Sherlock theory 

 (Sherlock meta by theoneandonlytruejack, mae-jones and cassbel5)

theoneandonlytruejack:

The more I watch Sherlock, and the more I think about the characters and their interactions, the more I become CONVINCED that Sherlock and Molly slept together. Specifically between 3x02 and 3x03.

I’m not saying that as a fanboy or a shipper or whatever. I legitimately think they’re interactions are written to give that impression.

Why Molly and Sherlock’s attitudes towards each other change after 3x02 [TSoT], why Molly and Tom suddenly split, the comment about Sherlock liking her bed, why Molly suddenly features prominently in Sherlock’s mind palace, the slap [HLV], his sudden guilt over his treatment of her [TAB], the seemingly random sexual joke he makes towards her [TLD], and of course the I love you scene [TFP].

Seriously, re-watch 3x03 - 4x03 with this idea in mind. Everything just clicks.

mae-jones:

Yes, definitely something happened. Their relationship became much more intimate. There was something more in Molly’s slap besides the fact that she was mad about the drugs - there was an entitlement about her attitude and an extra level of anger. She wasn’t just chastising him as a friend but more like a spurned lover.

I think they had a one night stand too and Sherlock did NOT handle it well. I think he most likely pulled a Houdini and probably slipped away while she was sleeping. Molly’s anger to me seemed like a message, like, “I am fucking mad at you for what you did.” Sherlock replied with his infamous line, “Sorry your engagement’s over …” but what he really meant was, “I know why you’re angry but I am definitely NOT sorry about what happened between us.” Molly returns with, “Stop it, just stop it!” which to me sounded like, “DO NOT let what we did slip out in front of everyone!” 

It makes perfect sense when you think about his reaction. He let her slap him because he felt like he deserved it.

cassbel5:

Can I jump onto this train just because the whole intimacy-tension dynamic between them is so interesting to me although I have a different HC as to the sex bit? I agree that something happened during S3, but I’m kind of with @jennifer-lily in believing that it didn’t involve actual sex. But the effect I’m thinking of would be similar.

Taking a step back away from all the details and just looking at the prevailing atmosphere of their relationship, what I see in S3 and S4 is definitely a growing intimacy but also growing tension, on and off. And I believe this is because of

a) Sherlock’s changing feelings for her and the fact that he doesn’t actually fully recognize, understand and accept them,
b) the fact that these feelings nevertheless lead him to a certain kind of behaviour (which he often rationalises) and
c) this behaviour affects her attempts to move on and helped end her engagement.

If I was Molly, after the hallway scene I wouldn’t be standing there saying „Maybe it’s just my type” but probably „Why is he doing this to me?“ He knew she was engaged from the start, nobody will convince me he didn’t. He knew she still had feelings for him. And he still invites her to spend the day with him, flirts with her and invites her for dinner. Then when SHE puts a stop to all that, he talks to her in his softest voice and approaches her like he’s going to kiss her and then gives her that look and that „friendly“ kiss. Then he comes to her to ask for help with alcohol quantities. Really? A graduate chemist (and junkie) – as she points out herself. And then he probably turned up „needing“ to use her place as a „bolthole“ and „needing“ to sleep in her bed. See all the quotation marks? It’s these I think that Molly is frustrated with. The way he’s actually moving closer to her but rationalising his behaviour, holding her close but also holding her back.

I’m not saying he’s a dick, because I feel that he really can’t be any different at this point. I think she knows it too but this gets frustrating and painful, probably worse than pure unrequited love, which is a clear cut situation you kind of learn to live with. But this, this can be frustrating and confusing and tiring…

And I’m glad someone mentioned The Abominable Bride because I think this really plays out there. To me there is a very interesting aspect of Hooper’s anger. It’s been said that Sherlock sees Hooper as angry because of the drugs situation in His Last Vow. Agreed. But also, Hooper specifically points out a certain aspect of Holmes, two times, and seems especially resentful of this. First she asks him whether he’s come to „astonish them with his magic tricks“. I remember that „magic tricks“ is the expression Sherlock used when he was on the roof in The Reichenbach Fall trying to convince John he was a fraud, that he’s actually an ordinary man who has tricked them, rather than the great Sherlock Holmes John thinks he is. „It was just a magic trick“ he told John. The second time is when Hooper points out the expression „feature of interest“ that Holmes uses in Watson’s stories and a discussion ensues of whether he actually uses this expression irl or if it’s just Watson’s portrayal. Sherlock’s Hooper seems resentful that there are two versions of Holmes – the real one and the one with the „magic tricks“, the one the world sees, the one he let’s the world see. What I see here is Sherlock feeling Hooper is angry and resentful because he is hiding a version of himself, from the world and largely also from himself. There is a Sherlock that she knows is there that he hides or at least doesn’t embrace.

Now, I don’t think that real life Molly is as resentful as Sherlock’s Hooper about this. I do believe though her relationship with Sherlock has progressed beyond the „just friends“ stage but is at a place where he’s rationalizing a lot of that away and isn’t able to deal with it. So it may seem like he’s playing with her when in fact he is kind of struggling himself. I actually believe that Molly understands this, she knows him well, but sometimes it gets too frustrating and she breaks. And when she breaks she may feel he is playing with her.

I’m even more convinced of all this because of the church scene in The Abominable Bride where the tension between Holmes and Hooper finally disappears. This happens only when Hooper is finally revealed by Sherlock’s mind to be a woman. He sees her here as a sensual woman, there are clear romantic/erotic overtones in the way his mind has dressed her, made her hair, in the way she is lit, in her expression and voice, and the way she looks at him as she whispers his name. So, only when he allows himself to fully see her this way, when the masks are gone, does the tension stop.

So, some time during S3 I think a line was definitely crossed. Maybe not sex, but definitely increasingly intimate and maybe ambiguous moments. I don’t think it was just seeing him and realising she still loves him that ended Molly’s engagement. I believe something in his behaviour – of which we got clear hints – helped this along and something about the way their relationship was generally developing. I am convinced they are much closer than the other characters realise. And closer in a different way than a definition of friendship would cover. Except he can’t fully face this yet. Amanda said: He can’t really do without her, even though he doesn’t know it. Kind of sums up this phase for me.