Oh my god. It was a test.
Holy f… I thought John was just smirking to himself about the corrupt nature of government. But this is just proof; Mycroft really is smarter than Sherlock. The warehouse wasn’t just a babysitting interview and salary negotiation, even if Sherlock thought it was. it was a damned test, and John passed. He’s too morally driven to sell Sherlock out, and therefore not inclined to stab Mycroft in the back. Four for you, Mycroft. You go, Mycroft.
(Also, CONTINUITY, Mr. Gatiss. You’re doing it right.)
Wait… did folks think that Mycroft was actually going to pay John to spy on Sherlock?
He’s CIA-British-Government-Big-Honcho. He can control London’s CCTV network and its phone boxes. He’d need a former Army grunt (untrained in intelligence) hanging around the flat and slipping him spy messages? Unlikely.
Of course it was a test. If John hadn’t passed it, ASiP would have ended with our good doctor in the boot of a black sedan somewhere out on the moors. Or at the bottom of the Thames.
Who else was probably tested by Mycroft and passed?
Lestrade:
MYCROFT: Interesting, that soldier fellow. He could be the making of my brother. Or make him worse than ever.
LESTRADE: Sherlock Holmes is a great man, and I think one day—if we’re very very lucky—he might even be a good one.
Why, exactly, is Greg Lestrade so invested in Sherlock’s sobriety, from the very beginning? And why do he and Mycroft go about using the same methods to monitor it, whenever John Watson’s not in the picture?
LESTRADE: It’s a drugs bust. […] They’re not strictly speaking on the drugs squad, but they’re very keen.
MYCROFT: Some members of your little fan-club. Do be polite. They’re entirely trustworthy, and even willing to search through the toxic waste dump that you are pleased to call a flat.
As Detective Inspector, wouldn’t Lestrade have an actual drug squad at his disposal? Why the below-the-table machinations, if not to protect Sherlock and avoid any actual drug charges?
Lestrade operates as Sherlock’s patron saint and advocate in the Yard. The only time things seem to get cocked up is when a higher-ranking officer like the Chief Superintendent in Reichenbach gets into the mix. A less-involved officer—someone untested by Mycroft.
We’ve got a direct allusion to the depth of Mycroft and Lestrade’s involvement in Baskerville:
SHERLOCK: I’m waiting for an explanation, Inspector. Why are you here?
LESTRADE: I’ve told you: I’m on holiday.
SHERLOCK: You’re brown as a nut. You’re clearly just back from your ‘holidays’.
LESTRADE (trying to look nonchalant): Yeah, well I fancied another one.
SHERLOCK: Oh, this is Mycroft, isn’t it?
LESTRADE: No, look …
This is a guy willing to leave Tahiti (or wherever) at a moment’s notice because Sherlock needs looking-after. Mycroft can trust him, and probably has done for a longer time than we think. You’d better believe Lestrade’s been tested too.
(Lestrade and Mycroft also both refer to Sherlock as a child, much to his chagrin.)
Mycroft’s overarching concern seems to be Sherlock’s safety and sobriety, and Lestrade’s actions mirror this. We haven’t been told how Sherlock and Lestrade first started working together—all we know is that it started some five years before the events of ASiP, when Sherlock was in his mid-twenties.
Twenty-something junkie geniuses get bored. Very bored. They need something as an alternative to getting high. I wonder which came first for Lestrade—Mycroft’s test, or Sherlock’s first case for the Yard.
In any case, I think Greg and John both passed big brother’s test with flying colors.
Yup. This this this. Every Mystrade I’ve ever written.
