one-thousand-splendid-stars:

I saw a post saying that if Sherlock didn’t mean the ILY, the scene loses all its significance. So here’s the thing: The tests Eurus put them through were supposed to be psychologically traumatizing.

There’s no way this applies if Sherlock really did mean the ILY. Sherlock telling the woman he loves that he loves her is as horrible as being forced to kill someone? Sherlock telling the woman loves that he loves her makes him furious enough to smash a coffin to bits? No.

The whole point of the test was that he didn’t reciprocate her feelings. And realizing that really only takes common sense:

PART 1: CONTEXT

Sherlock knows she has feelings for him. At first he was cruel to her, but around S3, he started being nicer- no longer shutting her down and instead politely ignoring her feelings because she’s useful to him and he owes her after the fall. Over time, he has grown to appreciate her as a trusted friend.

So when Sherlock forces out an ‘I love you’ to save her from being blown up, it hurts. She doesn’t know he’s trying to save her. She probably thinks that this is the only way she’ll ever be able to hear those words from him. Or maybe she thinks he means it, but he knows he’ll have to break her heart later for the umpteenth time. And the worst part is… it was all for nothing. There were no bombs. Sherlock is so furious that he smashes a coffin.

Those aren’t the actions of someone who realized in that moment that he loved Molly. That’s someone who’s had to reject her time and time again, but over the years grew to be kinder, and now just had to throw away all that progress and manipulate her in the most horrible way he ever has.  

This even shows in his facial expressions. That first pathetic attempt is not the face of someone who’s going to realize he loves her 2 seconds later. She told him to say it like he meant it. The clock was ticking down and she wasn’t responding, so he ups his game and says it normally.

PART 2: AFTERMATH

As soon as it’s over, he’s relieved he saved her.  The aftermath is the coffin smashing, because he’s furious he had to hurt her again when he’s grown from doing that… and it was all for nothing. I’d be pissed too.

Where’s the aftermath in his facial expressions or actions if he just realized he loved her? It’s not there.
But all we get with Molly in terms of resolution is a split second of her in an ending montage where everyone is back to normal doing their thing. I really don’t think there’s any significance in the fact that she’s smiling. I suppose it just means we can assume she and Sherlock made up off-screen (which I think is an injustice to her.)

All the main characters were in the montage, that includes Molly. I mean, what were they going to do? Close the show with everyone else happy, but she’s over in a corner sobbing? If her importance was bumped up to that of a love interest for Sherlock, they easily could’ve shown that by having her do more than just standing there and walking in.

PART 3: MEANING                                        

So no, if Sherlock didn’t mean the ILY, the scene does not lose all its significance. In fact, I think if meant it, the scene becomes cheap and senseless, and his actions before, during, and afterwards don’t make sense.

It’s because he didn’t mean it the scene is so emotional and heavy. It’s a cruel play on how much he’s manipulated her in the past and how he’s changed, but now had to do it again for no reason.

It’s powerful because at one point in time, Sherlock wouldn’t have cared if he hurt someone as a means to an ends. But he’s grown. He cared when he realized John was hurt by him faking his death. From that, he learned he can’t just fuck with people’s feelings, that includes Molly. And that’s why it hurts so much when he’s forced to play with her heart again.

I find this way more powerful than if he meant it.

This context and meaning is completely lost on Sherl0lly shippers who block everything else out and only focus on the fact that he said ‘I love you’ and she said it back. They believe it made their ship canon, even though if a ship is canon, it would be clear to every viewer, not just shippers on tumblr. And the creators would likely acknowledge it as well, not suggest Molly went and shagged someone.

Part 4: WAS IT WORTH IT?

While it is powerful and tragic and all, all this scene did was hurt Molly for no reason other than to show us that (as we’ve seen before) Sherlock has grown emotionally since S1.

On a totally surface level (which is how most viewers watch the show) Molly only existed in this scene to be a prop for a man’s emotional pain. On a surface level, she wasn’t treated with respect by the writers. The fact that Moftiss went in a room and whipped this out when they were told to change the scene should tell you that. I really feel like they didn’t give two second’s thought to what this would do to Molly.

The problem is that for 4 seasons, Molly’s most definable character trait has been her crush. Yes, we know she’s a pathologist, but she is still known first and foremost as the girl who likes Sherlock. They took that concept, dragged it out for way too long, and then threw it in her face by making her cry into the phone and admit something she wasn’t ready to admit.

I, for one, don’t think showing us Sherlock has grown up was worth emotionally destroying Molly.  Especially since we’ve seen his growth demonstrated before, and she didn’t even get a resolution.

Even minor characters don’t deserve to be used as props so blatantly at their expense.