SanaB

But this is an interesting point. I tink this ceremony moment was special 'cause Molly was the only one who stepped out of the growd and stood face to face with Sherlock. That also represents situations in the other episodes (Belgravia or 'the one who counted most' scene). He really starts to see her as a woman then. The other person he recognized that way fully was Irene. It didn't wonder me that Irene wasn't part of the ceremony. I remember the original books...she only appeared in 'Scandal in Böhmen'. Watson wrote about it that Sherlock was fascinated about her and that he had a pic of her in his watch. For him she was 'the woman' 'cause she was for him a true repesentative of her sex. But also he admired her that much it had nothing to do with love. Other features just made a love story out of it but it never was one of that kind.

The feminism thing is a great topic in TAB. John said to Mollys male version that it must be hart to do the job of a man (something like that). He recognized her as a woman. Also interesting was Sherlock s reaction when they went to the morgue. He didn't want to meet the 'male' Molly, she stressed him with her aggressive behaviour. But finally at the secret ceremony he really started to 'see' her. He recognized her as a woman that he hadn't done before and he understood why she acted like that all of the time. And again, Sherlock, the man who recognizes and analyses everything, wasn't able to analyse her (before). ;)

Hi Doe, perfect, thank you! It's never weak to show you're in love. But it's weak to not be able to do so.

Somehow this Sherlock has managed to project a vulnerability even at times that he was at his absolute worst, and I think that makes people want to protect him. Right. The people close to him feel that he is vulnerable deep inside and they also feel that if something breaks through to it he wouldn't be able to deal with it in his current situation. His friends are people who are vulnerable too of course. But they are used to deal with it. They live their emotions every day. They can protect themselves, Sherlock doesn't. IT could destroy him.

No I was shocked about Lestrade too. Mentioned it somewhere above. This wasn't less cruel than the things Sherlock said to Molly.

IMO this thread should be an exchange. We all have different opinions and much more important: different exspectations. It's impossible for the makers to fullfill all of them. We are supposed to have fun here.

I still can't see why Sherlock should be especially mean to Molly. He behaves like that torwarts everyone. I saw the scene with John yesterday again in which Sherlock came back after his fake death. John was ready to propose, he was griefing for two years and Sherlock appeared with this really awful timing just saying "alive" and "really...the beard?!". This scene was so cruel (well also funny ;) ) and I felt so much pitty for John. Sherlock tries, I really think he does but sometimes he fails... and then extremly.

People tend to think that Sherlock just suppresses the love emotion but he supresses a lot of more emotions that came with the pain past then. Shame, hate, anger, sadness...He can't deal with all these emotions that's why he is so vulnerable when someone triggers them. And Molly is good at it.

I think he was shocked by himself. Because he didn't exspected the present was for him. And because of the fact that he hurt her just by not having his own emotions under control. He was blind and is not used to it.

@ Gerry: If you take this as a benchmark nobody would be friend with Sherlock. Not John, not Lestrade, not Mrs. Hudson...nobody. Sherlock has always been rude, even to people he's close to. John already had a thousand reasons to break up the friendship. Sherlock has already offended everyone of them. Molly is not an exception. He does not threat her worse than others.

Something I thought about too: Sherlock isn't used to that feeling, that someone loves him like Molly does. What Irene gave him was a different feeling. I think he recognizes it and that it touches him. But he isn't able to give much back.I think he doesn't know very well how to deal with it. I mean this generally... Not concerning Belgravia.

For me the centre of the show is their friendship. It's very special and they need each other. John had always been someone who is attracted by danger. But he also tries to balance that with an ordinary, solid every-day-life. Sherlock on the opposite doesn't have a solid life. He is alone, has no family of his own. He easily looses control in weak moments and is a junkie. He needs John to stay with both feeds on the ground. Their friendship is the main issue for me.

Well Sherlock not only overreacted with Molly, he also did it with Lestrade. He reminded him of his wife who betrayed him in front of all the others. That was cruel as well but Lestrade didn't say a word. It escalated with Molly. I think the difference is that Mollys issue involved him. He suddenly realized that she did all that for him (the present, dress etc....)and remembered for a second how vulnerable you are when you feel that strong.

Not every reaction Sherlock does has to do with Molly not everything is personal. People are like that. They treat someone unfair because of inner frustration. He treated Lestrade a similar way. But he apologized...he honestly did and this was a great thing.

I agree, Sherlock thinks very highly of himself. And yes, his intelligence and also his behavior cause a certain lack of empathy. But he sometimes is also very aware of hiding something with it. Belgravia was the best example for it. Sherlock had already been in a bad mood when Molly arrived. It wasn't something personal, he acted out of frustration. He was hurt. In order to hide this and his vulnerability he overreacted and acted very arrogant. He didn't stop until Molly broke his facade in asking him why he was so mean all the time. Then he felt and showed shame.