In Defense of Sally Donovan

 (Sherlock Meta by wellingtongoose)

Anonymous asked: How can you even defend Sally? She is such a b*tch to Sherlock! If I called someone a freak at work I would be fired. She totally deserves everything she gets.*

wellingtongoose: In reference to  my metas:  Heroines in Sherlock or Nuclear Meltdown at the Met 2, which are both mostly about Sally.

I personally find hatred for Sally Donovan on the Sherlock fandom disturbing and also incredibly illogical. Many people have condemned Sally for being “unprofessional” towards Sherlock and yet few have thought to use the same yardstick to measure Sherlock.

For a moment, let’s put aside the blinding vitriol and actually take a look at Sherlock, not Sally. Here is man, who to all intent and purposes, sets himself up as a professional. He holds an expert body of knowledge that gives him power over his clients. In the same way doctors have an expert body of knowledge that gives we us great influence over our patients.

How does Sherlock treat his clients, the people he is nominally trying to help? He treats them with disdain. Instead of attempting to reassure the client in ASIB, he rants off a list of the man’s very personal attributes to a complete stranger, right in front of the client and then condescendingly tells the man not to worry. In THoB, not only does he refuse to take Henry Knight seriously, he is completely dismissive of his very real fears.

How does he treat the people he works with? Sherlock consistently forgets to share information with John or withholds information deliberately so he can test out a pet theory. He runs off at regular intervals leaving John in the lurch and also has little consideration for John’s personal life, which Sherlock seems to think should be put on hold for him. I have no doubt that Sherlock values John as his friend, companion and blogger, but John definitely deserves to be treated better.

As for Lestrade and the CID – Sherlock has shown consistent contempt for the police and police procedure. There is a reason why you must not contaminate crime scenes or withhold evidence from the police. The evidence gathered is not admissible in a court of law. Sherlock might solve the case – but he’s made securing a conviction very difficult/almost impossible. The police have these rules so that they can actually lock the criminals away and secure justice for the victim and their families (Nuclear Meltdown at the Met)

Sherlock consistently refuses to behave professionally in the course of his professional duties.

In contrast, we do not see Sally treating crime victims or her colleagues with the same unprofessional attitude that Sherlock does.

Yes, Sally was unprofessional; I’m not saying that she is blameless. However we don’t know what has been said between Sherlock and Sally in the past and therefore we do not have a context for the comment. Given Sherlock’s willingness to drag Sally’s private life into their conversation right in front of her colleagues I would say their feud was ugly on both sides.

Sally definitely needs to improve on her professional attitude to Sherlock, but Sherlock needs to improve his attitude to everyone, including John and Mrs Hudson.

But Sherlock isn’t a real person - he’s a flawed protagonist and audiences find that appealing. For example: I love watching House because he says all the things I would never dare to say to my patients.

Sherlock has the emotional sensitivity of a tabloid newspaper but that’s what makes him Sherlock, and sets the BBC adaptation apart from Elementary/ITV Granada versions.

We can’t judge Sherlock for his bad behaviour, his flaws are central to the show. Therefore it’s decidedly unfair and equally fruitless to judge Sally for her reactions to him.

Sally represents how the average person would treat Sherlock (but not how they should treat anyone) and it accentuates the amazing patience, loyalty, dedication and personal sacrifices of John, Mrs Hudson and even Lestrade.

 *this is not the full text of the ask, I had to edit it because of the vocabulary used.

If you want to read my analysis of Sally’s actions during TRF: Nuclear Meltdown at the Met 2