hotshoeagain:

marcespot:

may-shepard:

inevitably-johnlocked:

marcespot:

@juldooz​ added:
Do I not understand mirror conspiracy? How does Sherlock saying “your
not being John, you’re being yourself” evidence that [Molly]’s a stand in
for John?

---

Hey there! You don’t even need to take into account how the authors have used Molly as a literary device all through the show to see this one. It’s the sheer fact that they made her utter the line above in the first place.

Think about it.
In that scene, she knows (as well as the audience does) that Sherlock
would rather be working on that case with John, like he always used to. Him thinking of John all the time and straight out
telling her “Why indeed, John!” is the cherry on top. So when she goes “I’m being John”, she’s merely voicing her role as a stand-in for John within the narrative.

She’s the one who told Sherlock: “you look sad when you think [John] can’t see you”. That’s what she always does (whether consciously or not); reveal stuff about our two main characters –same purpose every other secondary character in this story serves.

Now, of course Sherlock’s going to deny that statement. First because she’s literally not John, that’s a fact. She’s one of Sherlock’s few friends and therefore important to him; but John is his ‘special friend’ and she could never be him (even if the creators dressed her up as a man and made her stand right next to John for a rather hilarious visual comparison and then made them have a petty fight over Sherlock like they did in TAB, just to give us a “she’ll never be the real thing” vibe and drive home their romantic rivalry).

And it makes me both chuckle and sigh that refusing to see/accept the obvious truth is an ongoing theme in this show; “not gay!”, “not my division!”, “not your house keeper!”, “not involved!”, “not a plot device!”, “not being John!”. Denial, denial, denial. How ironic for a 130-year-old subtextual gay love story.

Oh, and regarding Molly as a mirror character in the “I love you” scene,

Yep, the whole ‘I love you’ scene, while a garbage scene, was all about John’s insecurities about his place with Sherlock.

Molly’s only purpose in this series is to mirror John’s feelings for Sherlock and essentially say “if John was a woman…”

Great meta.

Mirroring in literature is a device for conveying meaning, not a conspiracy. You could, I suppose, read the Molly scene literally (BORING!), or you could read it figuratively. To wit, the coffin deduction (text via Ariane de Vere):

SHERLOCK: Well, allowing for the entirely pointless courtesy of headroom, I’d say this coffin is intended for someone of about five foot four. Makes it more likely to be a woman.

More likely; not confirmed. John is short. He wouldn’t care about the courtesy of headroom.

JOHN: Not a child?
SHERLOCK: A child’s coffin would be more expensive. This is in the lower price range, although still best available in that bracket.
JOHN (softly): A lonely night on Google(!)

Honestly. Sidebar: this line makes it super clear to me that this is John’s pov–he’s the one who’s spent time researching tiny coffins, Jesus. JESUS.

SHERLOCK: This is a practical and informed choice. Balance of probability suggests that this is for an unmarried woman distant from her close relatives. That much is suggested by the economy of choice.

John is distant from his close relatives. We’re told this in asip. We’ve never had any reason to believe this of Molly. We’ve never had any reason to care. 

(While he’s speaking, Mycroft has looked across the room, frowned in the direction of the coffin lid propped up against the wall and now walks across to pick it up and turn it to look at the top side.)
SHERLOCK (still concentrating on the coffin itself): Acquainted with the process of death but unsentimental about the necessity of disposal. Also, the lining of the coffin …

Yes, unsentimental about the necessity of disposal could apply to Molly. As a postmortem expert though, isn’t she a little less acquainted with the “process of death” than John is? Hm.

MYCROFT (interrupting): Yes, very good, Sherlock, or we could just look at the name on the lid.
(He turns it towards the others. They walk closer to look at it. When he sees what it says, Sherlock sighs and closes his eyes. His face appears reflected in the brass plate which is attached to the lid.)
MYCROFT: Only it isn’t a name.
(Sherlock turns away. The brass plate comes into focus and it reads

I LOVE YOU

JOHN: So, it’s for somebody who loves somebody.
MYCROFT: It’s for somebody who loves Sherlock. (Looking towards his brother) This is all about you. Everything here.

Look, it’s all about Sherlock because JOHN is all about Sherlock. Sherlock is all that John cares about. I mean? Okay this is a particular reading but come on. 

(Sherlock walks slowly back to the coffin and puts his hands on top of it at the head end.)
MYCROFT: So who loves you? I’m assuming it’s not a long list.

. 

We’ve been told from the beginning that somebody is John. The previous episode’s emotional climax involved John in Sherlock’s arms, breaking down as Sherlock comforted him. I don’t know man, John and Sherlock are the heart of this show. Even if you think s4 was garbage nonsense–and I wouldn’t blame you if you did–this throughline is still here. 

But hey, take the whole thing literally if you need to. Drink plenty of water though: I hear clowns and umbrella guns have a tendency to be hard to swallow.

Great additions, guys! Since @may-shepard​ delved into the “I love you” scene here, I’m going to add three more connections between parts of that dialogue and what we’ve seen before, that I find further prove this is all about John.

“JOHN (softly): A lonely night on Google(!)”.

I’ll tell you what else confirms to me that John’s the one who’s spent time researching coffins; A.J. Some might think A.J. from TST only mirrors Sherlock (enduring torture, forcibly away from his family, being betrayed by Mary), but he also mirrors John. He was betrayed by Mary, we saw him drinking, suicidal, spending a lonely night literally googling pictures of ‘Sherlock Holmes’… I bet John did exactly that as well (again, like he did in ASiP) right before googling coffins for himself. Ouch.

And what really does it for me is the character’s name. He’s just ‘A.J.’ You know, like ‘a John’. Remember names are important in this show, mostly in S4.

“MYCROFT: It’s for somebody who loves Sherlock. (Looking towards his brother) This is all about you. Everything here.”

By all means go ahead and say “John is all about Sherlock” because it’s not a particular reading at all, May. It’s a fact that John himself stated in TLD, while talking to himslef, remember? 😉

“MYCROFT: So who loves you? I’m assuming it’s not a long list.”

In addition to Irene outright revealing that John loves Sherlock, we had John’s lovely proposal scene back in TSoT, where his confession of affection –to a certain extent, of course, and with Mary as a buffer– left Sherlock speechless.

So, when Mycroft asked “who loves Sherlock?”, everyone should’ve been able to answer “John!”, because since this story started, by that time John was the only one who ever told Sherlock he loves him.

Holy mother of truth. 

@may-shepard – you’re a gift to the fandom. @marcespot – I don’t know why tumblr won’t let me tag you; and thanks for the additions. 

I still don’t think I can rewatch this episode, but if I do, I’ll keep these reflections in mind.