alive and well and happy is much more of a challenge

You're assuming that the methods chosen for destruction are straightforward. Which is not very Moriarty at all. I mean, he could have just shot Sherlock if he was really doing the analog of smashing an ant farm. However, tricking a lapdog into killing itself sounds more tricky and less monotonous than tossing food at it twice a day.

I tend to be in the camp that Sherlock jumped t insert handwavium to be explained in 3/1 and was on the sidewalk when John got there. However, if anyone is actually in the ground, then it's not Sherlock (I like the poetry of it being Jim). I think the key aspects that Molly managed were "doing the autopsy" and "identifying the body"

Didn't Watson make it to the body and see Sherlock's face? I guess plastic surgery on corpse is easier than on a live person cause you can use that filler stuff morticians use.

In terms of pets - a heck of a lot more to them than feeding them twice a day.

In terms of survival. People do survive falls from great heights. One secret - being relaxed which Sherlock could manage. A second: land on your feet, bend your knees and roll. Did we see how Sherlock landed? I seem to remember him landing flat. Third secret: land on something soft or at least springy. Sherlock landed on a concrete sidewalk. Maybe Sherlock had mat there that only looked like part of the sidewalk. So - did we see him land or did the camera pan away at impace. Because if we did not see him land he could have met all three criteria for survival of a fall from a great height.

He could have made himself up between death of M and his jump to look like corpse. And as others have said Molly could have taken care of autopsy and finding Sherlock substitute to bury. If the camera panned away at the key moment, not all that much handwavium needed - at least not by standards of this series.

a heck of a lot more to them than feeding them twice a day

I've known plenty of people who "just feed them twice a day". If that. It's called Jamaica.

How tall was the building he's supposed to have jumped off of? This episode turns out to be the only one I don't have.