Sherlock and The Social Dots

 (Sherlock meta by bassfanimation)

I keep seeing people continue to fight over Sherlock and the meaning of Eurus’ tests so I wanted to write a little thing on it. I’m doing this with a wrist brace on and heinous fibro-turd pain, so forgive any misspellings.

The way I have personally absorbed Sherlock and the meaning of Eurus’s tests is that it’s about Sherlock as an empty person. He is an incomplete picture until he begins connecting the dots that are his social connections and even more importantly, his emotions. Let’s look at his relationships one by one and I’ll explain.

Dot 1: Greg Lestrade 

Lestrade represents respect for authority. In fact, he is the only real authority figure in the series. He’s Sherlock’s ‘boss’ in a way. Bosses need people they employ to be reliable, respectful, and trustworthy. Sherlock treating his boss/mentor like crap, making fun of his intelligence and skirting around him at every chance he gets is terribly disrespectful. Sherlock is childish and arrogant and disregards Lestrade in most cases, even refusing to acknowledge his name. We’ve all had those bosses when we were young that we didn’t respect, so we act like spoiled brats about it even though those people probably have way more experience than we do. They have earned their position via the rout of hard work and being reliable and respectful. By the end of the series, however, Sherlock shows us he has resolved the issue of his respect for Lestrade by politely asking him, by name, a first for the entire series, to please take care of his brother. Sherlock is no longer a bratty child and he has connected the social dot of respect.

Dot 2: John Watson 

John represents friendship, pure and simple. John is literally the “replacement” for Victor, Sherlock’s best friend who was killed when he was very, very little. That left Sherlock as the empty shell that we see at the start of the series. The loss of his friend at such a young age meant that he essentially shut down the part of him that he felt could even have friends. He rejected the idea of personal connections with other people entirely, so that he wouldn’t suffer loss again. John, through all their trials and tragedies, has now healed that wound for Sherlock. Even more, John as Sherlock’s friend, has helped him connect all the other dots. He walked with him step by step to do it. Without John’s companionship, Sherlock would still be empty. John’s maturity helped Sherlock grow up and be the man he was supposed to be, had he not suffered such a terribly traumatic event in his youth.

One other thing John represents is family, brotherhood to be specific. Mycroft was very cold to Sherlock in their youth, even though it’s obvious it wasn’t always that way. In the family videos we are shown, Sherlock absolutely loves his brother. It isn’t until later, after Victor, that he feels so alone. It’s obvious Sherlock loved Victor just like a brother, like the brother he really needed but was taken from him. Sherlock says John is “family” in The Final Problem, and he means it. It also shows just how much emotion Sherlock has. His love is that strong. His friend was his brother, a part of his own blood, even if they wren’t born as brothers.

Dot 3: Mrs. Hudson 

Mrs Hudson represents a parent’s love. It’s clear that Sherlock has a very strained relationship with his parents. He doesn’t hate them, but he doesn’t appear to believe that they care for him. They’re not around when he is still basically a child in a grown man’s body. He has cut them off in his mind. Maybe they weren’t there for him in the past so he continues to believe they’re not there for him now. Meanwhile, Mrs. Hudson dotes on Sherlock, brings him tea and food and generally ‘takes care’ of him. She’s kind but not a pushover. She’s also led a life that is about as tumultuous as you can get, which I think appeals to Sherlock. He always surrounds himself with people who aren’t “regular” people. Mrs. Hudson holds enough action and adventure in her life that she appeals to Sherlock, and she is also loving and sweet to boot. Mrs. Hudson is the connected parental dot for Sherlock.

Dot 4: Irene Adler 

Irene Adler represents sexuality. What’s even better is that Irene represents fluid sexuality, and more importantly, the rejection of labels. Regardless of how everyone has interpreted this, when you get down to the simplicity of it, it is simply about rejection of boxing one’s self in. Sherlock’s box was his own making, his image as the “higher power” that Irene pointed out. Irene’s own box was her sexuality. Both of these people had discovered during the episode that their boxes weren’t taped shut all the way. There was wiggle room. Back to the sexuality part, Irene awakened Sherlock sexually. The entirety of A Scandal in Belgravia was loaded with sexuality, from Sherlock being naked and looking extraordinarily dashing, to the very naked Irene appearing to completely disrupt his logical thinking power. It’s as close to canon as one can get that Sherlock did sleep with Irene after Karachi (judging by Eurus’s reaction to his violin song for her). Sex and intimacy was something Sherlock had very much refrained from in his life and Irene connected that dot for him.

Dot 5: Molly Hooper 

Molly represents authentic love, or “romantic entanglement” as Sherlock puts it. Everything about Molly and Sherlock’s interaction falls in line with how everyday romantic relationships blossom. They began just like kids, with Molly having a crush and Sherlock being a jerk to her, ignoring her, or thwarting her attempts to date other men. As they grow together, they begin to close the gap between them. Molly earns Sherlock’s complete trust, which was monumentally difficult for her to do considering Sherlock’s fear of connecting with people too closely. Molly loves Sherlock through his best times and his worst times, unconditionally, even though he doesn’t appear to return her feelings. From small things we’re shown, however, it feels as if Sherlock does feel something for Molly, but he has compartmentalized it and buried it as deep as he can underground out of fear. Eurus’s test is what forced Sherlock to dig up that box, that box he’d put his heart in and covered it underneath the earth. Eurus forces that box open, and connects the dot of romantic love for Sherlock.

Dot 6: Mary Watson 

Mary represents, I think, coming to terms with one’s self, and the different shades of the self. She represents acceptance. Mary connected with and accepted Sherlock instantly because they were the same. They both came from dangerous lives, they are both morally gray, and they both have a need to be accepted for who they are, the good and the bad. Mary was in many ways, a reflection of Sherlock’s own duality. I think Mary made him question things about himself (no not sexually), and I think she also taught him how much he is worth as a person. She showed him that even though you are this person you’ve constructed out of your own pain, you don’t have to live just as that person. You can have anything you desire and still be you. You can live with shades of yourself, and those around you who truly love you will accept you as that. They will love you for the good that you are, and forgive you for the bad that you are. Mary connected the dots of acceptance for Sherlock.

Dot 7: Jim Moriarty 

Jim represented fear. He represented who Sherlock would have been, had he not had some form of love and connection in his life. He was a madman, a true sociopath. He showed Sherlock what it really would be like if he was who he said he was. We learn very quickly, however, what Moriarty already knew. Sherlock can never be like him because he does have a huge capacity for love. He’s hidden it, denied it, but it is there. Anywhere Moriarty appeared, it caused great fear in Sherlock. Even after his death, Moriarty was in Sherlock’s mind, chained up in a padded room like a some kind of caged monster. As much as Sherlock tried to be like him, he really feared becoming that. He also feared that Moriarty would be the undoing of his friends and family, forever a threat to their lives. Moriarty was an endless threat to Sherlock, an endless fear of madness and murder. Jim connected the dot of fear, true fear, for Sherlock.

Dot 8: Mycroft Holmes 

I admit this one’s tough. I feel Mycroft represents weakness. For all the power Mycroft wields in the government, he’s very fearful of being out in the world. He keeps people as distant as he can manage and still be a part of functioning society. He also did a terrible thing and locked up his little sister and lied to his family about it because he feared confronting it. All along in the series, we see Mycroft chastise Sherlock for things like having friends, being close to people, tangling with psychopaths, etc. Mycroft is a very soft, fearful person, which makes his nickname The Ice Man sort of ironic. Its not that he doesn’t care, he’s just far too soft to care. We see his softness demonstrated with Sherlock, time and time again. He cares so much for his little brother and fears so much for him that he constantly keeps watch on him. Mycroft also tried to help Sherlock by proxy, using John as a means to help Sherlock heal his wounds. In the end, Sherlock comes to realize his brother isn’t a bad person, and that he loves him deeply. In fact, he loves his little brother enough to die for him so that he won’t be left like he was as a child, without his best friend. I think Mycroft regrets being as weak as he is, because he didn’t do more to help his siblings. It just required too much care, and he wasn’t able to fulfill that. In the end, it is Sherlock who is the stronger of them, and he is stronger because of his connected dots. The last dot is connect by Mycroft, and that is Sherlock understanding that he is capable of protecting the weak, that he is stronger thanks to his mind, heart, and soul now being complete.

_____________

That’s about all. I only included the major characters here, the ones we see almost every episode. I’ve already talked a bit about how Eurus forces Sherlock to confront trauma, so she represents that last little bit which Sherlock needs to connect everything together. She wasn’t a dot, so much as the one who helped him see the entire picture he’d made. Also, Rosie helps Sherlock in her own way, as Sherlock now has this capacity to care for the smallest of people: children. Rosie is a teeny, tiny, adorable dot.

I mostly wrote this because I had wanted to for a while, but also because some people are still arguing about the 'I Love You' scene. They’re missing the forest in favor of the leaves. The bigger picture is pretty clear on what everyone’s purposes were in the show, and how they affected Sherlock as a man. To become a great man, he needed to be a complete man. All these connected dots make him that man.

On Molly's age and her love for Sherlock

 (Sherlock meta by beejohnlocked, petratodd, penelope1730, 

mae-jones, strawberrypatty, bassfanimation, chocolatequeennk and deducecanoe)

beejohnlocked:

Like I’m sorry but Molly Hooper is almost 40 years old? What 40 year old woman spends her days slicing lemons and pining over gay men for seven years? What 40-year old woman’s ultimate wish is to have said gay man say “I love you” to her even while knowing he doesn’t mean it? GOD DAMMIT take up a hobby! Go for a walk! Have some self-respect!

It makes me so fucking furious because I know that it’s not Molly’s fault that she’s written that way, and it’s not Loo’s fault that she has to play Molly that way. It’s mofftiss’ misogynistic writing to make her a pathetic lovelorn mousy fucking plot device when WE KNOW she’s so much more than that.

But GOD it’s so fucking goddam unrealistic that a beautiful, intelligent, accomplished, GROWN FUCKING WOMAN would EVER act this way for a man. ANY man. Or would hold onto these unrequited feelings (that she FOR SURE KNOWS are unrequited) for this many years. Like…it’s actually ridiculous to even consider for me.

If Molly had “fallen” for Sherlock at 15 and she was 22 now….okay. I believe she could still be hung up on him due to age and lack of life experience. But this isn’t the case with our Molly. There is NO WAY a woman of Molly’s age would act THIS way after THIS long.

It’s like mofftiss took every bit of strength and agency and self-possession Molly had or developed over the years   flushed it down the toilet for the opportunity to use her as a wet rag plot device once again. Why?? Whyyyyy????

Anonymous:

When people bring up Molly's age its not because they think it's bad to be a 38 yr old woman. It's bc its unrealistic that a woman her age (meaning that her maturity level and outlook on life is different than someone in their 20s or teens) who is intelligent, capable and strong would pine over someone for 7 freaking yrs w/o moving on. And no Tom, a Sherlock replacement, doesn't count. Yes, maybe it happens irl but it still doesn't do justice to Molly's character. Just wanted to clarify.

petratodd:

Molly is out there dating and having sex and getting engaged and living her life. (And yes Tom DOES count, so shut the fuck up. He might look like Sherlock but his personality was light years different, obviously.) So yeah, it IS people being misogynistic and ageist when you’re commenting on Molly’s age. People are prone to falling in love and staying that way when they’re 38 as much as much as when they’re 22.

For the record- I AM 38. No, I’m not in love with anyone at the moment, but most of my real life friends are around my age, and we’re all pretty experienced with love and relationships. Once you feel love, it’s hard to let go of it. You might move on and date other people, but there are some individuals you never quite get out from under your skin. And that’s what it’s like for Molly. It’s not pathetic. She isn’t demanding anything from him, or killing herself for him. She’s his friend, who happens to love him. Love is good.

And the double-standard is so blatant it’s disgusting. You all sit there claiming Sherlock is pining for John and oh isn’t it grand and lovely. Meanwhile you say this shit? Fuck off, you’re not fooling anyone with half a brain. Check your internalized misogyny and your ugly ageism.

penelope1730:

“And yes Tom DOES count, so shut the fuck up.” <— All the love for this!

Also - let me toss this out there - WHO THE FUCK CARES?!!!!! Really. Who the fuck are you people - the Age and Love Police that you get to decide for another human being (a fictional character no less!) when emotions, feelings, caring and love fall into attrition and no longer count or considered valid? WTF? Mind your own goddamn business, man. Like, what d’ya got - a timer and calendar shoved up your ass that somehow enable you with a sense of entitlement and supreme authority over another being as their moral and emotional arbiter? Jesus, lay the fuck off *fictional* Molly or any other REAL humans in your life that might even marginally hold love in their hearts longer than what you deem appropriate.

I’m not going to even attempt to remind you of manners or how to be a human, because clearly you don’t give a flying fuck. Your behaviors might reflect misogyny but I wanna keep this simple so your single celled brains can comprehend: You are bullies and tyrants and fan-atical oligarchical wanna be’s with absolutely no power whatsoever.

John Lennon married Yoko Ono, and Sherlock said 'I Love You' to Molly. Get over it.

mae-jones:

The biggest disconnect and FAIL I see at this argument - no one can explain what exactly the fuck Molly is giving up by continuing to love Sherlock.

Maybe there might be some argument that she gave up everything for a love that wasn’t going to happen but do we see that? Does Molly give up anything in her love for Sherlock? Has she put her career on hold? Has she put off any dreams? What exactly is she sacrificing for a chance with Sherlock except a mediocre life with someone she doesn’t really love?

Like, what would any of us give to know ourselves that well? How many of us have fucking settled and regretted it? The implication in all this is that old misogynistic garbage that she put off having children for him and is getting too old to reproduce. There is exactly ZERO evidence Molly Hooper is interested in having children and so again I ask, what the hell is she sacrificing to make her somehow worthy of scorn? How long has it been since she broke up with Tom? A year, tops? Who says she hasn’t dated since then? Oh, yeah, nothing! Who says she’s even pining and miserable? You can love someone and use them as inspiration for what you want out of your next relationship, you know. You can love someone forever and still live a full life without them.

God, in fact, the evidence for Molly Hooper’s motivations are so thin that we don’t even know if she’d have Sherlock if he got down on one knee and offered her his fucking world. Maybe she doesn’t even want him anymore. You can also still love someone and not want them, let that blow your wanky little minds.

So yeah, to claim Molly is still pining and she’s pathetic for it, not only is it ageist and misogynistic af, there’s no solid evidence for it.

strawberrypatty:

Not to mention so many of the people who come up with this argument that it’s pathetic that Molly is pining after Sherlock at her age want Sherlock to be a forty-year-old virgin weeping while wanking off to the thought of his unspoken love for his former flatmate.

Why is Molly’s love pathetic at her age while Sherlock’s is a thing of beauty?

There’s also… Molly’s not actively pining for Sherlock. It’s not like she sits at home day after day and writes Mrs Doctor Molly Holmes in her notebook. We don’t see her actively pursuing anything with Sherlock in series four. It’s quite possible (and in fact I feel heavily implied) Molly’s so upset about the whole “I love you” because saying it would bring those feelings that she’s been pushing aside for a long time up to the surface.

The heart wants what it wants. It’s not pathetic. You can’t will yourself to stop loving someone.

bassfanimation:

Breaking News: Internet fandom filled with teens and 20-somethings explain to older women how they should and shouldn’t love. Full story at 9.

Anon’s message reeks of immaturity and inexperience with love. You never, NEVER forget those you’ve loved. I don’t care if it’s from grade school, college, or any point in between and after. You do not ever forget feelings you had for people. Even if you do move on and marry someone else, have kids with that person, and spend the rest of your life loving them, you still look back at others you’ve loved and remember them. As a 38 yr old myself, I loved people in the past that, for complicated reasons, I couldn’t be with. I still remember them today, and a part of me still hurts that they’re not in my life, even though I am happily married to someone I love now.

Human beings do not simply drop such strong emotions as love at the drop of a hat, or at the request of busybody, insecure fandom nerdasses who like to poke around where they don’t belong. We don’t stop being creatures of emotion and passions as soon as we hit 30. But as children, you wouldn’t understand that. Someday, you will.

Meanwhile, how about we knock it off with the chastising of 38 year old WOMEN for their long term love while lusting over 40 and 50 year old MEN pining for each other while crying and masturbating in their beds at night.

chocolatequeennk:

Also, as a 38 year old woman who has dealt with unreciprocated love, I look at Molly as an amazing example of how to handle that very difficult situation. This is how a mature woman goes about her life while being in love with someone she thinks does not return her affection.

She doesn’t run from a good position at Barts because she can’t handle seeing Sherlock regularly.

She doesn’t constantly say things that make him feel uncomfortable because of her feelings.

She doesn’t treat him differently than she did before she decided he wouldn’t return her affections.

She continues to interact with him with the utmost level of professionalism and decorum, when the topic is work-related.

She is able to be his friend, and as his friend she is not afraid to call him out on his bullshit. She doesn’t moon over him and let him get away with hurting his friends and family. She makes no excuses for his behaviour–this is no starry-eyed girl looking at Sherlock through rose-tinted glasses.

Molly Hooper is tough as nails. She knows who she is, she knows her own value, and she doesn’t need Sherlock Holmes to make that part of her life any better. She knows how to be Sherlock’s friend and valued confidante, and knowing her makes Sherlock a better person.

She also has a soft heart that loves Sherlock, despite her attempts to let him go. The fact that by the end of S3, we see a woman who totally accepts that she’s in love with Sherlock Holmes and at least for right now, that’s not going anywhere… That is so strong. It takes a lot of guts to accept things about yourself that make your life more difficult.

I love Molly Hooper for the grace she shows in dealing with feelings that are inconvenient at times and painful at others. There is nothing weak or pathetic about this.

And I love that in the end, after being so strong and tough, she got to hear him say he loves her. That means so much more when it’s something you’ve accepted will never happen, and I just… my heart melts when I think about how much that meant to Molly.

It is not weak to love someone. Where do we get this ridiculous idea that love is weak? She didn’t put her life on hold for Sherlock. She didn’t let go of things that mattered to her because of Sherlock. She didn’t become a doormat to Sherlock.

All she did was love him. And knowing Sherlock, that takes way more strength than we give her credit for.

deducecanoe:

When you’re older life is easier and more complex at the same time. You have a clearer vision of who you are. You’re more comfortable in your own skin. And you are more comfortable with your own flaws. If you want to stay in love, you are comfortable with the consequences. You love them in any capacity they will let you, because that’s your choice. You stick around because that is your choice. You are confident enough in yourself to live without reciprocation. Life is so much different than your twenties. You make bold choices and you compromise. All in the same day.

On Frames and Deductions 

 (Sherlock meta by bassfanimation)

I don’t normally do stuff like this, but in light of recent hypocrisy regarding the "I Love You" scene that’s coming from The Other Side, I feel somewhat justified. And since the OP has me blocked I’m just going to recreate the post here in a condensed fashion. This isn’t about making fun of them, or their ship, but about showing how people viewed this scene prior to it’s airing.

The original meta, again posted before the episode’s airing, was from a JLer about how the scenes below are framed and what each scene was about. I’ve done some similar posts but not quite from this angle. I spoke mostly about facial expressions, but this is actually a much cleaner representation of why this scene was A) real and that B) Sherlock wasn’t lying. Honestly it’s all assumption until Moffat or Gatiss confirms or denies, but this is about as close as it gets to anti-shippers doing your work for you.

I’m going to keep it concise as I don’t know if copying and pasting their post in it’s entirety is too much of a Tumblr faux pas. Again, this post isn’t to belittle that person, their post, or their ship. The point in posting this is to show that even those guys saw then what we are seeing now, only now they’re deriding us and calling us losers for it.

First, the original thoughts, which are actually very good.

——————————————————————

TGG 

The Van Buren Supernova. The fourth pip. A kid’s life is at risk. People in the back, Sherlock looking at the painting(camera), yelling the puzzle’s answer to the phone.

ASIB 

Irene’s safe code/Vatican cameos. John’s life is at risk, people in the back, Sherlock looking at the safe (camera) trying to deduce its code; the safe contains her cell phone. Double deduction, as he realises there’s a trap in the safe.

TRF 

Addlestone. Children’s lives at risk, people standing at his side, Sherlock is looking at a map (camera) in his [Mind Palace], placing the info he just received via his phone. Info that helped him to narrow down the kids location.

TSOT 

(the two reasons why every single one of us is) here today: The mayfly deduction. Sherlock looking at the photographer’s camera (actual camera). Someone’s life is at risk (Sholto’s), Sherlock just poured his soul reading John’s blog from his phone, and people are sitting beside him.

So all these scenes: 

• Have an audience. 
• Sherlock is looking directly at a clue/camera (in reality or in his MP)
• Involve a cell phone. 
• Are about Sherlock saving someone’s life. 
• Have Sherlock saying his deduction outloud. 

So what can we say about this?

It has an audience, probably it will be about saving someone’s life, Sherlock’s eyes are focused on something (a clue) and his deduction is I LOVE YOU. What can be that puzzle, the thing that makes him say it?

We all know how in this show a clue or a deduction is not JUST that, but it carries a meaning and say something about Sherlock. And the fact Sherlock says these words out loud deserve all the freaking out we can experience.

“I LOVE YOU” SAVES A LIFE

LOVE CONQUERS ALL

————————————————————————

(Now, here’s me agreeing with about 99.9% of their thoughts.)

Beautiful meta. I agree these shots are intentional, and what they mean for the ILY scene…

In each shot, Sherlock is making a discovery/deduction. We’re intended to see these frames as if we’re looking directly into Sherlock as he is looking directly into his discovery. We get to witness his feelings firsthand like this, meaning there’s no hiding what he’s feeling. Those behind him, the “audience” OP speaks of, they actually can’t see him so he has this benefit of hiding some of what he’s going through. But we, the true audience, we see it in full. So, absolutely, yes, there’s huge importance in the way these shots were filmed.

Also, in each situation, a person’s life is in danger. This is Sherlock’s “style”. In The Six Thatchers, when he meets with Ella, she asks him to reciprocate her communication and he says that’s “not his style”. No, it’s not, but this is. Sherlock only knows how to communicate if it is laid out in the guise of a case. The Sign of Three was a beautiful example of this. He’s saying all these wonderful things to the camera about John and Mary, but it is hard for him…very hard. It only begins to become easier when Sherlock focuses on the murder case that’s happening right in front of them. Same goes for all those other frames. As long as something is presented as a ‘case’, then Sherlock can ‘deduce’ it…even if it’s about himself, which was the intention of Eurus setting up Sherrinford as one huge case, all centering on Sherlock himself. Without danger, without a case, without the threat of a life ending…he can’t see anything.

In the longer version of OP’s meta, they first thought this scene was occurring in the Mind Palace. It’s interesting that so many saw the "I Love You" scene as taking place in Sherlock’s head. Almost everyone thought it was in his imagination, because there’s no way he would ever say those words in real life, right? But no, this room turned out to be real. It’s a deduction zone, as we’ve seen so, so many times before, with one big difference. In that room, with Mycroft and John there, as well as Eurus, we effectively see Sherlock absolutely unable to hide himself any longer. Normally when he’d turn towards us to make his deduction, it would feel safer for him, but not this time. This secret….this secret that he’s not allowed a single person to know, he’s being forced to spill it via the only thing that can do this to him: a deduction. But this time, the deduction, and the case, are ALL about him.

“This is all about you. Everything in this room.” -Mycroft

The importance of Mycroft and John alone being there for this startling revelation, and why it’s so ingenious (and cruel), is those are the two people Sherlock fears knowing this deduction. Mycroft, who holds love up to be about as important as a paper cup, and John, who has always thought love was an unknown quantity to him, not to mention John is still suffering the loss of his wife. Also, Sherlock still feels he has to play this role with John, being a sort of superhero who ‘doesn’t love’. He even goes through that whole “While romantic entanglements might be fulfilling for ordinary people” spiel at the end of The Lying Detective to try and maintain the last hanging threads of this image. It is all image with Sherlock, but especially with Mycroft and John. Here, in this room, right now…that image is about to be destroyed. The image he’s worked so hard on for almost his entire life, is about to be utterly demolished.

And it’s all because of a deduction. The deduction that Sherlock loves Molly Hooper.

‘I LOVE YOU’ SAVES A LIFE: it does, it saves Sherlock’s life. Molly’s life was never in danger, but Sherlock’s life always was. 

LOVE CONQUERS ALL: it did. Love conquered trauma for Sherlock, John, Mycroft and Eurus. Love conquered fear for Mary Watson. Love conquered the hate of Moriarty. Love conquered loneliness for Molly Hooper. Love truly conquered all.

Sherlock is fully aware of Molly's feelings for him 

 (Sherlock meta by mizjoely, bassfanimation and theleftpill

mizjoely:

“After all not all the men you fall for turn out to be sociopaths.”

Why are none of us talking about the fact that this line shows definitively that Sherlock is fully aware of Molly’s feelings for him?? He defines himself as a sociopath, so he’s obviously talking about himself (or at least including himself in a select group of men) - ipso facto, he knows how Molly feels about him.

Guh. I will never be able to write a post S3 story where he’s oblivious of her feelings!

bassfanimation:

I’ve always thought of Sherlock as being very aware that Molly has feelings for him. I think the Christmas scene sealed it for them both. Unfortunately, it also forced them both to acknowledge that it was “impossible” for them to be together. Neither of them let the feelings be forgotten, but they both have had to compartmentalize it and try to ignore it. Sherlock can’t love, or at least he doesn’t want to love. We may never know why according to Moffat’s universe. Molly sadly accepts that because she doesn’t want to change him, even if it means he’ll never return her feelings. I like to think this is something Sherlock truly does love Molly for. She would rather love him from afar than to make him change for her, in any way, shape, or form. Him knowing that he has the love of someone is something he cherishes, even though he would never tell a soul.

theleftpill:

Oh yes, Sherlock knows exactly how Molly feels for him - evident in their first exchange: when Sherlock asks her about her lipstick after beating the corpse, his gaze lingers on her with a knowing expression. He knows exactly what’s up. Where I find the progression is in Sherlock’s reaction to that sentiment. S1 has him using it to his advantage, to utilize her and manipulate her to do his bidding - that is, when he wasn’t dismissing it. That starts to change when Sherlock calls out her “boyfriend” as gay and upsets her; he’s surprised by her pain and crestfallen. The Christmas party is the turn for me. Not only does he fully realize the extent of her love for him, but he reacts strongly in return. Not in love, not yet, but enough regret and affection that Sherlock apologizes for being an ass to her. Then he goes to her for help with the Fall - not to manipulate it from her, but because he accepts her affection and embraces what is freely given. In S3 he begins to return it in Sherlock-y ways; inviting her to solve crimes, bringing her further into the “circle” (engagement party), asking her to help with the stag night; and ultimately he has her in his head, literally, saving his life once again. While I’m not sure that returning her love is yet canon, there’s certainly plenty of fodder that proves he not only knows of her feeling, but returns it as best he can in the ways he knows how.

A massive part of the Sherlock special was literally about women’s struggles

 (Sherlock meta by bassfanimation and thecutteralicia)

bassfanimation:

[...] This was so beautifully done, I am having a hard time actually forming coherent thoughts. I want to write so much but my fingers are just wanting to type animal noises…

The symbolism. Just. All of it together was about women being invisible. 

Molly Hooper appearing as a man has nothing to do with J-lock, it has everything to do with her gender and profession during that era. If she was in fact cross dressing, it means she HAD to do it for fear of repercussions, such as losing her job. If she was not cross dressing, and it was Sherlock seeing her as a man, it means he was effectively ignoring her femininity, denying her that identity. Do you guys even know what that means? Women who do certain jobs being seen as less than feminine? This has zero to do with shipping, good gracious please open your eyes and join in this beautiful conversation.

The Bride herself, she was shrouded, faceless. The congregation of women, covered, faceless. Mrs. Hudson, not being allowed to speak, to be heard. Mary being told to stay out of the way, to go home, ignored. John’s housekeeper being spoken down to, it all pointed in the direction of women being ignored, unseen, undependable, unintelligent.

At the end, when Molly and Sherlock address each other, “Holmes”, and “Hooper”, there was such an acknowledgement and respect there. It was a show of “Here I am, look at me, Sherlock”. And he did. He looked upon her face, her feminine face, her hair, and her dress, and he SAW her. That’s all she wanted. That’s what so many of us want. To be seen, respected, heard, allowed to BE, allowed to DO. Sherlock saw, and he acknowledged his wrongdoing towards her, and Janine, and Mary, and any other women he’s used or ignored.

Sherlock Holmes was held accountable for his poor behavior towards the women in his life. He acknowledged how he was blind to them, cold to their emotions, how he used them. He didn’t deflect blame, or whine, or point a finger, he simply knew he’d done wrong and that it was time to end that behavior. Good God I just can’t clap enough.

Please give this episode the respect it deserves. Can we drop shipping for just a moment and appreciate how important it is that the writers of our favorite show are acknowledging how much we, as women, want to be seen and heard? They’re saying they agree. We should be seen and heard, and treated as equals. I think that’s damn fine.

thecutteralicia:

Something which I really liked in this episode is also something that, from comments, seems to have flown over the head of some of my fellow American feminist Sherlockians. I’ve seen commentary basically taking issue with the suffragettes for being “violent” or “vengeful.” But a crucial part of the history of women’s right in the U.K. are the militant activists of the early 20th century, most notably the Women’s Social and Political Union.

While the early American suffragettes have the popular image of passive and nonviolent resistance, some contemporary leading British suffragettes took the view that nonviolent resistance had failed to provoke a change in the movement (note that the same debate about protest methods would later flare up in the American civil rights movement of the mid-century). Those British suffragettes began a campaign to meet male violence with violence via acts of vandalism, arson and bombings.

The most obvious parallel to Emilia Ricoletti, I thought, was British suffragette Emily WIlding Davison. Emilia’s flashy, publicly staged suicide (with the aid of her underground women’s group) recalled Davison’s publicly staged “suicide,” when she was killed after stepping in front of the king’s horse on the track at the Epsom Derby in 1913. While many people now contend that she was actually just trying to tie a “Votes for Women” banner on the horse and was accidentally hit, at the time the public and media thought Davison had deliberately committed a grand suicide in front of (newly modern) news cameras to sacrifice herself for the cause.

“The man you are today is your memory of Eurus” 

  (Sherlock meta by thepurplecarbuncle and bassfanimation)

thepurplecarbuncle:

[...]  Absolutely not. Incorrect. How and why is that supposed to be true if he can’t even remember her? [...] You can’t make shit up as you go along and then pretend the random backstory you wrote into episode 13 has been some sort of unmentioned character arc from the beginning. [...]

bassfanimation:

It actually makes quite a lot of sense, especially if you take into account the series as an entire whole story. All of Sherlock’s choices make sense.

His preoccupation with solving murders = never being able to figure out what happened to his childhood best friend.

His temper tantrums and outbursts, failure to behave like a mature adult = childhood trauma at an early enough age that it essentially froze his emotional development.

His need for John = represents the best friend he lost, circling back around to Sherlock being essentially emotionally stunted at age 5 or 6.

His keeping all emotion and love away over cold hard logic = fear of loss, abandonment. Science and facts are always trustworthy and never leave you.

Mycroft’s preoccupation with Sherlock’s well being and safety = witnessing what loss did to his very small brother, and knowing it has damaged him terribly.

It’s understandable that many people didn’t like the character arc of Sherlock and don’t feel it was rolled out very well. It wasn’t done as well as it should have been, but I think the writers knew that getting everyone back together for a S5 was going to be virtually impossible. I do think they rushed forth with the Eurus storyline too quickly, and resolved it too quickly, I don’t think they had a choice.

Still, everything about it still made perfect sense, at least to me. I’ve had similar childhood trauma though, so maybe that’s why it feels so valid to me. I’m fully aware that I might be projecting, but the text of the storyline is really very clear to someone like me. It might be worth exploring along the lines of trauma though, and not so much about the cases or the villains, etc.

A thought: why did Sherlock go to Molly for help in S2?

 (Sherlock meta by therealbucky05, irisang and bassfanimation)

irisang:

I mean, he didn’t go to her because he had to fake his death. According to him later in S3, he and his brother had already been working on that. But he still went to Molly just moments before he jumped off that roof. He didnt go to her because of her profession. Because he and Mycroft must have already arranged everything they needed. So, the question remains.

What did he really mean when he said he needed her?

therealbucky05:

Moffat said in one interview that the emotional display on the rooftop was a show for John, but that the emotions with Molly where real - in my opinion he wanted a reassuring presence during that trial.

irisang:

I agree. He didn’t really need anything technical from her when he faked his death. Molly was about to leave her work place when he went to her. And we know that the building was supposed to be closed for other people when he jumped. But Sherlock wanted her on board.

bassfanimation:

This is probably a good post to talk about something that I thought about at 221B Con, during the Molly Hooper panel.

This gif shows exactly why Molly Hooper is in Sherlock’s mind palace, and why he goes to her for help when there’s no one else to turn to. It also shows why Lestrade, and more specifically John, are not in Sherlock’s mind palace.

“If I wasn’t everything that you think I am, everything that I think I am…” 

Sherlock, for all intents and purposes, appears to be superhuman, almost a magician, to John and Lestrade. You see it in how Lestrade looks at him, and how John looks at him. They really do think it’s all magic, that Sherlock alone has this amazing ability to dodge death and figure out every single problem on Earth with little or no assistance. They think he alone can rid the world of every evil. They truly ‘believe’ he is more than what he really is. Sherlock himself, as stated by Irene Adler, believes he is a higher power. Lestrade and John believe this as well, whether they admit it or not.

In this scene, Sherlock is effectively lifting the veil for someone he trusts. He’s showing Molly Hooper (and the audience) that he isn’t the Wizard of Oz…he’s just a man who needs help. Despite everything he has built around his reputation, his facade, his image, he is simply still a man, and he can’t do it all on his own. He is showing Molly, “This is actually something I can’t do, because I’m not a higher power…and I want to know if you are ok with that. Will you still care for me? Will you still help me even though I’m showing you what I am behind the curtain?” The funny thing is, Molly already saw what was behind the curtain…he is simply saying she was right.

Molly accepts Sherlock, without the magic, without the curtain, just as we, the audience have.

John and Lestrade are not allowed to see how the sausage is made (sorry, people said not to use that analogy for obvious reasons, but it’s so apt here). They can’t see behind the curtain. Sherlock is quite addicted to the feeling of people thinking he’s super human. John and Lestrade’s opinion of him, and what he can do, means more to him than logic at this point. He needs at least someone to believe he’s special, that he’s THE genius, THE BEST. We saw in His Last Vow that Mycroft constantly taunted Sherlock, calling him stupid, making him second guess himself. John and Lestrade believe Sherlock is not only not-intelligent, but they truly see him as the very pinnacle of the best. He must preserve that for them. For himself…and even for them. (It’s actually hugely selfish of all three of them to feed into this, but that’s another discussion.)

Lestrade and John, both having been in services that show the worst of humanity, need to believe in something good. Something far, far better than the humanity they’ve come to know. Sherlock is that answer for them.

For Molly Hooper, she’s also seen death, but it’s the aftermath. Because of her natural optimism, she doesn’t need all this reassurance that humanity is amazing or magical. She sees beneath the curtain all the time, in a very odd way. Her job is to see to what other people miss. To see inside. She does this with living human beings as well, and she’s not afraid of it. Sherlock, I think, notices this about her very slowly, but it becomes something very special to him later. This scene marks the real turn. He is allowing her to see inside him, because he trusts her to see inside him and not hate what she sees, as so many others have before.

This is why Molly, Mycroft, and even Anderson are in Sherlock’s mind palace. Most importantly, Molly is the only one who consistently encourages him. She’s the one who he trusts every time.

To be, or not to be… 

 (Sherlock meta by bassfanimation)

Something else interesting to note about Sherlock and Molly, and who they ‘pretend’ to be in the real world:

Sherlock only likes himself when he’s something he’s not. When he’s dressed up in his detective identity. He hates himself, or is terribly uncomfortable, as anything else.

Molly is only not herself one time in the series, during the Christmas episode. She dressed up in a ‘costume’, to try and be something she really wasn’t. It’s the only time we see her look completely and utterly uncomfortable.

In The Empty Hearse, when Sherlock shyly asks Molly to come and participate in a case with him, she asks him what John usually does. By this point, Sherlock knows Molly. He remembers the last time she was at 221B, trying so hard to be someone she wasn’t, for him. This time, he makes sure she knows all he wants is for her to be herself. “You’re not being John, you’re being yourself.”

Molly is only comfortable when she’s herself. Something I think Sherlock admires greatly about her.

Sherlock is never comfortable, never okay when he’s himself…except when he’s with Molly.

Sherlock trusting Molly enough to be himself with her is in itself a kind of love. It’s not an everyday romantic kind of love, but I think for Molly, it’s worth far more than any dinner date or night at the pub. To her, it’s pure diamonds.

Another reading on the Coffin Smashing Scene

 (Sherlock meta by natasomewhere1401, sillier-things and bassfanimation)

natasomewhere1401:

So here is one more opinion about this particular “coffin smashing” scene. I definitely like it and I think Mofftiss totally can use it, because such a heartbreaking and open continuation fits them perfectly:

Dads coffin smashing explanation: "The coffin is Molly's. And the words engraved on it... are Sherlock's. The reason he smashes it is because it's inevitable, her death... any way he may act on his newly discovereed feeling for her will always leave her to be targeted. To be killed by someone after Sherlock. The coffin bares truth. In the end, the coffin will be Molly's with Sherlock's "I love you" engraved on it if he ever chooses to 'be' with her. He can't explore this feeling for her because he knows, deep down, it will end with her dying because of him. Perhaps even FOR him. There will be no happy ending with them being together. This scene results in him learning two things. He loves her (differently from anyone else). And it won't change anything. Because he won't act on it. Even though he WANTS to. Sherlock doesn't like 'not knowing', right? This includes him not knowing how this feeling for Molly is somehow different from all the other feelings he has experienced. He WANTS to know more about this new feeling and what it 'is'. But he values her life more than he values exploring this feeling, however confusing to him it may be. And it tears him apart."  X

sillier-things:

I like so much about this interpretation and if the show did have a season 5, I could see this.

However, if we take episode 3 by itself, there is a very important message about hiding things to protect people you love: don’t do it. Mary and her past, Mycroft and Eurus…they didn’t save their loved ones any pain. There is always going to be pain in love. Instead, they denied the others the joy of loving freely and openly despite the pain. Poor Mycroft…hiding Eurus from their parents, counseling Sherlock not to care, so cut off from his emotions himself.

So, no, now that Sherlock has learned this lesson, I tend to think he’s going to carpe that diem for though you cannot make the sun stand still, you can make him run!

bassfanimation:

This is a very valid reading, and an extremely angsty one, which we all tend to love here. It could definitely be an outcome, but I don’t think it’s the most likely for a few reasons.

Season 4 of Sherlock was very much about love, and loss of love. Sherlock experiences deep familial love, trust, and friendship, only to see what it does when it’s taken suddenly away. The loss of Mary…seeing what that loss does to John…seeing what the loss then forces John to do to him. Of course then we have Eurus and Mycroft, exposing Mycroft’s fear of loss. Loss of Sherlock just like he lost Eurus. It’s all about love and fear of losing love. That has already been what’s kept Sherlock as the “machine” all these years. He was already there…but Season 4 was about breaking that down, not reaffirming it.

Back to the coffin scene, remember that before Sherlock smashed the coffin, he carefully places the lid upon it, with the words “I love you” on the lid. I think, in that moment, he was thinking very much along the lines of “I can’t be with you, or this will happen, so I’m placing the lid upon your coffin because that’s what I know will come to you if I love you. I have to say goodbye to you.” But, as soon as we think he’s about to leave it that way, and continue onward with Eurus’s tests, he defies all of his reasoning, all of his logic, all of his own fears of loss and he smashes that coffin with his bare hands. In that moment, I think he chose to do as John suggested he do: stop running from this thing you’ve been running from, or you WILL lose her, and it’ll be too late. Even Eurus’s own words to him, “So many regrets, so [many] words unsaid, so many days not lived.” That’s what Sherlock would have chosen, and what he almost did choose.

The reason I think the angsty reading above isn’t the most likely one, is that I think Sherlock’s smashing of the coffin was him saying “No, I won’t be afraid of loss any longer. Being afraid of loss has been what has led me here. Being afraid of loss is what led me to believe alone protects me, that alone is better. No. I refuse to stay here, alone with my fear, any longer.”

One more thing to support this…in His Last Vow, the mind palace scene with Moriarty chained in what looks like Sherlock’s personal little insane asylum. I think Moriarty there is like a human embodiment of loneliness…and what it’s done to him. Remember Moriarty often lamenting how lonely he felt…that there was no one really on the same level as him. He seemed ok with it, but he wasn’t. He was actually more willing to die than to live being in a world full of ‘ordinary’ people. That’s the culmination of that loneliness…which is the one true thing he shared with Sherlock. I think that scares the hell out of Sherlock…hence how horrified he looked in his own mind palace, in that dank, padded room, facing the mirror of his own outcome if he chooses loneliness.

I truly think Season 4 was Sherlock facing that, yes, losses occur. But running away from that means you will deny yourself so much happiness, so much love, so much joy. Look at John Watson. He could have left Mary upon Sherlock’s return, due to fear for Mary’s safety. In fact I even talked to my hub about, how I felt if John truly wanted to keep Mary safe, he could have fled with her and his daughter, away from Sherlock and everyone they knew. But that would have left such a void for John, so he stayed. Mary stayed too, even knowing the dangers of staying. They gambled…and they still lost some…but they also gained so many amazing memories and experiences, not to mention a wonderful baby daughter.

After Mary died, John almost made the choice Sherlock did long ago…to shut himself away, to abandon his child…but he came back from the darkness because he knew the consequences if he didn’t. Even Mary herself tried to run away from those who loved her, and in the end, it did not prevent a single thing. Her staying with John though, and with Sherlock, brought her so, so much love.

The Final Problem (and Sherlock as a series) was Sherlock coming back from the darkness, just like John had (several times now). I think Sherlock finally chose not to go further into it, because that itself would have left him truly alone, forever. That, I believe, is and always has been his greatest fear: being alone. This fear was born out of the loss of his best friend as a small child. Now though, he has this whole new family, a chance to love someone who loves him unconditionally, he has a godchild, and so much more. S4 is totally about happy endings, in the fullest way. I really think that was the point…not for everyone to have a happy ending except Sherlock.

An addition to the “blind spot” theory

 (Sherlock meta by bassfanimation)

Also may I just add to the “blind spot” theory… What was it that Sherlock failed to see right in front of him…the glass. He was so focused on ‘the case’ at hand, the game, he didn’t even notice the glass was missing and Eurus was right in front of him. Who is the person that has been there the whole time but that everyone, including Sherlock, has failed to notice was just right there… Molly Hooper.

Also, a blind spot can sometimes be even more painful than a pressure point. Pressure points are things we acknowledge in our lives as being important. They are things we’re afraid of losing, but they’re also safe enough that we acknowledge as real, tangible. It’s the blind spots that we refuse to look at that are truly terrifying. Anyone who’s been in therapy can understand this. It’s not the things right out in the open that scare us…it’s the things we can’t even see because it’s too frightening to even acknowledge their existence, the very truth of them.

I truly feel that OP [sherlocklock] is right on target. Molly is Sherlock’s blind spot, because that, much like Redbeard, scares the hell out of him and it’s almost like he’s so afraid of it, of his feelings, that he’d rather blind himself to them. Eurus forced him to see it. She forced him to see the glass that wasn’t there. That hand touch they had…that was the bridge, the breaking of the membrane, to allow him to see his wrongdoings, to see the love he has for his brother, to understand his protectiveness of John, and to finally see his love for Molly.

DAMMIT this show though, the brilliance blows my face off. I’m over a month in from S4 and I still just sit in the dark and think, “Son of a BITCH.”

 About that… (happy ending)

 (Sherlock meta by carefreegirlat221b, bassfanimation, whclocked and penelope1730)

carefreegirlat221b:

Okay at the end of TFP we get a fleeting view of Molly entering the boys’ apartment with a huge smile on her face. I’ve come across many posts which theorised that perhaps Molly and Sherlock are together now. But I don’t really think Sherlock loves Molly. If he did he wouldn’t have felt so guilty after telling her that he loves her (when forced to by Eurus) - we can see that by the way he tears the coffin apart in frustration. And what I feel is that Sherlock hasn’t been able to tell Molly the truth. He finds it difficult to confront her and tell her that he really doesn’t love her in that manner. So you see, this is what kills me (as am a sherlolly shipper too). Molly still believes that the man she’s in love with loves her back.

bassfanimation:

This is a perfectly valid reading, and one that may very well be true. My husband also theorized that this might be the case, but he wasnt sutre because of the ending scene here, where she looks like she is heading right for Sherlock with that happy look on her face. But yeah, this is something Ive also thought about quite a lot, and I wonder if the writers are that cruel. We will never know unless they decide to explain it all. If this was the case though, my god, what a waste of amazing parallels and storytelling.

whclocked:

Funnily enough, I don’t think Molly believed Sherlock when she said those words back at him. It is a perfectly valid reasoning on your end, but I feel like Molly knew Sherlock said those words to convince her more than anything. She could hear it, in his voice, more than ever yet she loves him nonetheless. She said it back not because she knew he meant it or because she is hopeful. It just felt like a resignation. It’s like; “Okay, we’ll play this game, Sherlock. You and me, like we always do.”

For me, Molly knew. She knew Sherlock better than he ever thought she would. She loves him anyway even if he doesn’t love her back. That’s okay for her, she’s fine with it. But, whatever it was, she also knew she couldn’t let Sherlock down. She might not have all the facts, but she trusted Sherlock. Through his bull and theatrics, she could always tell there was something. Saying those words hurt her, but it probably also what freed her. Perhaps the epilogue was her moving on, walking in to greet him as equals, as friends.

bassfanimation:

These are all valid opinions, but, I want to add some more to this post that makes these readings a little bit like seeing the cloud in the silver lining. I think while you can read things this way, I don’t think this is how the writers intended it at all.

So my husband saw me frantically typing my response to this post and asked what was up. When I explained OP’s view, he shook his head and said “Why do you girls always look for reasons to convince yourselves that you didn’t get a good thing?” He says this because he saw how upset I was the next day, after TFP, because he actually had admitted that this same reading could be true. When I reminded him of this, he said he HAD imagined that could be true, but after seeing it again two more times he doesn’t feel the same. He actually feels the 'I love you' was real, and that Molly coming into 221B like she did, he totally thinks they got together. He also thinks the writers meant for us to read it as real, because he feels they wanted us all to be happy.

I agree with my dude here. Moffat and Gatiss, I believe, tried to literally give everyone a happy ending. Even Martin Freeman, in an interview, said he hoped to God everyone got what they wanted in the ending. I think the writers did leave it ambiguous, BUT they also clearly intended it to be ambiguously happy, above all else. What did Molly Hooper want most in the world, since we met her? Sherlock.

While talking to my hub some more, he had an interesting view to what Sherlock was feeling when he broke down the coffin. OP thinks this is Sherlock feeling guilt over saying 'I love you' and not meaning it, hurting his friend. My husband said, as a man, men don’t act like that over guilt. If he’d simply felt guilty, he’d probably have sulked for a moment and then hurriedly want to just leave the room and move onto the next test, figuring he could just explain it all to Molly later and she’d forgive him as she always does. But no, he instead had a massive fit of rage and then slid down to his backside and sat, looking like he’d been ravaged from the inside out. He even says it: “This is vivisection.” That is far more than just guilt. I don’t know anyone who’d have such a reaction to just pure guilt. A reaction like that has to have more meaning behind it.

Another thing my hub pointed out is that it doesn’t make sense from a literary standpoint to simply show Sherlock feeling guilty over Molly. Because, and this is important, we’ve already SEEN Sherlock feeling guilt. Guilt over the most massive thing that he could have done wrong in his life: he broke his vow to John, Rosie, and Mary. His actions are partly to blame for what killed his best friend’s wife, mother of his goddaughter, and his very own close friend. S4 was about Sherlock being opened up, forcibly, by everything around him. The Lying Detective, so cleverly named, was about Sherlock and guilt. We feel guilt when we lie of course, but TLD was all about that, that was a major theme there. So, why just present more of the same in The Final Problem? It would feel repetitive.

I (and my hub) really think the writers WANTED us all to have the happy ending we all wanted. They showed us scenes that, while not being too specific, could lead everyone to believe their ships sailed. Hence we got that Sherlock-POV camera spin around Baker St, where from Sherlock’s view, we see everyone he loves as happy as can be, the last one being Molly Hooper as she comes beaming toward him, literally right to him, watch frame by frame, it’s so cool.

Now, y’all, please listen, because I want everyone to be happy and not be so pessimistic about this. The writers, had they chosen, could have been crystal clear as to what happened if they’d wanted us to think things went a certain way. Molly could have walked into 221B with her bags, looking like this was the same type of friendly stop-by we’ve seen before. She could have still looked somewhat shy, smiled and gone right over to John and Rosie, remaining in the position she was in at the beginning: a good friend and included in Sherlock’s world, but not too close to him because ‘he doesn’t love her that way’. She could have walked in with Tom, maybe they’d patched things up as she was finally free to love someone else other than Sherlock. She could have also come in with some new dude altogether to show us she’d been freed. Finally, if they had wanted Sherlock to experience romantic love, but not with Molly, Irene could have been the last one to come in to 221B, looking beamingly at Sherlock, finally coming to fulfill hers and Sherlock’s love story. But the writers chose to do it the way they did so that we could read in what our hearts really desired. They essentially gave Sherlock to us, the viewers, and said “Here he is, he’s yours now, imagine with him what would make you happiest.” You know, similar to how Conan Doyle said he didn’t care what other writers did with Sherlock Holmes. Heh, perfect. Moffat and Gatiss really ARE fans of how ACD worked.

In the end, Moffat and Gatiss chose to let us have our Sherlock happy ending without committing to anything, because honestly I think they wanted us all to be happy. The Sherlollians. The Johnlockers. The Adlockers. Hell they even gave us a bit of Mystrade. Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss did give us all a happy ending, under the condition that we make it ourselves, because they’ve done their part already. They don’t want you to see the cloud in the silver lining. They want you to see the sun, and that’s what they gave us. Please, bask in it. Don’t do like I did right after TFP and try to talk yourself out of your happy ending. That was not the point of the show at all, and definitely not what the writers wanted. I truly believe that.

Sherlock is ours now. His end, his story from here on out, is ours to create, and it’s all as real as we want it to be.

swjmart:

[...] I tink the writers have made it clear that Molly sees through Sherlock, so I don’t think it’s likely she thinks he loves her (romantically) if he really doesn’t. The possibilities for the big smile in the end to me are:

1. She realizes that he has a platonic love for her and she has made peace with that 
2. He is working on sorting through his feelings towards her /he is uncertain OR he knows he has romantic feelings towards her but he isn’t sure what he wants to do … either way she understands that and they are in a good place 
3. They are in a romantic relationship 

I personally think it’s either 2 or 3 since I am being optimistic . If the show is really finished - I feel like Sherlolly ended in a good place.

As far as Irene being mentioned in TLD - I don’t think this negates 2 or 3, because if he does have romantic feelings for Molly - I don’t think he realized it until the ILY scene…the ILY scene was about awareness imo - “all those complicated little emotions” - he wasn’t in touch with his feelings towards Molly yet in TLD, if that makes sense…

penelope1730:

Agree. I think the thing about Irene (TLD) is that John has always informed Sherlock that connection with others is important. From the very beginning. But, at the same time, no one really knows Sherlock’s heart - so they have to guess, make deductions - which may or may not be true.

At the end of the episode (TLD), John learns Irene is alive…Sherlock saved her, which leads John to make two erroneous deductions:

1) That it’s Sherlock’s birthday, which it’s not. The timeline narrative from TST to the end of TLD doesn’t add up. Sherlock’s birthday is January 6th, which is one week after his exile ended. A whole lot of time has passed since then, but not a full year. Maybe four to six months at the most. Nevertheless, Sherlock allows John to believe this.

2) John also believes there’s something going on between Sherlock and Irene, even though Sherlock adamantly tells him there isn’t. But, John is grieving, heart-broken, and wants Sherlock to understand that relationships, especially romance and love aren’t entanglements to be easily dismissed. They can actually make him a better person; a better man - and complete him as a human being. That’s what Sherlock needed to hear. It wasn’t about Irene, per se, but that she was the catalyst for that insight to be given.

Everything John described to Sherlock wasn’t about Irene - it was about Molly, which is a given. She sees who Sherlock really is and the man he can become - and that’s the person she always speaks to. It’s why she becomes infuriated with him when he refuses to recognize this, or place himself in unnecessary risk, and also why she’s been pulling away since HLV.

The aftermath of the coffin scene is telling from John’s perspective, too. First of all, Sherlock and Molly have been laid bare before Mycroft and John. They don’t have the details, but they do learn the ‘friendship’ between Molly ans Sherlock is far more complex than what they previously believed, or suspected. It was an eye-opener, at least for John.

John, with this new information, sees Sherlock as tortured, not because he doesn’t understand what vivisection is, but because he knows what emotional torture looks and feels like. He’s going through it himself. It kinda echoes back to what Molly told Sherlock in TRF: “I know what it means to look sad when you think no one can see you.” Both perspectives are valid, btw - Sherlock is mind, and John is heart, but John’s viewpoint actually carries more weight given what was said in the previous episode. That chance for exploration was 2 seconds away from being ‘gone before he knew it.’

Sherlock’s devastation wasn’t from guilt alone, although it probably played a part. From the thoughtless things he’s done and said - to all those things he can’t quite bring himself to understand or say.

When Sherlock said Molly mattered the most

 (Sherlock meta by bassfanimation, strawberrypatty and justanotherfangirls)

bassfanimation: I always thought when Sherlock said Molly mattered the most, he was talking about the plan (Moriarty's failing/Sherlock's succeeding). This is with shipper goggles off, though. I'd love to read it as something more, but I didn't want to read as much into it for fear of my tiny heart crackling to bits. Was it clarified at all in any interviews?

strawberrypatty: A lot of people take that meaning. But I don’t see it making sense. Molly’s part in the plan was actually very minimal. With everything Mycroft and Sherlock did— closing off an entire, busy street in London, bribing assassins— they could have easily found the body and faked the lab results without Molly’s help. But Sherlock got Molly’s help because he wanted her help. He needed to have Molly believe in him.

justanotherfangirls: When he told Molly that she’s the one he needed, I didn’t take it to mean anything else other than he had needed all of Molly, what she had offered earlier, “you can have me”. I don’t think it was ever about the body or the faked documents. He needed her to be on his side when everyone else had lost faith in him, including himself. And maybe he couldn’t believe someone would love him that much without demanding for anything in return, and that is why he was so very grateful he decided to give her her very own special date crime solving day with him, something sweet and thoughtful and sentimental, something he never did to anyone else without any ulterior motives.

Pessimistic and realistic Sherlolly readings on the ILY scene

 (Sherlock meta by diane-w, eugeniebatch, bassfanimation and justaminion)

diane-w:

Molly didn’t ask him if he loved her. She already knew he did. She just wanted him to say it first.

eugeniebatch:

(I’m writing this as the pessimistic and realistic Sherlolly shipper I try to be) Indeed. She didn’t ask him: “Do you love me? Because if you do, I’ll say those words to you”. No. She knows he doesn’t love her. She always knew (or at least, she thought it). That’s why she asks him: “Say it like you mean it [because I know you don’t, but if you want to play with me, then I’ll play with you]”. HOWEVER, he didn’t need to say it TWICE! He said it twice just because he wanted to. And that’s a fact.

bassfanimation:

I can see this logic being absolutely real, but I still slightly disagree. I’m not entirely pessimistic, though I am still somewhat rooted in reality. I think my view is my brain trying desperately to see at least some sunshine in this world.

I think Molly said “Say it like you mean it”, because she knew he would just try and play it off like he didn’t mean it. That’s how closed off he is to the mere idea of love. He even stated it in The Lying Detective, right at the end, that whole “While romantic entanglements might be fulfilling for other people” bit. I still feel that was his whole rehearsed “bullshit” he’s fed himself, and everyone else, for years. That’s what Molly was prepared for…his act, his game. 

If Molly Hooper is the one who ‘sees through his bullshit’, then she probably has (and has had for a while, remembering The Empty Hearse) a sense that Sherlock does feel for her, but that he’d never, ever say it. It would always be something he wasn’t comfortable actually admitting or getting ‘entangled’ in. Her saying, “Say it like you mean it”, to me, was her saying to him, “We have had this thing together for so long, but you refuse to make it real, so I’m not playing with you anymore…you have this chance to make it real. Will you, or won’t you?”

I do think maybe Molly thought he might not say it and mean it. I think this was a gamble she took. He could have simply repeated it that one time and that would have been it, she’d have hung up, and they’d be damaged beyond repair. But…I do agree with your last line there, he not only said it once, but TWICE, when he didn’t really need to? Not unless he needed to say it again for himself. That last ILY was, as most people have noted, almost like a realization to himself rather than to Molly. Molly, I still think, already may have known Sherlock loved her. Her frustration with him though, of him never acting on it, that was really tearing them apart. To me, that was the actual ticking bomb…the one between Molly and Sherlock.

Truth is, we’ll never know. Both of these could be true, or hell, he may not have meant it at all. Unless Moffat gives us a real, concrete answer, we’ll always be left wondering, and Moffat never gives real, concrete answers to anything.

diane-w:

Since she sees through his BS, I do think she suspects he loves her, too, but he won’t admit it or accept it. I also get the impression (I know she was having a bad day but still) from her demeanor that even though he’ll always have her heart she is just about done with him. She was glaring at the phone before picking up. I think Eurus unintentionally did them both a favor.

justaminion:

It’s really fascinating because she does see through his BS but the exception is when it involves Molly herself (e.g I don’t count). I think she asked him to say it as a practical demonstration, because he didn’t understand why she couldn’t ‘just say it anyway.’ Which means she also must believe that he cares for her enough to feel uncomfortable saying it. But I don’t think she believes he loves her romantically, or even understands romantic love in the slightest.

bassfanimation:

Oh that’s a wonderful observation and it perfectly explains the whole back and forth with Sherlock asking why she can’t say it, and how he doesn’t even understand why she can’t. Also, just telling her to “say it anyway, if it’s true”…is the most Sherlocky thing in the world… He’s still thinking with logic to a degree, as if Molly saying that to him is just her stating a fact…but it isn’t. It’s so much more powerful than that. That is why the second time he says it, he seems to be surprised by his feelings, and why Eurus lost count of all of his ‘complicated’ emotions. That is why he freaked out and obliterated the coffin. That is why he slide down the wall, sitting looking as if he was just emotionally exhausted. He now suddenly understands the feeling Molly Hooper has had for 7 years because he is now feeling it himself. The pure, raw, complicated chemistry of love.

Love is not a game

 (Sherlock meta by heart-knows-no-shame, cumbercougars and bassfanimation)

heart-knows-no-shame:

It’s been weeks and I’m just so struck by the fact that the whole theme of Sherlock throughout the years was…“The game is on!”. Sherlock using the distraction of his detective work as a substitute high, and honestly a way to keep himself at arms length from ‘humans’ and any emotional and/or romantic relationships of course.

And then there’s The Final Problem and in comes Eurus Holmes, setting up this game for Sherlock, and putting Molly Hooper’s life in danger, and during that call we get all this…

• Is this one of your stupid games? No, it’s not a game. 
• I’m not an experiment, Sherlock. No, I know you’re not an experiment, you’re my friend, we’re friends. 
• You know why. No, I don’t know why. 
• Because it’s true, Sherlock. It’s always been true. Well if it’s true then just say it anyway. 
• Say it like you mean it. I love you. I love you. 

He spends the whole phone call worried and pleading and as soon as it’s done he tries to shut all that off and get back to the game so he says…”Eurus, I won, I won…I won, I saved Molly Hooper.” 

But then you have Eurus coming back with that emotional context speech and being like, Haha nope, silly boy, you just lost, you proved yourself wrong, you have emotions, you do care. 

And the writers had Eurus use Molly Hooper against Sherlock, like this, to facilitate this exact epiphany, (disapproving everything he’s said over the years, that he’s not a hero, that he doesn’t have a heart) because Molly Hooper does count, she matters the most, he loves her, and love is not a game.

And  I just can’t get over how important that scene was [...] for Sherlock’s  entire arc of character development !

cumbercougars:

The “…if it’s true, say it anyway…” is even more poignant in repeated watchings because that’s when the penny drops with him. It makes my heart ache for both of them.

bassfanimation:

I still cant get over the fact that this scene essentially broke down Sherlock’s character into it’s purest, rawest form. A man finally letting himself love. For real. The game is over, his game with himself is over. This finally frees him from his own cold chains and he sees that the game never was fun, it was never who he was supposed to be. Molly saw that from the beginning…saw through his “bullshit”, his "game". Now everyone else knows Sherlock does have a heart…all thanks to Eurus Holmes and Molly Hooper, and of course everyone who loves Sherlock. But Molly was the key…the last door that unlocked that made it all possible. “You made it all possible.” “What do you need?” “You.”