MI6 scene: what if we discover that John went to Mycroft after The Watson domestic, demanded to know everything they had on AGRA, Mycroft and MI6 ask him to spy on her, keep her close, plan her downfall. John said he has to stay with Sherlock till fully recovered, then he’ll do it. At Xmas he starts his mission, Sherlock nearly blows it by killing CAM, that was not part of Mycroft and John’s plan. Afterwards Mycroft assures John he will get Sherlock exonerated. John keeps on with his mission. S4 episode one, things heat up, AGRA takes an assignment. For some reason John has to reveal his mission to Sherlock, they meet in the MI6 building, the only safe place for the revelation. ‘’You didn’t think I would really go back to her after what she did to you?”
Watson does really work for Mycroft. Sherlock just got the wrong Watson in his MP in TAB.
Okay the core idea here seems really plausible though. How many interviews do we have with TPTB when they basically talk about the fact that Dr. Watson is actually very smart, and very capable, and he only looks bumbling in comparison to sherlock? And then bemoan the fact that Dr. Watson gets written off as stupid?
If you’re writing from that standpoint – that the audience never expects brilliance from John – then John taking charge certainly would be, as they said it, “the very last thing you would expect.”
I love this.
What I’ve learned from TAB: the more johnlocky it gets, the more fandom tropes they’ll use. They are fanfic writers in the end. And John being on a secret mission against Mary is such a huge fandom trope. I hope they’ll go there. It’s much needed.
Re MI6. Which part of the building would be recognized as MI6? (btw do we really believe this to be true? Has there ever filming been done before? I’m a bit doubtful they would bend security protocols for a tv series)
Just some interesting info, they even had to have agents on site outside to make sure they weren’t filming things they shouldn’t when doing the Thames Path shoot.
It’s true that although we were told about the closed set we have no proof. Do we know if other shows have been able to film inside before? This website talks about it’s interior use within Bond films, but not entirely convinced if this wasn’t replicated with studio shots or other locations – I’d have to do more research. SAs were of course housed in the building next door, not in MI6.
This makes me think of that scene in TAB, where John says he is willing to walk behind Sherlock and play the fool for him, if that’s what he needs. John is willing to walk a step behind Sherlock and act dim if it means Sherlock is safe and happy.
They then discuss Sherlock holding himself to a higher standard because of John’s ‘idiot stories’ (his love letters to Sherlock, essentially, in which John is often quite the unreliable narrator, always painting Sherlock in the best possible light, always making him so much cleverer than he really is). Then, suddenly, Sherlock mentally interrupts himself with the telegram telling him that Mary is getting to the heart of the conspiracy and might be in danger.
Sherlock’s observed some of the details of what is going on, but he’s possibly not put them together correctly?
Think of the scene of John, Sherlock and Mary we saw filmed with the dog the other day. A lot of people felt John was looking too much the role of suburban dad. Mary out in front, leading the way with the dog, John trailing behind with Sherlock, his daughter strapped to his chest. But what if this was just a prime example of John trailing behind and playing an unassuming role on purpose (not that I think being a nurturing father makes you suddenly an invisible non-entity, but given people’s general reaction to that scene, it seems a likely first impression for people to draw).
Mary also underestimates John a lot. It’s to his advantage to let her continue to see him as a bumbling fool. Remember Sherlock has observed enough of their marital interactions that when they argue in his head, in TAB, Mary tells John that all she really thinks he does on cases is tag along and take notes. So John is happy to play into that perception (tag along behind carrying the baby) if it is for Sherlock’s benefit–which in this case it would be. Let Mary continue to think she’s the one in control, continue to play the slightly dim sidekick, let her think that John is too stupid to be up to anything, and by extension keep Sherlock safe.
Because it isn’t that Mary is getting to the heart of any conspiracy, and is in danger (a theory that only presents itself to Sherlock’s mind after they discuss John playing the fool for him, and those idiot stories which are love letters in which John is an unreliable narrator). It is that Mary IS the heart of the conspiracy, Mary is the danger, and John is willing to continue the game of ‘unreliable narrator’ and bumbling idiot, because it is for Sherlock’s benefit.
John is doing what he has always done–keep Sherlock happy and safe by whatever means possible, even if that means protecting Sherlock from his own arrogance and overconfidence that he always has a plan and can fix things, solve things.
It’s an interesting idea, John having a grand plan of his own, keeping Sherlock safe, letting people underestimate him. People right now (including Sherlock to a certain extent) seem to see John as some baby-rearing damsel-in-distress. People seem to be dismissing and underestimating him, his intelligence and competence for the same reasons they often underestimate women, imo.
It’s really interesting to me, and is, I think, linked to some of the same reasons people underestimate the chances of Mary being a villain. It’s people taking traits they stereotypically associate with the feminine, like nurture, child-rearing, bread-baking, softness (think of Mary’s soft new curls and soothing blue costuming for instance) and automatically assuming that is all there is, dismissing strength and intelligence (and even evil), because those stereotypical female traits are present and in a lot of people’s minds the two can’t coexist.
The funny thing is that the writers actually addressed this issue with the band of women in TAB. They stayed at home, raised children, engaged in traditional female pursuits, and so were written off, underestimated, disparaged. But they were just as capable as anyone else. They were capable of murder even.
Sherlock thought it was just about women, but that wasn’t quite right. It was about a larger overarching problem that seeps into every aspect of society and doesn’t just cause us to underestimate women. But also anyone displaying what have traditionally been considered female traits, or even men who just don’t subscribe to all the tenants of traditional masculinity.
Sherlock and Mary, both, have ignored, patronised, and disregarded John. By the end of TAB, Sherlock is starting to see that maybe he shouldn’t. John is pretty damn smart. But I wager these new revelations will be tested this season.
I have always wondered why John’s early scenes in this episode are so drenched with sadness. He looks worse than he did at the end of TRF, worse than in MHR. I think it is because his mind tells him to say the ultimate farewell but his heart cannot bear it.
Here is the blog entry of 5 October. This is basically the situation we find him in at the beginning of TEH.
So this’ll be my last blog. Sherlock, you bastard, wherever you are. Cheers. John.
Closing the blog – his first step in saying goodbye for good.
Next we see John at the cemetery, his face the epitome of heartbreak and loss. Is this the first time he takes Mary, sort of introducing her to his dead friend? And is it also the ultimate farewell, the second step after closing the blog.
And then we see him sitting desolately on the Tube on his way to Baker Street. Why does he go there after all this time, after moving out and never calling Mrs Hudson? The scene in the hallway always breaks my heart – this moment of hesitation, hearing Sherlock’s violin in his head, remembering what they had and what is gone forever.
John wants to says goodbye to the place where he was happy – the third step. And I think there is more to it – Mrs Hudson was a sort of mother to Sherlock and himself, so he asks her blessing for the forthcoming marriage. Which he does not actually get. The superficial “still not gay” joke is subverted by the fact that Mrs Hudson does not really congratulate him. She is shocked that he considers this step, “so soon after Sherlock”.
IMO this also explains why John looks so lost and sad in the restaurant. I think he is not nervous – why should he be? John is a man with lots of experience who has met a woman he wants to marry, a woman he daily meets at work and at home, a woman he should know intimately by now.
I think John knows that his proposal is the fourth and last step in letting Sherlock definitely behind, in moving on, in saying goodbye. He knows that the moment he proposes to Mary there will be no way back. Never again will there be a “Right. Okay. You’re unattached. Like me. Fine. Good.”
It is difficult to come back from this. And it explains many things about John in series 3.
We know John hasn’t actually forgiven Mary. Either:
John’s being honorable and going back to Mary for the baby
John read the flash drive, lied about it, and is plotting either by himself or with Mycroft (not Sherlock)
There are some weird looks that imply he read the flash drive:
1) When Mary asks if John read the flash drive, he deflects twice and doesn’t answer:
MARY: So, have you read it? JOHN: W-would you come here a moment? MARY: No. Tell me. Have you? JOHN: Just … come here.
Deflection, a classic lying tell. And a very “John” lying tell; he’s not good at straight-up lying, so he doesn’t lie. He doesn’t answer the question at all. When else does he deflect? When he says “I’m not gay” in answer to questions about his feelings for Sherlock.
2) John looks down and turns the flash drive over in his hand, looking at it, when Mary asks him about it:
He’s definitely thinking something over. I don’t think that he’s wondering if maybe he should’ve read the flash drive after all – thinking “This is my last chance to back out” – because that’s not really in John’s character, and he has had six months to decide. So this is another lying tell from John.
