This scene is not an example of Sherlock’s manipulative nature

 (Sherlock meta by svartalfhild)

Okay, okay, so I just have some feels about this scene that I need to get out.

Everyone always cites this as an example of Sherlock’s manipulative nature and his mistreatment of Molly. Basically, people remember him as being an ass here. I don’t see it that way.

Sherlock could have taken a totally different route to get what he wanted. He could have intimidated and insulted her until she complied just to get him out of her hair, but he didn’t. He greets her with a joke, which is quite unnecessary to his purpose (he could have asked to see the bodies straight away, but he didn’t), indicating that he was probably just being friendly *ooh shocker*.

Yes, Sherlock Holmes is capable of being friendly in a non-manipulative manner. After all, he jokes freely with John on-screen more than once because John is his best friend. What about Molly, though? Are they friends? He’s known Molly longer than John and we know from The Reichenbach Fall that he’s always trusted her. We know from A Scandal in Belgravia that he complains/talks to her about things in his life. In The Great, he answers Molly with bright enthusiasm when she cheerfully enters the lab and asks how things are going. He shows concern for her in his own misguided way by telling her about Jim. Conclusion: Sherlock and Molly are good friends and have been probably long before the start of A Study in Pink; he was being friendly in the same way he is with John.

The way he handles Molly here is more of a testament to that fact that she counts than a display of insensitivity on his part. Like I said, he could have torn her down like he does with so many others, but he doesn’t. He uses far gentler methods. By his standards, he’s being quite lovely. I don’t see how that could mean anything but that she matters to him. This scene is not as cold and calculated as a lot of people seem to think.