nakahara wrote:

Harobed wrote:

RavenMorganLeigh wrote:

The scene where Sherlock reveals himself to Lestrade-- The huge hug---that actually ended up becoming the emotional payoff-- that I never got from John. 

And then, Lestrade drops EVERYTHING to run to Sherlock's rescue, at the cost of making a bust he's worked on for months. 

After the stag do-- he gets John and Sherlock out of the drunk tank; he yells at John, not Sherlock. 

My conclusion: Lestrade is becoming a better freind to Sherlock than John. 

Of course, I could just be on crack. What do y'all think? 

 

 SPOT ON!!!
I was SO dissapointed when John did not show his friend any kind of affection...nor show any real relief that he was not dead after all!
Of course I understand his initial anger at not being told of the plot, but methinks he should have gotten over that & showed his true heart...missing his friend & glad that he was alive & well!

That′s true, but don′t forget that Lestrade and John had very different reasons for reacting like they did:
 
Lestrade used Sherlock deductions and other exceptional abilities when investigating various murder cases. He and his colleagues from Metropolitan Police then took all the credit for the succesful solutions of those cases while abusing Sherlock with Donovan′s and Anderson′s vitriolic remarks and hatred. Lestrade did absolutely nothing to stop their treatment of his consultant detective but he was really quick in orchestrating false drug busts if Sherlock refused to help him on his own volition. In TRF finally, after Sherlock hugely contributed to the swift rescue of two kidnapped children, he framed him with abduction and arrested him on very flimsy pretext. Sherlock apparently commited suicide because of all that. And after two years it was revealed that Sherlock was innocent all along...
 
So when Sherlock appears in front of Lestrade, it is understandable that Lestrade hugs him. For Lestrade, this hug signifies an absolution from the immense ocean of guilt that tormented him in Sherlock′s absence.
 
On the other hand, John was incredibly loyal and protective of his friend while gaining absolutely nothing from their connection except some recognition as a blogger. He had to stand by and watch the gruesome sight of his friend leaping from the tall building and smashing his skull on the pavement. He then had to live with the consequences of TRF and to put up with people ridiculing him for being a dumb victim of a fraudulent criminal or accusing him of being his accomplice. Even after all that, he still refused to believe that Sherlock took part in any crime and tried to clear his name on his blog. When Sherlock′s name was cleared, he immediately attended Sherlock′s grave and visited Baker Street, happy that the memory of his friend will now be properly honored.
 
And suddenly Sherlock appears out of nowhere, in ridiculous outfit, cracking jokes about John′s moustache.... For John, this must feel like an awful betrayal of his love, his suffering and his sacrifice, because Sherlock′s behaviour at that moment really gives him reason to think it was all just some sort of sick joke from his side. I don′t approve of any physical violence that followed, but it is hardly surprising John saw red after Sherlock′s stunt. His emotional pain had to be unbearable. 
 

This whole thread is great!  LeStrade has been on my mind recently, and I've been loving the development of his relationship with Sherlock.  (I haven't looked much at this part of the forum because I'm trying to avoid spoilers, so I'm probably missing lots of great threads), I still have two episodes to watch, but I did cheat and have a sneak peek at the beginning of TSOT.  I now love LeStrade even more.  He could have sent help to Sherlock, but no, he had to go himself to protect him, even at great loss to himself. 

I agree with so much in this thread, but I thought that in answering (and bumping) and actually trying to add something to the discussion, I'd better reply to a couple of things which I at least slightly disagree with .

LeStrade probably should rein Anderson and Donovan in a bit, but there is some tit for tat there (Sherlock can be quite obnoxious to them.   And I think Donovan genuinely believes that he's dangerous - it's not just envy). 

I didn't feel that LeStrade wanted Sherlock arrested at all.  But he had to follow procedures when there was evidence that Sherlock was a suspect.  Moriarty seemed to believe that he'd got to LeStrade through Anderson and Donovan, but I don't think he had.  LeStrade seems reluctant through the whole thing, and doesn't try to stop Sherlock escaping.  He trusts Sherlock - he just doesn't have any way to prove that Sherlock is innocent at that point.  You might be right that the hug is about absolution.  It doesn't feel like that to me though.  It just feels as if he's genuinely delighted to see him.  

I agree that John's feelings when Sherlock returns are different to LeStrade's (and that he's had a bigger loss), and that has to be taken into account.  But I'm not quite ready to forgive the violence yet. 

Sherlock's approach to all the "three" is awkward.   He scares Mrs Hudson.  He sneaks up on LeStrade in a sinister way and calls him by the wrong name (possibly a joke!), but LeStrade responds to his presence rather than his approach.   To be honest, I think the main reason Sherlock disguises himself to meet John is because that's what he does in the book.  But they have a tradition of humour between them, and putting each other down, whilst avoiding directly tackling the big emotional issues.  In TRF, John says something like "Nobody could fake being a complete dick all the time", but both of them take it to mean that John has faith in Sherlock despite the evidence.  Sherlock making a joke of his return (and the moustache!) is not really out of character within their relationship - it's how they handle emotional moments.  (Although it's interesting that Sherlock seems to learn from that, and when he wants to connect to John later, when defusing the bomb, he fakes the "death" situation to let them talk openly, then uses the humour to make it OK afterwards). 

But back to LeStrade.  I see an uncomplicated relationship where he admires, trusts and protects Sherlock.  I am so grateful for that hug in TEH. 

Last edited by Liberty (August 3, 2014 9:35 am)

Harobed wrote:

RavenMorganLeigh...again, Spot On...sorry this is SO late, but no, I don't think it's the "crack"...you are sounding too reasonable! -Ha!

Why, thank you, Harobed!