BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » John and Sherlock Drunk

LoveIsAViciousMotivator · January 14, 2014 8:24 pm

When I first watched this scene, I laughed hard, but then I began to really think about such a scene and now, I cringe and feel guilty for laughing.

All I'm saying: is it really a good idea to get an addict like Sherlock drunk?

Maybe overreaction on my part. Though, I just can't watch those scenes again because I feel like Sherlock getting drunk is a big No-NO.

Lily · January 14, 2014 8:37 pm

I don't see it as problematic. Sherlock is a 'addicted' to danger and to getting high on drugs, not to something like alcohol which would slow him down and disrupt his thought process.

LoveIsAViciousMotivator · January 14, 2014 8:45 pm

Probably right. After the hungover and the fact that he thought that screwed up his chances on that case, he probbaly will stay away from the stuff like... forever.

zydeholic · January 19, 2014 4:34 am

I thought the drunk sequence was fairly slapstick and unbelievable.

The thing about not drinking, given he was an addict, I think has a point. Being someone who went through that, the whole drill is to get off EVERYTHING.

But, Sherlock never went through rehab, so......

Except in the series Elementary, which I'm loathe to mention on a thread about the GOOD Sherlock series.

Golddragon71 · January 19, 2014 7:11 am

The thing is, aside from his smoking addiction, (and until HLV) he is never shown to be an addict of any hard substances like cocaine or Morphine (or Heroin as in Elementary) In fact, in A study in Pink he insists on being clean. (and even in HLV he insists that he's still clean he was just there "under cover"
Plus Sherlock had not intended for John or himself to get as drunk as they did. He had worked out a strictly regimented drinking proceedure which John fouled up by secretly adding shots of various other spirits to their beers

Cat of Ulthar · January 19, 2014 4:41 pm

... yeah... I still have trouble believing Sherlock wouldn't notice a shot of spirit into his beer... likely by that time he didn't care ;)

QuiteExtraordinary · January 19, 2014 4:46 pm

I think Molly miscalculated the values on purpose.

Mattlocked · January 19, 2014 4:49 pm

John was a bit "fed up" because he had to drink his beer out of a measuring glass and wanted to ruin Sherlock's "safety plan". Which he managed.
And then it was funny. For us audience.
One could discuss if that sequence was morally okay or not, but at least it's a crime show.... I mean: come on! At least they both admitted the next day that their evening had been awful.

miriel68 · January 19, 2014 5:02 pm

I have never understood all this "stag party" thing (no such tradition in my culture) and I was a bit afraid what I would think about the whole Sherlock-drunk scene, but then it played very well, I think. Sherlock planned it very much in a "sherlocky" (we have to go through it, let's minimize the risk of being drunk) and of course John was not enjoying himself with Sherlock following rigidly the plan and checking all the time the schedule, blood pressure, visits into loo etc.Now that I think about it, we have never seen Sherlock drinking any alcohol in the whole series, have we? So it makes sense that he would get drunk so easily

SusiGo · January 19, 2014 5:36 pm

I think one should not judge thoese scenes which are cleary meant to be funny from the point of moral correctness. This is a fictional show after all and you can start complaining about everything provided you search hard enough.
As for the alcohol - I think the only other time we see him drinking is in the fireplace scene from HoB where he seems to be drinking whisky.

SolarSystem · January 19, 2014 6:16 pm

I actually hate this weird stag party tradition, but nevertheless I hugely enjoyed the sequence in TSoT. Like miriel already said, Sherlock planned this as you would expect him to do it, and John reacted to it as you would expect him to. And the way in which it plays out after John 'sabotages' Sherlock's plan ist just hilarious, IMO. I guess we all are familiar with how dangerous alcohol can be, but when it comes to danger there are lots of aother things in the show we could talk about.
So, I've decided for myself to just enjoy watching Martin and Benedict do a brilliant job here, even if it might not be completely morally correct.

Last edited by SolarSystem (January 19, 2014 6:17 pm)

gently69 · January 19, 2014 6:31 pm

Yes, if we start to moralise every scene that "deserve" it in this series we can go on and on and on. It's a crime show. They do all kind of dangerous and illogical things. But these are part of it... makes it exciting, funny, sad...

January 19, 2014 8:01 pm

There is in fact something like the science of drinking, aka how much alcohol you can drink to be allowed to drive. How much alkohol gets into your system depending on your weight, gender, your origin. How much alkohol your body runs down per hour after a "flooding period". This is exact science in forensics.
You can even get an invitation from law circles and automobile clubs to participate in a drinking experiment when you drink on purpose and constantly check your alkohol level untill you are nicely drunk.
You can kill two birds with one stone and do a tax-reductible further education and get drunk with collegues.

SolarSystem · January 19, 2014 9:11 pm

I especially love the fact that even when Sherlock is drunk, he still is a show-off.
Sherlock: "I have an international reputation. Do you have an international reputation?"
John: "No, I don't have an international reputation."
Sherlock: "No."

And then of course: "Aaahhh, Hudders."

Last edited by SolarSystem (January 19, 2014 10:14 pm)

gently69 · January 19, 2014 9:18 pm

And then: "Whattimeisit?" In one word...

the_dancing_woman · January 20, 2014 6:40 am

Yep, the stag night really shouldn't be taken seriously at at all. I loved it! "He's clueing for looks" certainly is a quote that is going to stick with me for a long time!
I also loved all the subtext going on there.

Davina · January 20, 2014 11:31 am

It would have seemed a bit weird to a British audience for them not to have and a Stag Night of some kind.

Mrs. Watson · January 20, 2014 1:44 pm

SolarSystem wrote:
I especially love the fact that even when Sherlock is drunk, he still is a show-off.
Sherlock: "I have an international reputation. Do you have an international reputation?"
John: "No, I don't have an international reputation."
Sherlock: "No."

And then of course: "Aaahhh, Hudders."

"I know ash!"
Loved that part!

Mali · January 20, 2014 11:10 pm

Fun Fact: James Rhodes tweeted during the episode: "And final word before nighttime coma - drunk Sherlock terrifyingly, hysterically similar to a drunk Cumberbatch "

SherlocklivesinOH · January 27, 2014 5:01 am

SolarSystem wrote:
I especially love the fact that even when Sherlock is drunk, he still is a show-off.
Sherlock: "I have an international reputation. Do you have an international reputation?"
John: "No, I don't have an international reputation."
Sherlock: "No."

And then of course: "Aaahhh, Hudders."

Not to mention...a pretty Johnlock-y scene...didn't they wake up on the stairs or floor together?

I thought about the addiction thing, and miriel, I am not a fan of bachelor parties either. But I loved everything that the bachelor party scenes implied about their relationship.

Did you notice that it was mostly just John and Sherlock? (No strippers, thank God! One advantage of having someone like Sherlock as best man.) But it was as if to John really had no other male friends to share that with. Seems to have been used as a special friendship moment between the two of them.

But then, I missed that John tricked Sherlock into getting more drunk. That's that side of John I don't care for.