Molly's behaviour in TFP were symptomatic of depression

 (Sherlock meta by penfairy)

jacobs-jottings: 

I thought maybe [Molly was] pregnant at first [as an explanation to her mood before the phone call]. But I think she's just meant to be run down, plus, it'd be odd to make a character possibly pregnant whilst establishing uncertainty on any new series, and also, that she's still not over her love for Sherlock (she deserves better tbh!!!) But yeah, they're also all general symptoms of depression, and by the analysing of her coffin, we gathered her life isn't so good. Then that was reaffirmed by her isolation and general sadness on the phone.

penfairy: 

Yeah, I think they would’ve made it explicit if she really were pregnant. Plus, thinking about it, it’s far more powerful if her behaviour were symptomatic of depression. Sherlock’s voice broke when he said “alone” and I think that’s what it all pivots around. Molly has no close family; her father is dead and she had no-one besides the Baker St crew to spend Christmas with in ASiB. She had Tom for a while, but it’s clear he was there to fill the void and she didn’t really love him, and in a decision that would have taken an enormous amount of courage, she decided it was better to be honest and break it off with Tom - better to be alone than marry someone she didn’t really love. Then she became godmother to Rosie, and had to deal with the aftermath of Mary’s death, trying to look after Rosie and keep John and Sherlock from falling apart while she was grieving too. She had to watch the man she loved slowly killing himself through reckless behaviour. She was tired, so tired. She’d had enough. She stood up to Sherlock in that phone call, wouldn’t agree to any games or experiments, didn’t even want to pick up the phone because she was so sick of it all. And that’s fucking heartbreaking. The only family she’s got has been torn apart, and she was slowly buckling under the strain of keeping it all together.

So when we see her she’s sad. And alone. She couldn’t even find the strength to go to work that day.

When Sherlock said he loved her, and she said the same to him, it was a moment of release and catharsis. The second time Sherlock said those words, he meant it - and it’s up to us to decide whether he meant it romantically or platonically - but he fucking meant those words, and he meant it when he called her his friend. And even though it hurt both of them - even though it was torture, vivisection, being cut open - it means they can start to heal now.

Just look at Molly’s smile in the montage at the end. Her big smile as she greets her friends - her family - at 221B. Things were rough for Molly. I don’t doubt that she developed depression, or at least suffered a depressive episode. But what Eurus did was allow Sherlock and Molly to tell the truth for once, and once they’d said those words and revealed their darkest secrets, they could move on, and Molly could recover. Whether or not Sherlock returns her feelings romantically is irrelevant; we know she’s going to be all right. She has friends who value her and treat her well, she has a god-daughter and all her work colleagues too. She’s not alone.