Psyching Sherlock: Strengths & Vulnerabilities

[Julia Mae]

Bakerstreet Irregular, on 25 Apr 2013 - 1:03 PM, said:

It is his flaws that make him an interesting character. Most of the better fictional characters do. We can relate to them better.  How many people do you know that will admit that they have a problem, or that they are wrong. It doesn't take a genius for that. Pride, how ever misplaced, is part of the human makeup.

 

He misjudged her, but this is a young Sherlock who has little experience, so we are led to believe in all the works of canon, of women of any sort.  She is the one woman in all the stories that bests him. Is in his league mentally. How dull and boring it would have been if they had watered her down or made Sherlock less taken in by her. It makes a very interesting story line. There is no shame in being bested by someone who is clever enough to take you on toe to toe. She had backbone and he respected in that someway. Yes, in the end he had to take her down. She was  working with Moriarty, who was beginning to loom large, and for all that she reacted to him, she was willing to put her little game of domination before that. She was not to be trusted.

 

There is some trust, but why does John rebuff Sherlock when he is introduced as friend to Sebastian at the bank? John says "colleague" and you can see that Sherlock is taken a back. He lets John use his card, yes, because money is not an issue with him. Why should he care if John used it? John is the one who runs the errands it's only logical that he uses the money.

 

As for following John and Sarah on the date, remember, it was Sherlock that set it up. He suggested the circus. He was going to be investigating it as a link to the deaths of the two men and The Black Lotus and he only wanted John there to help. He wasn't there as a friend, per say, it was part of his job, The Work. That was his only motivation.

 

 

This post has a lot of Sherlock personality issues in it, like his relationship with Irene Adler as well as John and  his motivations for what he does.  It touches on the fact that he errs.  There are probably multiple threads possible, but I thought we might just meander around his behavior and evolution and play armchair shrink, but without getting into trying to diagnose specific medical disorders.  I think that's a different thread.

 

So - On Adler and Sherlock:

 

In this video (

)

 

a discussion with Mofftiss, Mr. Cumberbatch and Ms. Pulver, when discussing the Sherlock/Adler relationship, Lara Pulver says she thinks of Adler as damaged but wearing a mask, and "then she meets this man and they see each other."

 

Mr. Gatiss says "It doesn't have to be something as mundane as a love story."  To which Mr. Cumberbatch responds by comparing the relationship to "classical English romanticism, in a way, the repression of emotion - it's clear that it's there but it's not ... it doesn't have to be spoken." 

 

This explanation of the two of them being able to see each other through their masks explains why Sherlock had such rage at her for what I think he experienced as her betraying his trust.  Sherlock who never had a friend, had just made one in John, the first meeting of spirit with another person, and John could be completely trusted.  So, when it happens with Adler, I think the groundwork is laid for him to default to trust.

 

I've always seen these episodes as Gatiss laying the psychological groundwork for the Canon Sherlock Holmes, like his version of fan fiction (literally) explaining how he got to be who Doyle gave us.  

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Some of the scholars who have looked at Sherlock and his relationship with women, wonder if he hadn't actually been in love at one time. Very early on. Early twenties, and either she was flighty and left him or, he married very young and was left a widower. It is said in this clip to watch the movie "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes".  Sherlock is to relate to one of the characters that he was engaged to be married but the bride to be dies just before the wedding. 

 

There is such a thing as clinical Broken Heart Syndrome. A great loss, such as this, causes such stress  that the heart is actually deformed for a while and beats irregularly. It can cause, in some cases, a heart attack. If the sufferer does not fall in love again in a timely manner it can become a psychological disorder. The person may want to fall in love but the thought  of touching and being touched becomes repugnant. And it can become a permanent condition.

 

If he is falling for Irene Adler and she betrays him in the manner that she does...well, it's another broken heart for him....in canon he never has a close relation with another woman.

[Caya]

I've always seen these episodes as Gatiss laying the psychological groundwork for the Canon Sherlock Holmes, like his version of fan fiction (literally) explaining how he got to be who Doyle gave us.  

 

I read in an interview somewhere (gotta look it up, but I'm not even sure whether it was Gatiss or Moffat) that this is indeed the case ... he pointed out that Sherlock and John were comparatively young, and still on a journey to become the Holmes and Watson we all knew and loved from other adaptions. He added that when the two first met in A Study In Pink, it was the beginning of what neither of them could yet know would become a lifelong friendship, which I found a totally sweet thought .

 

About Sherlock and women, I wouldn't give up hope just yet. He also stated (at least I think it was the same interview, but I had just discovered the series and read everything I could get my hands on like a maniac, so it's a bit of a blur *g*) that when he thought of Jeremy Brett's Holmes, he couldn't imagine him as a virgin, so "something must have happened" in between then ...

 

eta: Ha! Found it at last, One of the interviews, at any rate.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Well, our Sherlock did rescue this version of Irene Adler and we don't know what followed, if anything. And there is enough literary works out there that make the two a real couple. Sometimes even married.

[Julia Mae]

About Sherlock and women, I wouldn't give up hope just yet. He also stated (at least I think it was the same interview, but I had just discovered the series and read everything I could get my hands on like a maniac, so it's a bit of a blur *g*) that when he thought of Jeremy Brett's Holmes, he couldn't imagine him as a virgin, so "something must have happened" in between then ...

 

 

Mofftiss are going to go someplace they probably already have in their minds.  But just in terms of the ideas, I once met a man who was a 35 year-old-virgin.  He was tall, very nice-looking, not gay, not religious.  He was a "proper genius," though.  He was a hydrodynamics engineer who was designing experiments for the lab on the Space Station.  It seemed as if, he had just been so thoroughly engaged all of his life with brainwork, the whole issue of male/female relationships was simply put aside.

 

Interestingly, I met him at the home of a friend I had made online and had gone to see in another state.  He had a crush on her.  Like a middle school kid.  It was so weird.  Here was this man plenty of women would fall all over, he was just completely clueless.  I don't think there was anything wrong with him, he just had an IQ in the 150+ range and thinking had just consumed him.

 

Mr. Gatiss will think differently about Sherlock, I am sure, but I actually don't find his character being a virgin a big leap.

 

[Julia Mae]

Well, our Sherlock did rescue this version of Irene Adler and we don't know what followed, if anything. And there is enough literary works out there that make the two a real couple. Sometimes even married.

 

Like Martina, I often don't recall where I see things, but I do recall Mr. Cumberbatch saying that he was the only one who knew what happened when he went to rescue Adler and it was "romantic."  I suppose one rainy day I'll go though all the interview vids I stored in my Youtube account and make some darned notes, for these conversations.

 

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Mr. Gatiss will think differently about Sherlock, I am sure, but actually I don't find his character being a virgin a big leap.

Sherlock pretty much says it in "A Study in Pink" at Angelo's. "John, I must tell you I consider myself married to my work. I'm not looking for any kind....."    Kind of relationship, I'm sure. So no it's no great leap for me either.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Mr. Gatiss will think differently about Sherlock, I am sure, but actually I don't find his character being a virgin a big leap.

Sherlock pretty much says it in "A Study in Pink" at Angelo's. "John, erm.....I think you should know I consider myself married to my work. and while I am flattered by your interest, I'm really not looking for any kind....."    Kind of relationship, I'm sure. So no it's no great leap for me either.

 

I know a lot of fanfic writers want to make John and Sherlock a couple but John makes it very clear in a "SIB" when John is taken to meet with a very much alive Irene Adler that they are not. John says that he didn't know what the hell Sherlock was but if there was anyone out there who cared, he (John) was not gay. So in all this time, Sherlock had not made any kind of move on John.

[Julia Mae]

 

Mr. Gatiss will think differently about Sherlock, I am sure, but actually I don't find his character being a virgin a big leap.

Sherlock pretty much says it in "A Study in Pink" at Angelo's. "John, I must tell you I consider myself married to my work. I'm not looking for any kind....."    Kind of relationship, I'm sure. So no it's no great leap for me either.

 

 

I'm not sure how important a personal reaction is, but it might reflect on the actor's ability to convey character: I have to confess that I don't find Sherlock sexy.  I know, makes me a Cumberbatched heretic, but there it is.  I find John Harrison sexy, and I've only seen him in trailers. 

 

Relationships take time and effort.  Sherlock is a complex person who is never going for casual sex.  He puts all his time and effort into his vocation.  I think you are right on when you highlight his comment about being married to his work.  It's like a conscious decision he made. This is why the Sherlock/John relationship works so well, I think.  John is low maintenance.  Yet, we've seen him twice demand a certain amount of at least respect, from Sherlock. 

 

Martin Freeman really is just excellent here, he balances Sherlock perfectly.  His Watson is portrayed as having enormous self-esteem.  It doesn't bother him at all to affirm that Sherlock is right when he is, and admire his abilities.  It's the genius in the room who seems to have enough self-doubt to want an audience and a bit of applause.

[Julia Mae]

 

I know a lot of fanfic writers want to make John and Sherlock a couple but John makes it very clear in a "SIB" when John is taken to meet with a very much alive Irene Adler that they are not. John says that he didn't know what the hell Sherlock was but if there was anyone out there who cared, he (John) was not gay. So in all this time, Sherlock had not made any kind of move on John.

 

 

There's a bit of a ruckus about it all on tumblr and Twitter, those in the Johnlocked camp have actually attacked Amanda Abbington and the wedding, couching it in political terms as a betrayal of gay rights.  They believe the writers are pandering to the broader culture by not making them gay.

 

I believe this is a result of show fans unfamiliar with the Canon.  Mr. Gatiss, who is obviously not at all hiding his own status and relationship, has said it simply would not be in the character of the characters, pretty much.  Mofftiss aren't making any political statements with their show - they are just bringing us a modern Sherlock Holmes who is very much Sherlock Holmes, IMO.

 

I also think American men don't get how comfortable British men get with one another when they have attended all boys boarding schools.  Benedict Cumberbatch makes the public statement about Martin Freeman that "we adore each other," and imaginations go wild.  They do, it's obvious.  The actor is always hugging, touching and just enjoying the company of other men.  The other men also enjoy him.  I have a picture on my tumblr of Zachary Quinto just taking Benedict Cumberbatch's head in his hands at a public event and then hugging him.  I don't think they are gay.

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

There's bit of a ruckus about it all on tumblr and Twitter

 

How stupid can people be. In the words of a very irate Killer Cabbie..."Why can't people just think!"

 

Really?  People making this a political football? That is ssssooooo sad. They really do take some lessons on the British Culture and the canon.

 

I have been reading theses stories since I was a pre-teen. True, back then no one talked about being gay. It was a "French" thing and mostly actors. But I never thought of them as being gay even after knowing what it all meant. I mean, yes, in one story Sherlock does ask Watson to take a stroll and they link arms. I just took it to mean it was something these very strange Brits did. Like knocking people up in the morning and getting stuffed with babies.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Martin Freeman really is just excellent here, he balances Sherlock perfectly.  His Watson is portrayed as having enormous self-esteem.  It doesn't bother him at all to affirm that Sherlock is right when he is, and admire his abilities.

Thank you, Julia Mae. Freeman's John Watson has any number of admirable qualities. He's a damn' Boy Scout, actually, because artistically speaking, he needs to be -- any less, and he'd be invisible next to Sherlock Holmes. But anyhow, I had never specifically noticed his self esteem. Yes, it's beautiful.

 

 

There's a bit of a ruckus about it all on tumblr and Twitter, those in the Johnlocked camp have actually attacked Amanda Abbington and the wedding, couching it in political terms as a betrayal of gay rights.  They believe the writers are pandering to the broader culture by not making them gay.

I'm not particularly surprised (considering that some people may see this as a betrayal of their hopes), but I am sad.  It sounds like the politically-correct, with-us-or-against-us point of view.  Life tends to have more nuances than that.

 

 

I have a picture on my tumblr of Zachary Quinto just taking Benedict Cumberbatch's head in his hands at a public event and then hugging him.  I don't think they are gay.

Cumberbatch, apparently no.  Quinto, apparently yes.  But they can still express affection for each other without it "meaning something."

 

[Caya]

Mofftiss are going to go someplace they probably already have in their minds.  But just in terms of the ideas, I once met a man who was a 35 year-old-virgin.  He was tall, very nice-looking, not gay, not religious.  He was a "proper genius," though.  He was a hydrodynamics engineer who was designing experiments for the lab on the Space Station.  It seemed as if, he had just been so thoroughly engaged all of his life with brainwork, the whole issue of male/female relationships was simply put aside.

 

Interestingly, I met him at the home of a friend I had made online and had gone to see in another state.  He had a crush on her.  Like a middle school kid.  It was so weird.  Here was this man plenty of women would fall all over, he was just completely clueless.  I don't think there was anything wrong with him, he just had an IQ in the 150+ range and thinking had just consumed him.

 

Mr. Gatiss will think differently about Sherlock, I am sure, but I actually don't find his character being a virgin a big leap.

 

I understand what you mean ... I once knew a 31-old-virgin, and he was a similar situation (knew everything and more about chemistry but not so much about social interactions), and it certainly wasn't because of lack of interested female parties ... again, what was obvious to just about everyone else wasn't to him.

 

But since I, ahem, changed his status, the situation's not set in stone. You just need a *lot* of patience, and I sure know how John feels when he does his "a bit not good, yeah" feedback spiel (also, I'm afraid I don't have John's sometimes-bordering-on-saintly temper, and the relationship didn't last; but since he's married now, at least I opened the gates).

 

About Sherlock and John, while I love the way the show toys with the subtext and the Ho Yay, personally I think Moffat's argument (yes, I too need to index those interviews) is rather convincing: to paraphrase, Sherlock abhors distraction from his work, so if he were interested in men at all, he wouldn't seek out a male flatmate. As for John, well, he's such a flirt with every attractive woman on the show (save Donovan for some reason). Also, the simple statement on his blog (from when he first met Sherlock) "I'm not gay. He might be. I don't know. It doesn't matter." sounds like someone perfectly comfortable with his own sexuality.

 

I also think American men don't get how comfortable British men get with one another when they have attended all boys boarding schools.  Benedict Cumberbatch makes the public statement about Martin Freeman that "we adore each other," and imaginations go wild.  They do, it's obvious.  The actor is always hugging, touching and just enjoying the company of other men.  The other men also enjoy him.  I have a picture on my tumblr of Zachary Quinto just taking Benedict Cumberbatch's head in his hands at a public event and then hugging him.  I don't think they are gay.

 

That's positively cute, and three cheers for British men ... I've never quite grasped why women can happily hug and kiss each other in public and nobody bats an eyelash, but with men it's a big deal somehow. Add a bonus cheer for, as Carol pointed out, Quinto being gay, and both of them still being comfortable with such public displays of affection. Shouldn't be a deal at all but it is, somehow.

[Julia Mae]

I'm not particularly surprised (considering that some people may see this as a betrayal of their hopes), but I am sad.  It sounds like the politically-correct, with-us-or-against-us point of view.  Life tends to have more nuances than that.

Cumberbatch, apparently no.  Quinto, apparently yes.  But they can still express affection for each other without it "meaning something."

 

 

Thanks for making that point, I did mean "not having a moment of mutual sexual attraction."  Oh, how I wish we would bring back the days when sexual feeling, attraction and identity was considered a private matter, not something you checked in a box on Facebook for the world to see.  Here is part of a four-pic sequence:

 

 

Notice in the first one at left, Mr. Cumberbatch's arm is already reaching for his fellow actor and they move into a hug. 

 

This is how I want my Alpha male to be: so confident in himself and open to other people, he can express this kind of affection without any agenda but connecting with the person in front of him. 

[Julia Mae]

 

About Sherlock and John, while I love the way the show toys with the subtext and the Ho Yay, personally I think Moffat's argument (yes, I too need to index those interviews) is rather convincing: to paraphrase, Sherlock abhors distraction from his work, so if he were interested in men at all, he wouldn't seek out a male flatmate. As for John, well, he's such a flirt with every attractive woman on the show (save Donovan for some reason). Also, the simple statement on his blog (from when he first met Sherlock) "I'm not gay. He might be. I don't know. It doesn't matter." sounds like someone perfectly comfortable with his own sexuality.

 

 

It used to be that the agape love between male characters was accepted and not imbued with a lot of sexual subtext.  Butch and Sundance, for instance.  House and Wilson.  Hawkeye and Trapper John.  I bet we could easily find 50 examples.   This is what Mofftiss are writing, this love story between these very different men.  Watson is mentoring Sherlock into manhood, teaching him humanity.  Sherlock sees the real man in John, he finds the hero and validates his worth and integrity.  They are saving one another.

 

John sees Sherlock, too.  He is the one who calls him an idiot, who says he does guess, who knows it is not vanity that makes Sherlock need an audience, but accepts that brilliance simply does.

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

And if any one bothered to Google Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as a question as to if they are gay or not, they would get the answer that both are clearly heterosexual. Both keep female company very well.

 

One would think that in this day and age where same sex couples can openly marry and adopt children, that the question just would not be such a hot button issue any more. Even in Muslim countries where it is a death sentence to come out of any kind of closet it is acceptable for men to walk down the street hand in hand. Of course, it has been pointed out by one young Muslim man that it is "not" okay for women to do this. Isn't the double standard just a wonderful thing.......not.

[Julia Mae]

I was just watching an old Youtube video where Moftiss were saying that in Season 2, in the three episodes,  Sherlock dealt with Love, Fear and Death.   Focusing on fear for a moment, the only time I recall Sherlock showing fear in Series 1 is when he rushes to get the explosive vest off of John and fears he is harmed. 

 

But on the roof in Reichenbach, the first time he mounts the wall (not the second and last, but the first) he seems to be trembling and trying to control fear.  I suppose he could just be acting for Moriarty's sake, but I thought it was real.  I also thought it was the most dangerous moment on that roof, after all, Moriarty only had to give him a push and off he'd go, no one prepared with whatever they saved him with, yet.

 

In SiP, he is willing to take the pill, risk his own death, to prove he's clever.  By this time, he seems to have developed a healthy fear of it.

 

Does anyone agree or disagree about him being afraid and if he was, does it mean the same thing to you as it does to me?  That he now fears death because he values his own life?

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

He also shows quite a bit of fear in Season 2's "Hound of the Baskervilles". He has breathed in a toxic mist and he believes that he has seen the gigantic hound and he is setting near the fireplace very close to tears. His eyes are welled.

 

In "A Study in Scarlet" Stamford tells Dr, John H. Watson that Sherlock would take a poison to gage it's effect on the human body. He would also dose a friend. Not out of any kind of meanness but the need to know. In the "SIP" he may be trying to be clever....don't know where the writers are in creating the older Sherlock Holmes of canon as yet.

 

I think in "TRF" he has learned that he not only cares, but is cared about. He has to make this meeting with Moriarty come out with him surviving. He has set things up with Molly and some others but he still has to jump and hope that he does not misjudge his landing thus the outcome. He is afraid, but not just for himself any more.

[Julia Mae]

He also shows quite a bit of fear in Season 2's "Hound of the Baskervilles". He has breathed in a toxic mist and he believes that he has seen the gigantic hound and he is setting near the fireplace very close to tears. His eyes are welled.

 

Yes, and he says it himself, that he is experiencing fear.  This fear is drug-induced, of course and this is why he is so freaked out, it doesn't make sense to him to experience this.  (I put you comment out of order here:)

 

I think in "TRF" he has learned that he not only cares, but is cared about. He has to make this meeting with Moriarty come out with him surviving. He has set things up with Molly and some others but he still has to jump and hope that he does not misjudge his landing thus the outcome. He is afraid, but not just for himself any more

 

You know, I forgot about seeing Molly.  He definitely seems afraid (as well as sad) when he is with her, saying he thinks he is going to die.  But I think you're point is well-taken, that he is not just afraid for himself anymore, and that can be the worst kind of fear. 

 

In "A Study in Scarlet" Stamford tells Dr, John H. Watson that Sherlock would take a poison to gage it's effect on the human body. He would also dose a friend. Not out of any kind of meanness but the need to know. In the "SIP" he may be trying to be clever....don't know where the writers are in creating the older Sherlock Holmes of canon as yet.

 

I'm trying to recall where it was I heard Moffat say that they feel that they have actually restored the original Holmes. Maybe he should have said "restoring."  As different as he looks set in a modern London, Mofftiss seem dedicated to a pure vision of Holmes his character and to presenting the relationship between Watson and Holmes.  I think it was Gatiss in the DVD commentary who said that the real "ah-ha" moment of how he and Moffat could create a modern Holmes was when they realized Doyle started the whole thing with John Watson being invalided home from Afghanistan and that made perfect sense in these times.

[Julia Mae]

A really fabulous article about Benedict Cumberbatch just out (dated tomorrow, actually) has Mr. Cumberbatch clearing up some of the Sherlock sex-identity confusion:

 

“He’s repressed his sexual drive and a lot of other things in his life, simply because he doesn’t want to waste his time. The man’s too busy to have sex — that’s really what it is.

 

“Not every man has a sex drive that needs to be attended to.

 

“Like a lot of things in his life where he’s purposely dehumanised himself, it’s to do with not wanting the stuff that is time-wasting, that’s messy. That goes for certain relationships as well as sexual intimacy.

 

“To the Victorian eye he’s an eccentric, but I think he has purposely repressed those things.” Benedict reveals that in the new series — scheduled to start this autumn — we are set to see Sherlock develop into a more compassionate character.

 

Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/4910003/benedict-cumberbatch-suns-sexiest-man-interview.html#ixzz2Rzhz2UGx

 

To the 21st century eye he is eccentric, also.  It's lovely to have this version of Alpha male brought into our cultural consciousness.  It's even lovlier to have Mr. Cumberbatch's "gentle occupation" of the role brought to us.

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

This is going to be an absolute joy to watch.

[Caya]

Photos from the Star Trek premiere (made a screengrab of Geny's tumblr because I have no idea how to reblog tumblr or whatever one does with it):

 

 

The two of them are adorable.

[T.o.b.y]

 

... this love story between these very different men.  Watson is mentoring Sherlock into manhood, teaching him humanity.  Sherlock sees the real man in John, he finds the hero and validates his worth and integrity.

 

Thank you. You put that really well.

 

I am re-reading the old stories in my free time these days and now that I'm not sidetracked any more by the suspense of the cases, I pay a lot more attention to what goes on between the characters. And the more I read, the more I am ready to agree with you that, in the books at least, it is, in fact, a love story. Even if I make allowances for cultural differences between then and now, I can't come to any other conclusion.

 

I'm not saying there's a sexual relationship implied anywhere in the source (although if anybody wants to fantasize about that, it offers plenty of openings). But the way Watson writes about Holmes - well, it's no wonder the reader falls head over heals for him (or at least I did). Aside from eulogizing Holmes' brilliance and upright moral principles (yes, in the original he has those!), Watson gives us plenty of physical descriptions: Holmes' facial features and many different expressions, the way his arm feels through his shirt, when and how hands were held in critical situations, how close Holmes' face comes when he whispers something while they're hiding somewhere... It goes on and on. And it feels real, whereas Watson writing about Mary sounds like it was copied out of some standard Victorian romance. Holmes, on the other hand, comments on Watson incessantly and often quite affectionately. After Holmes returns from being supposed dead, he lays out a lot of money to enable Watson to sell his practice and move back into the Baker St. apartment - this time, saving money on the rent cannot have been the reason, obviously.

 

In the late 1800s, very few people would have asked if these two men were gay. Hardly anybody knew what that meant, anyways. So if Doyle wanted to express love, he did not have to take care it wouldn't be misunderstood as sex.

 

Now, more than a century later, we can all imagine sex without love but not love without sex. So it must be really, really hard to write Sherlock and John. And what makes it even harder is that nowadays you have to give a reason for leaving the sex out of it, because if you try there will always be somebody ready to accuse you of being homophobic. You could, I guess, dispense with the love altogether. They could just be colleagues and the detective bit would still work. I am so glad Moffat and Gatiss did not choose that option.

[T.o.b.y]

I was just watching an old Youtube video where Moftiss were saying that in Season 2, in the three episodes,  Sherlock dealt with Love, Fear and Death.   Focusing on fear for a moment, the only time I recall Sherlock showing fear in Series 1 is when he rushes to get the explosive vest off of John and fears he is harmed. 

 

But on the roof in Reichenbach, the first time he mounts the wall (not the second and last, but the first) he seems to be trembling and trying to control fear.  I suppose he could just be acting for Moriarty's sake, but I thought it was real.  I also thought it was the most dangerous moment on that roof, after all, Moriarty only had to give him a push and off he'd go, no one prepared with whatever they saved him with, yet.

 

In SiP, he is willing to take the pill, risk his own death, to prove he's clever.  By this time, he seems to have developed a healthy fear of it.

 

Does anyone agree or disagree about him being afraid and if he was, does it mean the same thing to you as it does to me?  That he now fears death because he values his own life?

 

I agree that Sherlock really is afraid on occasion during the second series (and during the pool scene in The Great Game, too).

 

The thing is, for the ending of series 2 to work as a story, we, the audience, have to believe that Sherlock is capable of both love and fear. Only then will the rooftop scene be heroic and memorable. Only then will it even make sense.

 

If Sherlock loved nobody, Moriarty couldn't use hostages against him. If he wasn't capable of being afraid, he could not be brave. 

[T.o.b.y]

 

Martin Freeman really is just excellent here, he balances Sherlock perfectly.  His Watson is portrayed as having enormous self-esteem.  It doesn't bother him at all to affirm that Sherlock is right when he is, and admire his abilities.  It's the genius in the room who seems to have enough self-doubt to want an audience and a bit of applause.

 

 

Yes! Exactly. Freeman's Watson is so much his own man. I think the original was supposed to be like that, too, but he doesn't quite get the message across as a narrator and he does sometimes seem a little over-eager to please his great idol.

 

Sherlock is even more vulnerable than the original Holmes when it comes to recognition and praise - and having to be right. One of the big differences between the two is that while Holmes will freely admit to Dr. Watson (though not, in general, to other people) that he was wrong about something and will actually call himself "fool" or "ass" if he thinks he didn't find a solution quick enough or if he has followed a wrong trail, Sherlock will only mutter "stupid" to himself and takes care not to betray his mistakes to John - as in the case of the sugar in Henry Knight's house, for example.