{"id":231131,"date":"2014-01-23T22:52:11","date_gmt":"2014-01-23T22:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2014\/01\/23\/john-was-in-love-with-sherlock-and-he-knows-it\/"},"modified":"2014-01-23T22:52:11","modified_gmt":"2014-01-23T22:52:11","slug":"john-was-in-love-with-sherlock-and-he-knows-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2014\/01\/23\/john-was-in-love-with-sherlock-and-he-knows-it\/","title":{"rendered":"John was in love with Sherlock and he knows it"},"content":{"rendered":"

loudest-subtext-in-television<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

leandraholmes<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

After this season of Sherlock was concluded, it was quite apparent to most of us that Sherlock loves John in a way that exceeds mere friendship. Many people have already tackled that subject and listed all the clues for this fact. However, we rarely got an inside glimpse into John\u2019s mind in any of the episodes – deliberately done so by the authors to keep us guessing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There was one little fact that struck me as odd, though. One \u2018clue\u2019 that makes me quite certain John (prior to the Fall) had feelings of a (nearly) romantic kind for Sherlock, and that he was aware of them despite his vehement denials (\u201cI\u2019m not gay\u201d).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at this bit of dialogue between John and Mrs Hudson at the beginning of The Empty Hearse.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

MRS HUDSON: Oh, God. Is it serious?
JOHN: What? No. No, I\u2019m not ill. I\u2019ve, er, well, I\u2019m \u2026 moving on.<\/strong>
MRS HUDSON: You\u2019re emigrating.
JOHN: Nope. Er, no. I\u2019ve, er \u2026 I\u2019ve met someone.
MRS HUDSON: Oh, lovely!
JOHN: Yeah. We\u2019re getting married \u2026 well, I\u2019m gonna ask, anyway.
MRS HUDSON: So soon after Sherlock?
JOHN: Well, yes.
MRS HUDSON: What\u2019s his name?
JOHN: It\u2019s a woman.
MRS HUDSON: A woman?
JOHN: Yes, of course it\u2019s a woman.
MRS HUDSON: You really have moved on, haven\u2019t you?<\/strong>
JOHN: Mrs Hudson! How many times? Sherlock was not my boyfriend.
MRS HUDSON: Live and let live, that\u2019s my motto.
JOHN: Listen to me. I am not gay!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That wording struck me as odd from the very beginning. Moving on, here, relates directly to the fact that John has started a new relationship. He doesn\u2019t say he\u2019s moved on from mourning and therefore can visit places that remind him of Sherlock again, he doesn\u2019t move out of town or the country as Mrs Hudson first assumes, no, he\u2019s moved on to a new partner with whom to share his life. One that is on the same level and of the same importance to him as Sherlock.\u00a0<\/p>\n

You could argue that he immediately corrects Mrs Hudson by saying he\u2019s not gay. I, personally, see that as sort of defence mechanism because John has recognised his error. He knows what his words sounded like, and he knows there is a reason for him using them instead of something else. He could have said \u201cI\u2019ve got news\u201d or \u201cThere\u2019s something I wanted to tell you\u201d, but he directly starts with \u201cI\u2019m moving on.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, who else has used the exact same wording in the same episode?<\/p>\n

\n

LESTRADE: So, um, is it serious, you two?
MOLLY: Yeah! I\u2019ve moved on!<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Molly, after introducing her fianc\u00e9 Tom, confirms that she has moved on. From what? Her unrequited crush on Sherlock. So why use those words, twice, in the same episode, in a context of introducing new relationships, when the premise is supposed to be a completely different one? Sure, it could be sloppy writing, but with Mark Gatiss\u2019 usual attention to detail I very, very highly doubt it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So what can only be the point of this? Molly is a mirror for John<\/strong>, one that will allow the audience to automatically and directly read the intended meaning: she\u2019s over Sherlock. She\u2019s not in love with Sherlock anymore and has moved on to – to what exactly? A young man that dresses like Sherlock (or whom she made dress like that) who is a clear substitute for Sherlock. And a rather poor one as we find out later.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Molly\u2019s \u201cI\u2019ve moved on\u201d furthermore doesn\u2019t sound all that convincing, especially in the light of everyone staring at the obvious similarities between Tom and Sherlock, and every one in the room (plus the audience) is wondering whether she doesn\u2019t just tell herself that.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not saying that I think Molly will still have a crush on Sherlock after this. I do believe Tom finally helped her get over it and move on, but at this point in the story she is still kidding herself. (Also, pay attention to how she assumes Sherlock is about to ask her out for dinner when he really just asks her to solve crimes with him, and look at her gaze and body language when Sherlock kisses her cheek. Completely and ultimately over someone looks different).\u00a0<\/p>\n

So, if Molly is a mirror for John then this also means that John has, same as she, found himself a (poor) substitute for Sherlock. In fact, we get confirmation for this in His Last Vow when it becomes apparent that Mary is very similar to Sherlock and that this is \u2018what he likes\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Furthermore, since Molly is John\u2019s mirror, the end of her and Tom\u2019s relationship also foreshadows the same for John and Mary. Though under which circumstances and when precisely remains to be seen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

tl; dr: Molly serves as an obvious instrument to affirm John\u2019s feelings for Sherlock to the audience because she uses the same words in the same context. Both\u00a0new partners have similarities to Sherlock, one on the outside and the other on the inside.\u00a0And both she and John are kidding themselves and are trying to deny this fact by trying to be extra convincing.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Good analysis of John and Molly in\u00a0The Empty Hearse<\/em>. \u00a0I have been saying that John is aware of his feelings for Sherlock in series 3, so anyone who is doubtful on that angle might want to read this as well. \u00a0Also talks about some foreshadowing.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

loudest-subtext-in-television: leandraholmes: After this season of Sherlock was concluded, it was quite apparent to most of us that Sherlock loves John in a way that exceeds mere friendship. Many people have already tackled that subject and listed all the clues for this fact. However, we rarely got an inside glimpse into John\u2019s mind in any … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “John was in love with Sherlock and he knows it”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[129,5326,4],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231131"}],"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=231131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231131\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}