What moment brought you close to tears?

[sherlockandjohn]

I came across a discussion on this topic, but rather than signing up there in order to be allowed to post, I'm starting this thread. The other discussion, if anyone is interested, is found here.

 

Well, I can't say I've only been brought close to tears during all nine episodes But there is a scene that stick with me as incredibly powerful, and where I vividly remember the tears coming close to spilling. It is when Sherlock reveals himself to John in The Empty Hearse. I'm gripped by John's display of feeling utterly betrayed, and by how stung Sherlock looks. For a moment I forget that I want to throttle the man. Heart-wrenching is the right word for this moment. For all the expectations I had, I was really nervous about this scene, but I was overwhelmed by the power of it. Probably my favourite 'Sherlock' scene just because it was so pivotal, so long awaited, and so important to get right, and still I was more than satisfied when it happened.

 

  

 

I could point out other scenes, but this is the most important one for me, and I'd like to hear from the rest of you. So, what moments brought you close to tears?

[joanneta1]

OK, you asked for it, so here's my tuppence worth of it:

The absolute horror of Sherlock pulling out John's mysteriously undetected gun and shooting a defenceless man at point blank range and the airstrip scene afterwards. And they were not tears of sorrow but of rage at what the scriptwriter had made my absolute favourite character in crime fiction do.
 

[besleybean]

Loads...

I'll try to do one per ep!

 

Series 1:

 

When John gets his stick back.

When John finds Soo Lin deadl

When Sherlock and John have their: people do little else moment at the pool.

 

Series 2 

 

When Irene drugs Sherlock

When Sherlock says John is his only friend.

Opening shot of John saying Sherlock is dead!

 

Series 3

 

Greg hugging Sherlock

John hugging Sherlock

Seeing Mycroft's view of Sherlock as his little brother.

[T.o.b.y]

Interesting question. I usually cry a lot watching television, but I've shed remarkably few tears over Sherlock for my standards. I goes to my gut and brain more than my glands, somehow.

 

Okay, I cried when John made his little speech at Sherlock's grave. Especially the first time, because I did not know for sure that Sherlock was alive.

I cried during His Last Vow, when Sherlock said "give my love to Mary - tell her she's safe now" and during the rest of that scene.

I nearly cried the other day watching the airfield goodbye scene. At least I teared up.

 

But the strongest physical response the show got out of me was while watching The Sign of Three. It started with the violin playing at 221b, the conversation with Mrs Hudson and "into battle" (which is what I say now to myself getting dressed for work - or a party). And it just went on. I am still trying to figure out what that episode did to me. It was like being punched.

[sherlockandjohn]

Oh, I also have to mention another scene from TEH: I really started getting choked up when Sherlock said: "Please, John, forgive me for all the hurt that I've caused you." I didn't yet know whether or not he meant it, but it sounded so genuine. I got even more close to tears when John replied with "I find it difficult, this sort of stuff" and then practically repeated the words he had spoken at Sherlock's grave two years past. In fact, I'm getting a little choked up again now.

 

OK, you asked for it, so here's my tuppence worth of it:

The absolute horror of Sherlock pulling out John's mysteriously undetected gun and shooting a defenceless man at point blank range and the airstrip scene afterwards. And they were not tears of sorrow but of rage at what the scriptwriter had made my absolute favourite character in crime fiction do.
 

 

I had a similar reaction... It was gutting. On the other hand, I was equally moved by such a selfless act from Sherlock. It was terrible, and sad, and deeply moving for me. A part of me feels appalled that Sherlock took a life, but I also know that the world (that is, the 'Sherlock' world) is better off without Magnussen. The question is, I suppose, if Sherlock was the right person to decide if Magnussen should live. My answer would be 'no', and I don't think Sherlock killed him because he believed that he had the right - but because he believed it to be the right thing to do under the circumstances. I haven't made up my mind about that one myself. I just wish Mary had not put Sherlock in that position in the first place. It wasn't Sherlock's mess, and she should have cleared it up herself. That's why her behavior at the air field grates on me... After everything Sherlock has done for her, and everything she has done to him, she gives him a hug and a smile as if everything is okay?! My gosh... That is probably the worst moment for me in His Last Vow, and in 'Sherlock' altogether. I don't believe for a second that Mary is rejoicing that Sherlock has 'taken the crap' for her, but neither is she taking it very hard. She is just a little bit careless. Not at all vicious, but careless.

 

Interesting question. I usually cry a lot watching television, but I've shed remarkably few tears over Sherlock for my standards. I goes to my gut and brain more than my glands, somehow.

 

Okay, I cried when John made his little speech at Sherlock's grave. Especially the first time, because I did not know for sure that Sherlock was alive.

I cried during His Last Vow, when Sherlock said "give my love to Mary - tell her she's safe now" and during the rest of that scene.

I nearly cried the other day watching the airfield goodbye scene. At least I teared up.

 

But the strongest physical response the show got out of me was while watching The Sign of Three. It started with the violin playing at 221b, the conversation with Mrs Hudson and "into battle" (which is what I say now to myself getting dressed for work - or a party). And it just went on. I am still trying to figure out what that episode did to me. It was like being punched.

 

I cried the first time I watched the graveyard scene, too - especially when John said, "Don't be dead.... Just stop it, stop this", and then we see the grave. So silent. Kills me.

 

For some weird reason (at least in retrospect I find it weird) I cried when Sherlock left the wedding. Not when Sherlock gave his speech, or when John hugged him (though I did tear up a bit). I often find that I cry over some kind of separation scene, whether by death or something much less tragic.

[sherlockandjohn]

I hadn't cried about any Sherlock scene until the graveyard scene in The Reichenbach Fall. After that... choked up at least once in every episode in series 3. And for all that, I still think I might love series 3 the least of them all... Anyway, I do love it.

[Boton]

OK, here goes:

 

I don't cry at movies and TV.  Ever. I have only ever gotten tears at two movie/TV scenes in the history of ever.

 

One was ST: WOK.  "I have been, and ever shall be, your friend."  Sobbing at that one, as a matter of fact.

 

The second was HLV.  "To the very best of times, John."  A little mist in the eyes.

[sittything]

I'm broken.  I rarely cry.  I haven't actually cried watching Sherlock yet.  Not even close, although if anything was going to do it, it was probably the best man speech.

 

Ironically, for all of my non-crying ways I totally blubbered my way through both Amy Pond and Matt Smith's goodbye's in Doctor Who... both of those were pure poetry to my cold heart.  lol  Which is hilarious, given that I'm not a specific doctor loyalist.

 

 

[Caya]

John at the beginning of Reichenbach brought me to tears. The way he was sitting there in his therapist's office ...

 

Can't remember any other tears, which is weird, because I tend to blubber like a baby at movies.

[T.o.b.y]

Me too, yet I don't cry very much over Sherlock either. It's not a very tear-inducing series, and yet I can't say it doesn't get me emotionally engaged. Quite the contrary.

 

Maybe it's because they almost always take care to balance sadness and humor, and Sherlock and John are both so opposed to sentimental displays.

[SherlockedCAMPer]

Tears or near it in TRF: John with his therapist, Sherlock when talking to John before the jump all the way to the end of the episode.  Those eyes after the jump are so gut wrenching.

 

HLV: The airstrip when Sherlock is talking to John.

TSOT: Sherlock leaving the reception early

 

[Boton]

I'm broken.  I rarely cry.  I haven't actually cried watching Sherlock yet.  Not even close, although if anything was going to do it, it was probably the best man speech.

 

Ironically, for all of my non-crying ways I totally blubbered my way through both Amy Pond and Matt Smith's goodbye's in Doctor Who... both of those were pure poetry to my cold heart.  lol  Which is hilarious, given that I'm not a specific doctor loyalist.

 

You're not broken, Sitty.  You don't have to cry to feel deeply.

 

If you prefer, what Sherlock moment caused you the biggest surge of emotion, whether you responded physically or not?

 

(Sigh.  Love Amy Pond.  Didn't cry at the good-byes, but just love her.)

[Bendydoodle Cantaloupe]

I cried during that one little bit in the Mind Palace scene where Sherlock opens up a door, and Redbeard comes rushing out, and Sherlock says, "They're putting me down too... it's no fun, is it, Redbeard?" :cry:

[SherlockedCAMPer]

I cried during that one little bit in the Mind Palace scene where Sherlock opens up a door, and Redbeard comes rushing out, and Sherlock says, "They're putting me down too... it's no fun, is it, Redbeard?" :cry:

 

Yes, major feels there as well.

 

The other thing that got me was seeing the track listing for Series 2 and seeing the title Blood on Pavement (Thank you Mr. Price and Mr. Arnold for the extra feels, it's not like Moftiss doesn't give us enough on their own).

[Inge l-w]

I am a bit like Boton and sittything, I can be deeply moved by scenes like Melanie's deathbed scene when Scarlett promises to look after Ashley, for example, but I do not cry watching films or series, although the absolute top of my list would be Spock at the end of Wrath of Khan and Alice Munro throwing herself off the cliff in The Last of the Mohicans, and the ending of Flying Daggers. Recently, in the cinema, however it was not Sherlock but Turing which caused a tightening in my chest and a lump in my throat.

For one reason or another, I find this version comical rather than anything else.

P. S. Sherlockandjohn, that little scene in TEH was the manipulative egotist having a second go at securing his friend's forgiveness, having failed the first time; as is evident by how he then turns the tables on poor Dr Watson, having first scared him into thinking that they would die in the booby-trapped carriage, so that Dr Watson was forced into admitting that he would not die without having forgiven Sherlock, and then showing him the off-switch. If at first you don't succeed, and all that sort of thing. Remember that he can get all moist-eyed in pursuit of his goals, like he did with Mrs Monkford in The Great Game, so he used the same ploy to get Dr Watson to do as he wished. QED.

[Slithytove]

Interesting that so many of us who admit to crying at films don't seem to cry very much at Sherlock. I am a terrible cry-baby (particularly anything involving children) and the tears flow freely at books, films, tv shows....I was given a DVD of Third Star for Xmas and still haven't watched it because I'm certain I will embarrass myself by snivelling. Haven't cried at Sherlock, though.

 

Maybe it's the balance of tragedy and humour, or the feeling that Sherlock & John are somehow invincible and will get through anything that life throws at them. TRF was very emotional but I felt Sherlock would survive somehow - after all, the original character came back from the dead, so it seemed right for Sherlock to make it through too. I wasn't so certain in HLV, so the shooting scene and its aftermath gave me a bit of a wobble. Have to agree that the murder at Appledore and the airfield scene came close to provoking tears of rage rather than sorrow! Use your incredible intelligence, Sherlock, not a gun....and stop acting like a robot, John.

 

TSOT is probably the one which had me closest to tears because Sherlock is at his most vulnerable and exposed, and you'd have to have a heart of stone not to empathise with his loneliness.

[SherlockedCAMPer]

I know I can be an emotional wreck with certain pieces of work whether movie, tv, or book.  I still haven't watched ET since it originally came out in the theaters.  And I own 2 versions of an autobiography that still gets me to some degree every time I read it and I've known the person's story for at least 7 years.

[HeroinOrHeroine]

I have the emotional range of a robot and thus do not cry while watching TV or movies. The end of His Last Vow elicits an empathic response from me though: after Sherlock shoots Magnussen and MI6 closes in, Mycroft is yelling, " don't shoot Sherlock Holmes!" and sees Sherlock as a crying child.

[Arcadia]

Another non-cryer here. Unless it involves animals. Endanger, injure or kill an animal on-screen, and I will sob like a child. Even in animated films. It's a little embarrassing, actually.

 

As far as I can recall, only one non-animal scene has ever made me cry, and that's when Buffy's mom died. Every time I saw it. Every. Time.

 

I regard Sherlock as more of a comedy than a drama, and I've never been anywhere close to tears while watching. I've felt sorry for one character or another at times, but not broken up enough to cry.

 

However --- there's a few scenes that have punched me in the gut. I hurt for John when Sherlock fell. I hurt for Sherlock at the wedding, that moment when he realized there was no one there for him. And I just hurt, period, during HLV, from the moment Sherlock is shot to the end. I don't think I've ever been so tense and anguished during a show in my life. I was a trembling wreck after that one. But teary? Nope.

[besleybean]

That's what makes it the top episode for me...it is quite shocking.

[joanneta1]

It is so shocking it's otherworldly!

Mr Moffatt probably mixed up his Dr Who with Sherlock, but that particular episode either sends me into an incandescent rage or makes me grab the first available Jeremy Brett episode to calm down and be able not to yell at or snap somebody's head off at work. Scaring your students because you feel like Moriarty : "That's what people do!" in variations thereof totally NOT good, even though they may be in their twenties, because you are there to help build up their knowledge, not vent your impotent anger at what you cannot change, however much you have discussed it with friends and other Sherlock fans, like the nice fellow members of this forum.

[Shadow Dweller]

The closest to me are THoB when Mycroft received a message about his access card, tears from too much laughing. His expression," Good Lord, not again!" :p

 

Second scene is SiB, Buckingham Palace. Sherlock's expression when he insisted to know (modesty only preserved by a sheet around lower body) who his client is.

[Boton]

Scaring your students because you feel like Moriarty : "That's what people do!" in variations thereof totally NOT good, even though they may be in their twenties, because you are there to help build up their knowledge, not vent your impotent anger at what you cannot change, however much you have discussed it with friends and other Sherlock fans, like the nice fellow members of this forum.

 

Well, since I'm the one who nearly did that, I should clarify the context.  My students are pretty accustomed to there being a lot of humor and a lot of in-jokes and culture references in my class, and by the time I get to know them, most of them are playing along with me and having a good time.  TV and movie quotes are absolutely part of it.  (Most years, I get a good laugh at the "Smells like victory" quote from Apocalypse Now when used judiciously.)

 

I cut myself off from doing my best Moriarty because I knew I had polled them informally, and I don't have a lot of Sherlockians in class this semester, so they wouldn't have gotten the joke.  Therefore, totally pointless on my part.  Ironically, the digression that really got them was a story from the life of Hemingway that also fit into that part of the lecture. Sometimes, you never know whether its comedy or tragedy that will hold your audience's attention.  Just my particular classroom style, is all.  

 

Believe me, no scaring intended.  If I want them scared, I will be absolutely bloody serious about it.  And I haven't scared a class since roughly 2009, when apparently my entire class thought I was kidding about there being an exam.  I assured them that I was not kidding in the slightest.

 

Back to what brings you to tears, I'd have to second that whole "They're putting me down too" scene with Redbeard.  I don't cry, but my goodness, the feels on that one!

[joanneta1]

Oh, that's a shame!

Mine are totally into it, and although I suspect we have rather a lot of female fans active in this forum, in my classes, both genders are almost equally interested. Last week, in an IELTS class, they couldn't get the point about how to use the apostrophe in the singular when something ends in s for the possessive, so, elementary: "Holmes" written on the whiteboard, at which they giggled, but then I added the apostrophe  after it  with the added s , and the game started "brother" from a girl studying nursing, "friend" from a boy finishing his studies in electronic engineering, etc. You get the picture, and, of course they had to be congratulated at the end, so I deadpanned "Obviously", and we continued with coordinate clauses and subordinate clauses.

Still, when they begin to talk all at once and create a hubbub, I am very nearly tempted to yell "Shut up"!

And this series has brought mirth and laughter, but not tears, with the one notable exception I have already pointed out.

[T.o.b.y]

I think the most emotionally intense scene is The Reunion, where John first realizes that the waiter is Sherlock. But that doesn't make me cry, just hold my breath.

 

You know, I'm still waiting for John to realize and acknowledge that he's truly glad Sherlock is alive. I don't think he ever will, though. There's always been an amusing reluctance on his part to liking Sherlock at all. Even at the wedding, where he's genuinely touched, it's "If I try to hug him, stop me".

Oh John. You are so funny.