Sherlock Series 3: 20 Canonical References You May Have Missed

9. The Poison Giant

While trying to pick a case to talk about during his best man speech (If only he chose the elephant in the room), Sherlock mentions the case of the poison giant, which shows John and Sherlock chasing a dwarf who is blows an air dart at them. The Poison Giant is a reference to The Sign of Four, as one of the main villains, a dwarf, tries to kill Holmes and Watson using a poison dart and blow-pipe.

8. Oscillation On The Pavement

Oscillation on the pavement, you may have seen those words before. During The Sign of Three, John describes a woman oscillating on the pavement, to which Sherlock claims to have seen those symptoms before and that oscillation on the pavement always means there's a love affair. That quote is taken almost directly from A Case of Identity where Holmes says, "Oscillation upon the pavement always means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure that the matter is not too delicate for communication."

7. Stepfather Posing As Online Boyfriend

Another reference to A Case of Identity, is the case mentioned In The Empty Hearse, where a stepfather catfishes his own daughter and then proceeds to break her heart so that she will swear off relationships and stay home with her money. The only difference from the original is the modernization of using emails instead of letters.