besleybean wrote:

Sally is obnoxious.
She doesn't deserve Sherlock...she and Anderson are made for each other!

Very much so. She should stop hating on Sherlock and continue scrubbing Anderson's floor.

Possibly a bit of a public schoolie thing.

If the canon is any indication, then no. Sherlock detests women as creatures capable of more chicanery than any man. Yet, to be fair, they did take an interesting interpretation of his relationship with Irene Adler. Those who've read the canon know there was absolutely zero chemistry between them.

Last edited by Lupin (June 25, 2013 1:57 am)

I'd like to look at Sally from a different perspective. She has a role in the series to be a devil's advocate. She is an item of contrived content. Fans hate her because she is critical and she can see the dark side of Sherlock's personality.
Don't step into this trap the writer's put out for you when you see her in the light of your triggered emotions to "defend" poor Sherlock. He is in no need to be defended.

A lawyer or investigator has to be very aware of the opinion of an Advocatus Diaboli. The detective has to walk in the shoes of the enemy and construct in his/her mind palace the weak points or possible mistakes. The use of a devil's advocate is a strategy to prevent biased information seeking.  We are given this  safeguard-character because she can fore-shadow events and plant the doubt and she makes people think. And maybe she even has a point.

Sherlock: Give my regards to Sgt. Donovan.
 

She's just jealous that an "amateur" is better at her job than she is.  So is Anderson.  If you saw Sherlock coming in and swooping up your job, you'd be jealous, too.  That's promotions and money out of your pocket.  But how will this dynamic change once they realized that they pushed a man to his death?  Will they think that he had it coming, or will they see Sherlock for what he truly is?  Will they believe the truth behind it, or the lie Moriarty created?  Personally, I think that they are the ones with the most potential for character growth, and I look forward to it.

She is also a great counterbalance to Molly's character.

Perhaps she could have had a crush on him but I would say that Sherlock wouldn't have been interested, being married to his job and all. That could explain why she's against him, or just simply because she is jealous of his cleverless (or cheekbones).
But I'm definately in the 'they didn't date' camp.

Sherlock doesn't help her attitude by always snarking at her and Anderson. I believe he enjoys rattling their cages.

Iwantthatcoat wrote:

I think it likely Sherlock manipulated Sally, like acting interested to get an opportunity to get something relevant to a case, before the Yard let him have full access. That " old friend" bit sticks with me. If he used her like he has Molly. He would have been even more desperate at the beginning of his career. I also agree he probably switched the relationship off by disclosing things very private (hence the projection of "freak")

I don't think they dated but this is a very interresting idea; that Sherlock, at some point, manipulated Sally to get what he wanted. Not really thinking about her feelings over the situation and seeing anything else as a necessary evil. He probably wasn't being vindictive but, like his manipulation of Molly, he saw his behaviour as a means to an end.

But in my own interpretation I see Sally as just being incredibly threatened by Sherlock. He's an outsider in every respect of the word. He has just swanned in on her job (and the jobs of everyone around him) without the training and dedication which has likely taken her years to attain... and essentially made them all look like idiots. Repeatedly.

<understatement>If someone did that to you in your job you would probably bear a bit of a grudge.</understatement>

And for Sherlock to also act so bluntly, without any degree of empathy; to walk around her workplace with his ego hanging out saying 'I'm great because you're all so stupid.' And to display at every available opportunity his superiority which comes so utterly naturally to him (because he's a self confessed show-off.) To see things her way for just a moment: Is it any wonder she (and Anderson) hate him so much?
 

As far as we know, Donovan has no evidence to consider Sherlock a risk.
It is sheer bigotry.