I spent ten minutes searching for a topic with a similar title, but I couldn't find it. I don't know if anybody else already wrote about this, but I need to know your feelings. I hope this is the correct place to start this thread.

I've been thinking S4 could be the very last one of the show for a while. And I'm afraid of it. I don't want Sherlock to end.  But I think they're reaching some kind of an ending. Aren't they trying to close some plots? Things that have been addressed from the very beginning or along the seasons (Sherlock making himself the way he is, burning the heart out of him...) seem to be getting to an end in the next episode.

Plus, Mark and Steven keep on saying that TFP is a real finale. And when asked if the series could end there, they're always ambiguous, as if they didn't want to speak the truth to not spoil the essence of TFP. Benedict said something like "it was the end of and era" and Martin was asked in a recent interview Vhanja posted somewhere (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/podcast-book-club/podcasts/sherlock-martin-freeman-on-john-and-sherlocks-complicated-relationship/) what he would take away from his experience on the show, as if it was already coming to an impending ending.

Besides, there is that title. 'The FINAL Problem'. For God's sake! How else could you name another series finale after that? 'THE VERY END'?

I don't know what to think. I have a bad feeling. I can tell by the pricking of my thumbs... 

I'm reading people saying "Oh my God, Sherlock sometimes texts Irene back!" as if those texts were a proof of Sherlock's love for her. But my impression is the opposite, actually: he is playing them down. Sherlock's trying to comfort John by saying that texting isn't important at all. Anyone else can see this or am I getting crazy after all we were put through tonight?

nakahara wrote:

John´s "ain´t I pretty" moves were funny:

I'm sexy and I know it... Hahahaha. 

NicoleCollard wrote:

Couldn't she be using an acronym? "Go to H.E.L.L., Sherlock"?
We know they're fond of acronyms in this show (H.O.U.N.D., A.G.R.A.)

I shared this yesterday, but nobody commented on it, hahahaha. I understand you don't see it as a possibility, right?

nakahara wrote:

John´s cheating (however serious it was or wasn´t) seems shocking at first, but still, in comparison with the actions of his nearest friends, who were all involved in some dubious stuff, it is a very harmless, all too human mistake.... and he was prepared to confess it all to Mary.

Being slowly replaced by Mary (or a random baloon) on cases had to sting after a while, so I would understand that too.

What I don´t get on John was his very cruel treatment of Sherlock after Mary´s death, not his cheating as such. 

I totally agree. That's why I see an "unconscious" rebellious touch in his cheating. He's been displaced, specially by Sherlock. And maybe that's why he acts so violently towards him at the end. John has a lot of feelings inside: guilt, anger, jealousy, fear, sorrow... What a bomb!
 

besleybean wrote:

I honestly don't even think he did it for revenge.
I think he was just an almost middle aged guy, looking for a bit of a confidence boost.

I meant revenge as an act of rebellion, really. Unconscious, maybe. And I think I'm quite desperate to find an explanation for John's behaviour. It seems to me so out of character. Violent, yes. Willing for danger, yes. But a cheater? Soldier John Watson? I don't think so. I didn't like the way they presented John in "The six Thatchers". Maybe because I had made him into a hero, ignoring Sherlock's advice.

I've been reading this thread and I agree with most of your messages.

I think John needs new excitement to feel alive. Remember one of the first things Sherlock told him ("And I said 'dangerous', and here you are"). John doesn't really want a quiet life. That's boring after all he had experienced and loved. He chose Sherlock (a high-functioning sociopath who resolves crimes) and Mary (a former spy and assassin). At first, when Sherlock "died" and he met Mary, I imagine that all that John wanted was calmness, getting over Sherlock's death (kind of a metaphore for their crazy life together). He told Sherlock back in 221B: he started dating Mary because she wasn't supposed to be dangerous. But Sherlock is back, so "nothing" really happened, John marries Mary and settles down... for a while. So this girl appears in the bus, looks at him flirtatiously and John can't resist the urge to get involved in another new and dangerous situation. Every time he texts or meets her, I'm sure he can feel the adrenaline running through his veins.

Plus I think John feels Sherlock and Mary ignore him. Right before he starts looking and smiling at the red-haired girl, he receives Sherlock's text: "Mary says it's ok", or something similar. John must be thinking: "Come on! Let me ask her, al least. Everything gets arranged behind my back". So I think he kind of rebels against Mary and Sherlock, maybe without even being conscious. And he was about to confess his cheating to Mary at the end of the episode, so what he really needed was attention and a real confrontation.

Besides, John's resentment against Mary due to her lies and shooting Sherlock could be playing and important part in his cheating. I think his love for Mary wears thin, actually. ("Is it too soon for a divorce?", was he joking or not?). He didn't know her for long before he proposed to her, so I think we can conclude that John kind of "used" Mary to get over Sherlock's death. In Spain, we use the proverb: "one nail d