I thought of a good one today whilst watching Hounds again...

After his big outburst in the pub and John walks out, Sherlock later "apologises" to John by making him a cup of tea. John feels obliged to drink it even though it has sugar in because he thinks Sherlock is apologising when actually he's just testing out his theory that the hallucinogens are in the sugar! It's kind of a good example of Sherlock using his knowledge of the human psyche to get what he wants - he knows John will drink the tea because he wants to accept Sherlock's apology.

oh - i've to correct myself: He says "sorry about dinner!" to Irene. Which makes two "sorrys". Hmm, there may be more...I'm still thinking...

Yes he certainly finds it hard to say the word. The way he uses 'sorry' is different for Molly than for Irene Adler.  When he says sorry to Molly he means it genuinely because he suddenly realises that he has genuinely hurt her feelings when she has done nothing to deserve being treated badly. He was warned by John and Lestrade to 'take a day off' and ' have a drink and shut up' but he continues with his callous deductions about her appearance and the present she has taken such care in wrapping. He has already callously told Lestrade that his wife is having an affair-hardly a kindly comment at Xmas! John's face though out this scene is one of mild horror at Sherlock's behaviour.

In comparison, when he says 'sorry about dinner' to Irene Adler he shows no remorse for his actions. He is fully aware that she has used him to achieve her aim. This sorry is his getting the last word. Remember that John tells Irene that he is a master of the one-liner and that he will outlive god trying to get the last word. Of course he is not really referring to dinner, anymore than Irene meant having dinner when they have the scene together in the flat.

Davina wrote:

.... He was warned by John and Lestrade to 'take a day off' and ' have a drink and shut up' but he continues with his callous deductions about her appearance and the present she has taken such care in wrapping. He has already callously told Lestrade that his wife is having an affair-hardly a kindly comment at Xmas! John's face though out this scene is one of mild horror at Sherlock's behaviour.

They are not callous deductions, or things said callously. They are just straight deductions with no quality of thoughtfulness/emotion/caring. They are clinical sentences, pure sentences devoid of any feeling; it's not that Sherlock means to be nasty. Nor is it that he ever considers what he says will be taken that way.
They are just words.

In the same light, "Sorry" is just a word. It's not that he cannot say sorry because of any ego trip or anything, but what is the point of wasting time saying a word that will magically make everything better again?

Sorry, I've been watching a lot of Sherlock lately. The mind is in "Sherlock' mode. Sentiment is a defect.

Yes, he never purposely sets out to hurt anyone, and I think he's sometimes quite surprised when he does!

It's true that sorry is just a word...I think in general people use it too much when they don't really mean it, and expect everything to be "magically better" like you said, but more often than not it takes a lot more than just one word to make the situation improve. In some ways, Sherlock understands that better than most "boring" people.

Thanks - I try my best!

I always wondered why he picked on Mollys gift..  is it in character to do one of his showy analysis just for the heck of it in public..

thegameison wrote:

I always wondered why he picked on Mollys gift..  is it in character to do one of his showy analysis just for the heck of it in public..

He noticed it was 'nicer' than the other presents.
And he was out of his comfort zone with all the 'nice' in the room. It's superfluous in his world.
Everyone else was making idle chit chat.
So all his 'observations' of the others was his attempt to bring things back to his level.
His discomfort could be seen in that little line many may have missed. *waves the bow around while saying 'everyone saying hello to each other...wonderful'. He turned back to the laptop, a bit more to 'his' liking no doubt.
So it wasn't so much to single Molly out as he'd already made all the others feel uncomfortable as it was.
The present however had a hint of mystery to it. All the other deductions were straightforward. But the recipient of the gift was not obvious to Sherlock so he went through his thought process out loud.
Unfortunately!

Last edited by kazza474 (March 8, 2012 4:59 am)

Oh "sorry", this scene came after the Christmas one. Too early to write clever things. Must pour myself another cup of coffee...

There is probably a lot of irony in Mycroft's apology on the plane. Back in the scene in The Palace Sherlock is adamant that sex doesn't scare him when his brother mentions Irene Adler's occupation but Mycroft is sceptical due to Sherlock's complete absence of experience in this area- there I'm being tactful this morning aren't I? Later in the place Mycroft calmly rages at Sherlock about how Irene played a man like a book: lonely man, vulnerable woman, a man anxious to impress. Sherlock assumes he talking about the MOD man but Mycroft is talking about him.

I agree that the apology on the plane is, as you say made ruefully, as much because Mycroft realises he has miscalculated The Woman but also that he has underestimated his brother's susceptibility to her charms. Perhaps he thought Sherlock was invulnerable in this area although, to return to the scene in the palace this may not be entirely true.