Janine

[Carol the Dabbler]

I love Molly to pieces, but that whole outfit gives me second-hand awkwardness before the scene even really gets going:

 

1.)  she's overdressed

2.)  Christmas bow in hair

3.)  those earrings are as big as her head

4.)  bra straps, Molly, bra straps!

 

Second-hand awkwardness for sure!  Although I must admit to admiring her chutzpah -- doubt I'd've had the nerve to even try wearing that sort of dress.  But bra straps!  I'm bewildered that I never noticed them -- they look so obvious in that screencap.  Of course, nowadays visible straps seem to be the "in" thing, so maybe I thought she was simply going for the three-layers-of-tank-tops look?

 

With Janine, I identify with ... her tendency to accidentally overshoot on a joke.  Saying "no sex now," to the best man and having the joke fall flat -- that's so much something that I would do.  I would think whoever I'm talking to understands the reference I'm making, and then realize after the fact that they missed it and I look like a bit of a fool.  I also identify with her ability to take someone like Sherlock who everyone else holds at arm's length and just not take them so seriously.  I've made some of the best friends that way.  And I imagine, working so closely with the head of CAM News, she encounters a lot of people of influence and has gotten somewhat used to doing so.

 

Me too, on both counts.  (And the worst part of a joke-gone-bad is trying to explain it afterwards....)

 

For no particular reason, I was wondering just now whether I would have shot Sherlock in Mary's shoes, and I am kind of horrified to realize that yes, maybe. I wonder whether they were foreshadowing that scene when Sholto warned them in The Sign of Three about "a gun in my hand and a lifetime of unfortunate reflexes".

I'm pretty sure they were. And yeah, me too for all I know -- what with being backed into a corner and all that.

 

Who knows, maybe Sherlock even went to Molly for relationship advice? If so, too bad we didn't get to see that. Oh my god, good thing I do not write (much...) fan fiction, that would make for one sad piece...

Men do that sort of thing sometimes, even men who aren't as socially disabled as Sherlock. A former boyfriend once asked me for help with his new boyfriend. (At least he hadn't dumped me for another woman. *sigh*)

[T.o.b.y]

A former boyfriend once asked me for help with his new boyfriend. (At least he hadn't dumped me for another woman. *sigh*)

 

Seriously, Carol? I am really sorry, but it made me laugh reading that. Poor you! What did you say?

 

I can't help but getting a similar impression when Sherlock comes to Molly before the stag night. Sorry, Sherlock, I know you're not... Wait, I don't know anything, I just assume. And it's really none of my goddamn business, even if you do not really exist.

 

Come to think of it, if Sherlock really thinks a date is "two people who like each other go out and have fun" and nothing more, then the stag night really was a date for him, wasn't it. That's kind of endearing, in a way. Well, I guess Janine at the very latest opened his eyes to what a "real" date is supposed to be like. I wonder whether it was a pleasant revelation.

 

Somehow, I can't help liking the idea that if Janine and Sherlock continued to see each other, she would keep trying to get into his pants and he'd be continually fending her off. I find that funny. For some odd reason.

 

[sittything]

 

 

 

Come to think of it, if Sherlock really thinks a date is "two people who like each other go out and have fun" and nothing more, then the stag night really was a date for him, wasn't it. That's kind of endearing, in a way. Well, I guess Janine at the very latest opened his eyes to what a "real" date is supposed to be like. I wonder whether it was a pleasant revelation.

 

 

Yes, but then didn't Sherlock and Molly go on a date in TEH?  ;)

[T.o.b.y]

Yes, but then didn't Sherlock and Molly go on a date in TEH?   ;)

 

Of course they did! I think that was exactly Sherlock's idea of a date (at that time at least), really! And Molly understood him well enough. She was looking at her engagement ring when Sherlock said "you can't do this again, can you?"

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

A former boyfriend once asked me for help with his new boyfriend. (At least he hadn't dumped me for another woman. *sigh*)

 

Seriously, Carol? I am really sorry, but it made me laugh reading that. Poor you! What did you say?

 

This was all part of a much larger situation that I referred to at the time as "the soap opera."  To avoid hijacking the entire thread, I will simply mention that at one point he told his boyfriend, "Carol's tough."  And I thought, "How would you know?"  Fortunately, I hadn't thought of him as my one true love or anything even close.  He was just someone to date after I was dumped by my prior serious boyfriend.  So I helped him as best I could -- but it did still smart a bit.

 

And yes, it really was funny, even at the time.

 

[T.o.b.y]

 

This was all part of a much larger situation that I referred to at the time as "the soap opera."  To avoid hijacking the entire thread, I will simply mention that at one point he told his boyfriend, "Carol's tough."  And I thought, "How would you know?"  Fortunately, I hadn't thought of him as my one true love or anything even close.  He was just someone to date after I was dumped by my prior serious boyfriend.  So I helped him as best I could -- but it did still smart a bit.

 

And yes, it really was funny, even at the time.

 

I'm glad! I would have hated to find I had laughed at someone else's tragic heartbreak.

 

My mother often refers to "the big soap opera called real life". Some of the things that happen for real would be considered way too cliché for any script.

 

...

 

Thinking about Sherlock and Janine together in old age somehow gives me a mental picture of an upper class version of Daisy and Onslow from "Keeping Up Appearances" :lol: I really must get that stupid commentary out of my head.

[Carol the Dabbler]

My mother often refers to "the big soap opera called real life". Some of the things that happen for real would be considered way too cliché for any script.

Or far too unrealistic!

 

[Boton]

 

Yes, but then didn't Sherlock and Molly go on a date in TEH?   ;)

 

Of course they did! I think that was exactly Sherlock's idea of a date (at that time at least), really! And Molly understood him well enough. She was looking at her engagement ring when Sherlock said "you can't do this again, can you?"

 

 

 

Yes, that was totally a Sherlock date, and they both knew it.  Poor Molly; I think Sherlock uses her a lot for "practice" of emotional things before he tries them out for real. 

 

Bringing this back around to Janine, I'll bet their first date didn't involve solving crimes.

[sittything]

You guys, I can't decide if I'm happy Molly got a "Sherlock-date" or really sad right now.  No wonder that whole bottom of the staircase scene is a big 'ole bittersweet mess. 

[T.o.b.y]

Bringing this back around to Janine, I'll bet their first date didn't involve solving crimes.

 

Yes, what did they actually do together? I doubt it was talking walks in the twilight like Holmes and the house maid... Was Sherlock bored out of his mind most of the time? Or did he get to have some fun with her? Did they ever end up really dancing?

 

 

[sittything]

It would have been interesting to see what they did on their first date.  I just can't see Sherlock dating, like traditional dating.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Bleh -- I hate traditional dating.  Bet Janine does too!

 

[Arcadia]

Bleh -- I hate traditional dating.  Bet Janine does too!

Thank you, thank you, thank you .... I always hated "traditional" dating, I can't even begin to say how much. But you're the first person I've seen say the same thing. Yay, I'm not alone!!!! Take that, my "normal" friends! :D

[SherlockedCAMPer]

My first date was to a MN Wild's game against either Detroit or Chicago (enjoyed the hockey except for the fight during the 2nd period) about 14 years ago.

[T.o.b.y]

This is a picture of the actress who plays Janine. Just because I want to be fair and acknowledge what a beauty she really is, irrespective of what I may think of the character she plays in Sherlock.

 

[joanneta1]

Now t h a t was a really fabulous discussion! Followed it all the way through because it went from the sublime to the ridiculous in the time each participant wrote their take on it. Truth to tell, her insinuations at his bedside were that she knew about the drug-taking, that she hadn't had sex with him no matter what she sold to the tabloids, that she knew he could not commit to ANYONE in a physical relationship, and because he had lied and lied she tried to get a bit of her own back at him. It all comes down to his determination never to let emotions play any part in his work, so she was left with 'no sex, ok?" but would have quite liked to be friends.

Anyway, Mr. Moffat has acknowledged that she is the modern-day equivalent of Milverton's maid, and no one would expect class or refinement in such a working-class girl, Holmes himself despairs over the conversations he has had with her during their walks together. The screenwriter also said that he wrote in the scene at the hospital as his own revenge for Holmes's handling of the situation and his taking advantage of her. Even in the Master Blackmailer, he tells Dr. Watson, who is picking up his pen preparatory to writing the account of their deeds that there are some aspects of the case he is not proud of, obviously harkening back to his play-acting the Lothario with the maid. Janine is gorgeous and fun to watch, but as Magnussen's PA, she stands in for Milverton's maid.

[Arcadia]

That's so funny, I just read the whole thing too, because even though it says I started this thread (I did?) I don't remember a word of it! Glad I found it again, it's a hoot!

[joanneta1]

That's so funny, I just read the whole thing too, because even though it says I started this thread (I did?) I don't remember a word of it! Glad I found it again, it's a hoot!

Not only is it a hoot, but it covers the young female leads pretty comprehensively. Thanks for starting it in the first place. Some of the photos added are also very impressive! By the way, dear mousy little Molly is not only the single female he trusts, she also gets the most kisses. His perfunctory kiss for Janine is there to maintain their "relationship" , but Molly gets a kiss at Christmas in Scandal, another very Bond-like in Anderson's reconstruction of the Fall which Louise Brealy qualifies as "dreadful" in the Sherlock Chronicles, and another one at the end of their day together in TEH. Chaste though they may be, he never really responds so well to another human being, even Dr. Watson is firmly kept at arm's length.

[Carol the Dabbler]

... even though it says I started this thread (I did?) I don't remember a word of it!

 

This may have been one of those cases where someone posts something that looks like such a good premise for a discussion that I split it off into its own thread.

[Arcadia]

I think you're right, actually. Good job, Carol!

[J.P.]

I actually liked her. Normal, down to earth woman. 

She was sooo unimpressed by His Sherlockness, she plainly said: "you would be useful"  :lol:

 

And the way she broke up - I think it was quite classy in my eyes. Too classy to be true, actually.

 

She flirts at Sherlock first, but during the whole wedding he is quite obviously flirting at her - too obviously to be genuine IMO. It might be a subtle trick from the writers, to make their love affair easier to swallow in the next episode... or maybe not.

 

Look at their conversation in the hospital. It is so damn matter of fact and businesslike, that I start to wonder if SHE has a heart. The most plausible explanation would be that she is a double agent, and a conscious one. CAM is present in the story from TEH already, he has obviously his own plans with Holmes brothers, so why not send his, quite smart (maybe much smarter than everyone thinks) PA to spy on Sherlock. And Sherlock was playing his own game, who knows for how long already.

 

So who was fooling whom, actually? 

 

 

Nonetheless, I probably looked exactly like John watching her for the first time - obviously feeling fully at home in the flat. I had a "what's wrong with this picture" alarm blinking in my head all the time, but I almost bought it. 

 

Re: Flicking the eye - can't help a vision of CAM and Janine making this for fun - they bet about her closing her eye. I know I'm strange.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Yes.  You are.  :D

[T.o.b.y]

Well, Janine must be one hell of a woman if she could stand being Magnussen's PA over any length of time without being reduced to a trembling bunch of nerves and revulsion. There is probably a lot of steel below that voluptuous surface. No wonder Sherlock likes her. He admires strong people.

[Inge l-w]

Dear fellow members,

What if Janine turns out to be Jim and Colonel James's sibling? After all, she has all the prerequisites: vitality, vivaciousness, physical stamina and endurance, her own webs to weave and a semi-willing victim in a bewildered, confused Sherlock, whose anchor used to be Dr Watson but is no more, largely thanks to Mary. Her major giveaways are her initial (J) and her Irishness, both in accent and forward manner! In that case, she will turn out to be a much more serious threat to Sherlock's sanity and continued existence! A Ms Moriarty is as plausible in our days as a Jane Watson, and in that case, Mary may have known her from being a freelance sniper for Jim. Just imagine if Mary's first sight of her future husband (quite illegal, that) were down the scope of her sniper's rifle at the pool back in TGG, just doing a job for her employer!

[SherlockedCAMPer]

Interesting plot idea. Would be a nice unexpected twist