The Empty Hearse

 A Meta By A Sceptical But Hopeful Sherlollian

 (Sherlock meta by barriss)

As many Sherlolly shippers out there, I was completely ecstatic over the multiple moments between the two in The Empty Hearse and, in the surge of the moment, was led to believe that ["my ship has sailed"]

Now, however, after rewatching their scenes for at least 30 times in the span of a few days, I have come to the conclusion that my previous thoughts were far too optimistic and blinded by the light of new content and material to be considered logical. Now, as I watch their scenes with a clearer head I can notice some things are in fact not what they may seem and have led me to become extremely skeptical that Sherlock’s new behavior towards Molly leans towards romantic, while still desperately holding on to that small hope that, in fact, it is.

Now, before anyone jumps on my ass, let me just mention that I am a complete Sherlolly fanatic. I have shipped it actively for quite a while now and I will ship it till my dying breath.

Secondly, I want you to know that I am an engineer. I am not a literary major, I don’t know how to write analyses, nor am I very good at picking up on things like how what someone’s wearing in the scene and how it affects them. I’m a logical person and I can only call it how I see it through these two eyes of mine. So I may be very incorrect about my assumptions in this meta, but for all intents and purposes, I think it’s not a bad thing for someone like me to give it a go, if only for others, who are better at this than I am, to compare their own theories with mine and perhaps reevaluate or rethink theirs under a new light.

Now, enough rambling from me, let’s get this show on the road.

Obviously, major spoilers for The Empty Hearse below, so thread with caution if you haven’t watched it yet, though who are we kidding, you probably have already. Also, all GIFs and Edits are mine and have not been stolen from anyone. 

Let’s begin with the beginning.

We’ve all been going completely GA GA over the bond-esque Liplock moment between Sherlock and Molly from Anderson’s overly exaggerated scenario.

[Yes, this is Liplock. Use the term as you see fit.] 

Fake as it was, it led me to remember a very important quote from the show’s producer, Sue Vertue, at the Sherlock Comic Con panel in 2013 regarding the Sherlock/Molly relationship:

“It’s not going to go the way Tumblr thinks it’s going to go." 

I firmly believe that this scene is what Vertue was hinting at. Sherlolly happened, in a way we completely did not expect, while in fact didn’t happen at all. Sly, evil bastards!

Nevertheless, the fact that Molly was used for such an intense and expectantly iconic moment leads to believe that the writers do indeed acknowledge the Sherlock and Molly relationship and its following, even though it was meant as a bit of a joke and blatant Cumberbatch fanservice.

I also want to point out the fact that Molly was present during each and every scenario, even the one with the almost Sheriarty kiss, even though she legitimately had no business being in the headcanon of some random slash fan who probably didn’t even know she existed. This again could be considered as a nod to Molly’s importance in the show and in Sherlock’s not-death.

Next in the scenes I would like to talk about is the one in the food joint, after Sherlock reveals himself to John and Mary and they are discussing those who knew of his survival.

When asked who else beside Mycroft knew, while being very awkward and visibly guilty, Sherlock blurts out ‘Molly.’ He only says her full name the second time, after being asked by an incredulous john ‘Molly!?’ He instinctively calls her by her first name and is one of the very few people Sherlock does this with, the others being John, who is his best friend, and his brother, whom he can’t very well call ‘Holmes’, can he? He always calls Mrs. Hudson, Mrs. Hudson, and after all these years he still can’t remember [...] Greg’s name. She is named several times throughout this scene, twice by Sherlock and twice by John, while Mycroft, who was the only other known person in on it is only named once. Again, a nod to Molly’s importance.

Now, I don’t believe there are any romantic implications in this scene, as the way she is mentioned is devoid of any gravitas and more in an ‘I’m sorry she knew and you didn’t’ kind of way.

Next is the moment when John and Mary drive away and Sherlock is left alone, slightly taken aback by Mary, [...] because she’s just so frickety frackity awesome, and we see him walking away all alone. This is the moment he decides to go to Bart’s and see Molly.

He looks down and then slowly turns, his body is relaxed and his head held low as he walks towards the hospital (even though he really should keep it up to stop the blood from flowing down his chin.) Perhaps the image of Mary, a woman and a significant other to someone prompts him to go to Molly. This could be believed to be a parallel between the two pairs, one departs together, while the other is destined to meet.

What’s interesting here, and slightly fangirlish squeal worthy, is how the scene fades from Sherlock walking away from the camera to Molly walking towards it.

Though this could be a random way to fade to a scene, since we get a different one from where the scene switches from Molly to Lestrade and we see Sherlock in the back walking in perfect synchronicity with the DI.

Also, as many other metas have pointed out, the fact that Sherlock went to see Molly first is extremely important. Besides John, he went to see Molly before all of the others who were known to be held dear by him and who were among the ones targeted by the assassins in The Reichenbach Fall. 

He waits for her in the locker room and remains silent, watching her and waiting for Molly to be the one who acknowledges him first. We could go ahead and say ‘oh he totes wanted to look at her a bit more and also he was shy and didn’t have the guts to call out to her because he’s emotional’ and whatnot, but I think that’s just wishful thinking and it was nothing but a way to make the scene more interesting. Him appearing in the mirror was a pretty cool effect and probably nothing more.

I am not the only one who noticed the similarities between this scene and their last during The Reichenbach Fall. Molly walking in the room, tired and strained from work, to be surprised and made to jump around by Sherlock, who was standing behind her. I thought it was an awesome addition and an obvious imply that he is back and everything should go back to normal.

Now, some have been speculating that the fact that he does not smile until she turns around is a +1 for the good ship Sherlolly, but I disagree.

His stance is cold and his face shows no expression as he watches her and it is only when she gasps and whirls around that he smiles, amused by her reaction. The smile, although blurred, gives off a conspiratorial vibe, and he nods at her in greeting. He is implying: ‘We did it, Molly. The plan worked.’ He playfully smiles at her like she is his partner in crime.

Molly, in turn, is surprised by his presence, as she should be, but it is not overwhelming shock like with John, Greg and Mrs. H experience. Molly knew it was only a matter of time before she saw him again, and if anything she is pleased and relieved that he is safely home. Her eyes and the breaths she lets out speak volumes in this shot and I believe it’s in this vulnerable moment that we see her feelings for him spill out. She is not guarded like the next time they meet, now, she is overwhelmed and happy and beside herself.

Now, we get to the good parts.

I think it’s extremely interesting how fidgety Sherlock is just before Molly’s arrival.

In the first pane, he could be looking at her as he enters 221B. His lips look like they are mumbling words and he looks like he is mentally rehearsing something.

Then, the moment she enters the door and very sweetly asks ‘You wanted to see me?’, we get a glorious close-up of his stupid, pretty, stupid face, and we see he is wary, afraid even.

This moment could be very easily misconstrued. Many believed this to be Sherlock being nervous in Molly’s presence, and indeed, he is about to do something he has never done before and he knows how very easily he could fuck it up. I don’t think he’s nervous because she is there per say, or because he’s about to make some sort of declaration to her, but because the following hours will be very delicate and he needs to be on his best behavior.

I think he’s been planning this for a while, this day where he pays Molly back for everything she’s done. It’s an effort for him, he doesn’t seem very eager, nor excited, but he wants to thank her and he wants to do it right. He’s not wary of her, he’s wary of himself.

He turns around and lets out an artificially excited ‘Yes!’ 

Now, as I did my best not to stare at Sherlock’s newly evolved pectoral muscles, this shyness of his as he prepares to ask her The Question had me a bit confused. I honestly don’t know if this was genuine or just Gatiss pulling our leg or Ben exaggerating on the acting and all was nothing but a bit of a joke. The music and the overall ambiance of the moment leans towards the wishfully romantic side, yet the exaggeration of Sherlock’s behavior makes me skeptical about this scene. It’s just so out of character for him and so completely random.

What we do know is that this was definitely not an easy thing for him to ask of her, judging by his apprehension prior to her arrival and his behavior during his speech. He is asking her to replace John, he is asking her to be his partner (again), he is asking her for help, all the while doing this for her.

It’s a wonderfully sweet moment between them that’s cut short by her blurting out ‘have dinner’ at the same time as his ‘solve crimes’. The very similar faces they make are priceless and it’s a very funny moment that’s just begging to be screencaped.

[Haha, u sillies!]

But let’s be serious for a bit. I think this is excellent proof of Molly not having in fact gotten over Sherlock. Besides the fact that she practically asked him out to dinner (a nod perhaps to Irene Adler and her double entendre, but with definitely a much more innocent connotation, as in going out to eat, and NOT going out to eat *winks*), Molly seems genuinely very happy to meet up with him again.

This also leads me to believe that his request wasn’t actually him asking her out on his version of a date, as the prospect of an actual date left him confused, bothered and bewildered.

Now, let’s get on with their first client.

Judging by her sitting position, Molly is at first stiff and uncertain and the atmosphere is uncomfortable.

I absolutely love how supportive and encouraging Sherlock is with her during this scene. Molly believes she is there as nothing but a replacement for John, someone to keep him company while he mourns the loss of his real partner, but this is not the case. He genuinely tries to make her at ease, lets her do what she wants and says probably the nicest thing he could ever say to her:

“You’re not being John, you’re being yourself.” 

*takes a moment to clutch at her heart at how revolutionary this moment was* 

Look with how much ease Sherlock says this to her. He sounds impatient and even frustrated by her believing she is John’s replacement and her actually trying to become it. This is not what he wants. He wants Molly to be Molly and he wants her to be her own person around him. He wants her there with him, not John, nor anyone else…. Aaaaand there I go giving myself feels again.

[Pretty bby!]

And look how visibly pleased and relaxed Molly becomes. That nod of the head is very important, as she realizes that Sherlock isn’t looking for another John, but merely for another partner. This makes her happy, and she in turn acknowledges that Sherlock has changed. She’s pleased and gains a whole new level of confidence.

The next client is a woman whose pen pal (LOL, do people even say pen pal anymore?) stopped sending her emails. Sherlock is surprisingly kind with her, patting her hand [...] and being all nice, which is, again, a massive sign of change in his personality.

Molly is behind him, taking notes, looking much more relaxed and now wearing only a blouse. This shows she’s now more at ease and has melted into her role.

The next moment is, I find, a very heartbreaking one. Sherlock says to the woman: “And you really thought he was the one, didn’t you? The love of your life.”

He then turns very slowly towards Molly, who briefly looks up though not seeming to realize anything out of the ordinary.

At first, in my blind optimism, I had held the hope that this implied that Sherlock heard the words ‘The love of your life’ and was unconsciously prompted to look at Molly, because ‘love of his life’… but no, I was wrong. I think Sherlock in fact saw Molly in this poor, broken woman in love. This means he acknowledges Molly’s love for him and this could very well be another hint at Molly not yet being over Sherlock.

*sobbing* 

Sherlock is uncharacteristically angry with the piss pot step dad. He is angry with the piss pot for breaking a woman’s heart, for fooling her into a doomed love that would never be and for being a piss pot, because he sees a bit of himself in the piss pot as well.

*SOBBING!* 

Before we move on to the fake crime scene, I think I need to point out that both of these cases are about broken romances. An affair, an imminent divorce and a hopeless love with someone who never was what they appeared to be.

Just fuck everything! 

Now, at the crime scene, I really like how excited Molly seems. She’s in her element, as in death, bodies and murder. Good for her!

We see here that, in the darkness, in the face of actual death, Sherlock once again begins missing John’s presence. It’s here that we realize that it’s still John Sherlock wants to be out with, and his subconscious is blatantly telling him, and us, so.

Molly, in turn, seems enchanted by Sherlock as he works, as she should be. He is majestic when he deduces and she is visibly impressed.

“This gonna be your new arrangement, is it?” Lestrade asks skeptically, to which Sherlock distractedly replies: “Just giving it a go.” 

As I try my hardest not to make dirty jokes on this innuendo, I notice that, with another person present, Sherlock is much colder towards Molly, barely acknowledging her presence and even looking fairly dejected when Lestrade asks about John.

He is much more distant with her in this scene, barely looking at her and giving her very curt replies.

Something that made me smile widely was the sight of the two of them looking the corpse over, deducing it in tandem and Sherlock finishing Molly’s sentence in excellent synchronicity… oh the person I’ve become.

Sherlock, though in his own element, wants to get away from there as soon as possible, he is distracted and being in a dark crime scene without his main wing man affects him deeply to the point where he finally slips up and as tactless as a bulldozer calls Molly ‘John.’

This understandably hurts and disappoints Molly, and I think the previously warm moments between them are bludgeoned out the window for her, and she once again closes up in front of him.

For the time being, at least, because in the next scene, when they go vising Train Guy they seem to be in pretty high spirits, fooling around and just being a couple of adorable fucking dorks that would look much better holding hands.

This is actually the first time, if I’m correct, where we see Molly touching Sherlock (not counting the A Scandal in Belgravia kiss), and she does it with extreme ease and playfulness. This is not something one does with a person they are not completely comfortable with and you can very plainly see that they are perfectly comfortable with each other in this scene.

This leads me to believe that they went on several more cases between the crime scene and this one, and thus have gotten closer and more familiar with each other.

We see Sherlock making fun of Train Guy because LOL even I find it hard to believe he has a girlfriend and I’m analyzing ships from a TV show, and he turns to Molly, expecting her to laugh along with him, but instead she gives him a ‘bad Sherlock!’ kind of look and he immediately shuts his pie hole.

This means he listens to her and understands her even without any words said between them, a very important development, since we don’t see him do this with anyone else other than John, and maybe Mycroft.

Another thing that caught my eye was how beautifully they matched and how pretty they looked together.

Look at the contrast between them. She, all colorful and warm, with her long pink scarf untied and falling loosely down her front, he, cold and neutral, with his short blue scarf tied neatly around his throat. They are perfect opposites yet they complement each other perfectly.

I am not one to put much weight on stuff like this, since I genuinely don’t think this has anything to do with anything, but the image of it is interesting and quite simply, beautiful, so it deserved to be mentioned.

Again, Sherlock acts playful around her and even tries to make her laugh. I adore how warm he is towards her in this scene and how he fishes for smiles as well as the prolonged, conspiratorial, childish and pleased look he gives her when he succeeds.

After they watch the tapes and Sherlock becomes intrigued, the what I like to call ‘hopefully-maybe-flirting’ ends abruptly and his focus in now fully on the case.

He does, at one point, seem to glance her way and so does she, except in his case it’s brief and fleeting, while hers is extended and lasts until he speaks to her and actually asks for her opinion, which is another thing I really liked in this scene, that she snaps out of her ‘Sherlock’s face’ induced daze.

The look he throws her now is colder and slightly impatient, as he probably acknowledged the fact that she was enraptured with him again, and Molly now looks disappointed in herself for slipping up.

After the Mind Palace scene, we see Sherlock standing at the top of the stairwell, in a trance and Molly looking up at him in concern, because that shit would freak anyone out, let’s be honest.

After he orders ALL the maps, Sherlock then invites Molly out for dinner, echoing her wish from earlier that day. He asks her without looking her in the eye and I noticed that he seemed slightly awkward as he passed her by on the stairs.

He seems to try to keep his distance from her, completely avoids eye contact by purposefully glancing in the other direction as he passes her and the discomfort her closeness brings is evident in his features. I don’t know if this is him being uncomfortable with his personal space being breached, since she did touch him earlier and he didn’t seem bothered, him trying to keep his distance after realizing she still has a thing for him, thanks to the drooling staring at him previously, or just him being a shy because he lurves her, but something is definitely up with him now and he’s trying to distance himself from her, even though he kept rambling on about French fries.

When Molly asks if the extra chip portions are because he got the owner off a murder charge, leads me, and many others, to believe that he had shared the story of Angelo with him, which isn’t implausible, since it has been hinted they sometimes chat (the time Molly mentioned Sherlock complained about John leaving to his sister’s for Christmas in A Scandal in Belgravia), which shows in the ease with which they talk and that they don’t shy away from informalities, like when Molly calls out to him, and he replies with a simple ‘Hm?’ – I actually liked that a lot.

Again he jokes with her, trying to keep the atmosphere light, but like a wrecking ball, she comes in and finally addresses the elephant in the room and asks what the whole day had been about.

He doesn’t hesitate in telling her it was to thank her. He is earnest and eloquent as he speaks, while she begins stuttering and shying away from him. She slips back into the old, lovelorn Molly Hooper from Series 1, but Sherlock doesn’t let her, and keeps the speech going.

And then this happens:

“Moriarty slipped up, he made a mistake. It was the one person he thought didn’t matter at all to me, was the one person who mattered the most. You made it all possible.” 

This is a direct follow up of the ‘You do count’ scene in The Reichenbach Fall, but it’s more sincere, more heartfelt, and more appreciative, now that she helped him, that she risked herself for him and did her job well.

But he also points out that she can’t do this again.

This seems to hurt her, and even though she smiles and claims she had a lovely day, the smile doesn’t show in her eyes. In my opinion, she seems resigned. She knows Sherlock doesn’t feel anything for her, she knows they can be friends and nothing more, and she accepts it, but it pains her nonetheless.

When Sherlock acknowledges the engagement ring on her finger and congratulates her with a smile that also doesn’t spread to his eyes, she bows her head awkwardly and fucking sadness all around.

Then she tells her that the fiancé is not a guy she met at work. He genuinely smiles at this, at the fact that all the known men in her life, her last boyfriend, aka crazy, psycho Jimbo, as well as Sherlock himself was met on the job, and this could only mean good things. He might be relieved and maybe even proud of her for this.

[Ow, my heart, that face!]

She goes on a long winded ramble about boring boyfriend who is nice and has a dog and goes to pubs on weekends, and even she acknowledges the fact that there should be no point telling Sherlock any of this, yet she still does and wants him to know that she is, as she claims, happy.

I think Sherlock here tries to push her a little bit from behind, like he’s trying to make her realize that she does deserve all the happiness and discreetly tries to make her understand that said happiness can’t be found with him.

I think he knows she’s not over him and this saddens him.

Now, my words fail me at explaining what I deduced from the next bit, so I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

[Pic1: Sherlock approaches and gauges Molly’s reaction.]

[Pic2: Yeah, she loves him.]

[Pic 3: Poor, sweet, darling, foolish Molly. He’s happy she loves him, but he wishes she didn’t.]

[Pic 4: This is him saying he cares lots about her, is grateful to her, and genuinely wishes her all the best.]

[Pic 5: Yeah, Sherlock did more damage than good. Totally not over him.]

Without so much as a goodbye or a look back, Sherlock leaves, and Molly stays back to recover from the kiss of death, and with slightly red eyes acknowledges that sociopaths just might be her type, which they totes are. Again, she seems resigned and aware that this is probably all she’s ever gonna get, which is why she doesn’t follow him, instead going in the other direction after glancing at his retreating form, looking perfectly intent to move on and live her life.

I think Molly has come a very long way since the second season. There’s no more wishful thinking and dreams and hopes. These two years away from him seemed to have done her good, although I believe that what she feels for him is too strong to be simply pushed aside.

Molly still loves Sherlock, I genuinely believe this, but no longer will she pursue him like she did before.

Fast forward to the get-together at 221B. Here, we finally get to meet boring boyfriend Tom, aka Fakelock.

I found it interesting that we can hear Molly’s exactly at the moment Sherlock expressed his dislike of weddings.

Also, another thing that’s interesting is the fact that Sherlock seems averse to weddings in the first place. Yes, he’s definitely not the wedding type, we can all agree to that, but I also think it might be due to he now finding himself losing two of the most important people in his life to holy matrimony.

So, Molly and Fakelock arrive.

I love everyone’s reaction to Tom. John seems completely dumbfounded and we even see him briefly glancing at Sherlock. Lestrade gives a very awkward ‘Hi’ and John seems to not know whether to laugh or just keep gaping.

Sherlock doesn’t acknowledge Molly immediately and decides right then and there that he’s ready to go out and meet the reporters. Now, lots of people claim he didn’t acknowledge her at all, but he does, and quite sweetly at that, as he flashes her a very affectionate smile.

And then his eyes fall on homeboy Tom, and he’s shocked.

[That is the face of a man who has seen true horror.]

He glances Fakelock up and down and immediately realizes what’s up. Molly has found herself nothing but a cheap replica of himself, not only in the clothes, which are scarily similar to his own, but even in the facial structure and hair. And he’s mortified.

I don’t think he’s jealous or angry, I think if anything, he’s embarrassed.

John looks between the two men and you can tell he’s totally expecting Sherlock to burst and just tear the new guy apart, but we’re once again shown his growth and maturity when he cordially shakes the man’s hand and walks away without a single word.

Lestrade comes up and asks Molly whether she and Tom are serious, to which she happily replies:

[And in that moment I swear we were all Lestrade.]

I’m glad that Molly believes she’s happy, I really am, but this whole thing feels like a joke to me. It’s clearly unhealthy and while I’m sure Fakelock is nice and all (in the case he’s not another psycho or anything), but I genuinely don’t think this relationship is good for her. IF they’re gonna find her a man, I want it to be someone that doesn’t reek of Sherlock replacement.

Though once again, I think it’s safe to assume that she has, in fact, not moved on.

Outside, Sherlock still feels uncomfortable, and we can see it when he tried to tie his scarf.

He makes a gesture that expresses how distraught and clearly displeased with the situation he is. He feels so frustrated that he doesn’t even feel like tying his scarf the same way again.

Sherlock promises John not to say a word, even though they both realize how completely ridiculous the whole situation is, and again, kudos to him. He really does want Molly to be happy and I think the fact that he won’t interfere shows a great deal of maturity and kindness on his part.

I think he has come a long way from the man who so callously used to criticize every little thing about Molly Hooper and everyone around him. Sherlock has grown up, and I couldn’t be more proud.

Conclusion time! 

Even though [...] I still ship Sherlolly to hell and back, I genuinely don’t see it ever becoming canon.

Which is not unexpected, I don’t think any serious Sherlolly shipper has ever held on to such a belief, Sherlock Holmes not being a character made to be in a relationship or to love.

Still, there are many scenes in this episode that does make you go: ‘Just maybe.’ 

Molly is clearly not over Sherlock, that I don’t think anyone could argue with me. [...]  I think, after everything is said and done, there is one universal truth that is just as strong now as it was before this episode premiered:

There’s always hope for Molly. 

And that’s what makes it cruel.