What do I think? Bless you. I don't buy into the whole nonsense that Sherlock doesn't eat, sleep, or otherwise take care of himself.

We don't see him eat often, but there's plenty of evidence that he eats and has an interest in food (in that he can recognize a good form of a cuisine over a bad one). He makes two references to food right in the first episode, requesting that Mrs. Hudson have a snack for them when they get in, and then, of course, going out for Chinese after.

Throughout a number of episodes, we can see that the ACD canon of Sherlock regularly breakfasting on tea or coffee and toast was carried over. And Sherlock can most certainly make and serve tea, even if it's just for his arch enemy!

I watched THOB yesterday and realised that it actually confirms my theory that Sherlock was just trying to get out of eating with Molly in TBB when he said he doesn't eat on cases. He makes a reference to eating the same things as John in THOB, while on a case.

I also rewatched the first half of TGG last night and for the first time noticed that he's been eating during the Carl Powers case. There are empty plates and cups scattered about and just as he solves the case, Mrs. Hudson brings him tea and biscuits.

As for sleep, it's established in TSOT that he has a regular sleeping pattern.

I have a lifestyle much like Sherlock's -- single person, mid-30s, living alone, schedule determined only by my cases. To the outside observer, I must look like a mess. I only do the housework during lulls in my casework; can go a week or more without eating what anyone would call a 'proper' meal because it takes time to do the shopping, prepare a meal, and clean up after it (takeaway is not an option where I live); and my sleep patterns are erratic -- I can go hard for weeks getting barely any sleep and then I crash. That's just the nature of living alone combined with self-employment.

I had a friend visiting last month and it was like living in a bad Sherlock fan fic. "Mary, I made breakfast!" (We had dinner last night...)" Two hours later, "Mary, do you want tea?" Two hours later, "Mary, made you a sandwich for lunch." (I just ate!) Four hours later, "Dinner's ready!" (What is this obsession with eating three meals a day?! "Oh, look, you cut yourself. Let me bandage that up." (It's a scratch! I was a medic! I can take care of it!") And then, I realised, that's just someone taking care of me... And it was rather nice. Unnecessary, but nice.

So yes, Sherlock definitely can't be half-arsed to do 'mundane' things when he's got minions to do the dirty work for him. John and Mrs. Hudson rather enable him, don't they?

Have you seen the post in John's blog, which I consider to be part of canon, where Sherlock comments that he did the shopping and bought John beer? I think that says a lot.

Mary
 

Is this only about BBC Sherlock? Because if you read the stories Holmes and Watson have their meals quite regularly and it's especially Holmes sayings things like " The train to dartmoor leaves in an hour, which leaves us time for dinner".

BreathingIsBoring wrote:

There we go. There's always the little things that people miss (either from lack of observation or purposely ignoring it) that show Sherlock isn't a mystical god-creature or a completely clueless old-money boy. 

People focus on the details they want to focus on. Notice that his bedroom is impeccably neat and at least his socks are obsessively organized? What a contradiction from the sitting room and kitchen! He works best in chaos, but needs to unwind in neatness. My headcanon has him being obsessive about keeping the bathroom clean, too, for his long soaks in the tub (hinted at in HLV).

The other trope that drives me nuts is that he doesn't care for his personal safety. I can't count the number of fics that start with him getting hurt doing an experiment in his kitchen. Where do people get that?! He always wears goggles and often big, heavy gloves!

Sherlock into becoming a little more aware of the world around him. 

Yes. He's being drawn out of his shell and is becoming less Sherlock-centric. We especially see this in TEH in that he's organized a little engagement party for John and Mary, complete with champagne.

Mary

maryagrawatson wrote:

The other trope that drives me nuts is that he doesn't care for his personal safety. I can't count the number of fics that start with him getting hurt doing an experiment in his kitchen. Where do people get that?! He always wears goggles and often big, heavy gloves!

I can just imagine someone like Sally walking in on Sherlock wearing a welding helmet or a blue hazmat suit and gas mask and just walking right back out. That's a funny image.

I think the only time where he really makes a mistake with experiements that we see in the show is when he drinks the tea into which he dropped the eyeball, and that's because he was going into reboot from John's declaration (I just imagine his little computer mind going 'The application Sherlock.exe has stopped working; Close application, look for a solution, or restart?'). I think that idea comes from leaving a head unsealed and unwrapped in the fridge, but usually his cadaver parts are in bags or containers from what I've gathered. Even the eyeballs in the microwave were in a sealed glass jar. Maybe it's also because he doesn't suit up when interacting with corpses, though he did in the unreleased Pilot episode. 

Yes. He's being drawn out of his shell and is becoming less Sherlock-centric. We especially see this in TEH in that he's organized a little engagement party for John and Mary, complete with champagne.

I remember thinking that was remarkably considerate of him, and that, here was Sherlock, attempting to patch back together his relationship with John by accepting Mary (even though she had his approval, from what I saw, when she told him that she'd 'talk [John] 'round' after Dr. Watson gives Sherlock that massive nosebleed in TEH) and giving them a little celebration. Even better was when he decided not to say anything to Molly about Tom being a Sherlock-Clone, because he remembered both her reaction and John's when he ripped 'Jim from IT' apart in TGG and realised that it was a Bit Not Good. 

Last edited by BreathingIsBoring (August 3, 2014 8:34 pm)

I agree with everything here.  He seems to be capable of caring for himself and particularly resilient.  Two years completely alone, in dangerous and terrifying situations, and he bounces back within hours?

maryagrawatson wrote:

Notice that his bedroom is impeccably neat and at least his socks are obsessively organized? What a contradiction from the sitting room and kitchen! He works best in chaos, but needs to unwind in neatness. My headcanon has him being obsessive about keeping the bathroom clean, too, for his long soaks in the tub (hinted at in HLV).

Yes, his bedroom doesn't look like it could be in the same flat as the living room!  I love your idea of him working in chaos and unwinding in neatness. 
 

BreathingIsBoring wrote:

Speaking of ACD canon, this is a bit off-topic, but I read a common-misconceptions article about Sherlock Holmes where the author pointed out that, in the original stories, Holmes and Watson were in their late twenties rather than the middle-aged gentlemen who most people envision when they think of the names.
 

Thing is, late twenties back then would closer to late forties today, in terms of their expected level of maturity.

Mary

I also think he is perfectly able to take care of himself. Very much so. What he lacks seems to be a regulated daily routine and i can fully relate to that. As maryagrawatson described it, for me it can also be draining and confusing to be with people who seem to HAVE to eat regularly or sleep a certain hours. So yeah, as was mentioned here, he made tea for Moriarty, he ate out of Mrs. Hudson's fridge, he suggested dinner at the end of Study in Pink, and so on. It really wouldn't add to the story if he would, say, before dashing out to a case remark "Oh have to quickly go to the loo first" 

Liberty wrote:

Were they really in their late twenties?  I missed that.  It makes sense, considering the stories stretched out over such a long period of time.  The writers have emphasised that we're seeing "young" Sherlock, as opposed to the mature Sherlock  - it's all lies!   Although I suppose they meant Rathbone and Brett, rather than the books. 

Holmes and Watson are so often portrayed as middle-aged gentlemen in film and television. They slowly started to slip into the younger incarnations of these two with Downey Jr. and Law, and then into the younger Sherlock and John we have and the Sherlock and Joan from Elementary.

Lilith wrote:

I also think he is perfectly able to take care of himself. Very much so. What he lacks seems to be a regulated daily routine and i can fully relate to that. As maryagrawatson described it, for me it can also be draining and confusing to be with people who seem to HAVE to eat regularly or sleep a certain hours.

Mainstream society equates that sort of erratic lifestyle with immaturity. I call it listening to my body most of the time. I eat when I'm hungry, sleep when I'm tired, work when I feel productive, etc. Sherlock would probably curl up and die if he was forced into a 'normal' schedule.

It really wouldn't add to the story if he would, say, before dashing out to a case remark "Oh have to quickly go to the loo first" 

Competely unrelated to this thread, but you bring up something I've noticed. Sherlock doesn't use loo, but rather toilet (as per TRF and TSOT). John's the one who uses loo (as per TSTOT). I don't know if it's meant to mean anything, but it seems contradictory to their characters, doesn't it?

Mary

BreathingIsBoring wrote:

Well, 'toilet' is the correct term, so it makes sense that someone as factual as Sherlock would use the right word for what it is. 

When I was in Scotland, I quickly learned to ask everyone but well dressed older ladies and gents to direct me to the toilet. With the other group, I was better off asking for the loo (in Canada, I'd ask for the washroom and in the U.S. I'd ask for the restroom). So that's where I got my impression that most folks use toilet, but the more 'posh' use loo. Which got me wondering if the choice of words by Sherlock and John is a clue as to their upbringing.

Speaking of, Sherlock was washing his hands in a bathroom in TRF. So ha. The great and powerful Sherlock Holmes DOES have human needs. Muahahaha!

Well, we actually SEE his urine in TEH, so I'd say that's been well established.

Mary