the continuity issue with Sherlock’s hair in HLV drives me crazy. He goes from somewhat wavy in the lab getting drug tested to gorgeously, very curly back at his flat.
I love Sherlock because it gives the impression that every single character had been lonely at one time in their lives, and through this adorable, intelligent man-baby, they’ve all met each other. They don’t have to be alone now.
I really need to talk about how Molly has repeatedly been used to represent the logical part of his brain, the part of him that is calm and in control no matter what the situation is and it makes me so ecstatic that this character who people still want to undermine and pass off as a silly girl with a pathetic crush on the main character is canonically one of the people Sherlock thinks of when he needs to focus. And it’s not only in HLV, where she and Mycroft help him concentrate on surviving, but when she steps out of a crowd of brides and makes sure he knows exactly why they’re doing what they’ve done. He seems surprised to see her because he doesn’t even realise that subconsciously Molly Hooper is the person in his head that represents calm, controlled, methodical work which is made even clearer when he can’t even replace her in a Victorian morgue no matter how unlikely it would be for her to be there realistically. No matter how you view it, whether you ship them or not, you absolutely cannot deny that Molly Hooper is one of the most important people in Sherlock’s life.
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.
So, we already knew that in TFP’s “I love you” scene, Molly’s wearing the same sweater she wore back when she said “I’m John” in TEH. But looking at Nixxie’s post I realized she’s ALSO wearing trousers strikingly similar to Watson’s tweed in TAB,
as you can see above. I mean, what even is a mirror?
Just because I am thorough here you go; This is a close-up of John’s TAB tweed:
And this is
Molly’s TFP tweed:
The check box on Molly’s is about 2 or 3 times the size of Johns, with a red & a white line running through, John’s tweed is much more yellow toned with yellow & white lines running through the weft & weave. There are a Huge amount of different tweed styles. I really do like that Molly was wearing tweeds though!
@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,
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 timeJohn 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.
And it may not be important, at all, but I woke up thinking about ASiB, and was wondering-
How did Irene know about Sherlock x-raying her phone when it was only Sherlock and Molly that were present as he did it?
Molly is the common denominator here… thanks for bringing this to my attention Moni!
HMMMMMM!
Molly – still waters run deep – if Jim is ‘the virus’ – and they dated, how are we to know that Molly isn’t corrupted? Especially if she thought he was gay, but then came to the realisation that perhaps he isn’t with the Irene business. (A wrong conclusion – imho – but she is a John mirror). I think the ‘hell-hath-no-fury-like-a-woman-scorned’ trope is grossly overused, but it’s not like the writers are precisely revolutionary in their handling of female characters.
yeah, we have wondered before whether there is still some connection between molly and jim… there are definitely things one could point to as indications, and this is one, which i hadn’t twigged on before this post.
My first instalment on dream symbolism was on the 4 ‘identities’ of Sherlock in s4. Here is another ‘view’ but this time a micro view of the scene in TLD when Mrs H delivers Sherlock to John in the Aston Martin. It’s packed full of good stuff. I am coming from the view of EMP/trance theory here.
The car:
Bond drives an Aston Martin, as does Mrs Hudson in Sherlock’s mind. Sherlock views Mrs H as a BAMF, he knows her back story, he knew her in Florida. He equates her with a lifestyle she no longer leads, or rather, was not depicted in BBC Sherlock previously. It’s a red sports car, which is a symbol of potency and agency, she has power, energy and sex appeal in Sherlock’s mind. She is dangerous and will do anything for those she loves. And Sherlock knows she loves him. He is projecting the need to be rescued, and Mrs H is the one to kick that rescue attempt into full gear…literally. In his MP Mrs H is speeding, pursued by police cars and helicopters, she is urgently saving him. He needs saving. Note that Sherlock hears Ode to Joy as all of this transpires; he is being delivered.
Positioned in the boot/trunk:
Sherlock feels contained, restrained, disoriented. He is enclosed in a small space and being taken to a destination for help. He’s almost in the fetal position INSIDE Mrs Hudson’s symbol of the red car. She’s his Mother. He views her as such. The red also acting as a womb reference; dark, safe, protective. He is carried, hauled, by Hudders. Sherlock is expressing the very basic need for love, concern and comfort; mother. Truth is spoken by Mrs H to John, Mycroft and Molly? They don’t matter, only John matters. All of this is about John.
John:
Sherlock is delivered to John. This version of John is the reluctant father. Sherlock knows John was not pleased with the news that Mary was pregnant. We see John as the disciplinarian figure, the fed up, annoyed, rejecting man who wants to put off dealing with ‘a child’ for as long as possible. We then see Sherlock relegate his own Elsa/Therapist persona to the shadows as his primary self deals with the situation. Mrs Hudson reverts back to housekeeper role once John takes over. She starts cleaning the kitchen. John shouts at Sherlock with the East Wind wallpaper as backdrop, he’s plucking the unworthy from the face of the earth, and that would be Sherlock.
The Vase:
Dreaming of a vase is common, it symbolises love, but drinking from the vase shifts the imagery into a different connotation. Sherlock is consuming his own emotions, he’s swallowing down his feelings. He thinks the water is ‘filthy’, the love is tainted, it’s killing him, he needs to start fresh. The drinking dirty flower water is part of the entire ‘water’ imagery in S4, which all boils down to fear and love, the two main emotions of humans out of which all other emotions stem. They could be the very core of BBC Sherlock. Sherlock has overcome his fear of love in TAB, but he has to see the way clear to helping John overcome his fear. Look at the above image: Sherlock is holding a nearly empty vessel, one most people would never drink from, yet Sherlock did: JOHN. He’s in the therapists inner sanctum with John, a blood like splatter beneath his feet and John asks the eternal question, not once but twice, WHY? It’s the question John needs answering: Not how Sherlock does things but WHY does Sherlock do things. John needs the answer to be ‘love’. “I do it because I love you”. But Sherlock never gives him that verbalisation.
Molly:
The John Mirror shows up, the substitute. John wants a second opinion, so Sherlock brings in another version of John which is Molly. Note the ironic and sarcastic exchange in this scene of the three of them at the door. Molly IS ready to go, on the romance that is. Plus that gay reference gets chucked in ‘just tell me when to cough’. The iconic prostate exam instruction. Sherlock gives a sardonic expression: ‘Yeah that’s likely to happen with Molly’ and walks away. Molly is flummoxed as usual.
There are a few foreshadowing links to TFP in this scene, the well and vase images and John eventually drowning in his emotions/not able to keep above the water/chained to rules he’s constructed/fear of trusting Sherlock with his heart. Then the Molly as John’s substitute; the coffin/confession/I love you saving John from dying. Lets not forgot that this sequence in TLD also includes the Henry V monologue and the ballet of the cup and gun. It is all truly remarkable and Emmy/BAFTA worthy for Benedict for this sequence alone.
let me get this fucking right. not only he made john into vitruvian man. he kept john watson close to his heart on the fucking left side, under the belstaff – the symbol of sherlock’s armour
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