Jealous?

 (Sherlock meta by penfairy)

I need to talk about this moment.

From what I’ve seen, a lot of people don’t fully appreciate the gravity of this scene, or else they look at it with the shipping goggles on and say Sherlock’s jealous because he’s spotted Molly’s wedding ring.

But I’m almost certain we’re supposed to take this moment as an indication that Sherlock is indeed jealous of Molly Hooper’s intelligence.

Throughout this scene Sherlock hears John’s voice taunting him, saying things like “You forgot to put your collar up.” Being on bad terms with John has caused him to hear John vocalising his insecurities and pointing out his flaws. So when Molly begins to make correct deductions from just a look at this skeleton, he hears John’s voice saying “Jealous?”, which implies, “You just can’t stand anyone being cleverer than you, can you? You can’t handle the fact that Molly is smarter.” 

We’ve known for a long time that Molly is good at what she does. Even before Sherlock took any real notice of her, she was still the person he trusted most with autopsies. He used her as a lab assistant, not because he took any real pleasure in her company as he does later on, but because he knew he could rely on her expertise. He’s “always trusted” Molly, both as a person and as a professional.

And she not only lives up to his impossible standards. She excels them. He is jealous of her. He’s jealous of her anatomical knowledge, of her abilities as a pathologist, of her skill in the medical field. In his mind palace she is even the damn personification of medical knowledge.

Sherlock may be a consulting detective, but Molly is his consulting pathologist. When it comes to dead bodies, Molly Hooper is queen.