Wholocked wrote:
Pressure Points in Magnussen's world means "information this person doesn't want to get out, or people I can threaten to keep this person in line". Sherlock is not a pressure point for John. If Magnussen threatened Sherlock, John would believe 100% that Sherlock was well capable of taking care of himself.
I have to disagree with this, at first I tried to think this was the reason because Sherlock not being one of John's pressure points is pretty shocking to me but it just kept coming back to pressure points representing a weakness only; someone or something to you show weakness TOWARDS.
How else is Mrs. Hudson's pressure point only marijuana?! And it alone. Like... what? Certainly not something terribly blackmailing, does she not care about anyone if they were placed in danger?
Similarly, Sherlock has drugs on his file for a weakness, and considering that's no big secret (to him at any rate) it's not worth blackmailing him over, in fact everything on Sherlock's list is showcasing things he has showed a weakness to/for, like a dog that's already dead... not really blackmail material, including the crimes he had a hard time solving -- he was "weak" against solving them quickly and thus they showcase a weakness in his problemsolving. There's nothing to blackmail there or anything to "protect" against the cases. They were published on a blog and pretty well known.
The way John ended up on his list (honestly wasn't it obvious before?) was when Sherlock saved him from burning to death, right? It showed John is someone he is weak towards when John's placed in mortal danger. Why anyone would need an elborate set up like that to find out something so obvious is beyond me.
I would think if Sherlock had been in a similar situation John would not be sitting back and expecting Sherlock has a master plan while inside a bonfire, he'd instead be trying to help him... yet, Sherlock did not make his list.
It's pretty bizarre, and I don't think there's a logical way to explain it away, how can you admit someone is one of your closest people yet not be weak towards them on some kind of emotional level?
I figure the creators just want fans to sit around and ponder it endlessly like we do, and that they deliberatly left Sherlock off John's list for whatever reason. Maybe just to cause a stir.
Most people never even read the "pressure point" lists when they flashed by the screen. And it's a good thing, overall the pressure points are vague and don't make a lot of sense when you consider them as a whole. It's a very frustrating thing that the creators couldn't have made more sense out of them, they had a few years to get it right.
Last edited by Kari (January 27, 2014 8:16 pm)
