“What do we say about coindences?” the Mycroft of Sherlock’s Mind Palace inquires from his throne.
“The Universe is rarely so lazy.”
And that quote really stuck with me, because in Sherlock, coincidences really don’t just happen by chance. So I got to thinking and, well, what is one of the biggest coincidences in their show thus far?
John runs in to a school mate whom he has some trouble remembering and they sit down to have coffee and catch up a bit. After a while, Mike inquires about John’s life and John admits that he can’t stay in London with only an army pension to get by. Mike asks why John doesn’t go to his sister for help, but they’re not close, so he suggests John try getting a flatmate.
John finds the idea laughable. “Come on – who’d want me for a flatmate?”
To which Mike laughs.
“What?”
“Well, you’re the second person to say that to me today.”
That. That right there is the biggest coincidence of the show. John needs a flatmate and, what do you know, Mike happens to know someone who needs one, too!
Now, in the real world, this isn’t really something that would make a person think twice. In the original stories, Mike and John running into each other was just that – a coincidence. But in Sherlock, the writers love to twist and turn every little detail, morphing them into their own little creatures, and a coincidence such as this one seems far too tempting for them to leave untouched; it’s probably the only thing in the series that was plucked from canon and left practically untouched.
I think it would be a really interesting twist if Mike Stamford was more than just the man who introduced John to Sherlock and there are a few other things that make me think it’s actually possible.
One thing I love about the series is that almost every bad guy has a name that starts with the letter ‘M’, giving the writers plenty of room to spin out a plotline using any of them. Mike, obviously, could be one of these ‘M’s’.
The main reason I think Mike Stamford may just come back in a bigger way?
“To Mr and Mrs Watson: So sorry I’m unable to be with you on your special day. Good luck and best wishes, Mike Stamford.”
The writers chose not to have Mike attend the wedding. Why? Why didn’t they let him go, or why didn’t they just ignore his absence? They chose for him not to be there and they chose to have him send a telegram, making sure we were well aware of his absence. Now why would they do that?
Things to explore: The friendship between Sherlock and Mike Stamford
- Sherlock calls him by his first name, means they are friendly enough with each other
- Mike does not dislike Sherlock, means that when Sherlock deduces something about him, Mike is not offended by it, he probably just says “Yeah, you know how it is.” (and Sherlock says “No, I don’t.”). Mike can joke about his weight, so he is not offended by the truth.
- They see each other often enough that Sherlock can casually tell him that he is looking for a flatmate. Or maybe Sherlock told him that there is this flat he’d like to live in, but it’s a bit too expensive, so Mike suggest he should look for a flatmate and Sherlock answers “Who would want me for a flatmate?”.
