besleybean wrote:

But John can still help Sherlock with his cases.
He has the best of both worlds.

Not according to the reading above. Now, he's hopelessly conflicted and unhappy-- because Sherlock actually came back and spoiled his fantasy of a perfect suburban life. He resents Sherlock for it, but he doesn't resent  his wife for shooting Sherlock. He resents Sherlock for revealing that she's a (sort of) retired assassin. 

The reading above tells me that John would have preferred to keep his head buried in the sand-- to not know anything. And that's borne out by the fact that he threw the thumb drive into the fire without looking at it. 

Yikes. 

besleybean wrote:

I just don't see things this way.
Of course John is glad to have Sherlock back.
It took a while to adjust to this, it took even longer to adjust to the real Mary.
But I think John is pretty content now...other than being cross with Sherlock about the drugs and not being quite up to speed on Sherlock's work.

I would hope so-- I'm just responding to the reading above. If that's actually what's going on-- if John and Sherlock are ever going to be friends in more than just words-- there's a lot of healing to do. And some of it would have to be John finally (actually) forgiving Sherlock. Because the above reading makes it very clear that he's still blaming Sherlock for ruining his life.As per the subject of the thread-- this would tell me that John hasn't evolved at all-- he's regressed. 

RavenMorganLeigh wrote:

That's really very sad. John would be happier if Sherlock had never come back? John and Mary are perfectly happy-- and John has no problem with the fact that Mary shot and almost killed Sherlock? 

Okay-- if I buy that, then it means that (as per discussion on another thread) Sherlock is perfectly justified in feeling unloved, unwanted-- and if he feels self-loathing, it's absolutely borne out by the headcanon above as explained by Vhanja. 

That explanation puts a nail into the coffin of the Holmes/Watson friendship, let alone Johnlock. 

But if that's what people really wanna go with....

I think you might have misunderstood me - or the post. 

John would never be as happy with Mary as he was with Sherlock before the fall. But if Sherlock had never returned and Mary had never been an assassin, I think John could've been as happy as he could be without Sherlock. 

I don't get this reading of the show.
John's has been a most unconventional marriage and he has been through the mill a bit.
But I do think he and Mary are happy.
 

Sorry, I was responding to Vhanja explaining her post to you!

besleybean wrote:

Sorry, I was responding to Vhanja explaining her post to you!

Got a little confused there-- oops!!!

besleybean wrote:

But I do think he and Mary are happy.
 

Could you please tell me in which scenes that take place after Mary shot Sherlock John and Mary appear to be happy? Because I really don't see it on screne. In what precise moments do they look happy together afterwards?

Because there is not a single scene after the shooting in which he looks happy.

In my mind, that is. That's why I would be so interested in hearing in which scenes you see happiness.

Happy couples smile happily or lovingly or tenderly at each other, at least from time to time. Happy expectant parents touch the belly and tell each other how much they are looking forward to the child, they talk about their childraising plans - stuff like that. This or similar things is what writers do to show a happy couple.
If a couple never does something like that, they are not being portrayed as happy.
To quote Janine: "Just once would have been nice..." 

I agree with all you said.