I would agree and I don't really think he's interested in relationships.

I've been wondering too.  He always checks the texts right away and he saves them all.  He even keeps the ring tone, right till the end.  He has obviously looked her up on Twitter (he tells Mycroft her name there).   I think he's completely interested and intrigued, and waiting for Irene's next move in the "game". Why he doesn't reply?  I don't know, but I suppose that's his move - to keep her guessing.

One detail I love is at the Christmas party, John says that people like the (deerstalker) hat, and Sherlock says they don't - what people?  We find out later that Irene has texted him twice to say that she likes him in the hat!

Sherlockismyfix wrote:

I think he doesn't respond to her texts for the same reason he takes her pulse.  The scientist in him is collecting data.  You don't muck up a research study by introducing additional variables, which a response from him would do.

Having said that, he can see that she is very clever and this clearly fascinates him. We have seen over and over how Sherlock makes missteps when confronted with brilliant opponents who appeal to his vanity.  Irene knows this and is smart enough to use it against him. Irene plays him like a fish for most of the episode by 1) appealing to his vanity by challenging and admiring his intelligence, and 2) by casting herself as being in need of protection and coming to him as a 'client'.  This is where we see Sherlock at his weakest. It is only when she mentions Moriarty at the end that he is able to grasp the big picture, and with that final piece of the puzzle, he is able to very rapidly figure out the rest.

Whether, throughout all of this, Sherlock was engaged on a level beyond vanity and intellectual inquiry?  Well, that has not been made clear.  My head canon says that if Mrs. H. hadn't turned up, he would have allowed matters to go further...  and that much later, when he sees her again in Karachi, they indeed have a fling - as supported by comments Benedict himself made in an interview.

(Don't shoot me, I know there are many different views on this - and I don't ship the pair of them.  She would be a terrible partner for him - they are too similar. I do think he could do worse than Molly, however.  He seems to enjoy his 'goldfish'.)

I can't agree with you more on the science part. I don't think he would throw away all the clues before he solved the puzzle.
For him I think Irene was a puzzle, maybe of love or something else. The main point is he couldn't solve it in the first. And this is also the reason why he didn't reply. He is someone who would never reply until he see through the case. Mostly he could do it    quickly so that we never see this before , or should I say, we haven't notice it before.

My interpretation is that he didn´t reply because he didn´t want to play the game her way.

She only ever texted "Blah blah... let´s have dinner.", so the only possible answers would have been "nope", something vague that she would take as flirting, or "yes, okay". He didn´t want to do anything of this, so he didn´t answer at all.

She probably isn´t used to such a behaviour, so he kept her interested in the game while not letting her dictate the rules or giving away his cards.

Last edited by Zatoichi (August 13, 2014 6:48 am)

Because it was 1 January?
Tee Hee!

tobeornot221b wrote:

Sherlockismyfix wrote:

Sherlock did text her one time, if I recall. He texted "Happy New Year" and it was after that she showed up at Baker Street with her hair down.
I would like to hear ideas on why he did that.

I think Sherlock made a test. After never having replyed to any of Irene's texts he sent her that rather boring "Happy New Year" text - which didn't contain a request to respond.  Irene reacted in the expected way: Sie never responded. So Sherlock knew that she wasn't interested in him. (Otherwise she could have taken the opportunity to get in contact with him again.)
Her final "Goodbye Mr. Holmes" is something different. It's her "note" - means something Sherlock wasn't expected to respond to either.
 

She certainly did respond - in person!  It was right after that text that she showed up at the flat.

tobeornot221b wrote:

Sherlockismyfix wrote:

She certainly did respond - in person! It was right after that text that she showed up at the flat.

Right after? Well, it was six months later, actually.
 

I'm going to have to watch it again. I'm not remembering that timeframe.

Last edited by Sherlockismyfix (August 13, 2014 6:44 pm)