{"id":226277,"date":"2014-02-21T12:34:07","date_gmt":"2014-02-21T12:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2014\/02\/21\/iwantthatcoat-mild-lunacy-wsswatson\/"},"modified":"2018-09-24T22:52:44","modified_gmt":"2018-09-24T22:52:44","slug":"iwantthatcoat-mild-lunacy-wsswatson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2014\/02\/21\/iwantthatcoat-mild-lunacy-wsswatson\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-226277 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2014\/02\/21\/iwantthatcoat-mild-lunacy-wsswatson\/attachment\/226278\/'><img width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/tumblr_mzgn76vRLH1rtwwnmo1_1280-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/tumblr_mzgn76vRLH1rtwwnmo1_1280-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/tumblr_mzgn76vRLH1rtwwnmo1_1280-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"100vw\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p><a class=\"tumblr_blog\" href=\"http:\/\/iwantthatcoat.tumblr.com\/post\/77283130539\/mild-lunacy-wsswatson-another-three\" target=\"_blank\">iwantthatcoat<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><a class=\"tumblr_blog\" href=\"http:\/\/mild-lunacy.tumblr.com\/post\/77279420063\/wsswatson-another-three-episodes-another\" target=\"_blank\">mild-lunacy<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><a class=\"tumblr_blog\" href=\"http:\/\/sylviatietjens.co.vu\/post\/73460662599\/another-three-episodes-another-series-finished\" target=\"_blank\">wsswatson<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Another three episodes. Another series finished. Another set of surprises. Another cliffhanger.<\/p>\n<p>As is to be expected, fans have been going wild, theories have been spreading like wildfire, and conversation is roaring.<\/p>\n<p>I have a few theories of my own, and after a few rewatches, I\u2019m ready to lay them all out. I\u2019m going to try to lay them out chronologically so that you can consider them as and when you rewatch the episode, but some jumping about will be necessary.<\/p>\n<p>So, here we go:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/sylviatietjens.co.vu\/post\/73460662599\/another-three-episodes-another-series-finished\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>I\u2019m super-excited about this \u2018cause it explains many things; as I\u2019ve said in my preliminary post on Mary, I don\u2019t do theories, but I like Mary as Moran. However, I don\u2019t care if she\u2019s Moran or not, really. I don\u2019t like the idea of Mary-as-total-villain; I think it\u2019d be a bit boring. That said, several corollary thoughts as important enough that if you read no other meta I\u2019ve written on Sherlock Series 1, read this. <strong>THIS IS MY MOTHERLODE<\/strong>, I\u2019m pretty sure. I want feedback. Someone tell me I\u2019m right! haha. Or wrong. That\u2019s fine too. (*grumbles*) <strong>Anyway, if you care about my Johnlock or Sherlock meta, please read on.\u00a0<\/strong>This is the first (and maybe only) time I actually think I\u2019ve come up with something truly startling (at least to me), and clever. Ohhh, the cleverness of me. I\u2019ve never before written a meta where I made myself <em>sooo<\/em> happy (naturally, it would\u2019ve been impossible without the meta I\u2019m responding to). Behold! My logical thinking, let me show you it.<\/p>\n<p>Ahem. I\u2019m sure that there\u2019s something fishy about how (relatively) easily John forgave her for shooting Sherlock, yes, when he\u2019d chinned the Superintendent for being overly annoying to Sherlock. John\u2019s Sherlock\u2019s tireless guard-dog. You hurt Sherlock over John\u2019s dead body. However: as John said during the confrontation between the three of them at Baker Street, in the end, he always does it \u201cyour way\u201d. So it makes sense to extend \u2018Sherlock\u2019s way\u2019 beyond simply that one confrontation. If Sherlock told him to wait and watch, John would wait and watch.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>My favorite thing about this is the idea that it resolves one of the thorniest whys of HLV: why did Sherlock prioritize the truth in telling John about Mary by setting up the show at the \u2018empty house\u2019 with him, and yet\u2026 all that effort (disguising John, escaping the hospital early, setting up the place), all (all!) to basically get Mary to relax and John to trust her. It was \u2018surgery\u2019, remember. If it was just about telling John Mary shot him (but it\u2019s okay), he didn\u2019t need to go through all that effort and preparation. The preparation is only necessary to fool someone, to create some plot-related effect. A facade. Otherwise, John would\u2019ve just trusted Sherlock no matter what he said, even at the bedside, really. John didn\u2019t need to have Mary demonstrate the shooting, etc, just to reconcile the two of them and get Mary to give her \u2018case\u2019 to Sherlock. That couldn\u2019t be for John\u2019s sake, so it had to have been for Mary\u2019s sake.<\/p>\n<p>The idea that he was in cahoots with John in fooling Mary that he\u2019s forgiven her makes me even more pleased, \u2018cause it continues the trend of him involving John (learning from his mistakes!) and because he had to have involved John to have him sitting on that chair. They must have had a Conversation about all this, where they set it up, and we never saw this conversation. I can only imagine meaningful words were indeed exchanged. Questioning the bit at Sherlock\u2019s parents\u2019 house\u2026 it seems suspicious that indeed, John said he\u2019d rehearsed these words and he might still get angry. Does John seem the type to rehearse that kind of confrontation\/reconciliation? Also, John looks a bit off. He doesn\u2019t smile warmly when he hugs Mary at Sherlock\u2019s parents\u2019 house; he smiles like Sherlock, on and off, after saying \u201cit\u2019s good enough for me\u201d (their bargain). The smile is a bit forced; John almost never smiles this way.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"forced smile\" src=\"http:\/\/screencapped.net\/tv\/sherlock\/albums\/season3\/episode3\/sherlock0303-5103.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Then he actually hugs her, and his face is kinda unemotional, then grim.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"grim faced\" src=\"http:\/\/screencapped.net\/tv\/sherlock\/albums\/season3\/episode3\/sherlock0303-5104.jpg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>There are multiple explanations for this, of course. John is just not very emotional, even as Mary\u2019s breaking down, and it\u2019s not really typical for John. In fact, it\u2019s when she starts crying (apparently genuinely) as he hugs her, that he then says he\u2019s \u2018<em>very<\/em> pissed off\u2019. It\u2019s not that he\u2019s going to <em>be<\/em> pissed off now and then; it\u2019s that it\u2019ll \u201c<em>come out<\/em>&ldquo; now and then.\u00a0That is, he\u2019s <em>always<\/em> pissed off.<\/p>\n<p>I was wrong, I think, in comparing this sentiment to how he felt about Sherlock after his Return. John has a temper, and he showed it to Sherlock\u2014 but while John represses it sometimes, he doesn\u2019t actually <em>hide<\/em> it; if John was actually always secretly furious, it\u2019d <em>look<\/em> like it. But no, John really forgave Sherlock in the train car; he even laughed a tiny bit when he called him a \u2018cock\u2019 (he \u2018always knew\u2019!). John wouldn\u2019t hold a grudge if he still loved Mary like he loves Sherlock (which he claimed was equivalent earlier). He\u2019d remain bitter and grow distrustful, but actively pissed off long-term with Sherlock? No.<\/p>\n<p>If indeed he never meant to forgive her, and he\u2019s still boiling with furious rage that she dared hurt Sherlock (and\u2026 ask yourself if the John you know would be\u2026 you know he would be), then he\u2019d have been pissed to hear her crying what he might imagine are undeserved or crocodile tears. I mean, that is one stone-faced look, regardless.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Mary says she \u2018knows\u2019, she accepts, but she doesn\u2019t know. The fact is, Mary swallows it too easily. She *wants* to believe it, just as she *wanted* to believe that John goes for the sociopath type as Sherlock said. But the fact is, John doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>The fact is, self-esteem issues aside, Sherlock must at least be clever enough to realize John doesn\u2019t love him <em>because<\/em>\u00a0he\u2019s a sociopath. This was what was pissing me off before about that scene, \u2018cause it\u2019s so incongruous. Taken at face value, it\u2019d mean Sherlock actually just doesn\u2019t know John, refuses to listen to John, and talks right over John (after John gets upset and tells him to shut up, Sherlock ignores him utterly). An awful precedent to set if genuine. But no. It suddenly makes sense why Sherlock would need to control this confrontation, why he\u2019d railroad John, if the conversation <em>had<\/em>\u00a0to go exactly according to plan. He <em>had<\/em> to control it, and utilize John\u2019s natural reactions to manipulate Mary.<\/p>\n<p>This would imply that Sherlock knows John as well as might be expected from the closest person to him (and Mary doesn\u2019t). That the flippant way he said that stuff about being a sociopath who uses cases instead of drugs\u2014 throwing about their best friend status in his next breath\u2014 was meant to deflect attention from the fact that he <em>knows<\/em>\u00a0this is bullshit. He could count on John becoming genuinely angry, ensuring the scene reads 100% genuine, but in fact <em>Sherlock trusts John<\/em>, and knows he loves him. Sherlock knows John loves him for who he is; that\u2019s the fuel making his self-sacrifice even <em>make sense<\/em>, really! Right before Sherlock got motivated to come back to life, Moriarty said, \u201cJohn will cry <em>buckets and buckets<\/em>.\u201d He knows John is the one who loves him most. It\u2019s right there! Otherwise, if Sherlock didn\u2019t believe it after all, why the hell did the whole wedding speech thing even get set in motion!<\/p>\n<p>Dude. I\u2019ve been listening to people talk about how Sherlock has super-low self-esteem and believes John can\u2019t love him and\/or doesn\u2019t love him enough, and it\u2019s all well and good, because yes, he does have \u00a0low self-esteem about himself. That\u2019s not false. The scene where he says the East Wind plucks the unworthy from the earth (in reference to Mycroft\u2019s views) is surely based on his actual feelings of inferiority (to Mycroft!). But this is obscuring the fact that 1) Sherlock knows John; 2) John Watson keeps him <em>right<\/em>; 3) the whole <em>point<\/em>\u00a0of the wedding speech and the long speechless \u2018best friend\u2019 moment and the subsequent self-sacrifice and <em>all of it<\/em> would actually be pointless if Sherlock didn\u2019t \u2018really really\u2019 believe John. Yes, of course he\u2019s still sad John left (especially before Mary shot him). But Sherlock can be sad and still believe in his John. (This is the problem with insisting on a romantic reading, btw; this confidence makes more sense if you ignore the romance angle where you just *have* to have Sherlock be literally heartbroken in a romantic sense after the waltz scene).<\/p>\n<p>The fact that this double-play is exactly Moffat\u2019s style is icing on the cake. The fact that, I repeat, SHERLOCK KNOWS JOHN LOVES HIM and that whole conversation was a lie is enough to make me 100% satisfied.<\/p>\n<p>Fuck all. In conclusion, therefore,\u00a0<strong>THEY KNOW THEY LOVE EACH OTHER<\/strong>.\u00a0BAM. (Yes, I\u2019m very pleased with myself, why do you ask?) Dude. DUDE. This affects every theory about the show\u2019s arc, many of which insist that Series 4 has to be about how John \u2018realizes\u2019 he loves Sherlock, and they communicate, etc. And, well, uhhh\u2026 he already knows?<\/p>\n<p>To hell with the angst. That degree of angst was never in-character for a show that is basically a comedic mystery-drama. The oppressive mood of omg-Sherlock-is-hopeless and John being stuck in a marriage with his best friend\u2019s would-be killer is way too gloomy, really. Soooo it didn\u2019t happen. Doesn\u2019t that sound like Moffat to you? Yes, indeed. This is officially my favorite of theories.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>God, I hope this is true. I\u2019m not sure how this fits with the airfield scene though, because it appears that Sherlock is indeed going to Eastern Europe for a death sentence.<br \/> Also\u2026 with all the fan anticipation over Moran, having Moran be not really the Moran in canon ( but rather, the Giant Rat of Sumatra \u2014 whose story will never be told), makes perfect sense.<\/p>\n<p>To borrow a bit from Cabin Pressure..he\u2019s Moran but not Moran Moran. she is Moran Moran.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>iwantthatcoat: mild-lunacy: wsswatson: Another three episodes. Another series finished. Another set of surprises. Another cliffhanger. As is to be expected, fans have been going wild, theories have been spreading like wildfire, and conversation is roaring. I have a few theories of my own, and after a few rewatches, I\u2019m ready to lay them all out. &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2014\/02\/21\/iwantthatcoat-mild-lunacy-wsswatson\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[5326,1810,4],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226277"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226277"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":226279,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226277\/revisions\/226279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}