#best case eddie would probably be crushing a bit but knows its supposed to be platonic

[qprstobin]

Steddie au where Steve is good with reading people! He knows Eddie is flirting with him/thinks he's hot! And he's honestly happy that Eddie feels comfortable flirting and being himself with Steve!!!!

The obliviousness hits here where Steve doesn't realize why HE enjoys the flirting so much

[scoobiesminyard]

If you asked any member of the Losers Club about who the biggest romantic in the group was, they would all immediately answer Ben Hanscom. He wrote love poetry for gods sake! He listened to George Michael and Whitney Houston! (He had attempted to hide this slightly embarassing fact, but he underestimated how goddamn snoopy Richie could be). He may have said that he only agreed to watch When Harry met Sally to appease Bev, but the others knew better. He was, put simply, a huge romantic.

Ben loved strongly and purely, and he liked to express that love through his poetry. It was slowly but surely improving, or at least he said. They wouldn’t let anyone read it. Not since last summer.

It had been months since the poem had been left in Bev’s bag. Months since she realised that it was him who had done it. Months since they had softly said the words to each other... and in those months, nothing had happened. They hadn’t kissed, hadn’t held hands or gone on a date (except in Bens daydreams). They hadn’t even talked about it. The only explanation was that Bev didn’t feel the same way (understandably, she was so beautiful and so funny and so strong and he was so.... not) and she was just trying to avoid hurting his feelings. How could he expect anything differently? He wasn’t worthy of her. Not like Bill. Not like brave, handsome Bill... It was days like this that he listened to sadder songs, wrote more negative poems. He felt his heart aching in his chest as he looked at Bev. He would wish miserably that he didn’t love Bev.

But then Bev would look at him, with that glint in her eye. She would laugh at him- no with him, never at him- and she would smile so damn bright. She would bump up against him or listen to him speak with patience, before interrupting to say what was on her mind. It was when they were lying on the grass of the Barrens cloudwatching lazily or she was jitterbug dancing with Richie until they collapsed with laughter, that he knew Bev was the best part of his life. He had loved her since she signed his yearbook, when she became the first person in this school, in any school to really care about him, He didn’t care if she didn’t love him back because she didn’t owe him anything. Bev smoking in silence, Bev smiling at him, Bev cycling around him, Bev tickling him, Bev crying in his arms. She was the best person he had ever known.

And Ben couldn’t hide how absolutely lightheaded he felt around her. The others had known for absolutely ages. It was just an unspoken thing- Ben is whipped for Bev. Bev’s feelings are unclear. Then again, her thing with Bill never went anywhere. Ben had rubbed his sweaty palms against his shorts as Bill told them that he and Bev, whatever they were, were over and would just be friends from now on. Bev seemed happier after that. She didn’t need a guy. She was fine on her own. She didn’t need Ben.

Ben would probably have left things like that for the rest of his life if it was up to him. The silent pining, the confused feelings, the angst of it all. He had already made a move, he thought. He had made his feelings clear that summer and everyday since. And with no result. Anything further would probably be weird and creepy. Things were fine the way they were. Richie felt differently.

"Benjamin my good fellow, I have to make some inquiries” Richie said in his British guy voice, looking at him sternly.

They were walking to the library, where they often studied (well, Ben studied and Richie tried to distract him). It was a January afternoon and it was absolutely freezing. He was wrapped up in a scarf, hat and thick coat but Richie was seemingly fine wearing a denim jacket. He was unfazed by everything. How annoying. Ben was used to Richie’s antics by now and just sighed.

“Whats up Richie?” “I have to ask my good fellow... what are your intentions with Miss Marsh?”

Ben nearly walked into a streetlamp.

“Wh-What? What are you talking about?”

Richie scoffed and slung his arm around Ben's shoulder. This was awkward, considering the height difference (Richie was starting to shoot up like a bean pole) but Richie continued speaking.

“I mean, its absolutely ridiculous how long you two have been iffing about. Its 1990 my good sir! A whole new year, a whole new decade! Its time to get a move on- its almost Valentines day” Richie said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Ben waited a moment and thought about Richie’s words. He never thought he would say this but maybe Richie was right? He could try again, really lay things on the line, be honest-

Ben shook his head. What was he thinking? He couldn’t risk making things more awkward, ruining their friendship. ‘Bev already knows’ he reminded himself. ‘You’re just gonna make her uncomfortable and force her to reject you properly’

He said as much to Richie, who scoffed again.

“Oh, pish posh! Benny boy, Bev is my best friend. I know her okay? She never shuts up about you when we’re smoking. She listens to the same crappy songs you do. She always defends you when I call you a nerd-“

“Hey!”

“and I really don’t know what the girl is waiting for. She still has your poem by her bed, you know. She likes you. And you like her. Maybe she’s waiting for you to ask her again so she can tell you the right answer this time. Romance is a mystery to me. I just hump em and dump em, you know me. But you need to get a move on and get ready to sweeeeeeeeepp her off her feet on Valentines!”

Ben, still processing Richie’s words, stayed silent as they walked in the library doors. Mrs Clarke scowled.

“Mr Tozier. Here again.”

Oh, you couldn’t keep me away from this dusty, cold, silent room full of old books if you tried. Which I know you have. And yet here I am!” Richie said cheerily and steered Ben toward the tables before Mrs Clarke could scold him for insolence.

“You gotta do the damn thing on Feb 14th, handsome. Life is too short” Richie hissed.

“Oh really? Well, I’ll seize the day if you do”

Richie frowned. “Whats that supposed to mean?”

“Oh please. You're smart but I'm smarter. You’re not the only one with eyes and I am not the only one who has a flaming crush on a fellow loser”

Richie, eyes wide behind his glasses, was seemingly stunned into silence and buried himself in a comic he brought from home. His cheeks were tinted red behind the pages. It was very amusing to see him shown up for once. Ben would usually have used this opportunity to actually study in silence for once but his mind had never been further from academics. All he could think about Bev....

And now, all because of that wretched conversation, he was sealing his doom. He was seizing the day. He was getting a move on. He was asking Bev out. On Valentines day. When she said no, kindly but firmly, it was going to crush him. Yet, here he was by her locker. Flowers in his hand and irrational, stupid hope in his heart.

He heard Bev before he saw her. He squared his shoulders and took a deep breath when he heard her laugh echoing down the halls. He would follow that laugh down a cliff, into the sewers, into the very gates of hell. She rounded the corner with Richie, fresh off their morning smoke. She was wearing jeans and a baby blue jumper, her hair freshly washed and beautiful like always. Richie was smacking a kiss on her cheek and she was rolling her eyes in disgust, but her giggling was giving her away. Her eyes landed on him, blushing already and holding flowers as nice as he could buy. She stopped laughing. Richie grinned and started walking away, giving Ben the thumbs up. He was gonna have to kill him after this.

Because Bev didn’t look happy at all. She looked surprised, and a bit worried. She walked slowly toward him and gave a smile that didn’t look too genuine. Ben's heart sank to his toes. This was not going to end well.

“Are these for me?” Bev asked softly. “Y-yes. Happy Valentines Day, Beverly. I was wondering if-if you wanted to, to maybe-“

“Gotta go! Bathroom! See you later!” Bev interrupted, panic clear on her face before she ran in the opposite direction to Ben- and the girls bathrooms. Ben gaped after her for a few seconds before lifting a hand to wave goodbye. By then, she was whipping around the corner out of sight.

Ben couldn’t believe what had just happened. He hadn’t been that confident sure but he thought the worst case scenario would be Bev telling him clearly that she just didn’t feel the same way and she just wanted to be friends. And now it seemed like she was so horrified with him that they would never be friends again. Ben felt tears welling up in his eyes.

“Fuck you Richie Tozier” he muttered and wiped his eyes. He had to get his books and get to the bathroom before anyone saw him crying. The bullying situation had gotten a lot better recently and he didn’t want to change that, especially not today. He ran to his locker, his vision blurry with tears (“stop crying you useless lump” he said angrily to himself with no result) and threw it open-

It was then that a box of chocolates fell out of the locker and hit Ben square on the head, It hurt. A lot.

“What the- can this day get any worse?” Ben muttered bitterly before freezing. Now what exactly was a box of chocolates doing in his locker in the first place? He scrambled to pick it up and stared at it in amazement. There was a note attached.

“My mam used to say that the best way to a mans heart is through his stomach. I personally think poetry is much more effective but I’m not much of a writer. I don’t know how to say this well so I’ll just say it badly. I like you. A lot. you want to catch a movie later? Eat hazelnut for yes, caramel for no. Yes I know you hate caramel, that's the point. Bev x”

Ben had at some point sank down on to the floor of the school, holding the box and note in front of him and staring in awe. He read it again. And again. And again. It didn’t start seeming real. He quickly pinched himself but things didn’t start making more sense. This was real. Bev had-

“Eddie would have a heart attack if he saw you sitting in that nasty floor, you know”

Ben tore his eyes away from the single ‘x’ to see Bev standing in front of him, smiling shyly. She hesitated and extended her arm to him. Ben stared at her for a minute before gulping and taking her hand. Her skin was so soft but when she pulled him up, he felt how strong she was. He didn’t let go of her hand. She didn’t seem to mind.

“I’m sorry for being rude before.” Bev whispered, with a small smirk. “I just- I’ve been planning this for ages. And it was my turn to make a move. I didn’t think you would-and i just wanted to-“

“I wasn’t going to. Definitely no” Ben admitted and Bev looked a little taken aback.

“Why’d you do it then?”

“Richie, he convinced me that maybe I had a chance... I guess he isn’t so stupid after all”

“I disagree! He almost ruined everything! I’m gonna tell him that Eddie likes Stan instead I swear to god, the meddling oaf-“ Bev fumed.

Ben watched her mini rant with a smile. She really had asked him out. She really did like him back. He couldn’t believe it. He didn’t think he ever would.

Ben squeezed her hand. “The answer is yes, by the way. A million times yes. I would eat 10 thousand hazelnut swirls if it meant I could go out with you’

Bev’s eyes crinkled as she beamed. This was better than Ben had ever imagined. This was real. And this was really, really romantic.

[mychakk]

From a Joke to the End Game - The Evolution of Molly Hooper: Molly the Tool: The Blind Banker

Hello again Everyone!

Today it’s time for The Blind Banker. This episode is the excellent blend of the scenes portraying writers’ initial idea to the letter while at the same time showing how the crew creates so much more than it was originally planned in the script. Let’s take a look at the scenes in this episode to see exactly what I mean.

[under the cut for a long post and many pretty pictures of Ben and Loo ;) ]

Sweet Molly and the Manipulative Bastard

The first scene, in which we see Molly in this episode, is the (in)famous one in the cafeteria. This scene shows unerringly the writers’ initial idea for Molly: a writing tool to show Sherlock’s characteristics and methods of working. In this episode those are: his ability to manipulate, charm and get his way even though he shouldn’t. Molly, as being designed with a crush on Sherlock, is the perfect candidate to help show those traits in the main protagonist.

Let’s take a look at the dialogue and facial expressions on both of our characters to see what else we can learn about them and their relationship from this second on air encounter.

The scene opens as Molly is getting ready to eat while Sherlock catches up with her.

He’s the one who starts the conversation with a small talk and even throws in a joke.

S: What are you thinking: pork or the pasta? M: Oh, it’s you! S: This place is never going to trouble Egon Ronay, is it? I’d stick with the pasta. Don’t wanna be doing roast pork – not if you’re slicing up cadavers.

Sherlock’s opening the conversation with a small talk is actually something else all of its own, as we know. When does Sherlock do a small talk? He finds it boring and unnecessary. But apparently with Molly he does do it. And this is not the only instance we’ve been told/shown this, as our scene from TBB here ties up neatly with Molly’s comment from ASiB about Sherlock “complaining” about John leaving for Christmas. Sherlock small talks with Molly. He even talks about himself to her, and here we can see he jokes with her too. And it’s a joke that makes both of them giggle. It’s not a surprise that he knows how to make her smile and laugh, he’s Sherlock Holmes after all, but it’s also safe to say it’s not that hard to achieve for him as they probably share a similar sense of humour. Awkwardly morbid and adorable, those two. 

Although, we do have to note, here his joking and a small talk has an obvious ulterior motive.

Meanwhile, Molly is initially startled by his appearance and then of course is charmed by his jokes, there is no denying it. And since we’ve established he’s small talking with her, it’s not a surprise to see that she responses with asking him about what he’s having. This starts like a normal, regular, casual meeting for them. Why? Simple: if, up to that moment, Sherlock had been using Molly only for her abilities and connections as a pathologist in correspondence to his work, she should and would have immediately known he was seeking her in the cafeteria only for her expertise. She would have opened their dialogue with: “what do you need now?” or “how can I help you now?”. But she doesn’t, she asks what he’s having to eat. At the beginning of their interactions Molly clearly and doubtlessly expects Sherlock to come and spend time with her out of his own. It isn’t until he admits he’s working, that she realises he’s here on business. And it’s her reaction in the form of that disappointed question that is even more surprising: 

M: What are you having? S: Don’t eat when I’m working. Digesting slows me down. M: So you’re working here tonight? (emphasis mine)

Now this is interesting because one had to wonder that if he hadn’t been working there tonight would he eat with her? But then again doesn’t he always work there at Bart’s, and if so, obviously not eat at all? Why would Molly expect him to share the meal with her here? Unless they have been sharing meals in the past. Or maybe he was just accompanying her while she ate. This means he’s spending time with Molly at Bart’s when he’s not working. He’s socializing with her. Otherwise why would she be expecting him not to work while being there? Her questions makes it sound as if it was something normal to run into Sherlock in the cafeteria when she’s eating, to share a meal together, to spend time even when he’s not there on his consulting business. In conclusion Sherlock spends time outside of his work with Molly at St. Bart’s., and based on Molly’s reactions, he himself - on fairly regular basis - must be seeking Molly company outside of his consulting work and not just for her expertise.

I also noticed Sherlock doesn’t look at Molly when he tells her “Digesting slows me down.” And then he makes this face:

That doesn’t look like a man indifferent to shooting down an invitation to share meal and spend time together. As I concluded during my ASiP analysis, it is implied Sherlock and Molly knew each other for (quite) a while before we see them in the pilot. They spent time together and are quite comfortable with each other. In ASiP we learned this is a characteristic of their experimenting and lab work, here we learn it’s also a feature of them in the social sense of spending time together f.e. sharing meals in the cafeteria etc.

Back to the scene where we learn Sherlock is on business tonight. The moment he brings it up, Molly’s immediately suspicious of him.

S: Need to examine some bodies. M (eyes narrowing): “Some”? S: Eddie Van Coon and Brian Lukis. M (looking at the clipboard to confirm): They’re on my list.

The moment Molly realizes Sherlock is working, she immediately has a feeling what he’s after and grows wary and slightly suspicious. Sherlock on the other hand is well aware he’s not supposed to see the bodies and she’s his only way to get to them, so he seeks her, the one person who is nice to him and enjoy spending time with him. He’s looking quite intensely at Molly as he explain his presence:

S: Need to examine some bodies.

He hopes she’ll help him even though she shouldn’t. He trusts her to help him slove the case by giving him access to the bodies. To get what he wants he additionally turns puppy-dog eyes on her while asking:

S: Could you wheel them out again for me?

But Molly does her best to not be so easily swayed. And who can blame her if she’s not successful in her resolve??? I’d wheel them out if I could after receiving those puppy eyes… She’s sorry she can’t help him, but she reminds him of the procedures.

M (apologetically): Well … the paperwork’s already gone through.

Sherlock knows she won’t breach the rules on her own even if it’s to help him, that she’ll need a little coercing to do so. I think he does value her working ethics and that’s why he keeps coming back to her, but here, at this moment, the time is of essence. An innocent girl had died unnecessarily already. So operating on the principle “flattery will get you everywhere”, the only thing left for him to do is to turn his charm full on.

And boy, does he do it.

S: You’ve … changed your hair. M: What? S: The-the style: it’s usually parted in the middle. M: Yes, well … S: Mmm, it’s good; it, um, suits you better this way.

It’s interesting the writers chose the hair as something Sherlock compliments. Loo’s (and thus Molly’s) hair is beautiful. I personally admire it so much, wish mine were at least half as beautiful as hers. Sherlock compliments while using something that is true. Molly’s hair is one of her better if not her best feature and the new hairstyle suits her quite well. His flattery isn’t fake here. He’s stating the fact. He even gives a miniscule nod with this satisfied smirk.

He’s smug with himself for giving her compliment while still managing to squeeze something for himself from it. He says what’s true what he truly believes, but just happen to be stating it in such a moment that is opportune for him and can serves him in his time of need. I think Sherlock is genuine in his admiration of her hair, but he’s egocentric enough to use it to his own advantage even when complimenting her.

This smile on the other hand is as fake as can be. But he needs to sell it to her as fast as he can in order to get what he wants. So he tries real hard. And the moment it works, he drops it. XD

Sherlock’s antics never fails to amuse me here XD Sherlock was supposed to ruthlessly manipulate her in this scene and Ben portrays him to the letter: Sherlock the Manipulative Bastard, indeed. 

Now, let’s take a look at Molly. Sweet Molly reacts as anyone complimented by their crush. :) She’s flustered and kind of disbelieving he’s actually said it about her hair.

Molly here is the most human being in her reactions. Anyone of us has been in her place at least once in a lifetime. Her reaction is so real and relate-able. Loo is just marvellous in her acting. Being complimented by your crush will send the strongest of people to crumble in their resolve. Actually, even if it’s not our crush who compliments us, we still get flustered about it. And of course, we are more susceptible to do what they desire. It’s no wonder Molly caved, too. ;) Plus, I think she does want to help him, just needs a little bit more convincing to do it.

On a side note, we have Molly here deciding to bend the rules to help Sherlock get what he wants. Ring a bell? No? Let me give you a hint: TRF. Here, in TBB, she’s ready to help him, even if it’s overlooking the rules and procedures. Why is she willing to go this far? Maybe because she had already seen in the past how allowing him to do as he needed/pleased has helped solve a case or two. So now, taking another step forward, she’s open to bend the rules for him, to stop a killer. And as it turns out, she is able to see once more how it helps in the end solve a crime. Maybe it’s because of all those little moments in their relationship - with her allowing him some reign and thus bringing justice in the end - that later on she finds it in herself to unquestioningly help him in his biggest moment of need. And maybe because Molly gave more and more of her support as their relationship progressed, even going against all rules and common sense, Sherlock, after being reminded that he indeed does have her in his corner, was able to go to her for help in his most dire moment of his life. There is a reason why they could do and have done TRF together, and it probably is deeply rooted their relationship history. 

Now back to TBB, the goal of the scene in the cafeteria was to show how Sherlock manipulates and charms his way into the morgue and Molly the crushing girl allows him to do so. And yet, we learn so much more about them in this scene: once again it’s confirmed they are friends, they spend time together but not only working, they do it also in a social way. They are comfortable with each other to the point of sharing jokes and laughs, and it’s normal for them. We are shown that while Molly is disappointed when she learns he’s working, she is immediately willing to help him. And Sherlock does seek her help and Molly is no surprised he’s doing it which means it must have happened in the past already quite a few times. We learn Molly knows Sherlock’s ways when he’s working and she’s ready to deny him if it’s against the rules but at the same time is wants to help as much as she can. He needs to charm her to have her cave in in the end.

Does caving in make Molly a weak character? This is a very interesting question. 

A short methodology titbit. When you analyse using literary methods, you have to take three basic steps in your examination:

1) You analyse the text (art, music, show, etc) at the basic, at a face value level. Here it’s the literal scene in the cafeteria with the dialogue, facial expressions, etc. What we see is what we get. 

2) You seek the meaning behind the literal level of your analysed work. This may produce more than one possibility for interpretation. Here we look for the deeper meaning behind Sherlock and Molly’s actions. 

3) You confront the part being analysed with the whole work (part of a book with the whole story or even series; an art with all of other creations of the author, music with all of musician’s discography etc). Here we need to confront this particular scene with Molly with all of her other ones throughout the four series/seasons.

These three steps allows us to make the whole picture and the true meaning behind the analysed text. With them in mind, let’s take another look at the cafeteria scene:

1) The basic, literal sense of the scene here is that Sherlock obviously manipulates Molly and Molly is manipulated to give him what she demands. That’s the purpose of the scene and that’s exactly what plays out on screen.

2) Possible character interpretations based on the scene are as follow: Sherlock is determined to get what he wants and needs and he isn’t above using a crush to get it. Also Sherlock doesn’t care how he gets what he wants. He’s strong, domineering, manipulative. He’s a good actor, very convincing and fast in his manipulations. While Molly is unaware of his faking. Molly is wary of him but lets him manipulate her. She is blinded by her crush and is easily swayed by fake compliments. She can’t resist Sherlock for he is Molly’s kryptonite Etc., etc. etc. The meaning behind the scene on it’s own is quite obvious: Molly’s easy to be manipulated by Sherlock and he’s not above doing it to her to get what she wants. Let’s see if this interpretation work with the whole series (all 4 seasons).

3) So far we’ve seen Molly only once in ASiP where she actually came out as a strong, independent, confident character. Here in TBB we seem to have the exact opposite of that in regards to her character. After two episodes aired with two different portrayals of Molly shown at a face value, the viewer doesn’t exactly know yet what the true side of her is. It can go both ways: she can be either a weak character or a strong one. But we, who are analysing the scenes now, are in the comfortable situation of knowing the whole series already. In all of her other scenes Molly is shown as a quiet yet strong character. If she’s a strong character in all of her others scenes, she must be a strong character here as well. So the questions is: why does she act this way here? When a strong character allows something like this to happen? The answer: when they are aware of what’s going on and allow it consciously to play out. The overall portrayal of Molly as a strong character in the whole show shines a different light on Molly in this particular scene: Molly might have made here a conscious choice to allow Sherlock to manipulate her. There is this short shot of Molly as she turns out that may support this:

The camera focuses on Sherlock, and Molly is blurred out, but you can see she does this eyebrow wiggle as she turns out (can’t do gifs, sorry, but look it up as it plays out, the wiggle is there!). It’s as if she was thinking: “I can’t believe this just stumbled from your mouth, Sherlock.” and then “But since you asked so nicely… very well”:

Maybe she knew it was important for a case and she really wanted to help him? So she took this little antic of his as a justification for herself? We don’t know for sure but what we do know is that allowing Sherlock to get what he wants, she does help him in the end. 

In this case allowing Sherlock to manipulate her doesn’t make her a weak character here. She makes a conscious choice to let him get what he’s after and she stays true to that choice – she doesn’t make a scene later on, doesn’t call him out for manipulating, fake flattering her, etc. Staying true to your choices even if they seem weak is a trait of a strong character. In this sense she’s true to all others portrayal of her. 

Please note: I don’t claim this was the way Moftiss wanted to show Molly in this particular scene when it was created. But the moment the episodes were aired, they became a subject for analysis, and here using the literary methods and putting the scene in the whole context of the show, I can conclude one of the possible interpretation of Molly in TBB.

Then of course camera focuses on Molly, and she makes this smitten face: 

That’s how the scene was supposed to go, and the actors - Loo included - portrays it to the letter: Sweet Molly caves in under the charms of the Manipulative Bastard. XD

Now let’s take a look at the other scene with Molly in this episode.

Scientist Molly and the Longing Detective

The next scene is situated in the morgue and it’s this scene, in which we all can see how acting and actor’s own choices in portrayal the character can add even more layers and nuances to the characters’ interactions than it was originally intended. Let’s start the analysis!

The scene opens up with Molly preparing the body bag with the corpse Sherlock wanted to see.

Make a note of Molly’s facial expression. She’s completely different from the one we saw in the previous scene a mere second before. Where she had been all flattered, even a little giggly, bubbly self, here she’s all business. She’s focused, determined and professional as she prepares the body bag. In that short little shot we can learn Molly’s as focused on her work as Sherlock is himself. She may be a cheery precious thing, but when it’s business - it’s business. Duh.

Sherlock walks in leading DI Dimmock and opens up the dialogue:

S: We’re just interested in the feet. M (frowning): The feet? S: Yes. D’you mind if we have a look at them?

Molly’s prepared to show Sherlock the whole body and allow him is own examination. That’s what he wanted and that’s what she resigned herself to do. Yet he demands something specific. Notice how Molly takes the information about needing only to see the feet.

She’s frowning in a “what are you on about now?” way. She’s puzzled by his request and probably aggravated slightly at herself for not realizing what he means by that. She clarifies with him if that’s all what he wants to see and Sherlock replies with a smile that’s correct.

And here comes the most interesting part of this scene. The non-verbal acting done by Ben and Loo. Take a note of it, it’s pure gold.

Sherlock’s all vague in his explanation and instructions as he walks in and demands to see just the feet. Molly instead of demanding a clarification, just frowns and focuses more. She’s done the post mortem already. She should know what he’s on about. So she thinks quite intensely probably trying to recall what she has noted on the report about the dead man.

She’s puzzling it out as she walks, gazing intensely at the body bag. She’s completely focused only on the mysterious feet. Why? Because just like Sherlock likes his cases to solve, she loves the puzzles her post mortems brings her. She wants to get it on her own and now she’s trying to uncover the mystery.

She doesn’t look up at Sherlock, doesn’t pay him any attention. Now it’s work time, now it’s puzzling things out time, this is so much more important and, dare I say?, interesting. Sherlock? Sherlock who? Puzzle! XD

Meanwhile Sherlock is practically bouncing on his feet with giddiness.

He’s already having the answer to all of it and now is waiting for the rest of them to catch up with him. He’s joyous, smug, and satisfied. And he wants to share this feeling with someone. He’s showing Dimmock up, and he wants an audience to admire him for it.

As he gives the hints of where to look at the solution, he’s whole being is focused on Molly. He doesn’t care what Dimmock thinks, he dismissed him as being unable to puzzle it out, hence the need to show him the bodies. But Molly… Now, Molly can solve it all on her own, and he can’t wait to see her do it, so he focuses on her as she does so.

He admires her as she puzzles it out.

He hopes for her to catch on and then look up at him and share an inside smile at a case solved.

Alas Molly never looks up, and Sherlock’s expectant smile drops alongside his shining joy.

He wanted to share his joy with her in this moment but Molly was too focused on her puzzle to pay him any attention. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? It’s sucks being on the other end, hm, Sherlock? When the other one is so focused on their job to not pay any attention to you, hm?

Now lets take a final look at Molly:

The moment Molly uncovers the feet, the penny drops and she’s on the same page as Sherlock: there is the tattoo and there will be a similar one on the foot of the other body. She’s experiencing the satisfaction of a clue being uncovered as Sherlock straightens up with a smug expression on his face, and walks over to the other table.

S: Now Van Coon.

Molly’s no longer frowning and puzzling things out. She’s smiling a giddy, knowing smile as she uncovers the other body.

She’s enjoying this smugness of Sherlock now, like he hoped she’ll do. She takes a pride in his conclusions. She doesn’t catches his eyes, but her face says it all. She’s proud of him and him showing the NSY up. 

S: Oh!

Yes. This scene is a pure gold with the Sherlolly goodness. And it’s all the actors’ doing. I don’t think the script said: “Now Sherlock gazes longingly at Molly as she’s completely unaware trying to puzzle out his clues. Sherlock’s heart breaks when she doesn’t look up at him to share his conclusions.”. No. This is all Ben and Loo. But the thing remains: Moftiss saw the scene and decided to keep it this way. We know sometimes it takes a couple of shots to get what the creators want to show and only one shot is finally picked up to be aired in the episode. Here it was this longing look of Sherlock that had made it to the final editing and was released into the ether for us to analyse.

This scene - so early in the series - had not been intended to be so Sherlolly packed, but it still is. And now in the light of the whole show being aired we can look back at it and say: “look, even here Sherlock was taken in by Molly. The poor sap had it bad, just didn’t yet know it consciously”. Up to s4 the interpretation of the scene in the morgue could be argued into various interpretations. Now with Sherlolly being cautiously canon(TM), we can safely assume the romantic interpretation.

There is one more interesting consequence of this scene that has definitely not been planned but it affects Sherlock and Molly relationship later on. Hear me out:

Because John was not brought up to the hospital in TBB, we can assume Sherlock did not want to share his finding or the joy at solving the case with him at this point in their growing but still fairly new friendship. This is something he has been sharing with Molly up to that moment and it’s something he still wanted to share with her (as we have concluded above). Maybe it’s because she didn’t notice his longing look here and didn’t catch on the shared joy with him, that he unconsciously decided to shift his focus from her as the partner in the sharing giddiness over a solved case to John, his new flatmate (who does seem to be taken by his genius). This in turn leads to an unconscious, unnoticeable at first shift in his friendships (with John and Molly respectively). As time progresses forward, his friendship with John starts to grow, while he’s friendship with Molly loosens, the moments they share  together become gradually shorter and shorter and farther and farther apart. On top of that, Jim from IT and Irene Adler appears along the way and the Christmas fiasco follows. Could those moments (Jim and Christmas) have been Molly’s attempts to get back the friendship that seemed to be slipping through her fingers? But the more she grasps, the more it slips away. It shouldn’t surprise us then, that as a result Molly makes the heartbreaking confession in TRF: “I don’t count” and, even more so, why we get Sherlock’s horrified expression upon hearing it. He’s shocked by her confession because he hasn’t even realized that he has been neglecting her as his friend. To him she was always there and she has always counted, she did, and he has always trusted her. But for Molly something shifted to the point of calling herself unimportant. It was a wake up call for him, being painfully although unintentionally confronted with the result of his mistreatment of Molly. As Sherlock leaves to disassemble Moriarty’s network, he has a lot of time to think of his friendships and how he has treated his friends so far. All of them, Molly included. For she is his friend, always has been. That’s why he orders John to tell her his goodbyes as well, as he jumps from Bart’s. He sees her as someone dear to him and he won’t let himself, her, and others forget it. That’s why he also changes he’s treatment of her upon his return. He’s cautious and tender with her for he never again wants her to doubt his friendship (and maybe even something more). 

To sum up the Blind Banker, let’s take a look at all that we’ve learned about Molly, Sherlock and their relationship in TBB:

Molly takes breaks at the cafeteria, during her shifts. She also has a sense of justice and wants to help Sherlock bring it to others and is ready to do it at the expanse of the rules. She has a good natured, bubbly exposition, unless she’s working, then it’s all business. She’s focused on her work to the point of tuning down everything that’s around her, including Sherlock, her crush. She likes solving mysteries brought to her in the post-mortems, just like Sherlock loves solving his cases. She enjoys Sherlock’s success and takes pride in his achievements.

Sherlock on the other hand is focused on getting what he wants and needs. He’s seeks Molly to help him and he’s not above using manipulation to get it, even in the form of flattery. He’s excited about his findings and wants to share this feelings with others, preferably his friends. He enjoys watching Molly work out the clues he gave her, and wants to share the joy at solving the case with her particularly. He’s a smug bastard and he knows it XD

Sherlock and Molly are clearly more than just working acquaintances, they are two people who spend time socializing, or at least sharing meals together in the cafeteria and joking together, which shows their shared feeling of comfort in each other presence. They are similar in their focus on the jobs they do, they love solving puzzles, they experience joy at coming to the correct conclusions, and like sharing it with each other. They take pride in the other’s intellectual achievements, her in his solving the case, him in her puzzling out the clue. 

There is one thing to ponder that came to me while I was doing this analysis. If the bodies were not on Molly list, would Sherlock seek her help to get to see them? If not, would he use the flattery on the other person responsible for the bodies or some other form of manipulation? Do we have an example of Sherlock using flattery in such a way he did it to Molly here? My mind is blank, but maybe I’m missing something, so feel free to add your thoughts. If there is none, this only points out how special and unique Molly’s always been. 

Thanks again for reading. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do writing it down. I can’t wait to share with you the next part partaking to The Great Game. I have a slightly different take on Sherlock and Molly motivation than is the general consensus, and I can’t wait to share it with you all. Alas, I need to finish typing it up and do some good proofreading and editing, so I’ll probably update in about two weeks. (My dream goal is the Ester Sunday, but we’ll see).

See you next time!