Yeah....I  noticed those points too,  Keeper!!  I  think in his subconcious ways,  Sherlock IS jealous of people invading his space.  He accepts John,   Lestrade,  Molly,  and Mrs. hudson,  by themselves, (or one or two in a room is fine)   And he HAS to tolerate his older brother Mycroft, when he's there,  but....a whole party of all his 'friends' together----that just seems to be too much for him to cope with, I think.   I  didn't  like what he did with Molly  and Jeanette, not at all.   This only proves to me that Sherlock doesn't know how to be in social situations,  and he doesn't like large groups, either.   You can tell that,  like in TRF  when he's being thanked by large groups of ppl for the crimes he's solved.  I empathize with him in those situations; I too have trouble in large groups.

KeepersPrice wrote:

Jealousy. For me, a major theme in ASiB and a lot of fun to muse on..

Yes. jealousy.
The Molly/Lestrade/Jeanette jealousy performances I consider side scenes adding to the central stage subject that is John and his jealousy.
I think John is surprised by the fact that he indeed is getting jealous of Irene.
His less convincing statement later on "We're not a couple!" ("…therefore I don't have the right to be jealous at all") shows that he begins to feel a little shaken of what he's been feeling towards Sherlock to date.
At the Christmas party, John's sees Sherlock apologizing to Molly – something that he might not have dreamt of ever to be happening. Later on in ASiB there will be that lovely scene in Mrs Hudson's kitchen where John will be happily smiling about Sherlock's behaviour towards Mrs Hudson.
The writers show us how Sherlock is gradually developing in the direction of getting more human. That makes him more vulnerable at the same time. In my opinion, John's adopting a stance over Irene that is a mixture of amusement (Sherlock's getting interested in a woman – good for him!), anger (she's going to hurt him) and a jealousy he can't explain to himself yet.

Why is John going to go away?


So Sherlock wouldn't be as interesting a show without this perceived emotion? Sucks to be the canon then.

The main problem Sherlock has with Jeanette is that she is 'boring'. I don't think Sherlock can see the whole point of Christmas and therefore cannot understand why John should choose to go away. It is all a bit of a mystery to him, or at least that is the outward appearance he gives. Look how incredibly grumpy he is at the start of the Christmas scene in the flat. He's like a stroppy teenager doing his best to spoil it (a bit) for other people.

Yes, I think he is definitely uncomfortable with all these people around. And I must admit I find it hard to watch what he does to Molly. Pure logic can be very cruel. But I love his apology as much as the one to John in Hounds just because reactions like these are rare and precious in him.

Of course his deduction brilliant but … just think of Molly … poor girl … she's really doesn't have a knack for choosing the right men . By this I mean men who are not only brainy, sexy etc. etc. but who also appreciate her.

Great thread

The scenes with Molly and Lestrade were cringe-worthy, but complete true to character, and hilarious to watch. Sherlock definitely felt they were getting too close for comfort, and this was his defensive maneuver.
Actually, I meant to ask, does anyone think that Sherlock didn't know the red parcel was for him?

I agree with KeepersPrice on the jealousy, and I don't think you have to be in love or have any romantic feelings for someone to be jealous.
The line between "I care for my friend and don't want him to get hurt by this dangerous woman" and "I don't want my friend to spend all his time with her while I'm all alone" is surprisingly narrow at times, I speak from experience. John has invested a lot into this friendship, and he does not have many other friends. If Irene were to take this place in some way, why shouldn't he be upset?
Having said that, I don't think Sherlock was jealous of Jeanette, she was not impressive enough (in his eyes) to be seen as a threat.

Last edited by hypergreenfrog (June 16, 2012 2:43 pm)

kazza474 wrote:

Why is John going to go away?


So Sherlock wouldn't be as interesting a show without this perceived emotion? Sucks to be the canon then.

I don't agree that the canon portrays Sherlock as an emotionless automaton of a bore.He was animated and eccentric amd clearly had affection for Watson. He was also created in late Victorian England which surely tempered his portrayal .I also think that if we are going to consider violation of canon as blasphemous, we have far more than perceived emotion to rail against. This is a 21st century TV show based on the characters of ACD.It is not ACD.  I am not arguing for or against canon because the show and the original stories are equally wonderful and neither disrespects the other. But as far as what we have seen so far on this show and where it is going, in my opinion there are far too many clues and instances of Sherlock displaying emotion to conclude he experiences none. I for one hope more of his emotional  layers come to surface in the future.

Davina wrote:

I believe that to be right also. The question is then..Who does he think the present IS for? I think he assumes it is actually for John.

Wow, it never occurred to me that he might have thought it's for John. But wouldn't that have been even crueler, considering John's girl friend was present?

My take on it is that Sherlock was uncomfortable that Molly referenced his complaints about John's plans.  If he's beginning to feel towards others, it must be a scary place to be.  He's vulnerable in a way he's never been, and was possibly appalled that Molly's statement screamed that fact to the others (or so it felt to him).  And when we're scared we often strike back.  I think he found strength in dazzling them with his deductive skills, bringing him back to a familiar and secure place. I don't think he realized how deeply he was shredding Molly.