Sherlock and Sex and Eurus’ deduction

 (Sherlock meta by mae-jones, penelope1730 and strawberrypatty)

mae-jones:

Did anyone else interpret Eurus’ question to Sherlock after he started playing the violin in TFP as - have you EVEN had sex? Then she follows up with (paraphrasing) “I have, it wasn’t that great.” To me that moment was kind of her way of saying, “Meh, you’re not missing out on anything, bub.”

So, maybe he still hasn’t had sex at all? Doesn’t it kinda make sense? There is only one other person who can read Sherlock the same and it’s Molly Hooper. When she teases him in Series 3, I think she was kinda poking at him like, “Sex is awesome. Sex with me is even awesome-r. You coulda had me and I would have rocked your world.”

Anyhow, did anyone else read it as Sherlock still hasn’t made that leap?

penelope1730:

Now that you ask…I actually had to go watch that scene again. On the first viewing, I took for granted the answer is ‘yes’ - he’s had sex. But, now that I have my detective goggles on, Eurus is clearly puzzled as to whether or not that he has. She immediately knows the music is about longing, especially sexual longing, but can’t figure him out. But, that’s about her.

I’m gonna stick with, Yes, he’s had sex. Maybe with Irene (if you go with BC’s comments) or maybe not. But, I definitely believe he and Molly have had sex. Just mho, tho. :)

strawberrypatty:

I think the comment can be taken a couple of different ways. This is actually something that can be taken as a complaint about the episode. Moffat and Gatiss played it incredibly safe by trying to be as ambiguous as possible in terms of Sherlock and relationships.

While Sherlock has never been about relationships, it has been an element present throughout the show, especially as it progressed. However, the fandom has been so vicious in terms of shipping, when they did make reference to Sherlock and relationships, they made the comments ambiguous in order to leave it up to the audience.

When Eurus asks if Sherlock has had sex, there is the question as to whether or not he has and with whom. When Sherlock says “I love you” to Molly there is question as to whether or not he meant it and what way he meant it.

But considering the relationship between Irene and Sherlock in A Scandal in Belgravia, Moffat and Cumberbatch’s comments and the callback to Irene in The Lying Detective, the fact that Eurus asks this question after Sherlock plays Irene’s Theme implies that Sherlock has had sex and it was with Irene.

But I’ve seen it debated, so it was left open to interpretation.

How did Euros know Sherlock had sex?

 (Sherlock meta by ivyblossom)

Q: Hi Ivy, that scene when Sherlock starts to play Irene's theme and Eurus concludes he's had sex.. How did she know? It really hurt me because it implied he had sex with Irene, in which I will never believe, but they made it look like he did

A: Hi, I really want to help you with this, but I don’t think my words do much good. I’ve been talking about this since series 2, but I still hear this question every 10 minutes, so I’m not sure going over this one more time is going to help.

You are welcome to read the events of the story in any way that resonates with you. You are welcome to take whatever cues you like that exist in the story to construct your answer for yourself.

This is my answer.

I do not see any evidence in the story that suggests that Sherlock has feelings for Irene. The only evidence there is is that John is worried that he does, which says more about where John is emotionally than where Sherlock is. John has no idea how Sherlock’s emotional life works at that point in the story. He thought Sherlock doesn’t feel things that way, which we now definitively know isn’t so. Even when John tells us Sherlock moping and sad about Irene’s death because he loved her, his only evidence for that is that Sherlock’s behaviour is exactly the same as it always is. John doubts his own observations about this, and so should we.

Irene means something to Sherlock, most definitely. She is a pivotal figure for him. He sees himself in her. He sees himself in some ways gone very wrong; unguided, unable to resist temptation from the wrong sides. Pushing the envelope too far. She is a sort of warning, but also a promise: Irene is a version of himself with a sexual appetite.

When Sherlock confronts Irene, he is alarmed and ignorant about sexuality, especially his own. The story goes out of its way to show us that and tell us that. The introduction of Irene is the point where he has to face that anxiety, face his own sexuality, and accept that it’s there and something worth knowing about. That’s what Irene does, it’s literally her job: to point out what it is people want. Sherlock didn’t know he wanted that. But he does now, and he can’t unknow it, it’s part of him now. She forces him to face a fundamental complication about himself.

Irene is the most blatant Sherlock mirror in the entire series. They have their actions literally mirror each other repeatedly. They even style her hair so that it looks like his. I don’t know how this could have been more blatant. Any time Irene appears or is referred to, the topic of conversation is Sherlock’s romantic status, not because he wants to sleep with Irene (he tells us himself that he doesn’t, and that it would be a bad idea, which is obviously, obviously true), but because she raises the spectre of his neglected and denied sexual and romantic needs.

With Irene they take form; they exist, and he can dismiss them, but he still has to admit that they’re there. She knows what he wants, and now so does he.

My reading of Irene is, I think, confirmed by the fact that Eurus recognizes the song he plays as an indicator of his sexuality. Not “you’re in love,” just “sex”. That’s what the song is, this part of himself. And it’s changed in The Final Problem in a way Eurus recognizes.

If you think it’s possible that Sherlock jetted out and hooked up with Irene for a night, you’re welcome to think that. She’s missing from the final montage, so it doesn’t appear that she’s a big part of his life if that’s the case. Just a one time thing? Sherlock is such a deeply emotional and romantic soul, which Eurus goes out of her way to tell us on her jaunt around London with him. Is he the casual hook-up sort of guy? I think there’s far more evidence that something happened between him and John.

Since the start of this story I’ve been saying I didn’t want them to hook up fast, because once they do, the story will be over. The tension between Sherlock and John drives a lot of what we love about this story. Once they resolve that tension, something important drops out of the story.

As far as I can tell, that tension is gone in this episode. Honestly I think that’s what people are most upset about. With that tension gone, the view is that the relationship isn’t being given any attention. But in truth, the relationship on screen is so certain and confident and unquestionable that it feels invisible. It’s not the relationship that’s gone, it’s the tension.

Sherlock and John shared a really important emotional moment at the end of The Lying Detective. They were honest in a way they have never been before. They were emotionally stripped and didn’t turn away from each other. They have turned a corner. The tension that has been driving their relationship is gone, and they are completely certain of each other and their place in each other’s lives. John is not running around concerned what people will think anymore. He knows where Sherlock’s head is at at any given moment. They trust each other, and thus are no longer looking inward. They are looking out, together, as a cohesive unit.

This corner they have taken doesn’t have to be a sexual corner, but they allude to Sherlock no longer being a virgin without giving us much else to go on. So to me this is the most obvious conclusion, because the whole episode is evidence of an important change between Sherlock and John. Why not that?

Here’s the other thing that Series 4 killed in my soul besides beating the crap out of Johnlock … 

OR

What happens when Johnlockers operate in a bubble where critical thought is ostracized in order for them to bask in imagined superiority 

(By alexxphoenix42 and thecutteralicia)

alexxphoenix42:

Here’s the other thing that Series 4 killed in my soul besides beating the crap out of Johnlock … the loss of the idea that anything in the show MEANS anything beyond a surface level reading.

I found it fascinating to follow the metas that people wrote about what all the symbolism revealed in the show. LSiT wrote some amazingly thoughtful stuff and others followed. A drinks code was developed - drinking tea meant gay, coffee meant straight, beer was friendship, wine was romance and social time, hard liquor meant fear, and so on. Side characters mirrored John and Sherlock often in name as much as role, and we seemed to get so much information from them for our two protagonists.

The whole name thing that “William” was Sherlock’s actual first name, and “Hamish” was John’s hidden hated middle name fit into a fantastic theory that heimishtheidealhusband had – the names were code for Sherlock and John’s state of mind. Sherlock wanted to be extraordinary, thought of as high-functioning sociopath, and as such he embraced his oddness, his queerness and reveled in being “Sherlock.” With smoke and mirrors, he hid his fallible, vulnerable human side, his ordinary self called Billy.

John on the other hand, tried desperately to fit in and appear normal, wanting to erase anything weird or unusual about himself. Everything from his middle name, to his destructive impulses, to his bisexuality needed to be under lock and key. And how many other John’s, and Billy’s did we get in this show? The names come up over and over, pointing to things like Billy Wiggins showing a path that Sherlock could have followed, or Jonathan Small, the Mayfly Man, working as a mirror for John in his casual dating of women, using them to reach a special man as his target. So interesting!

The introduction of Sholto to John and Mary’s wedding seemed to be a fantastically coded moment revealing John’s bisexuality more fully in the show. Sherlock planning John’s wedding and knowing the bridesmaids’ dresses were called “LILAC” and then folding napkins to look like swans and opera houses seemed to out him as a lovely camp gay.

So many moments of Sherlock sliding in and out of his mind palace were great fodder for speculation, what was real and what was mind palace? During TAB, it was more obvious that any Victorian era shots were in Sherlock’s drug-addled dream, but some of the “real world” scenes seemed to be fantasy as well. In TSOT, Sherlock slips in and out of his mind palace as he give his epic best man speech. When he interviews women in a courtroom, this is obviously metaphor, but when he sat in 221b with a host of open laptops on a table, this too seemed to be mind palace, just on another inception-like level, worlds within worlds.

I was utterly captivated that a show could BE this clever. I read every meta I could find about how the characters tied together, was Janine Moriarty’s sister, was Mary serving as the Sebastian Moran character in this version of Holmes and Watson? It was heady, creative stuff, and I so enjoyed playing the game, dissecting with the creators gave us to find layers of meaning.

And then Series 4 came out, and nothing made sense. Nothing fit together well. If parts of the series were in the mind palace, we got literally no cues to be able to sort them out. The relationship between John and Sherlock, something that seemed to be at the heart of BBC Sherlock from the beginning got shuffled to the side for some Bond-like splash and dash.

The creators themselves stated several times that the “gay” theme running through the show was a joke, something they lifted from another movie - “The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes” written by Billy Wilder. Wilder made a more openly gay Holmes pining so obviously after his Watson in his version, but played it off for laughs. Later though, he revealed a deep regret that he hadn’t gone further with the queer relationship in the film, saying the 1970’s just weren’t the right time for it.

So, nothing means anything, the gay is a joke, none of the character have anything more interesting going on with them than whatever quick surface reading you can glean, and oh by the way, here’s an explosion. I know some people enjoyed the madness of Series 4, and I’m glad they did. Sadly, though, I found it to be a death of my favorite show, because in the end, I thought BBC Sherlock was something much different from what it actually turned out to be.

The good news to this is that the meta writers, and the fanfic writers, and the artists, and the vid makers continue to be clever, creative people, and we in the fandom can continue to make the Sherlock world and characters come to life with the depth and respect they deserve no matter what the showrunners think about it.

 +++

MY META ON S4
part 1 - The Laws of Good Writing
part 3 - On the death of a partnership


thecutteralicia:

If you believe that characterization means things like invented fictional codes about tea meaning homosexuality or imagined relationships that don’t exist between characters, rather than actual emotional beats and plotlines, it just shows that what people knew all along: you Johnlockers don’t know how to read a text. Your never did. You know how to invent completely fictional “codes” connecting mundane things, but not a single thing about narrative. You don’t know how to debate, to engage, to determine and interrogate evidence like true analysts or academics. Inventing imagined connections between props is not storytelling. Johnlockers operate in a bubble where critical thought is ostracized in order for them to bask in imagined superiority - telling themselves that never having created an original work or written a story doesn’t matter, they are still supremacists above all others, whether it’s other shippers or casual fans or even the actual storytellers and creators of content (Peabody and Emmy Award winning writers).

Johnlockers tried to destroy depth in favor of delusional codes. They tried to destroy respect by attacking the show’s cast, crew and other fans. They replaced the camaraderie of fandom with cultish obedience and nastiness. What’s really interesting to me is that most people are content - and even revel - in their sexual and romantic fantasies. They recognize them for what they are. But Johnlockers lash out because at heart, they are completely insecure regarding their fantasies. Whether trying to wrap it in a false social agenda or simply use it to destroy others, it must mean something to them because they can’t accept they got this invested in a fantasy of two white men gettin’ it on. If you look in the tjlc tag, you can see many posts repeating over and over variants of, “We’re not wrong. We’re never wrong. Everyone else is wrong, including reality.” While other shippers (whether in Sherlock fandom or other ones) are happy to enjoy both canon and their own works (and recognize the difference) if Johnlockers don’t have anyone to look down upon, they don’t exist. They’re like Trump supporters in that way, where it is more important to bubble wrap one’s fragile ego than confront the real world and the realization that you are like every other human being and can be wrong - and you can lash out over and over, but it won’t make the world bend to your will.

It has been gratifying in recent days to see the old fandom come a bit back to life and see several old names return, emboldened, to help return depth and respect to the Sherlock world, characters and fandom that they deserve. If S4 does nothing else but drive away permanently the Johnlockers who tried to hijack and destroy the fandom, it will be worth it.

Molly Hooper Unplugged

 (Sherlock meta by penelope1730)

Series 4 Sherlock is not what I expected. Over all, I liked it. A lot. It’s not without it’s problems though. From a viewer’s perspective that is. I’m not going to trash the writers because, in fact, I have tremendous appreciate for their creative process, intelligence and brilliance.

As with the books, the writers set out to tell us stories in similar fashion to the canon literature. John Watson is considered the narrator but, in fact, is the peripheral story-teller. Sherlock, himself, is the primary narrator. Not only that, Sherlock tells us his stories retrospectively. Meaning that from beginning to end the story has already happened. It’s done and over, with Sherlock telling us: ‘Okay, this is what went down.” 

Mark Gatiss made an interesting comment once that he and Moffat write the stories from end to beginning. It’s the only way they can detail the cases, the story-line and Sherlock’s elaborate deductions. Truly, it’s a clever approach. But, and this is important, it’s also why the audience rarely receives the resolution they want, or feel they deserve. Sherlock – as the narrator – won’t say. He gives the viewer what he chooses and then leaves us to figure out the rest.

As I looked back upon every episode from the very beginning, this particular format is consistent. It also explains why there’s an abhorrent lack of Molly this season. Sherlock is her avenue and narrator, and he’s not talking. Throughout the series, there have only been two exceptions to this: The Sign of Three and His Last Vow.

The writers love Louise Brealey. They adore her and they adore Molly. Molly is introduced to the audience in ASiP with Sherlock. It’s their “meet cute” – which tells us she’s important – even though she was initially considered a one-off character. Sherlock, however, had other plans and wanted her to stick around. He’s the one who’s chosen her fate in the stories, not the writers.

I know, I know – it’s a weird and unusual way to look at this. The writers are, after all, penning this series and in charge, right? Yes, of course. At the end of the day, however, they are two of the biggest Sherlock Holmes fan boys and they have deferred many decisions to this fictional character.

So, strange as it might sound, anyone who writes stories knows there’s more than a kernel of truth in this. We might think we’re in charge of the characters we create, but really – we’re in guardianship. Sherlock is no exception to this because he’s a long established character in literary fiction.

Many years ago, the ground-breaking television series, The X-Files, elucidated this fact (in an extreme way) with an episode called, Milagro. The writer, Phillip Padgett, experiences his character come to life, who creates all sorts of murderous mayhem.

“When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be truth.” 

Fox Mulder used that exact quote from Sherlock Holmes in the Milagro episode to convince his FBI partner, Dana Scully, that this is exactly what was happening.

So, if anyone, besides myself, is wondering why we’re not seeing Molly all that much – it’s because of Sherlock. At the same time, he also gives us wonderful clues (because that’s what he does) as to why this is and what happened. All we have to do is observe and don his methods of deductions.

This, by the way, will have little to do with sub-text. That’s a very different animal. Instead, we have to infer and make some logical leaps based upon the evidence given. To be honest, this has been part of the fun of watching Sherlock. But, it can also be frustrating, exhaustive, and even disheartening, when viewers aren’t given any kudos for figuring things out, or for even trying. That does, in my opinion, lie within the hands of the writers. After all, they do have creative latitude.

There are two things that left me saying ‘Huh?’ regarding Molly in series 4:

• Her diminished presence. 
• Her strong resistance to say, ‘I Love You.’ 

For me to understand, I did a cursory review of Molly’s history, which isn’t hard. Especially as there’s this infuriating, ongoing belief with journalists, casual and not-so-casual viewers, that Molly’s emotional hesitancy in saying ‘I Love You’ to Sherlock is somehow the result of a bizarre form of post-trauma from season one.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Molly / Sherlock ‘shippers’ (and I’m one) know this because we’re not simply watching a television show, we’re observing all the nuances of what’s presented / not presented, that others either don’t see, choose not to see, or believe unimportant.

First, I want to lay the basis that Molly’s “unrequited” love for Sherlock has not remained an issue since A Scandal In Belgravia (s2e1). Nor has she been mocked or ridiculed by Sherlock over her affection for him. The opposite of this is true and also shown.

Beginning with The Reichenbach Fall, Sherlock and Molly have grown closer and share an intimacy that none of the other characters are made privy. It’s not romantic intimacy, that we know of, but a deeply valued and trusted friendship.

Sherlock turns to Molly in one of his greatest moments of need. She becomes his confident at a time when things are, quite frankly, frightening for him. Molly, along with a host of others, help Sherlock plan his demise. Her role, as Sherlock later reveals, was not only invaluable, but that she is the one person who mattered the most. Whether his comment is based on the Moriarty deal, or a commentary about how he now views her, it doesn’t really matter. What this scene from The Empty Hearse showed viewers is that Molly and Sherlock have grown. Their relationship dynamics have shifted to a new dance. There’s more than a hint of attraction from both, and whether or not you want to ‘friend-zone’ them, the sentiment still stands: they hold a palpable love for one another.

Viewers are also made aware in this episode that Molly has “moved on” and engaged to a guy who is a distorted facsimile of Sherlock’s physical characteristics. We think that scene is about Molly and it is – but it’s also about Sherlock. The look on his face when he meets Tom is priceless.

Sherlock has never dealt very well when confronted with Molly’s involvement with other men. It’s not sub-text or speculation…it’s shown. Given the fact this man lives in a state of emotional infancy, especially during The Great Game, he might not really understand why he viciously cock-blocked Jim-from-IT-Moriarty, angering / embarrassing Molly in the process.

He does learn, however. Otherwise, he’s not a very good genius.

I’m not sure why it’s hard to understand that series 3 Molly is not harboring unrequited love. Sherlock is. Yes, it’s a strange sort of love because he represses his emotions and impulses, I’ll grant you. He doesn’t show it overtly, but it’s there.

The tables have been flipped on Sherlock, because although his seeping emotions are masked behind logic and rationalism, or ridiculous excuses – he’s actually the one seeking out Molly.

Molly keeps him on his toes by her openness and authenticity. She even shared that she’s having quite a bit of sex, which really does blow the gasket in his Vulcan mind. He has no idea how to process this info. Ironically, her words are sort of a call back to his from The Great Game, when he’s having a hissy fit and tells John he’s not interested in the solar system, or who’s having sex with who. Molly’s having sex, Sherlock. Does it need mentioning that their romantic involvements have always mirrored one another, too?

Sherlock does find a way to get in another deliberate, but very subtle cock-block regarding Molly’s fiancé during John and Mary’s reception in The Sign of Three. Of course it bothered her, somewhat. She wasn’t devastated or traumatized over the fact that Sherlock just showed her, again, that her choice in men will always be woefully inadequate compared to him. She’s really rather proud of him in this episode, and swooning a bit.

Truthfully, both Molly and Sherlock have some version of brainiac jealousy / possessiveness going on, but still, Molly adores him, OPENLY, by the way. She’s not hiding it.

All of this gels to demonstrate that Molly’s emotional 180 in The Final Problem over saying ‘I love you’ is NOT because she’s been sitting around for seven years, crying in margaritas over this guy.

It’s about something else entirely. The timeline between The Sign of Three and His Last Vow hold the answer. Something happened between them that came very close to destroying their relationship. Sherlock gives us a few clues in His Last Vow. First, there’s this:

“How dare you throw away the beautiful gifts you were born with. And how dare you betray the love of your friends. Say you’re sorry!” 

“Sorry you’re engagement’s over, although fairly grateful for the lack of a ring.” 

Great dialogue! Especially if we’re looking through Sherlock’s eyes and know he’s been staying at her beautiful home, which we find out later on. This bit of info comes from Molly, when she breaks the fourth wall of television by interacting with viewers directly.

We can take Molly’s scolding of Sherlock at face value. He’s using (drugs) and by doing so letting down his friends and himself. Bad Sherlock.

I believe, however, this is more than chastising Sherlock for reckless behavior. The following, by the way, is about subtext, because that’s where we have to look and infer. Subtext, while a valid form of information, can be a dangerous little guy, because we project based upon our individual filters and desires. It’s important to keep this in mind when inferring possibilities.

I’m also not being dismissive of drug use, at all, but attempting to fill the blanks that currently hold cognitive dissonance based upon everything we’ve been show up until now. We went from Happy!Molly and Happy!Sherlock to ‘what-the-hell-is-going-on’?

Clearly, whatever it is, it’s origin lies in love and betrayal. And, other than in Sherlock’s mind palace after being shot – we only see Molly one more time, when she tells us about her home / bedroom as Sherlock’s bolt hole.

His Last Vow ends without any resolution between the two. Or so we believe.

But, I’ll get back to this.

There’s head canons and fanfic to fill in the missing gaps of His Last Vow, but The Abdominal Bride does a great job at summing things up in a nutshell.

This episode, in which Sherlock sets about solving 121 year old murder case from the Victorian era, is about the long-lasting consequences of using, objectifying, misleading, abusing, disparaging and basically the all around diminished and misogynistic treatment of women.

There’s also quite a bit of symbology wrapped up in Sherlock’s psychedelic trip. He’s solving a crime from another century, but he’s still got his Scooby gang by his side. They’re all consistent with their modern, present day counterparts, filling the same functions and roles when Sherlock isn’t following Alice down the rabbit hole.

With the exception of Molly.

The role of a pathologist / medical examiner was not typically filled by a woman in this era. As a result, Molly has to be concealed as a man. Perfectly reasonable. What’s different, however, is the relationship between her and Sherlock. It’s cold, if not a bit derisory and bitter.

John’s role is interesting regarding Molly because it’s not John, but instead Sherlock’s projection. Victorian John tells ‘Dr Hooper’ that he’s not Sherlock’s puppy, that he can see through her disguise and sympathizes with what one has to do to be recognized in the world.

We can take that conversation at face value. It is what it is. But, maybe it’s worth considering that this might also be Sherlock’s conscience seeping through, imprinting itself on the state of affairs between him and Molly. He feels bad and can see past the façade Molly might be using to protect herself from him. I’m sure there are other great interpretations.

From a symbolic perspective, The Abdominal Bride was Sherlock reconciling, or at least beginning to make amends to Molly (as well as other women he’s used: Janine).

Now is where speculation comes in regarding the timeline between The Sign of Three, His Last Vow and The Abdominal Bride .

Let’s say Sherlock was using Molly’s home as a bolt hole. Maybe not the first time, so he likes it, and it gives him the space and privacy to work on the Magnussen case. If this is true, it’s probably because it’s too complicated for him to work at Baker St, especially as he’s fake wooing Janine to get to her boss.

The other thing that’s taking place is that he’s using. How often and how much is unsure, but he did look pretty strung out at the hospital. And, when Sherlock uses, he’s a very different person.

Molly and Janine mirror one another, although Sherlock’s feelings, thoughts and opinions toward each are drastically different.

Dependent upon when Sherlock began using Molly’s home, if he’s using her home (he does have other bolt holes) – she might still be engaged to Tom. It’s conjecture, but she probably is. Sherlock tells John that he’s been fake dating Janine for a month, which means this started almost immediately after the wedding.

Realistically, I don’t think anyone expected the engagement between Molly and Tom to last, but it doesn’t mean Molly wasn’t sincere or didn’t love him. So, Sherlock’s presence and the use of her home – especially her bedroom, a space that implies intimacy - is bound to inflict some legitimate strain on a relationship that’s already falling apart.

Any number of scenarios could have played out. Tom might have given Molly an ultimatum? They might have decided to take a time-out? Guess away.

Sherlock might be influencing Molly through subtle means to end her engagement. He might turn up the charm and possibly – in one way or another – woo her as well. Maybe lead her to believe something was possible between them? Which he might consider true, at some point. His use of drugs could make it easier for him to make those personality / conscience shifts necessary to do what he’s doing.

If this happened, and there’s nothing to say it did – just using The Abdominal Bride as a blueprint since Molly was included with the ‘brides’ – it really is unconscionable on his part. Although, and this is NOT in any way an excuse of his behavior – his superiority and arrogance did slap him hard - because he actually cares about and loves Molly, so his potential motivations with her are very different than with Janine. Knowing this does not make it better or right. He’s taking drugs - he’s in ‘the Game Is On’ mode and not making good decisions.

Perhaps Molly found out about Janine and they had a chat? Yeah, it’s a bit soap opera-ish – but how else would Janine know Sherlock used her? John? Magnussen? She was very quick with her ‘for profit’ revenge plan. More than likely Magnussen told her…he enjoys the suffering of others.

However she found out, Molly would have confronted Sherlock. Sherlock might not have shown any remorse for using someone as a ‘means to an end’ (Janine), while attempting to deduce Molly by saying her LOVE for Tom was equally specious. He did say, during his best man speech, that “All emotions, and in particular love, stand opposed to the pure, cold reason I hold above all things.” We know this isn’t entirely true, and he knows it as well. But, if he attempted to make a point to Molly about her actions, as a parallel to his, all while HIGH, wow – it crashed and burned.

I’m not saying this is what happened. Just tossing out the idea. But, it does make the Molly/Sherlock hospital scene even more poignant. It’s their break-up fight.

If Sherlock did any of this, it would be hard to forgive. Molly would have to dig really deep inside her to make a journey back as his friend. Their relationship is fractured and rests on a precariously balanced fulcrum. Betrayal by love is a huge theme in His Last Vow.

There are two external events, which help pull them back into each other’s orbit.

Sherlock is shot. Sherlock murders Magnussen.

I’m sure this would help soften Molly, in as much as tragedy can put things into perspective very quickly. Being deeply wounded by someone you love doesn’t mean you stop loving them – although it’s possible. Maybe the time between being shot and killing Magnussen Sherlock made a sincere effort to make amends with her? I imagine he would, but their relationship has been severely strained and Molly keeps clear distance.

I’m really, really, really speculating on this one – but, maybe Mary reached out to Molly as someone to lean on? We never see these two interact (other than the christening) which is a shame. There is, however, an ever-so-slight seed that might suggest Mary’s involvement, which we got in TAB. Mary is the one who discovers the brides. And, Mary is put on the case by Mycroft. So, maybe Mycroft knows there’s been a fall-out. Again, sounds like a twisted sort of soap opera – but there’s some precedence for this, too.

Mycroft knows Molly. She was the most significant person in The Reichenbach Fall plan. We’ve also seen him request her assistance at the morgue prior to this (A Scandal in Belgravia). Who knows. What we do know, is that when Sherlock uses and comes off drugs – Mycroft calls in as many resources as possible. If there is a fracture between Molly and Sherlock, it will be seen as a risk, which requires a fix. Mary could help with this. Furthermore, in TAB, Mycroft tells Sherlock this is a war (women) he (they) must lose. Meaning, Sherlock fucked up. Big time. He’s got to set it right.

Some headway is made, because the bride scene in The Abdominal Bride shows Sherlock acknowledging his mistakes and remorse. We then see where the relationship is left between Molly and Sherlock with two words: “Hooper / Holmes.”

They can face each other, be in the same room, but it’s chilly.

Series 4 reflects this in Molly’s absence as well as her presence. But, she and Sherlock will continue to be pulled together through more external events.

They are Rosamund Watson’s godparents and on speaking terms.

They are also hit with a devastating, irretrievable blow: Mary’s death. This, along with profound grief, is enough to set aside any personal differences to come together and focus on the needs of others. Even though Sherlock takes himself to ‘hell and back.’

Molly speaks with Sherlock in The Lying Detective, and even acquiesces to his request for an ambulance. Molly does this on faith - she really doesn’t know what’s going on. There’s still an edge between them. He’s using, she’s stressed, he’s dying. She’s agreed to do her part in watching Sherlock through his withdrawal days, and meets he and John for birthday cake.

Concessions are being made.

Now we come to The Final Problem, where Molly is Sherlock’s third task. He has to get her to say I Love You, but their relationship remains somewhat perfunctory and cool. A lot of water has passed under their bridge and blind trust has not been established.

If anything remotely took place between them such as the above – whoa – it’s no surprise why this scene went down the way it did.

It also makes sense of Molly’s words: “Leave me alone.” “Why are you making fun of me?” “You know why.” “Of course you do.” 

There’s two different events taking place that cause an intense emotional build-up and break-down between these two characters.

Molly is unable to push down her stress and sorrow any longer. It’s risen to the surface. There’s been too much, in a short amount of time, and something’s gotta give. We see her ignore Sherlock, which is an eye-opener for him, and even when she does answer her phone she’s direct and not interested in idle chit-chat.

Sherlock’s stress is mounting too. By virtue of Eurus’s game and the previous month’s events. He needs to ask something of Molly that he knows won’t be received well. Even if he tries to convince himself otherwise and feign ignorance.

It was a life or death moment from Sherlock’s perspective, but a ‘push come to shove’ for Molly. Both of them went through an emotional vivisection. Still, they said I love you and it was sincere and authentic.

At the end of that scene, however, neither one knows the consequences of this event. It’s not a happy moment, but instead filled with uncertainty and possibly more loss. Sherlock killed a coffin. Molly looks absolutely forlorn.

The ending montage is disappointingly neglectful of resolution. This is where the writers could have used a more creative latitude – more than .3 seconds of Molly’s happy smile. At least it was nice to get that, but gees, really?

If we’re looking at this from Sherlock’s point of view – Molly is happy. More than happy – she’s vibrant. Personally speaking, I can’t see any reason Molly would be presented this way had she and Sherlock not achieved some satisfactory relationship understanding regarding romantic love.

My heels aren’t dug in the sand regarding the above. I am truly open to other interpretations. For now, though, this was my exercise in explaining what wasn’t explained. She might be an insane murdering psychopath and brilliant beyond Newton, but Eurus was right when she said - context is everything.

Mycroft and mummy Holmes

 (Sherlock meta by enigmaticpenguinofdeath)

Anonymous: Non tblr user who follows you anyway. I need to get something off my chest. I can't be the only one who's angry with Mummy Holmes, right? I mean, I get that she was upset Mycroft had lied about Eurus being dead, but,come on! You're the one who a) raised a psycopath who murdered your son's best friend, then tried to kill HIM by setting the house of fire, and b) raised junkie Sherlock, who Mycroft takes care of while you're comfortably living in the countryside. And you dare to call him "limited"!?

enigmaticpenguinofdeath: Hey Anon - yeah I must say my estimation of Mrs Holmes has rather gone down a bit with TFP.

It has to be said that if you’ve got a five year old super genius who doesn’t seem to understand pain/empathy in the slightest and is able to kill another child - that has to be a fairly difficult thing to cope with. They can’t be completely oblivious because you hear them discussing “we can’t make her do anything”, and were apparently getting their kids professional assessments.

And Sherlock and Mycroft do seem fond of their parents, to a degree. Mycroft has a photo of them in his house, he took them to see Les Mis (horror!). Sherlock had them visit and natter away in TEH, and we hear that the boys told them the truth about Sherlock faking his death - so they didn’t want to worry them. But you can be fond of and even love people who are quite shitty to you; plenty of people with abusive parents could vouch for that.

Back in HLV the Mycroft & Mummy bickering seemed to be jokey family banter - about his name and leaving work stuff lying around. Mycroft was being a Christmas grouch so that’s understandable really. But by the time we get to the “you should have done better” and “he’s very limited” comments - those were harsh. Yes she’s obviously emotional, and the taking his hand in the scene at the end suggests some thawing, but it’s fueled a suspicion that Mycroft has always had the shitty end of the stick when it comes to their parents’ view of them.

As with my gifset yesterday - Mycroft repeatedly takes the blame for anything and everythng to do with Sherlock as well as himself. That’s a habit I say he picked up in childhood - he’s the oldest, he’s supposed to be the responsible one. Calling Sherlock the grown up? Hmm, not something I quite buy.

Mycroft's reaction to the director dying

 (Sherlock meta by enigmaticpenguinofdeath)

Anonymous: I don't think Mycroft's reaction to the director dying was too far off. "But he was fine in Serbia!" I'd say that's because he had control in that situation. Probably had everything planned down to the letter, and they got in and out without anyone dying. "But he didn't freak when Sherlock shot Magnussen!" He wasn't the one that pulled the trigger. And he did seem affected by it. "But he was willing to shoot the clown!" A clown that he assumed was threatening to kill him with a sword. Anonymous

enigmaticpenguinofdeath: I don’t disagree with you, Anon! His differing levels of response to gore etc might be a case of wobbly character consistency or it might equally be a case of, as you say, the context of the encounter. I think most meta/thoughts I’ve come across on the subject acknowledges that.

If he was super-dooper squeamish I doubt he’d have been so unconcerned at seeing “Irene”‘s bashed-up corpse at the morgue, or hanging out on a plane of corpses for dramatic entrance purposes, or indeed witnessing his brother being tortured. But as you point out, control of the situation might be a factor. And he knew the governor personally, as well as probably feeling responsible for what just happened.

I think it’s best that everyone mentally prepares themselves to stab/shoot a killer clown, just in case the epidemic from last year comes back.

The Moffatt interview all but validates Molly as a strong, independent girl

 (Sherlock meta by rosamundi)

A lot of people are getting worked up about the Moffat interview, but I really don’t see anything wrong about it.

In my headcanon, Molly is always the mature, sane one, somebody who is emotionally healthy and independent from other people’s expectation of her. Come on, she works for a morgue, makes morbid jokes, has a very unique taste in clothes and has a healthy dating life. That’s not a person who is insecure. She’s someone who knows herself well enough to seek her own happiness. She has always been in control of her feelings, even towards Sherlock.

This is why I argue that her love for Sherlock will NEVER make her less of a person, because love that makes you a better person will never diminish you. She is not desperate, insecure or unhappy. She walks inside 221b with all smiles, head held up high and confident, Moffat commenting that she probably got over it and was shagging someone. They all point to one thing. This is a woman in control of herself.

Molly Hooper will not wait for anyone to make her happy, ladies and gentlemen, not even for Sherlock Holmes. She will find that happiness herself.

Now, what do we say about Sherlock? He is devastated, confused and out of his wits, and this just makes it so much more delicious. He is struggling around the enormity of his feelings. He is someone who has spent most of his life protecting himself from emotions. He has grown up believing that Emotions = Weakness. It will not take just a couple of days to get over it. There will be a lot of contemplation, a lot of fear and denial, a lot of doubt.

And finally, it is Sherlock’s turn to grow. Finally, it’s his turn to prove to Molly that he can take care of her. He needs to sort his feelings out and decide whether he wants to pursue the responsibility of having a relationship with Molly. So many lovely and yummy angsty questions surface: Is he going to chicken out from his feelings and just be friends? Is he going to take the leap and experience the painful transition to an emotionally available man? How will he do it? Who will he ask for advice? I can imagine Sherlock reading books about relationships, having mind-palace scenes with Mind-palace Molly, testing out theories, arguing the benefit between a red rose or a piece of candy… Ahhh so much material….

If anything, that Moffatt interview all but validates Molly as a strong, independent girl. A girl that (LO!) is in love, but still in control. Cos let me tell you one thing. I may ship Sherlolly, but Molly Hooper deserves the world. Molly knows it. Sherlock knows it. She will not settle for a tall, curly-haired ball of a man-child, sorry. If he won’t straighten up his life and fight for her, Molly will move on. Oh, she can still continue loving him as a friend. But how about Sherlock? What are you going to do about it, Mr Holmes? This isn’t like a case, is it? It’s a lot more challenging.

Sink or swim, dear boy. Sink or swim.

The scene with Mycroft and the gun

 (Sherlock meta by dragonsbain and enigmaticpenguinofdeath)

dragonsbain: The scene with the gun. I've seen every possible variation on the Mycroft does not have the stomach to kill someone joke. I was having a hard time believing Mycroft has never killed someone. Being affiliated with MI-6 and all. Until I really looked at his face. He is horrified. Why is he horrified? Eurus has killed. Sherlock has killed. If he kills as well, what would he become? I'm sure that's what he was thinking. What do you think?

I think the gun scene shall forever be a topic of debate! Because there’s no right or wrong answer, it’s all just how you see the character and speculative justifications. The short answer is just the writers wanted to have John presented with a need to shoot an innocent(ish) person and refuse; to mirror the choices in the different games and bring it back around to being all about him (as ever) Sherlock needed to pick who did it, and this way we got to develop Sherlock & Mycroft’s relationship some more in the process. Sherlock assumes Mycroft should be able to take care of the problem - and that he would do it to spare the more overtly emotional about such things John from having to do it. But Mycroft lets him down, and a bit more faith in Big Brother solving his problems gets chipped away.

I’m pretty sure Mycroft has killed, or caused deaths anyway - certainly indirectly, and certainly on his say-so. That’s what his job would involve, making the sorts of decisions that lead to terror cells being snuffed out, and prioritising one need over others, finite resources and all. He used to use AGRA and they didn’t go around tickling hostage takers to release prisoners. There are many logical reasons why someone could be content to take a life in one situation and not another. That’s exactly what John did - he shot the cabbie, and refused to shoot the governor. Who’s to say Mycroft hasn’t killed when the need arose, but equally refused to kill an innocent man in cold blood, under duress, when flooded with guilt for causing the whole situation and in the midst of the worst family reunion since that time Mummy kept telling him off and got potatoes on his v important laptop, Sherlock drugged him then shot someone in the face.

And after all Mycroft would have shot that clown in self defence if the gun still had bullets in it. That clown totally deserved it too.

Romantic or platonic, does it matter?

 (Sherlock meta by swjmart and writingwife-83

swjmart: There has been lots of debate about the "ILY" scene. Was it real, and if so- is it romantic vs platonic. I have been thinking- maybe it just doesn't matter. Lines are often blurred. Emotions come & go. Anyone in a successful long term relationship knows there is an element of CHOICE. Maybe that is what BC was talking about ? Sherlock hadn't chosen what to do with it all yet. They have a profound love but will he choose to take it to the next level of, commitment, physical intimacy, etc.

writingwife-83: I think you do make an important point, particularly with Sherlock. Because although we can now rightly say he is the most emotional of the Holmes children, he’s also still a bit out of his depth in learning how to process those emotions and what to do with them. I definitely think that in canon he doesn’t know what kind of love it is yet. No question it was genuine and heartfelt, but that’s probably as far as he’s gotten by the end of what we saw in s4. I believe there is a romantic aspect to it, but it’s possibly not something he’s consciously admitted to himself. And yeah, then there’s the aspect of choosing if/how to act on it. I often imagine that if Sherlock realized he loved Molly romantically, he’d admit it to himself, but then decide that “it is what it is” and decide to try and carry on with life as usual and just work around it. I’d love to think he wouldn’t be able to last with that plan of course lol! But there we have the difference of the show and fanfic! XD

swjmart: Agreed ! So another question @writingwife-83 - can you explain Molly beaming after that intense conversation if things weren’t going forward to some degree - even in baby steps ? The smile to me hints towards sherllolly IF TFP is the last episode. Her smile is actually where we stand at the end. Imo there is no way Molly would be beaming if things weren’t “good” between her and Sherlock. Saying “I love you” changes things and I would think she would pull back if there was not at least some movement towards a relationship. However - if there are more episodes, they will probably gloss over the whole thing as per Moffat’s comments and we will be back to the never ending tension and angst…perhaps they threw in her beaming smile without thinking it through - though another person i message alot thinks Mofftiss are too detailed oriented for that to be the case. We may never know…

writingwife-83: Well I think the real and true answer is that we may never know. And honestly I think that’s where Mofftiss want things to be when it comes to Sherlock and any possible relationship. BUT! Here’s my (what I’d like to consider level headed) take on things:

Yes, Molly is clearly happy. But Molly also knows Sherlock, and arguable better than most others on the show, partly because she’s so perceptive and also because she’s known him longer than some others. My point is that Molly would know Sherlock well enough to temper her expectations based on who he truly is. Would Molly make some sort of relationship ultimatum after she’s heard those 3 little words come out of Sherlock’s mouth, especially given the circumstances? I don’t think so. Would she even demand that he expound on his feelings and what they really mean? I think she probably wouldn’t. Yes, she’d feel him out and try to understand what he went through, though I think he’d give that to her without her prompting. But I honestly think she’d be gentle with him. Because I think she already got the feel from that second ILY that he meant it in one way or another. Think about what that would already mean to her and how precious that already is. I feel like she’d take that and smile at him and tell him it’s ok and that she’s sorry he went through something so horrific and she knows he’s sorry and she forgives him. Because first and foremost they’re friends. I mean this in the best way and hopefully it makes sense- I don’t think it takes a ton to make Molly happy. I don’t think she’s demanding or unreasonable. She’s firm where needed and she refuses to accept being treated wrongly of course, but she would never ask more of someone than they can give. And I think that’s what I’ve been so long winded in saying.

If Molly is happy with Sherlock at the end of s4, in my mind that means he is holding up his end of the friendship/relationship to the best of his current ability. Because Molly Hooper knows what Sherlock is capable of at any given moment, and she’d never demand more from him than that.

Sherlock didn’t allow himself to recognize Molly's 

feelings for him 

 (Sherlock meta by mizjoely)

Q: I just had this thought... In The Lying Detective Mrs Hudson says that if Sherlock can't figure something out he stabs it, shoots the wall etc etc... Is that what he did with Molly too, he couldn't figure out his feelings for her so kept pushing her away or insulted her ( earlier seasons)? Does that make sense?

A: Not only that but he didn’t allow himself to recognize her feelings for him as anything more than superficial. Think about it: S1 he blatantly takes advantage of her “crush” to get her to do things for him. S2 he completely misses the obvious when she comes to Baker Street for the Christmas party and incorrectly deduces that she’s got a new boyfriend. Later he is forced to see that she believes herself to be someone that doesn’t count and is able to correct that incorrect assumption, but that’s as far as it goes. By S3 he is able to thank her for everything by taking her on a day of crime solving, but still doesn’t deduce her correctly, doesn’t see that she actually IS ‘compensating’, trying to reassure both him and herself that she’s happy with Tom. In TAB he realizes that she’s not just a friend, but also a woman whom he has wronged. And in S4 she’s his friend, he tells her he loves her and actually realizes that he means it the second time he says it to her. He finally has been able to make the emotional connection that her feelings aren't just a crush, that it’s not just friendship, but a true, deep and lasting love. A love that maybe he can finally allow himself to return.

If it’s in the story, it’s in the story: 

meta commentary is only meta commentary 

 (By Ivy Blossom)

warmth-and-constancy:

“Romantic entanglement would complete you as a human being” Yeah, guys, when Moffat says Sherlock was never a love story, it’s literally bullshit, he is literally lying to you, because he also wrote this line. Whether they have – unbelievably – kicked that particular can another couple of years down the road, or whether the fourth episode rumor that they started themselves is true and there’s another installment waiting in the wings, they still told us that their main character is incomplete without romantic fulfillment. You are entitled to continue waiting for an explanation of this very obvious Chekhov’s gun situation if you are willing and able to do so, and it is not crazy for you to do so.

Ivy Blossom:

Agreed. Though I don’t think you need a fourth episode or even another series to safely assume the logical conclusion here. While I remain a fan of these writers, to be honest at this point I’m not that interested in their retroactive statements about what they intended to do. It’s already done, it’s in the story. This is what we have, this story, and this particular narrative gun.

Sherlock’s sexual and romantic needs have been on the table in this story for a long time now, from the beginning, and particularly in focus since A Scandal in Belgravia. We have been asked to pay attention to these questions, and there is a coherent narrative arc about them through the entire show. The final problem is, in fact, this question: is it so impossible for Sherlock to love and be loved? There is, to my mind, every indication that these issues are resolved in The Final Problem. Very likely not in a way that satisfies you, but I’d call them resolved nevertheless.

We’ve always said ignore the writers when they talk about this story because they lie. At this point, I’d say you should still ignore what they say, because the only thing a writer communicates about a story that actually matters or has any weight is the story itself. (Dear J.K.: you can’t retroactively out Dumbledore, either. It’s in the text, or it’s not!)

If it’s in the story, it’s in the story. They had their chance to say otherwise when they composed it; it’s out there now, and meta commentary is only meta commentary. They don’t have to like interpretations or confirm that anything in particular was intentional, it doesn’t matter. It’s there, it’s coherent, and it’s valid.

It’s yours.

What Purpose does Rosie Serve?

 (Sherlock meta by  ivyblossom)

The Final Problem left me wondering about this, and not having an immediate answer. Looking back on the entire narrative arc, what purpose does the baby serve? It can’t be random; any story development that significant has to have a reason.

Why a baby?

In The Sign of the Three, the baby’s purpose is to underscore Sherlock’s underdeveloped nature. He’s the baby in John’s life at that point, the one who needs all the attention and nurturing. He deduces that a baby is coming, which heralds his own departure from John’s life. At least, that’s how Sherlock frames it, and how he appears to see it at the time. The baby is a threat and a demand; it’s time to grow up, Sherlock.

Then we have His Last Vow. This is the first time we get hints that the Watson marriage isn’t all they expected it to be. John is getting restless. Is the coming baby part of the reason why? Is John rebelling against this impending responsibility?I’m not inclined to think so. To me, John’s restlessness is rooted in his frustration that he appears to be losing Sherlock. His dreams are not the terror of impending fatherhood, after all. They’re about Sherlock.

Once Mary’s nature is revealed, does the promise of this baby keep John from walking away from her altogether? She is very pregnant when John makes his decision to stick by her. I’m not sure about this.

Rosie’s christening, and who her godparents are, gives us an opportunity to see who is closest to John and Mary: Molly (that’s news, we always associate her with Sherlock, not John or Mary), Mrs Hudson (who we generally think of as more of a mother figure to Sherlock than to John) and Sherlock. None of Mary’s bridesmaids make an appearance, but I suppose that’s not a big surprise. John’s relationship with Molly has certainly changed, though we don’t see a lot of this on screen.

Infants are challenging for any marriage. Rosie gives us a chance to see a new tension in the Watson marriage, and makes John’s indiscretion that much worse. While Mary is tending to John’s daughter, he’s texting another woman. The worst!

Rosie is the reason why Mary and John don’t appear at the aquarium at the same time, allowing Mary to make a decision John might have chosen to make had he been there.

Does Rosie make Mary’s death more tragic? It certainly makes John’s grief that much worse in The Lying Detective. Rosie’s just lost her mother, John can’t cope with a new baby after Mary’s death, making him feel like even more of a failure. In that case, Rosie acts as a sort of moral imperative.

When the grenade lands in 221b in The Final Problem, Rosie is the reason why Sherlock wants John to make a phone call, even though Rosie can’t possibly understand anything he might say. It highlights something important: there is someone John loves outside of that room. Sherlock doesn’t want to make a phone call himself. (Not even to his parents? Apparently not.)

The last moments of The Final Problem show Sherlock being very loving and familiar with Rosie. It’s hard to see any other purpose to that other than the reality that, along with John, Mrs Hudson, and Molly, Sherlock is co-parenting this child. So Rosie’s last purpose is to underscore that Sherlock has made a loving, long-term commitment to Rosie and to John. And everyone seems pretty happy about it.

I thought the baby didn’t have much of a purpose in this story, but I was looking for one large purpose, a major point point, like her being kidnapped for threatened in some way. But there isn’t one big purpose for her. There are many little ones, many of which strengthen and underscore the elements of the story.

 “Amazing…what one has to do to get ahead in a man’s world” 
                                            (Sherlock Meta by Ivy Blossom)

“Amazing…what one has to do to get ahead in a man’s world” 

You know, though this scene in TAB, I understood that Molly had to be male in order to just do the work, I got that. And that’s clearly where story ended up going; what we see in Hooper is a woman pretending to be a man in order to do the work she loves. 

But on the first watch, I thought Molly might be trans, presenting as a man because he is a man, which makes John’s “oh but I know what you really are even if Sherlock doesn’t” speech pretty damn mean. And it seemed to me that John clearly wrong. Sherlock does know that Hooper wasn’t assigned male at birth. I thought he was respecting Hooper’s gender presentation and not being a dick about it. 

It struck me how often John is the dick in TAB instead of Sherlock. (”Not at all, dear! We’ll be hungry later!” etc.) Interestingly, Sherlock isn’t much of an example of Victorian masculinity and attitudes in TAB, while John certainly is. John is fighty, anti-feminist, and paranoid about everyone from socialists to the Scots. It’s tempting to speculate on what this means about Sherlock’s thoughts on John’s opinions and failings. Does he see John as traditional to a fault? 

But I don’t think that’s the point, exactly. I could be wrong, but I don’t think Victorian!John’s dickishness is about John qua John. Sherlock has immersed himself in late VIctorian London, so everyone has to be modulated to fit. Independent Mary is a suffragist, pathologist Molly is presenting as male, and John Watson, former soldier, doctor, and Victorian man, has average, run of the mill Victorian male opinions. He’s the equivalent of the Victorian Vitruvian man. 

Which makes sense: Sherlock is the one controlling the fantasy, when he is in control of it, which is most of the time; he’s the modern man with modern opinions in a Victorian environment. He’s the one putting on a costume, while the rest of them live there. He’s a man out of time.

‘I Love You’: a man’s perspective 

  (Sherlock meta by bassfanimation)

I haven’t made the rounds yet this morning, but already last night I’ve seen multiple posts that seem to want to either downgrade or erase the meaning behind Sherlock’s words to Molly Hooper. I find it insanely amusing, because had those words been to John Watson, people would be wetting themselves, but because it was for Molly, people are climbing all over themselves to again deny this character her actual fair due.

My husband, who watches Sherlock with me, had some very interesting perspectives on The Final Problem. He tends to read the show textually, without shipping or all the other nonsense we as fandom people get into. I tend to trust what he says only because he has no ulterior motives, like zero. Even my own ship doesn’t really mean a damn thing to him. He knows I love it, but he’s not swayed by my reading or my desires at all.

His reading of The Final Problem was that this was Eurus effectively unlocking the original Sherlock Holmes. This was Sherlock’s sister, bringing him home, just as he was bringing her home. To do that, she had to undo what she did when she took Victor Trevor away from him at that young age. She took a little boy who was filled with bright, wonderful, hot emotion, and she made him lock that away. She made him like her, and to my husband, it seemed like that was never what Eurus wanted.

The scenes inside Sherrinford were about systematically making Sherlock face each single, major emotion that he’s refused to feel all these years: anger, fear, sadness, and above all…love. And no, I don’t mean love for your best friend, that’s already been addressed, and that was already the easiest thing for Sherlock to unlock in himself. He basically did that in S1. Sherlock loves John, his best friend, just like he loved Victor. The parallels are spelled out for you in the clearest of ways.

Sherlock’s locking away of his ‘sexuality’ was already broken open in S2 with Belgravia. Irene Adler represented a part of Sherlock that really, really wanted out. It was confusing as hell for him, as we saw, but he still managed to deal with it. Sex is sex is sex. It’s meaningful, and at the same time, can also be meaningless. I personally never saw Irene as meaningless, far from it. But I do think her special place in Sherlock’s “unlocking” was more physical than emotional. Hence, we were reminded of this by the moan of her text tone. I personally think Sherlock’s sexuality is firmly unlocked at this point, no need to revisit it again and again. Something that remained hidden though, very deep down, was Sherlock’s ability, willingness and understanding of a deeper love, and what that means. This is where Eurus comes in.

The scene with the coffin was very carefully done, both by the writers and on the part of Eurus’ planning. In fact, if you listen carefully to Eurus’ words, she states exactly why she did it: you lost, look what you did to her, look what you did to yourself, all those complicated, complex emotions, emotional context. All of those things are things people feel when they love someone (romantic love, since I’m sure I need to spell it out for some viewers). You feel elated, but you also feel scared. You may also hate yourself because you probably feel the person you love deserves BETTER than you. Should you act on it or let them go find someone better? Do you have the strength to give up parts of yourself for them? Do they have the strength to give up parts of themselves for you? It’s scary as hell, y’all!!

My hub says, to him, the first time Sherlock says ‘I love you’ to Molly Hooper, he didn’t mean it…or at least Sherlock thinks he didn’t mean it. Then, the second time, he did mean it, and he knows it. That is why he smashed the coffin…that was perhaps the biggest emotion he’d locked away, and he was consumed and confused by it. For a man who has spent decades pushing love away, it came roaring in within 3 minutes, and he couldn’t push it away. Eurus wouldn’t let him push it away, and more importantly, Molly Hooper wouldn’t let him push it away. That’s why she turned the tables on him and made him say it first. She inadvertently helped Eurus, which I’m sure was her plan all along (if you believe she’s as much of a supernatural badass as she’s shown to be).

My husband’s purely textual reading of Sherlock’s smashing the coffin with ‘I love you’ on it is that he DID mean it, but he wasn’t sure what that meant to him, and it scares him, greatly. He said that looked like a man who was pissed that he LOVES. He spent his entire life working at not loving, and here he is, loving this woman, but now he isn’t sure what to do about it, because he’s not even sure what that really means. He doesn’t understand it…yet. Love like that is incredibly strong, true love I mean, not “Hey let’s bone” love. He said that wasn’t the actions of a man who doesn’t really care. He said, as a man, if I had to get a woman to say that and I didn’t really love her, I wouldn’t care as much. I surely wouldn’t care enough to smash an entire coffin to bits with my bear hands.

Lastly, my husband said something I thought was incredibly interesting about how he reads Sherlock. He said he thinks the reason Sherlock hasn’t really pursued any other relationships with women, not seriously that is, is that on some level he really knew he loved Molly, but that he felt HE wasn’t good enough for HER. He thinks Sherlock, for all of his arrogance, actually doesn’t think he’s a good man. He knows Molly Hooper deserves a good man, someone to love her exactly how he thinks she should be loved, and he’s terrified he ISNT that man, or he CANT be that man. His rage at smashing that coffin was basically anger at himself, anger at himself for loving this woman who really deserves more.

So, from a man who views this show with as much pure text as possible, he thinks that “I Love You” was real, but he thinks Sherlock simply doesn’t know what to do with it, doesn’t know what it means. He said love is the scariest thing, especially to someone who’s lived closed off. He’s had an upbringing that, without going into details, was a bit devoid of emotional support from people he needed it from. That means that learning how to show love was incredibly, incredibly difficult for him. Trust me, I’ve been here for the entire thing. It took years for him to learn how to show it. It took me years too…in fact I still have massive trouble with it. People who’ve lived not understanding how to love since young childhood…it takes us a very long time to learn how to do it.

My husband and I are not the kind of people who go on romantic ballroom dancing dates and snuggle on the Tunnel of Love ride. We’re just not those kind of people…but we do love each other very much. We have our way of showing it that works for us. There’s no one else I’d rather trust my mind, body and soul to. That was first built on friendship, then trust, then love. For us, I think that’s kind of where Sherlock is starting to head. We may not ever see that adventure, as that’s not what Sherlock’s story was about. But, finding how to love, that was his story, and Molly Hooper is an irreplaceable part of that. No one can deny that, not ever.

Why it fits in the narrative for Molly to be upset before Sherlock called her 

 (Sherlock meta by theleftpill)

Q: Hello! What do you make of Molly in The Final Problem, I thought it was odd both how upset she was and how she drew everything out and made him say it first etc. I actually think that even the writers knew that Molly usually would been weirded out and maybe annoyed but gone with the flow once Sherlock said it was for a case, so they made her have 'had a bad day' beforehand so they could create the scene they want. But it gives the scene a whole weird vibe.

A: Hello Nonny! I’ve been thinking about this, actually, and wondering how the scene would have played differently with a Happy Molly. I definitely think it was the smarter narrative choice to have Molly start out upset and reluctant to help Sherlock; it makes her defiance more reasonable. If she started out upbeat and in a good mood, she would have been more willing to go along with one of Sherlock’s “stupid games” and answered him right away, albeit very confused: “I love you, what is this all about Sherlock?” And then that’s the end of your scene.

Starting Molly off as terribly upset, terribly depressed, immediately ups the tension of the scene. Sherlock is completely on the wrong foot with her from the start: he has to win her over. This helps not just the tension but the dynamic: Molly has bite, Molly has strength, she’s not the trembling little mouse who’s an easy pushover. Sherlock has to earn this.

Also, having Molly hostile from the outset makes you entirely unsure whether she’s going to say it or not. She gives a litany of reasons not to say it: I’m not having a good day, one of your stupid games, I’m not an experiment, leave me alone. At each step Sherlock is terrified she is going to hang up and destroy herself. I was on the edge of my seat horrified that she was going to say no. Because it was entirely possible, the way she played the scene.

It would take a pretty huge, unrealistic emotional turn to get to those depths of pain if she started out helpful and willing. Also, I feel she would have then felt more like the Morgue Mouse, unable to deal with her crush in the face of it, wilting under the pressure of her love. Because his demand would have altered her mood, she would have felt defensive rather than attacking. Her begging him not to make her say ILY would feel like whining, more like she couldn’t deal with the humiliation, than the act of defiance it plays as now. Her demand for him to say it first would have felt petty and vindictive. As it’s played, her spikyness and challenge reads to me like she’s standing up for herself. She begins the scene not taking his shit. She’s protecting herself. Her refusal is deeper than self-pity; it’s strength.

I’m not sure this is your point, but I don’t feel like Molly’s drawing him out was any sort of manipulation or cruelty. I don’t think she made him say it first to torture him. It’s defiance. It’s protection. He’s just told her to say it anyway since it’s true, she calls him a bastard, and then demands he say it first. “Say it like you mean it.“ If he’s going to force her over the edge, she’s damn well going to take him with her. It’s not manipulation because she means it: she needs to hear it and she needs it to be real, in order to pull it from herself. If he can’t give that to her, then she cannot give him what he wants. Remember that she has no awareness of the time limit or the stakes; to her this is just one of his games. It’s a brilliant turn of the tables and perfectly shows her power, over Sherlock and within herself.

I love the tone and vibe of this scene. For me, it’s one of the most powerful and grounded of the entire episode, because for the first time we’re truly exploring the dynamic between these two characters, in a new and revealing way. This is entirely new ground for both of them and between both of them. I think the pain and the angst and the heartbreak are perfect for the magnitude of what these two are going through. But then I love the dark side of things. It might feel off because we don’t have any sort of grounded resolution for them; not a kiss or any definitive romantic status, but a real exchange where we can see where they stand with each other now. A scene of that power deserves and demands that.

If there’s anything you need

 (Sherlock meta by theleftpill)

Look at that first pair of stills. Remember the scene. Remember how Sherlock said that question: “what could I need from you?” This was in the height of the “I’m Sherlock Holmes the baddest bad-ass around I will wipe the floor with you” Sherlockian arrogance era. And when he asks this question, he does not ask it with arrogance and dismissal: “what could a worthless thing like you possibly offer a god like me?” He asks it with confusion and genuine curiosity. He wants to know what could he need from Molly? She’s thrown him. He thinks about it. He starts to reconsider her.

And then “What do you need? You.” Again - dramatic. Desperate. If he was not genuine here, he would have been all about Business, but he’s in over his head. He needs an anchor, a lifeline. He realizes what he needs and what she can offer (besides the fact that this scene is coded so completely Hollywood cliche romance-time it’s unbelievable).

He absolutely means it when he says “I love you” the second time. The first is Old Sherlock; he’s saying it to get what he wants. The second one is real. He doesn’t understand it yet, he doesn’t know how deep it goes, but this is the first moment he realizes it’s real.

It’s been building for years.

Why didn't Sherlock see through Molly's disguise in TAB?

 (Sherlock meta by penfairy)

I’m seeing some people say that it’s unrealistic for Sherlock not to see through Molly Hooper’s disguise in The Abominable Bride, but remember that this is all in his mind. Sherlock is seeing what’s appropriate for him to see.

Since they recreated the scene where Sherlock flagellates the corpse, I expected them to introduce Molly in the same scene. But they didn’t, because in Sherlock’s worldview Molly did not exist in that scene. She was too unimportant to take any real notice of. Later on, she’s introduced to us as Hooper, and she’s effectively neutered by her male disguise, rendered sexless. She is nothing but the slightly argumentative doctor who provides valuable assistance with his work. “I don’t count” is her famous line in S2, and it takes Sherlock some time to realise “You do count. You’ve always counted and I’ve always trusted you.” He didn’t see the real her and who she truly was until much later on, just as he doesn’t in the special. That is why it’s such a shock when she doffs her disguise and he sees her as a woman, and why one of the biggest revelations he has in his mind palace is “I’ve treated the women in my life horrendously and I need to make amends.”

Of course the real Sherlock would have seen through Hooper’s disguise in a second, but in his mind Sherlock doesn’t because it reflects his changing perceptions of her in real life. John, on the other hand, sees the value in people right from the start, and he cared for Molly’s feelings in real life from the moment he met her. Sherlock knows this, and that is why John recognises her in the mind palace before he does.

Discussion about OOC Mycroft at Sherrinford

 (Sherlock meta by skulls-and-tea, teapotsubtext, nowherenj: earlgreytea68 and superwholocklarry)

skulls-and-tea:

I’m sorry but Mycroft Ice Man Cometh Holmes was kicked back in Serbia watching his brother get tortured with a lead pipe without batting an eyelash




who the FUCK is this guy?

teapotsubtext:

mark gatiss

nowherenj:

I’ve been saying this since first viewing, EVERYONE is OOC. Sherlock is the adult, and ignores Vatican Cameos? Mycroft can’t stand seeing a man kill himself? John can’t ID the bones of a dog vs human child? Fucky. Fuckery. And Fuckiest.

earlgreytea68:

My takes, such as they are:

–I think Sherlock was definitely *not* an adult at the moment he ignored Vatican Cameos. After all, the Vatican Cameos was in reference to the fact that Euros is adept at ensorcelling people. To me it made perfect sense that he was so deeply fascinated by the sudden discovery of a sister he’d never met that he’d ignore Vatican Cameos. Wise? Absolutely not. But Sherlock is frequently not wise with his own personal safety. And I know I’ve heard people say that it could have been John whose safety was at issue–as it was, kind of–but it just didn’t seem OOC to me that Sherlock would be very caught up in this latest puzzle. It seemed, in fact, very like him to me.

(Also, his parents saying he was the adult I just dismissed as the parents being passive-aggressive the way parents can be.)

–I thought Mycroft was horrified because of how helpless and out-of-control he is. Mycroft handled Sherlock being tortured because surely he’d braced himself to get through that situation and knew how he was going to save him. I’ve also seen people point out that he didn’t crumple when he saw Sherlock kill Magnussen, but he was also compelled to spring into action and get stuff done to save Sherlock there. He had another focus, and it wasn’t Magnussen. I don’t think it’s necessarily the death that bothers Mycroft here; it’s the terrifying helplessness. He is Mycroft Holmes, he is the British government, and people are dying against his command and with nothing for him to do to stop it, and *he caused it.*

–I don’t know enough about dog and human bones to know about this, I confess. I just assumed John was freaking out a little bit and didn’t have much light. And also that he was influenced by what he expected to be finding there.

superwholocklarry:

I think it should also be noted that watching a man blow his own brains out in close proximity is much different than seeing it from a distance or being around cadavers. I won’t go into gory detail, but I have a few EMT friends (who are almost phased by nothing, because visiting horrific scenes of death is their job) and they all say shots to the head are the worst and most upsetting thing they see.

What is Mrs Hudson's problem with Mycroft?

 (Sherlock meta by thediogenes)

Q: I wonder what is Mrs Hudson's problem with Mycroft? She seems to almost hate him.

A: I think Hudders sniping at Mycroft always comes from a place of love - her love for Sherlock.

Her problem with Mycroft is she knows that Sherlock is a much more sensitive soul that he lets on, and is therefore completely baffled that Mycroft doesn’t seem to (or want to) see it.

She admonishes Mycroft because she’s frustrated with his coldness or apparent lack of empathy. She’s much more of an externally focused, emotionally intuitive type whereas he’s virtually the complete opposite. There’s a definite personality clash between the two of them.

I don’t think she hates him at all, I think she knows deep down that he tries his best to protect Sherlock. I just think she’s frustrated beyond belief that Mycroft is so out of touch when it comes to emotions. For her it’s blindingly obvious when Sherlock is struggling on an emotional level, but Mycroft just doesn’t seem to get it (or he chooses to discount it based on what he thinks he knows about Sherlock’s approach to solving problems).

I think Hudders and Mummy may something in common when it comes to Mycroft – they both think he’s seriously lacking on the emotional front. In reality he isn’t of course, he cares deeply, but his head always rules his heart and micromanages how he expresses his emotions. He expresses concern and caring in a logical, pragmatic way that seems alien, if not cruel to them (see: “I was trying to be kind”).

So yeah, I think it’s more the case that Mrs Hudson is frustrated & baffled by Mycroft and would probably dearly love him and Sherlock to sit down and have a proper heart to heart.

The Johnlock Conspiracy fallout

 (by ninezku)

I came to Sherlock fandom after season 2 aired.

No, actually: I first stopped after watching ASIP and googled “BBC Sherlock gay?” to see if the show had really gone there, as it seemed from what I had just watched. I was surprised to find out that no, they hadn’t officially gone there. I was so certain, it seemed so obvious! After watching both seasons it felt even more true: all the gay jokes, that scene with John and Irene, John telling his therapist there was something he wished he would have said and so on.

And then I found the fandom and the fic, oh my god, all the wonderful fic. All those clever answers to TRF, all the angst and cases and feels, all the meta and the hiatus jokes and crossovers. It was so much fun.

I remember at some point reading a well-written, interesting fic that had John grieving and then Sherlock returning, all proud and happy about the joke he had managed to play, the whole situation wasn’t that serious at all, and he was somewhat surprised how John hadn’t realised it. And John was furious at him and the fic dealt a long while with how Sherlock came to realise how he had erred with John and there finally was a reconciliation. And I thought to myself: yikes, this is actually something Sherlock could do, but there’s no way this would actually happen. And went back to reading all those other fics with all the painful, complicated answers.

And then season 3 came and that one fic was actually a lot closer to the canon resolution than anything else, no competition. And it felt to me like stepping out of the Matrix: the show was still clever and the relationship between John and Sherlock was still so important, but it wasn’t that clever. And the relationship was definitely not going to go there. I still loved the show, but had to get my expectations in line, took a step back, separated the canon and the fanon in my mind. We had all these great fics and we had this beautiful show. It’s not TPTB’s fault that my expectations didn’t meet with their creation. I was disappointed, but they owed me nothing. I could take it or leave it, and I still wanted to take it.

And so people went four different directions. Some were like me: disappointed with the season but still loving the show and shipping the ship (which is a different thing from wanting/believing the ship to become canon). Others loved the season, maybe despite its flaws, found new ships or continued with their previous ones. Others hated it and left. And the fourth group decided to turn their disappointment into Belief: it couldn’t really have been bad. There had to be an explanation, another reason for all this, a hidden meaning. And so became gay or trash, a conspiracy theory was born.

It only turned bad when the theory became a belief, hopes became demands, doubts became attacks. The meta became Proof, instead of all the discussions, rebuttals and debates it had been. Non-believers became Casuals and homophobes and antis and haters. Any criticism towards TPTB was hate and not allowed. One ship becoming canon became the only true LGBT presentation needed, the only true representation that would define TV history, no matter how it was done, no matter what all the other shows were doing at the same time, on BBC or in other countries. This was the only thing that mattered, this was the thing that would either save or destroy all the LGBT youth, these two white middle-aged man kissing on screen, nothing else would do it.

And because of that representation it was okay to harass and bully and doxx real, actual LGBT people. Even though I’ve seen it happening for a few years now, I’m still absolutely flabbergasted seeing the harassment happening towards Mark Gatiss now. Once again that actual LGBT person is subjected to such hate in the name of a fictional relationship that I have to wonder who it is that they’re actually fighting for, since it certainly doesn’t seem to be real discriminated people - and Gatiss is one from the more privileged side, unlike all the people from fandom who have been treated the same way. (Also I have to wonder why Gatiss is taking the brunt of this - you’d think Moffat as a straight white man would be the more obvious recipient, not that I wanted anyone to be the target!) You can think they queerbaited you or not (although even when I disliked the gay jokes: how can it be queerbaiting when they repeatedly told you it was not going to happen and you just decided to ignore the possibility that they weren’t lying about this one? Sherlock Holmes would be disappointed by something as careless as that), but harassment is not okay either way.

So now it’s again a bit like the situation after season 3. Others are disappointed. Others loved it. Others are leaving. I hope there’s no new religion born this time. YMMV, this is what I’ve felt.