Molly.

 (Sherlock meta by unreconstructedfangirl, 

pennypaperbrain, vulgarweed and justaminion)

unreconstructedfangirl:

So, I’ve read several people talking about what a shit thing this was to do to Molly in this episode – “treating her like a loser who’s still in love with Sherlock.” I don’t want to call anyone out, here, but…

Come the fuck on!

Why is she a loser? Because she’s single? Because she loves him? Because she’s having a bad day when he calls? How is that not straight up misogyny?! Who knows why she’s having a bad day? They didn’t tell us! Maybe her cat died! Ooh! A CAT! Why assume it makes her a loser? When is the fucking predetermined expiration date on her love, and why is that something that should affect her level of dignity? If there’s one thing that Loo has always done BEAUTIFULLY with Molly, it’s lend some fucking dignity to unrequited love. She made him say it to her FOR REAL, and guess what? He REALLY DOES love her. Maybe not the way she wants him too, but to say that her love for him, or his inability to return it makes her PATHETIC?

NO.

As a longtime serial sufferer of unrequited love, I object! I love Molly. I love who she is to Sherlock, and I love that she makes him treat her like her feelings are real. She forces real feeling out of him, and I loved her part in this.

HARUMPH! MOLLY!

pennypaperbrain:

I love Molly too. As ever, Loo and Ben do a sterling job of making something complex and dignified there. But all this season the writers have just been using her as a plot function; that’s the problem IMO. Time to service Sherlock’s angst; wheel in Molly. Inevitably that’s part of her character function but she needs to get to do something else too.

unreconstructedfangirl:

Here’s how I look at it: this show is about Sherlock, so we see her interactions with him. I mean, is it just because she’s a woman? Because I have WAY less of a sense of who Greg Lestrade is, in comparison, and we only see his interactions with Sherlock, too. Molly is MUCH more of a character than he is! And honestly, I don’t think it’s fair to say “wheel in Molly” to serve Sherlock’s angst! They know who they are writing for! They know what these actors will do with it. I think she does a lot more than serve Sherlock’s angst, but the bottom line is that, as a secondary character in this story about him, she does serve the story… about him.

We don’t see every minute of Molly’s days. Molly is obviously a highly competent, fascinating person who has all manner of other interactions in her life that don’t involve this man she loves without hope, and seriously, I LOVE HER. I love her clothes, the feeling I have that she is a shy, very clever, introvert, the fact that I feel like I know she has a cosy home and cat… I want to hang out with her! And, I think her love is generous and real and that she shows Sherlock to himself. Sherlock is lucky to have her, and he very clearly has the good sense to know it.

Maybe Molly is for us to write. In fact, I hereby vow to write her. I love her.

vulgarweed:

Thank you! I’ve honestly realized that people calling Molly “pathetic” is kind of a berserk button, because she is clearly anything but, and people who can look at the woman on screen and call her that, well…either they’re not watching the same show I am (and that’s very possible - and if so, I’m glad to have the one I’m see, because I think it’s much better than theirs) and/or they have a lot of internalized ideas about women that make my skin crawl.

I’ve been exactly where Molly is WRT unrequited love, and it’s a very vulnerable place, sure. It can be sad and lonely. But is it pathetic? No. It’s very human. That’s the reality of love. Not all lovers get their happy ending. Love doesn’t have to be mutual to be deep and real - and Molly’s love is deep and real. She passes out of the infatuation of S1 and early S2 by TRF, I think - when Sherlock needs her, not just because she loves him but because she is the only one with the skills and connections to do what he needs. For two years she keeps his secret. Because she’s his dupe? No, because she honors her commitments.

I definitely feel I have a strong sense for who she is. I know her humor, I know her sorrow, I know her anger. I know her courage and her desires and her way of moving through the world, frequently underestimated but never fully defeated (she dumped Jim Moriarty and survived).

I don’t really ship Sherlolly but I’m fond of many people who do. But this phase of the fandom has me questioning what it means to me to “ship” something or not. Shipping for me has never ever meant that I expect or need it to become canon, and that hasn’t changed at all, I still don’t care all that much about that WRT what I ship. Do I ship Sherlolly in the sense that I’ve enjoyed a lot of art and fics? Well yeah, because I have. I even wrote Johnlockolly once and very well might again. I still haven’t disembarked the giant ship Johnlock completely. But is there a part of me that wants Molly to get the particular happily-ever-after she wants after all? Hmm. Yes. Sure. Because there is NOT ONLY ONE ANSWER. Not ever. Not in fandom. Fandom has infinite possibilities for that. There are many universes in which she does, and I’m fine with that. There are also many in which she doesn’t, or she finds another love as deep and real eventually. As long as my girl is happy somehow in the majority of universes, I’ll feel justice is served.

justaminion:

I would certainly have loved to have seen more of Molly, but I think Steven and Mark have always been more interested in finding new and clever takes on old canon material than indulge themselves in a non-canon character, as much as they love her. From what they’ve said I think Molly kind of represents the canonical characteristic of Sherlock as being gentle and kind towards women, and the fact that he never rules out marrying and being a father one day - so she’s trapped as a possibility - Sherlock’s “High Wycombe,” if he chooses that.

The beauty of the phone call scene is that it’s inevitably going to break them out of this trap. Sherlock might have previously believed Molly was over him, but not any more. The new “grown up” Sherlock is going to realise he has to decide where they stand, whether he’s going to let her down gently (which, as many have pointed out, he’s never done despite every opportunity), or try for something more. Either way, we know from the end montage that Molly absolutely over the moon. And we get to fill in the blanks, which is awesome.

About the coffin-smashing scene

 (Sherlock meta by justaminion)

Having seen various posts on this topic, I wanted to add my thoughts on why Sherlock “lost it” over Molly Hooper. I think it was because Eurus forced Sherlock and Molly to fast-forward through a potential romantic relationship and act out several intensely emotional moments that could really happen between them. As she said: “So many days not lived, so many words unsaid…”

In this scene Eurus is literally making them live those moments and say those words.

All of these potential moments scare the life out of Sherlock, and are the (possibly unconscious) reasons he’s afraid a relationship with Molly would be doomed to fail, (the irony being that his fears are completely human and normal, in fact, sweeter than normal, because that’s who he really is).

1. Sherlock’s request for Molly to say ‘I love you.’

In a relationship Sherlock is afraid he would be cruel to her, like this, he might hurt her, make her cry, and not understand why. If he is sociopath; she deserves better than him, and he won’t be able to avoid hurting her.

2. His first 'I love you.’

 In real life he might be terrified because he knows he has to say it, because she expects it, but he’s not sure if he does love her or even if he can love her in that way. He can’t lie to her; she sees right through him, so she’ll be able to tell if he doesn’t mean it, and then, no matter how much he wants her, he won’t be able to have her.

3. His second 'I love you.'

 Here is the realisation that he’s an idiot: it felt the most natural thing in the world to say, because of course he truly does love her. He’s stunned, he’s human after all, and he would be joyful, if it were not for the fact that…

4. She’s about to die, because of him.

He loves her, and now he faces the prospect of losing her, just as he lost Mary, and this time it’s entirely his fault for putting her at risk. By loving her, he’s shown he’s just as human as everyone else, and therefore just as vulnerable. Losing her will destroy him.

So Eurus made Sherlock live all of that, in three minutes. That’s why it felt like vivisection. She pressed on his most sensitive nerves and made him dance like an ordinary human being.

She opened up his beating heart and found sweet little Molly Hooper.

It’s interesting to note that… (Regarding Sherlock's type)

 (Sherlock meta by justaminion, mychakk and theleftpill)

justaminion:

When Eurus wanted John’s attention, she impersonated a vivacious, confident woman who found him attractive.

When Eurus wanted Sherlock’s attention, she impersonated a slightly awkward, pretty, but vulnerable woman who needed him to save her.

What, therefore, might we deduce about Sherlock’s “type?”

mychakk:

Wow, that’s a pretty interesting observation. Meta bunnies attack, sorry, they make my hijack this post….

Notice that the description of the woman Eurus impersonated for John fits Mary exactly to the bone. She was John’s type through and through. Warstan <3

Also, which other woman on the show fits that description? A certain Dominatrix. But instead of John, she finds Sherlock being attractive. And since John wants Sherlock to be happy, what does he do? He shoves Sherlock toward her. In John’s mind it’s a perfect match, but in reality, it’s him himself who subconsciously finds her attractive. He’s projecting his own type onto Sherlock when he thinks of his best friend in a relationship with a woman. That’s why John’s first thought is Irene when he makes his speech in TLD, why he thinks of her first when they deduce the coffin. She’s [...] John’s type. It’s also why, Molly never crosses John’s mind.

For all his consideration, John has never found Molly attractive, she’s too stammering and stuttering, too eager to please, too shy for his liking. He’s always dismissing her importance, because subconsciously she’s not the type of woman worth his noticing. It may sound harsh, but it’s simple rules of attractions I suppose. And, like I said, John has never been attracted to Molly that way. Well, except that one Christmas, when Molly dolled herself up projecting false confidence. Both John and Lestrade drolled over her while it was the only time Sherlock openly disliked what he saw regarding Molly. Because the thing is, that’s not what Sherlock actually finds attractive.

I’m probably in the very minority of our fandom, but I’ve never seen any attraction toward Irene on Sherlock’s part. That’s was my very first impression when I watched ASiB, then I went online and was bombarded with all the Adl0ck stuff, even in the Sherlolly stories/posts and it made me start doubting myself. Must have missed something, I thought. It took me a while to rewatch ASiB, as I needed to brace myself for all the supposed Adl0ck there, and surprise, surprise, my first impression was only confirmed on my second and third viewing.

I will never deny that Sherlock was very intrigued by Irene and fascinated by her intelligence, brainy is the new sexy indeed, but she was intriguing only as a case. She’s not his type, so while it stroked his ego, her obvious attraction to him, he wasn’t moved that much by it. I do think that by the end of the episode, he was seriously entertaining the thought of giving it a go with her, but then she showed him her cards when they met in the plane - she had ruthlessly played him in order to get to Mycroft for Moriarty.

I think in this moment Irene herself destroyed any future possibilities for Adl0ck. Her betrayal was like a bucket of cold water that allowed Sherlock to crack her pass code. She was a worthy and capable, not-to-be-underestimated adversary and having her in his corner owing him her life was too much an opportunity to pass up, so he saved her in Pakistan. Plus, no matter what, he’s a caring man, and she was vulnerable and in need of being saved.

Do I think they did the deed in Karachi? No. He denied her once again. She betrayed his trust, and trust is something he values very much. Was it hard for him to turn her down? Definitely. Like I said, she was vulnerable and in need of being saved, and that IS his type.

Now what is really Sherlock’s type? A slightly awkward, pretty, vulnerable woman who needs him to save her. But that’s only the surface. Notice, that Eurus impersonated a woman with morals stronger than family bonds, a woman strong enough to do what’s right no matter the cost and consequences for her (she was supposedly betraying her own father). That takes courage, inner strength, and determination. And that’s even more attractive to Sherlock than the initial description.

We all know who fits that bill. Molly. Time and time again she has proved to him her strength, resilience, her determination. She has stood by him, catered to him, but has never been afraid to stand up to him, even back in season 1 she called him on his behaviour when Jim was introduced. Even back then she was quite determined in asking him out. And courageous. On top of that she’s awkward and pretty. And yes, Sherlock has always found Molly pretty – you do not notice lipsticks, pounds gaining, breasts, etc, just because. And even if you do, you do not point it out loud. Sherlock finds Molly physically attractive, her character traits are also ones he values much (those can also be applied to John, Lestrade, Mrs. H), and she’s the most trustworthy person he knows. And this is the final seal on the deal.

I mentioned above that trust is something Sherlock values very much if not even the highest. Irene destroyed any possibilities for any future Adl0ck by betraying Sherlock’s trust. And I think Sherlock is incapable of being intimate with someone he cannot trust. Molly on the other hand is someone who saved him, his friends, and maybe even England. Molly took all in stride and for two years harboured his secret. Molly welcomes him at Barts trusting him with her work place, welcomes him at her own home, trusting him with her private life. And Sherlock trusts her in return, with his life, with his plans, with his vulnerability. It’s canon he trust her more than he does even John.

Molly’s always been his type, Molly's always been the one.

theleftpill:

I disagree with your take on Adl0ck - while I do agree that the attraction isn’t an emotional one, I do think Sherlock is physically and definitely intellectually attracted to her. My pov is that Irene opens the door to the possibility of connection and attachment for him; she’s a safe person to experiment with, to indulge with, because there are no stakes attached. I agree that she’s destroyed any trust he could have in her, but that wouldn’t preclude him from exploring the involvement. (And I don’t feel Irene has a problem with this.) She definitely echoes for him - appearing in his mind palace, the picture in the Victorian watch, still texting after all these years. There is something there that can’t be dismissed.

But your observation about John is a revelation - yes, [...] I completely see Mary in Elizabeth. But wow, John - It makes perfect sense that John would encourage Sherlock to go after a woman he felt was attractive. And why he doesn’t see Molly.

But Sherlock does. You’ve nailed that completely.

mychakk:

It’s fine to disagree, I know I’m in minority on this Also formulating reply clarifies my own views. I definitely see your point, especially if your take on Sherlock is that he can be intimate without a shared trust. I can’t. And I just realized it ties up with my view of him being unable to find himself worthy of love in any form. I explained this in one of my earlier posts, just don’t know how to link it here yet… But I definitely agree with you about Irene opening Sherlock to a possibility - I also wrote that in the post I cannot link here. But to me Irene opened Sherlock to the possibility of being attractive to someone the way he is (brilliant, passionate, driven etc, not just for his looks), she finally managed to convince him, and then she betrayed him. (Also Molly does exactly the same thing in her quiet unassuming way - she shows her attraction to him, except she doesn’t betray him, and later on in The Reichenbach Fall she proves to be trustworthy like no one else). I think that Irene is a double edged sword in Sherlock’s Mind Palace - on one hand she represents a captivating woman being attracted to him, his indulgence in being attractive to someone (The Sign of Three) on the other hand she’s a harsh reminder of sentiment being a disadvantage that can kill you (the locket in The Abominable Bride). But that’s me. The best part in fandom is we can have different opinions.

justaminion:

I’m so glad my little post helped start this insightful discussion! (and that people can disagree so politely, Sherlollians are the best).

I like the Steven Moffat quote about Sherlock and Irene’s idea of a night of passion being to meet up every so often to rescue the other one and then run off again.

Regarding intimacy and trust, I agree with you. I think it’s interesting that the “I don’t count scene” with Molly demonstrates that Sherlock already lets Molly see his vulnerabilities, which he hides even from John. He doesn’t make the conscious decision to trust her, he just does.

Pessimistic and realistic Sherlolly readings on the ILY scene

 (Sherlock meta by diane-w, eugeniebatch, bassfanimation and justaminion)

diane-w:

Molly didn’t ask him if he loved her. She already knew he did. She just wanted him to say it first.

eugeniebatch:

(I’m writing this as the pessimistic and realistic Sherlolly shipper I try to be) Indeed. She didn’t ask him: “Do you love me? Because if you do, I’ll say those words to you”. No. She knows he doesn’t love her. She always knew (or at least, she thought it). That’s why she asks him: “Say it like you mean it [because I know you don’t, but if you want to play with me, then I’ll play with you]”. HOWEVER, he didn’t need to say it TWICE! He said it twice just because he wanted to. And that’s a fact.

bassfanimation:

I can see this logic being absolutely real, but I still slightly disagree. I’m not entirely pessimistic, though I am still somewhat rooted in reality. I think my view is my brain trying desperately to see at least some sunshine in this world.

I think Molly said “Say it like you mean it”, because she knew he would just try and play it off like he didn’t mean it. That’s how closed off he is to the mere idea of love. He even stated it in The Lying Detective, right at the end, that whole “While romantic entanglements might be fulfilling for other people” bit. I still feel that was his whole rehearsed “bullshit” he’s fed himself, and everyone else, for years. That’s what Molly was prepared for…his act, his game. 

If Molly Hooper is the one who ‘sees through his bullshit’, then she probably has (and has had for a while, remembering The Empty Hearse) a sense that Sherlock does feel for her, but that he’d never, ever say it. It would always be something he wasn’t comfortable actually admitting or getting ‘entangled’ in. Her saying, “Say it like you mean it”, to me, was her saying to him, “We have had this thing together for so long, but you refuse to make it real, so I’m not playing with you anymore…you have this chance to make it real. Will you, or won’t you?”

I do think maybe Molly thought he might not say it and mean it. I think this was a gamble she took. He could have simply repeated it that one time and that would have been it, she’d have hung up, and they’d be damaged beyond repair. But…I do agree with your last line there, he not only said it once, but TWICE, when he didn’t really need to? Not unless he needed to say it again for himself. That last ILY was, as most people have noted, almost like a realization to himself rather than to Molly. Molly, I still think, already may have known Sherlock loved her. Her frustration with him though, of him never acting on it, that was really tearing them apart. To me, that was the actual ticking bomb…the one between Molly and Sherlock.

Truth is, we’ll never know. Both of these could be true, or hell, he may not have meant it at all. Unless Moffat gives us a real, concrete answer, we’ll always be left wondering, and Moffat never gives real, concrete answers to anything.

diane-w:

Since she sees through his BS, I do think she suspects he loves her, too, but he won’t admit it or accept it. I also get the impression (I know she was having a bad day but still) from her demeanor that even though he’ll always have her heart she is just about done with him. She was glaring at the phone before picking up. I think Eurus unintentionally did them both a favor.

justaminion:

It’s really fascinating because she does see through his BS but the exception is when it involves Molly herself (e.g I don’t count). I think she asked him to say it as a practical demonstration, because he didn’t understand why she couldn’t ‘just say it anyway.’ Which means she also must believe that he cares for her enough to feel uncomfortable saying it. But I don’t think she believes he loves her romantically, or even understands romantic love in the slightest.

bassfanimation:

Oh that’s a wonderful observation and it perfectly explains the whole back and forth with Sherlock asking why she can’t say it, and how he doesn’t even understand why she can’t. Also, just telling her to “say it anyway, if it’s true”…is the most Sherlocky thing in the world… He’s still thinking with logic to a degree, as if Molly saying that to him is just her stating a fact…but it isn’t. It’s so much more powerful than that. That is why the second time he says it, he seems to be surprised by his feelings, and why Eurus lost count of all of his ‘complicated’ emotions. That is why he freaked out and obliterated the coffin. That is why he slide down the wall, sitting looking as if he was just emotionally exhausted. He now suddenly understands the feeling Molly Hooper has had for 7 years because he is now feeling it himself. The pure, raw, complicated chemistry of love.