Much has been said about John in S4, his anger, his changed personality, his distance, his resentfulness, his brutal treatment of Sherlock – I could go on. Sure, in TEH we got angry John, violent John, but then it could be excused – at least up to a certain extent – and knowing Mofftiss they might have found it even funny to correct Canon by having not just one, but three physical attacks. After all they clearly stated that to them Canon Watson’s reaction was not very believable. Anyway, we are shown that John has not forgotten the fall but has forgiven Sherlock by the end of TEH.
Then TAB happens and we get the above scene in the cemetery, a scene that is modern AND happens in Sherlock’s mind without a shadow of a doubt. John being angry, John choosing to leave with Mary, refusing to help Sherlock on his case. And there is also the short moment in the carriage when Victorian John is substituted by modern John, saying: “Sherlock, tell me where my bloody wife is, you pompous prick, or I’ll punch your lights
out!” Both scenes are not real. Both times John chooses Mary over Sherlock, leaving him, threatening him with violence.
And then, in S4, in two episodes we are supposed to take for real, we get the same angry John, the John who is distant, who leaves Sherlock, who blames and rejects him, who saves him only because his dead wife tells him to do so.
In my humble opinion – since I do not believe that Sherlock suddenly has turned into a prophet or a clairvoyant – Sherlock is processing all that has happened to him after the fall: John’s anger, losing John to Mary, being almost killed by Mary, realising and accepting his feelings, trying to ensure John’s happiness at the cost of his own, overcoming his self-loathing and repressed emotions. And this processing is still going on S4, making John’s behaviour more believable. This is not the real John Watson we see but Sherlock’s inner worst case scenario: a John who blames him, cuts him out of his life, brutally beats him while being high and weakened by drugs. This would also explain why there is no apology during the hug scene. While making progress, Sherlock still believes that he does not deserve an apology. He has still got a long way to go.
ok i knew in like i think tgg theres a shot of them sitting opposite each other in the cab like you can see it from the outside BUT THEYRE CLEARLY ON THE SAME SIDE HERE IN TBB TOO LIKE OH?? MY GOD HOW OFTEN DID THEY SIT LIKE THIS???? THEIR KNEES ARE LIKE. THEY HAVE TO BE. touching theyre like. theres no room in there what the ufckck
Better yet, Sherlock wants John to think he deleted his birthday, but Sherlock can’t delete anything about John Watson so he throws random parties on the pretense that he doesn’t actually know when John’s birthday is when in reality he just really likes cake and silly hats and seeing John’s face do that thing where it’s bemused and touched and ‘you mad git’ all at once.
not to discuss bbc sherlock as a real entity but opening the show with John crying and distressed at a martin freeman quality level was such a move… that immediate vulnerability sets the viewer up so well to love and understand him through the following standoffishness and the damn my leg shouting… you know when you can feel yourself actively unzipping as you type…
But just think how differently season three could have been if after his speech at Sherlock’s grave John had come home to find a post-it note on his fridge that said, ‘Miracles take time.’
The second message comes as a text from an unknown number just a week later, it says, ‘Stop looking for me, it will make other people look too.’ John deletes the text immediately and clears his browser history for good measure.
The third is on a postcard from America, it shows a sheep in a leather coat with the caption ‘Baaah-d to the bone.’ The sharp angular scrawl on the back says, ‘I bought a grey wool jumper, it reminds me of home when I wear it.’ There is no return address of course.
This has come across my dash a couple of times the last few days, and I keep having the same reaction –
Right now I’m working on a show about heroin addiction, and a dominant point in almost every scene is how the addicts physically need to take a minimum amount of heroin just to keep from getting violently ill – they “maintain” to not get “dope sick.” That’s the part of addiction where the drug takes over the body and it almost doesn’t matter how badly you want to get off it – the alternative is, in the moment, worse.
Which is where Sherlock is in the first gif. John’s comment at first feels justifiably derisive and angry, but understanding that Sherlock is feeling not just a craving for a high but a real physical distress, real physical pain, the comment becomes insensitive and blind because yes, Sherlock really does need another hit right now. And it’s all there on his face and it rips my heart up each time I see it.
May I politely offer a counter perspective? I think John’s angry comment is not so much about Sherlock needing a hit in that moment, but rather that Sherlock has gotten himself into this situation by taking drugs in the first place. So, I don’t consider the derisive “need another hit, do you” to be an ignorant comment (as a doctor, John knows what Sherlock is going through and knows that he needs another hit to avoid painful withdrawal symptoms), but rather frustration and disappointment that Sherlock has let it get to this point.
Loving your alternate take @notesoflore. I think it’s so easy to forget that John’s had a history of dealing with addicts. He’s possibly even speaking as an addict himself.
All of this is exactly why this little scene is so painful and laden with so much repressed, bottled up anger and tension between them
Plus, I think John is ambivalent and angry that he’s being dragged along once again on one of Sherlock’s ridiculous adventures. He’s angry at himself for going along with it, and he’s angry with Sherlock for enticing him, so he lashes out with a passive aggressive snarky comment.
Yes, all of the above. Of course he knows, he’s an excellent doctor
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