Does John know Sherlock’s there at Battersea?
So a few weeks ago, watching ASIP, I had a thought that John’s weird attempt to hit on Anthea again at the end is done to show Sherlock that he likes women, to save face after Sherlock’s rejection of him. Tonight I’m wondering if the same is true of the Battersea scene.
The reading we usually give this scene is that John doesn’t know Sherlock is there and wouldn’t say “I’m not gay” if he did. But.
hudders-and-hiddles pointed out tonight that when he says “anyone out there” he looks right at the wall behind which Sherlock is hiding, and that got me thinking.
So here’s a possibility to consider: John knows that Sherlock’s there, and he’s trying to save face again.
John says to Irene’s minion: “Couldn’t we just go to a cafe? Sherlock doesn’t follow me everywhere.” This doesn’t necessarily mean, though, that John doesn’t know Sherlock is following. This could be a classic John Watson lie by omission.
During the confrontation, John gets more and more angry and jealous. At this point, he believes that Sherlock is in love with Irene, so if she’s alive, he thinks Sherlock is going to go shag her forever and gaze adoringly into her eyes. If John knows Sherlock’s there, he’s aware that Sherlock also knows she’s alive. He’s eaten up by jealousy.
At the end of their conversation, John says “We’re not a couple,” followed by Irene’s “yes you are” and her sending of the text message. If John does know Sherlock’s there, he now knows the jig is up. Very soon, Sherlock will get the message and they’ll all have to acknowledge he’s there.
So in the last seconds he has the chance, John goes for the face-saving move. “Who … who the hell knows about Sherlock Holmes, but – for the record – if anyone out there still cares, I’m not actually gay.” And as he says “anyone out there,” he looks toward the wall where Sherlock is hiding.
In this interpretation of the scene, the “I’m not actually gay” is intended FOR Sherlock. It’s John’s last chance to say something while pretending he doesn’t know Sherlock is there. From the perspective of “people are more likely to believe things they overhear than bad lies you tell them,” that’s a smart move. And again, it’s obfuscation and lying by omission, because he’s not gay, he’s bi, but he doesn’t want Sherlock to know that NOW, now that the good ship Adlock is apparently sailing happily into the sunset.
And if at this point John thinks “Sherlock was married to his work but now he’s actually in love with Irene and she’s alive so what I hoped we had isn’t what I thought it was and now he might suspect I’m into him OH GOD I can’t be exposed,” well, he takes this opportunity to demonstrate that totally wasn’t true and I Was Never Into You. (Isn’t that a very human tendency that many of us have shown at one time or another?)
It’s painful, but possible, I think.
p.s. quotes taken from Ariane Devere’s amazing transcript!
Remember how John and Sherlock’s relationship never went back to the way it was before TRF because they both had believed they were committed to each other for life and then Sherlock left John for two years so John thought Sherlock couldn’t possibly feel that way about him, and John moved on with someone else, so Sherlock though John couldn’t possibly feel that way about him? That was fun.
this was supposed to be fun they said… try it they said… you’ll like it they said… first one’s free they said…
I WAS WEAK. TOO WEAK FOR THE GAY PILOT.
John wakes up before Sherlock. Always.
It’s just habit, picked up in the Army. The minute the first streaks of light appear in the sky, he’s awake.
So he gets up, puts on the pajama pants discarded on the floor from last night’s romp, and putters around the flat. Gets things ready for breakfast and tea. Clears up the stack of newspapers by Sherlock’s chair. Tries NOT to disturb that experiment…whatever it is.
But then he hears Sherlock stirring and he returns, climbing on the bed and sitting up on his knees while Sherlock rolls over on his back and smiles at him, sleep-hooded eyes and morning-mussed curls making him look even younger than he already does. And John’s there every morning to kiss him, first thing, and Sherlock tells him bad jokes every morning that he looks up on the internet. Horrible, pun-riddled jokes that are terrible, but they make John laugh and Sherlock likes to watch the way his eyes crinkle in the morning sunlight.
And some days, when they don’t have anything planned and nowhere to be, they end up staying in bed ‘til afternoon, cracking jokes and kissing and touching and making love until they finally roll out of bed and John puts away the breakfast things he readied, because they’ll just get takeaway instead.
***
AND THEN… conversely, John’s the first one who starts yawning at night. Sherlock’s the night owl – he could stay up all night if there wasn’t anyone around to remind him to sleep. But he notices John blinking and yawning while he’s in his chair, trying to watch telly. His head dips, then straightens, while John tries desperately to keep himself awake. Until finally, Sherlock takes pity on the poor man and goes up behind him, snaking his arms around for a hug and a kiss.
“Go to bed, old man.” He’ll whisper, which makes John laugh. Sherlock always knows how to make him laugh.
“Only if you come with me.”
For John, only for John, Sherlock will postpone whatever ridiculous experiment he’s working on and go to bed. And surprisingly, even though he never feels tired, he always falls asleep when John’s behind him, arm draped over his waist, face at the perfect position so John can kiss the small curl at the base of Sherlock’s neck. They murmur back and forth to each other, sometimes stories, sometimes what they need at the grocery store, until Sherlock’s words get all muddy because he’s about to fall asleep. They lull each other together every night, with their steady breaths and the beat of their heart. John knows he’d never sleep again if he couldn’t fall asleep with Sherlock beside him. He doesn’t know how he ever slept without him.
