I'm tad confused. So the queen comment is a hint that Mycroft is gay, whereas scene after scene can be watched where Sherlock and John set the screen on fire but they are nothing but clearly friends? And Irene, as she repeatedly comes up, I see her being a sexual person and playing aggressively on it with both sexes, but I see mostly fascination on Sherlock's part, not the sexual drive.

Last edited by mrshouse (December 13, 2014 8:13 pm)

I think the big giveaway is that she uses sex - and her "superpower" is being able to manipulate people by knowing what they like.  And it works.  Despite trying to act cold, he's so keen (John can see it!) that he ends up cracking the code very quickly to impress her, a dangerous disadvantage.  And he's interested enough to take her pulse.  He wants to know if her feelings are genuine.   I think the fact that he does that for his own information rather than to use in the case is obvious, because it doesn't occur to him that he can use it until quite far down the line - all of a sudden. It's mutual - she's a mirror of him through the episode.  "Love is a dangerous disadvantage" applies to both - he gave her the information for Moriarty, and she used an unsafe code on her phone, because their feelings for each other were flaws in the instruments of their minds. 

There's also the fact that Benedict seems to be saying that he's played Sherlock as attracted to her, and I'm sure that must come across in the performance.

We don't see anything like that with Mycroft.  (And I don't think the queen comment is a big hint - they're just making fun of him.  But it certainly doesn't do anything to refute the idea that he's gay).

Last edited by Liberty (December 13, 2014 8:37 pm)

Ok, this is REALLY OT, but since we're talking about Irene using sex as a weapon, this is something I've always wondered about:

She had no guarantee that he would refuse her advances. What if he had said yes? She would have been "forced" to go through with it, considering her plan and her strong advances. Was she so sure he would say no, or was she prepered to go through with it?

(I know she was infuated by him, but she was quite strong in her advances from the first time they saw each other).

Yes, but that challenge could end up with her having to have sex with a stranger. A man. (She's gay).

At the end, yes. But not from day one - and she was quite heavy on the advantages from day one.

besleybean wrote:

And Sherlock is supposed to be disintersted in relationships, yet is attracted to Irene.

I don't think he is in love with Irene. I don't even think he has a crush on her. I think his fascination with her comes from two things:

1. Being sexually inexperienced, he is confused, intimated and probably unwillingly responsive to her advances.
2. The majority of his interest I think lies in him being intrigued and impressed with her cunning and her intellect. 

The two of them together makes him very, very fascinated and intrigued by her, both intellectually and physically. But I don't think at all that he is in love with her.

That's just my take on it.
 

Last edited by Vhanja (December 13, 2014 9:56 pm)

Why wouldn't she want to go through with it?  She's sexually active, she's attracted to him, she's used to using sex and sex play for manipulation or in her work.  We know why he doesn't have sex (with anybody) but there is no reason for her not to.

I think there's only one scene where she suggests sex imminently ... the rest is just flirting. 

The superquick code-cracking had to be for Irene, not John.   He's with John all the time, and John doesn't have that effect on him - John usually enhances his work rather than making him do stupid things.  Whereas Irene puts him off balance - he concentrates on the speed of the code-breaking rather than the implications.  Using sex does work on him when Irene does it.

That's where we see his feelings for her being a dangerous disadvantage.  Her feelings for him are a dangerous disadvantage in the same way.  Infatuation rather than love, I think, but definitely reciprocated.  There are so many scenes where they appear similar.  She even wears his clothes. 

Last edited by Liberty (December 13, 2014 10:06 pm)

But the camera shows clearly he looks at John before going into full modus, not at Irene.Superquick deductions are his métier from the very beginning of the show, so no proof there either. And at that very moment nobody knows he gives away important information for the dark side.

Last edited by mrshouse (December 13, 2014 10:10 pm)

But John is always there, and Sherlock doesn't make stupid mistakes.   The difference here is Irene.  They've been flirting heavily (in their own way!) and although Sherlock does look at John, he locks eyes with Irene.  Mycroft picks up on it without even being there! (He ask how quickly Sherlock deciphered the email for her ... after apologising for putting her in his path).  It's not John who's leading Sherlock astray. 

Liberty wrote:

But John is always there, and Sherlock doesn't make stupid mistakes.   The difference here is Irene.  They've been flirting heavily (in their own way!) and although Sherlock does look at John, he locks eyes with Irene.  Mycroft picks up on it without even being there! (He ask how quickly Sherlock deciphered the email for her ... after apologising for putting her in his path).  It's not John who's leading Sherlock astray. 

 
How many times has he locked eyes with John? And again and again, at that point he doesn't know that he helps out the dark side with his deduction.