Sherlock's drug addiction

 (Sherlock meta by Ivy Blossom)

Question:

Hey Ivy. Here's something I thinking about the other night and thought I ask. In His Last Vow, Sherlock stars using again and tells John that it's for a case, which we later find out make sense. But I read a while ago that it was because he was depressed over John's wedding. I remember not believing it, I thought that if it were really depression he would be far too gone to even accept a case, it's a good theory though. Your thoughts?

Ivy Blossom:

Interesting. On the surface of it, Sherlock seems fine at the beginning of His Last Vow. He’s got his big, juicy case, he’s being I would say quite creative with his methods, which seems like a good thing. He’s thinking laterally about how to dig into his work. He’s never done the girlfriend trick before, and it doesn’t seem to phase him how cruel it is. He’s using, but we never see any negative consequences from that. He seems to be in control of it rather than spiralling out. On the surface, Sherlock does seem to be going forward quite happily with his life.

But we know that’s not so.

Mrs Hudson gave us the big slap-you-in-the-face clue about her best friend crying at her wedding, saying it was the end of an era, leaving early, and then not keeping in touch. So no matter how together Sherlock appears on the surface, the mirror stories all tell us that Sherlock is devastated.

John’s blog tells us Sherlock is bitter about John’s "Sex Holiday" and missing him horribly. He’s demonstrably lonely while John is away.

Sherlock’s creative thinking on his cases seems to indicate his other, undocumented obsessions. There were surely other ways to get into Magnussen’s office other than seducing Janine. Seduction has never been in Sherlock’s toolkit before. Why is it now? It’s almost as if he can’t stop thinking about sex, love and relationships now that John has left him for someone else.

I’m not saying he’s trying a relationship on for size, because I don’t think that’s quite it. He is in that relationship purely for a case, we know that. But he choses to do things for reasons that are meaningful, like Irene says: Every disguise is a self-portrait.

So Sherlock is also trying that relationship on, maybe. To soothe himself, to make a point, to lash out. Look, John. I can do it too. Look at me, having sex (so you think) with someone who’s not you! Look at me, getting engaged to a lady friend, how does it feel? HOW DOES IT FEEL, MOTHERFUCKER? Bitter as all hell.

And smug! Because he’s pretty thrilled to rub John’s face in his deception, isn’t he! Completely thrilled to tell John how great his relationship is. Oh it’s great. They’re so happy together, just like John and Mary are. Yep, going great, so fulfilled. Uh huh. (HOW DOES IT FEEL, JOHN? TELL ME HOW IT FEELS, I HAVE NO IDEA AT ALL. NOPE, CAN’T IMAGINE HOW YOU MUST BE FEELING RIGHT NOW. NEVER BEEN IN A SITUATION LIKE THAT, CAN’T SYMPATHIZE AT ALL.)  It’s like Reichenbach all over again: an elaborate ruse that on the surface happens for a perfectly good reason, but it’s mostly happening just to fool John.

Sherlock can’t not notice that John is painfully jealous of Janine. So jealous he’s offended by her. So jealous he goes from being excited about a case to pretending not to be interested. If that isn’t a big, bitter fuck you from Sherlock to John, I don’t know what is. But you won’t see it on his face, oh no. On the surface, this is all a case. But Sherlock most definitely is missing John while pushing him away. He’s bitter, he’s angry, and he’s lonely, and he’s lashing out at John for leaving him. It’s hard not to read it that way, though you look at it on the surface, and it’s not there at all. He’s just trying to solve a case. Perfectly innocent.

Yeah, right.

If Sherlock wanted to tarnish his reputation with Magnussen in some way, he didn’t have to turn to drugs. And if he was going to turn to drugs, he didn’t have to actually turn to drugs, which he does. If all he wanted was a rumour, he could have dropped some drug paraphernalia somewhere obvious or just hung out in the crack house without taking anything. He doesn’t need to actually shoot up. No, I think he probably started using in order to drown his pain. The pain he’s outwardly denying being in. Yes it’s for a case. Sure. Just like seducing Janine for a case. Neither is necessary, and both are a direct response to John’s marriage.

We know he was hurting; Mrs Hudson told us so. His face in The Sign Of Three told us so. And his appearance of keeping it together drugs-wise is certainly helped along by the fact that he starts the morning high and ends the day dead, then hooked up to a morphine drip. Being in hospital for a couple of months under the eye of medical professionals is probably a pretty good way to stay clean.

Especially when John is in there with him every day, grousing about his bloody lying psychopathicwife and playing Cluedo with him.

On the nose, no, Sherlock doesn’t seem to be using to dull his pain. But when you lay the mirror stories out, and look at the reality of Sherlock’s decisions, it’s hard to imagine that he isn’t. He can make all the excuses he likes, but they aren’t very convincing.