The Sherlock/Molly crime solving scenes in TEH

 (Sherlock meta by the-angelsong)

I just watched the Molly Sherlock scenes in The Empty Hearse again. [...]

Okay, collecting my thoughts. I’m going to break it down as I see it. Note* this is just my opinion/interpretation of those scenes… I do not pretend to have any clue as to the motivations of the writers or actors during these scenes.

1. Sherlocks welcome back: Sherlock goes to Molly right after he sees John. Why is this significant? Well, Molly knows that he is alive, so she shouldn’t be a high priority on his back from the dead tour, but he goes to her straight after John. (I’m even toying with the idea that he sees her first… see bottom of post for more on this.) We have all seen the gif (I don’t know how to make it or find it or I would add it lol) when they first see each other at Barts in the locker room. The focus is on Molly but you can still see him smile in the reflection of the mirror.

2. When he is waiting for her to come over to ask her to go crime fighting: he is nervous. You can see him mouthing words to himself. (Figuring out how to ask her?) note* at this point I think he already knows about her engagement, I think he knew that from their first meeting.

3. That whole scene when he asks her: like omg! When have you ever seen him be so diplomatic? It reads so much like him attempting to ask her out I’m not surprised she thought he was. And when she finishes his sentence for him, the look he gives her! His eyes! (Okay at this point my nose was literally an inch away from the screen as I watched on slow motion) he looks at her like: well, yes. Obviously.

4. The cheating husband case: “Your not being John your being yourself.” [...] She is sitting next to him! John always sits opposite him, and the clients sit on the desk chair and get judged. This time the client sits in John’s chair with her husband standing next to her. Sherlock is deliberately creating changes to his routine so not to make Molly feel like she is a substitute.

5. The catfish case. Again, Sherlock seats the clients in another part of the room. Look at his history people! Every case, he always sits them in the same spot. Except for when he is with Molly… not only that but look at his face as he holds the client’s hand. [...] Could you get more out of character? This case is a 2 at best, but he looks so much like he cares. Why would he do that? Why would he waste time talking to the client, she is obviously upset and irrational. Traits that Sherlock detests, and yet there he is. “And you really thought he was the one didn’t you…. the love of your life.” *looks straight over to Molly* Even as he explains the truth to Molly he does it quietly, with caring in his voice. Rather then his usual MO of just blurting it out… (also notice that all these cases are around lovers, cheating or not being what they say they are. Like maybe he wants her to think about her relationship…) And then he serves up the clients dad. Which again is out of character, he wouldn’t care.

6. The case with Lestrade: he is totally showing off for her! Okay head cannon, John talking to him? That’s his own self doubt sneaking in. Eg. [Molly]: “Your on to something aren’t you?” [Sherlock]: “Maybe.” John’s voice: Show off… He is actually showing off. Then Lestrade asks him about Molly and he says he is giving it a go. He says that because it’s not his choice if this continues, it’s hers. When Lestrade asked him about John he answers diplomatically and walks over to stand near Molly. *Note: The ongoing proximity thing, he continues to stay by her side the whole day. So then she goes over to the body and he heads straight over next to her again, she notices he proximity and steps back apologising. He reassures her and John tells him he is jealous. Jealous of what I ask you? How does that work any other way? He is jealous because she steps away, because she is with someone else. That’s why he’s jealous. When he picks up the manifesto he blows the dust off away from Molly, just another little thing I noticed that shows he cares. He also shows it to her first before Lestrade. When she tells him it’s impossible, he leans in and says “welcome to my world”. The intensity in his eyes is just fantastic! Then John calls him a smart arse. This is because Sherlock is trying to get Molly excited by the work, like he did with John. Because having her around solving case with him is the closest thing he can get to being with her. Then John tells him he forgot to put his collar up, he forgot to look cool so she would want him. Then he accidentally calls her John, well he’s done that before. Plus he has John in his head at the time. (I don’t really have anything for this if anyone else wants to add in their own head cannon I would love to hear it)

7. The train case: so much flirting! [...]  He spends the whole time paying more attention to Molly than he does the case, eg. the girlfriend joke. Someone posted on here once that they were surprised that Sherlock didn’t pick up on the missing car straight away. This is because he’s not looking at the footage, he’s looking at her. I watched like 6 times. (I know I’m totally obsessed!) but he really does, you can actually see him looking at her not the tape.

8. When he comes out of his mind palace: he talks about maps, but as he goes past Molly he changes the subject and asks her out. Yes he was asking her out, it’s Sherlock. He is the master of subtly….. This is the moment where he sees if he has managed to sway her. This whole day, the cases he chose, the showing off. All of it was to show her that he was better than the man who gave her that ring. So he makes his final play and asks her out. But it doesn’t go well does it. She calls him out on the day. Molly Hooper is not an idiot. She knows what he is doing and she asks him point blank about it. He knows he lost the game so he does one more very unsherlock type thing: He tells the truth. “The one person he thought didn’t matter at all to me, was the one person who mattered the most.” He never breaks eye contact here. And then, he lets her go. His face when she starts to talk about Tom, that wistful smile. [...] He tells her he is happy for her, that he wants her to be happy. He didn’t even do that for John with Mary! But lets just take a look at that for a second shall we. It’s established that Sherlock hates change. He has always found fault with every relationship around him, John’s girlfriends, Molly’s boyfriends. Even mrs Hudson’s relationships are not off limits. When he met Mary he deduced her and found her acceptable. But he has never met Tom. He would never let his friend date someone without judging them first. But he lets her, because he doesn’t think he deserves her. And then [...] the kiss, right up until his lips hit her cheek you cannot be sure he isn’t going to kiss her properly. His face is completely open and without manipulation, he never breaks eye contact. How could anyone see that moment and not realise he loves her? How?

Okay back to my head cannon that he goes to Molly before John. First of all, his nose is fine, if he went straight after John it would have at least been red, but it wasn’t, and then there’s the cut on his lip, the obvious cut on his lip. Also missing. and then there’s the lighting. We know that it was late at night when he saw John but it was bright at the hospital. You can see the light coming in from the windows hitting the lockers. But when he goes to see Lestrade it’s dark again. Therefore he goes to see Molly first.

Ok so that is my head cannon break down of Molly and Sherlock in TEH let me know what you think! Do you agree, disagree? Have anything to add? Did I get anything wrong?