"Mary is Mr.Hudson"

 John's and Mrs Hudson's conversation about marrige

 (Sherlock Meta by casehusbands)

I find it distressing that someone has yet to write a meta about how Mrs.Hudson’s marriage is a parallel to John’s marriage. Guess I’ll have to.

Throughout the episode we hear about Mrs. Hudson’s past. We hear about her wedding, her unusually upset best friend who leaves early, and we hear about her relationship with Mr.Hudson. I find it particularly telling that she’s talking to John in this exchange as he is her parallel in this scenario.

JOHN: Did you think you’d found the right one when you married Mr Hudson?

MRS HUDSON: (smiling) No! It was just a whirlwind thing for us. I knew it wouldn’t work, but I just got sort of swept along.

JOHN: Right.

MRS HUDSON: And then we moved to Florida. We had a fantastic time, but of course I didn’t know what he was up to. (Whispering) The drugs.

JOHN: (laughing) Drugs?

MRS HUDSON: He was running … um, oh God, what d’you call it? Um, a … cartel. Got in with a really bad crowd.

JOHN: Right.

MRS HUDSON: And then I found out about all the other women. I didn’t have a clue! So, when he was actually arrested for blowing someone’s head off …it was quite a relief, to be honest.

John is Mrs.Hudson’s parallel, and, seeing as Sherlock leaves the wedding early, Sherlock is Mrs. Husdon’s heretofore mentioned friend, which leaves Mary as Mr.Hudson’s parallel.

Sherlock leaving the wedding does three things. Firstly, It justifies Mrs.Hudson even mentioning her friend at the beginning of the episode in the first place, and secondly, it solidifies Sherlock as the parallel to said friend, and thirdly, it sets the expectation for the parallel to continue hereafter.

One could argue that it was fulfilled when John found out that Mary was much more than she claimed to be, an episode later when she shot Sherlock, but I think this goes deeper than just that deception, though it is a large one. Specifically because of the way John begins the conversation. Just a few lines prior, they were talking about Sherlock. Specifically after the fall.

JOHN: Mm. Don’t sound so … final about it. I will be visiting, you know.

MRS HUDSON: Ooh, I’ve heard that one before!

JOHN: Mm, no, it’s different now, though, isn’t it? It’s different to when we thought we’d lost him.

And then Mrs.Hudson goes on about how Marriage “changes everything”. And then she says;

MRS HUDSON: You meet new people ’cause you’re a couple …and then you just … let your old friends slip away.

JOHN: It won’t be like that.

MRS HUDSON: Well, if you’ve found the right one – the person that you click with – it’s the best thing in the world.

We go from talking about Sherlock, straight into discussing the legitimacy of your chosen life partner.

JOHN: Did you think you’d found the right one when you married Mr Hudson?

Did you find the right one? THE one? Did you marry the correct person?

And Mrs. Hudson is quick to reply.

MRS HUDSON: (smiling) No! It was just a whirlwind thing for us. I knew it wouldn’t work, but I just got sort of swept along.

She knew it wouldn’t work. She just got swept along. Because of the parallel that has been drawn, what does this say about the fate of John’s marriage and about the severity of the secrets Mary may be hiding from John?