Some thoughts on The Empty Hearse

 (Sherlock meta by justanotherfangirls)

 I wanted to do rewatching Sherlolly posts for season 3, but to do that I have to watch the episodes several more times and spend days on end contemplating about them. Regretfully I cannot do that anytime soon. I however rewatched TEH, specifically the Sherlolly working together scenes a couple more times and I can’t deal with all these feelings.

I will never get over the fact that Sherlock had planned this whole day for Molly, to “thank her” for her help. Yes, he absolutely did. It was terribly sentimental and he never does that for just anyone. In fact, I believe he never does that for anyone else. But consider this. He properly thanks her after two years had passed since her helping him. He had too much time alone, to reflect on his previous life and realize how valuable the people around him are. How much he is grateful (and sorry) to all of them. And he decides to do something about Molly. It was a perfect plan that took perhaps two years in the making. That is why he is all nervous and waiting for her to arrive when the whole plan was finally in motion. And what does he give her? A date. Yes, it was a date, Sherlock style. It was not a proper crime investigation, because as people pointed out, the cases involves romance and drama, perhaps what he thinks Molly would be interested in because after all she is a girl. They never involved danger or running away, unlike his cases with John which were full of adrenaline, action and death defying acts. John can handle himself, but he needed to protect Molly because she doesn’t have the training or experience for these. He chose all their cases, all the while thinking that he’s doing this with Molly. His main purpose was not to solve crimes, because he could have chosen more interesting, less emotional ones. But he liked crimes, and Molly would like these. It is a compromise for things they both liked so that they would do things that they would both enjoy. A date. He even tells her at one point, Welcome to my world. He lets her in, tries to impress her, wants her to be part of it. Wants her to stay.

More supporting evidence for this was, I think I already read somewhere, the scene before. When Sherlock was talking to Mycroft about why anyone would mind that hat person being different? Here he is acknowledging himself as someone able to have functional relationships with other people. Something that sadly does not seem to ring true in HLV anymore.

There were much, too much subtext, subtle glances, exchanges, and flirting all throughout these scenes. Yes this is most definitely a date, and a romantic one at that. Even an offer to dinner from Sherlock himself to cap it off. And a sincere confession with zero ulterior motives. You are the one person that mattered the most. And then he selflessly lets her go for her happiness, right after he tells her she is the one that mattered the most to him. Because she deserves to be happy, and he thinks he can never give her that, he is not good enough. He had prepared so well and given so much of himself away, but it was not good enough. He was too late. And it’s so sad and heartbreaking and I cannot unsee all these things now. I just knew they were setting us up for angst because they had generously given us a very sexy albeit fantasy kiss; but I do believe that plus the miles closer to canon sherlolly is (even if it’s uncertain it would reach that) would still be well worth the heartbreak.