It is most impressive.

Liberty wrote:

I love reading about his take on Sherlock - it is a bit frustrating to just get those little snippets instead of something deeper.  He seems to think a lot about the characters he plays so I'd love to know more.

Yes. Same with me.
 

And both definitely not in their best shape concerning looks.... The choice of costumes says a lot IMHO.

Now, that's what I call a narrative story arc! 

They are just so sweet with each other the whole time...jokes about fooitball etc.
Incidentally, I've always thought Sherlock and John's relationship could be like that of Steven and Mark.

In a story way, yes, I do disagree.  We don't see the development of the romance at all.   We only come in when it's an established relationship.  (It's a bit different with Irene - there is some sort of a development of a romance, even they never actually get together!). 

@Besleybean Didn't Steven say that he should have married Mark or something like that(at an award ceremony)?  I know he was joking, but they do seem to have developed a nice bond from their shared interests and work.  It's fun to hear them talking about the ACD stories in the commentary.

Last edited by Liberty (January 2, 2015 7:18 pm)

Finally, I'm trying to do some screenshots as requested!  (Gifs may follow, but I'm not there yet!). 

Here's the background (fromArianne De Vere - the one I'd posted before was my own crappy transcript):

Mark: “Again, as with Ed [Birch, as Tom], Yasmine was so wonderful in Episode two, we said, ‘Well, she’s gotta come back’.”
Steven: “But it also made it crueller, didn’t it, that it was someone we’d already seen and we knew that Sherlock actually genuinely liked her, which makes it all the more sort of sinister, in a way, that he’s able to do what he does, because he actually likes her.”
Mark: “In a master plan kind of way, the fact that they got on so well in [Episode] two made it look like he was sort of softening, and then he does this incredibly cruel thing. But it is from Doyle.”

(Everyone cracks up at John’s face when Janine squeals from the bathroom.)
Mark: “He just can’t believe it! But he is actually pleased for him.”
Steven: “Remember the very first cut? It made him look as if he was jealous.”
Mark: “Which was not a good idea.”
Steven: “[We were] saying, ‘No, no, no, he’s thrilled, but a little bit “What?! Out of nowhere, you’ve got the really hot girl from the wedding”!’”
Mark: “Because Sherlock talks about it as if he’s just bought a new pair of shoes.”
Steven: “I love the way Martin plays this, ’cause we get through all the exposition with Martin just waiting: ‘When can I ask about the girl?’ But he’s one of the few actors in the world good enough, Martin Freeman, to be able to make it clear that he’s not listening to the person who’s speaking. He’s just blanking the whole thing.”
Mark: “Also a great way to hide exposition.”
Steven: “[And] Sherlock’s good-natured attempt at sounding normal!”
Mark: “[John] doesn’t know what to do with himself!”
(The commentators can’t stop laughing at every shot of John’s facial expressions.)
Una: “[Yasmine] was so good.”
Steven: “And very lovely, I have to say. Sherlock’s done well for himself at his first go, really.”
Mark: “‘His First Go’! That was the original title(!)”
(Stephen and Mark cackle raucously.)
Sue: “The prequel!”
Steven: “And [John’s] ‘Go on, my son,’ reaction to the kiss.”
(Sherlock and Janine kiss, and initially John reacts in shock and turns away but then gives a small nod.)
Steven: “The little nod, there. ‘Yeah, that’s it, yes. Good work, Sherlock’.”
Mark: “[Sherlock]’s definitely kissing her ... but then ...”
(As Sherlock’s smile drops)
Steven: “Ooh. The little romantic part of you wants it to be true. ‘Wouldn’t it be nice, wouldn’t he be a happier man if he just had a nice girlfriend?’ But of course he hasn’t, because he’s evil!”
Sue: “Looking at the Twitter feed, not everyone wanted it to be true!”
Steven: “Ah, Twitter is not the audience.”

But there was an argument that the scene was still showing jealousy, whereas I think it's possible to see it without jealousy.   And you'd asked for screenshots, so ..

Here's John's expression in that scene:


And here's John's expression after seeing Sherlock's "normal" parents:

Sorry, it's not a very good shot and the angle is different, but hopefully you can see they are similar.   There's that same sort of incredulous half-smile - it's just NOT what he expected!  (Actually, now that I look at on here, it's a terrible picture - it's much easier to see on a bigger screen, so you might just have to watch it to see the expression!).

Here's John's face when Sherlock starts to propose:

And here's John's face in the drug test scene watching Sherlock and Molly:


His expression is quite similar.  I'm not going to make a guess at what he's feeling in the Molly scene, but it surely can't be jealousy. 
In the proposal scene I think he's just processing what Sherlock is doing because it morphs into this expression:

Which I think more clearly shows that he's shocked at Sherlock doing such a thing!   He's looking from the ring to Sherlock's face.  He goes on to question him in an "I can't believe you're really doing that!" way.

It does look to me that John could be gobsmacked but genuinely pleased for Sherlock in the scene they're talking about in the commentary.  Here's Martin's take on John's view of Sherlock's relationship with Irene (another time when people sometimes see him being jealous):
http://skulls-and-tea.tumblr.com/post/102065460096/interviewer-what-is-watsons-reaction-to-sherlock
(sorry, I don't have the original - just this blog post)
He's not jealous.  John thinks it would be much healthier if Sherlock had a relationship with a human being, as opposed to a book or a theory. In the interim between seasons, John’s had some fun and he’d like Sherlock to do the same.

I think this is a rather lovely aspect of their relationship.   John shows genuine care and concern for Sherlock and wants his happiness.  (I think this is especially clear during ASIB).

Last edited by Liberty (January 3, 2015 10:50 am)

Very much this:
What kind of representation do you care about?

The kind provided by John “my wife shot my best friend but I’m still married to her because even a lying, trigger-happy spouse of the opposite sex is better than having to consider the option of a same sex parter or living alone” Watson and Sherlock “I sacrificed everything for my friend’s heterosexual nuclear family because that’s the only thing I’m good for anyway” Holmes?

What about: falling for a woman, without knowing everything about her.
But now you do, you still love her?

Was that directed at me?
I'll answer any way...no, they should neither feel nor be held responsible for this.