And there is of course the theory about the connection to Shakespeare's sonnet 57. 

Yes, it is. And I was watching Dr Who recently, the episode where the Doctor meets Shakespeare. Shakespeare tries to hit on him and the Doctor says: "57 academics just punched the air!" Made me very happy.  

It was not a Moffat episode of Dr Who but we can safely assume that he knows the whole show and that he probably knows his Shakespeare, too. 

If you're talking about the episode Smith and Jones, then that's funny because I just watched it this morning.  Although I don't remember that line...57 could be a significan number for the writers, or that they did for fun, but I don't know whether it's jealousy that John counted the texts.  He knows that Irene is related to the case they're on, so the counting of them probably has to do with the fact that it was part of their ongoing investigation and how clues could come from anywhere.

(Just a guess)
Maybe, but it would seem to me that he's puzzled by the way they interact with each other more than anything else.  Why is she so insistent, when Sherlock doesn't seem that swayed? How is this going to relate to the case? If I remember correctly, this is more surprising to John than it is to Sherlock?

Kind of on another note, how do we know that John counted the texts himself? Couldn't have Sherlock have mentioned it to him? Or, couldn't the phone read that there were that many without John having to actually count them? Either that, or he's just counted how many times he's heard the unusual alert sound.

Ah, OK.  I didn't remember that.  Then yeah, it's probably that he's counted the number of times he has heard the sound.  I think he's amazed at Irene's persistence.

kornmuhme wrote:

Gosh, I LOVE this Christmas scene!!! It's so revealing, in many cases! I've just finished reading this whole thread and I can only fully agree with all of you. I just want to add that I really like the scene - the shock in Sherlock's eyes" - when he realizes that Molly's present is for him, and that he must have hurt her very badly. I'm surprised, but very happy that Sherlock gets aware of having hurt another person - and that he cares! Lovely!

That whole Christmas bit was one of the best scenes in all of the episodes we've been given so far, IMO. Well-written, well-acted, something to delight fans of all persuasions, especially the johnlockers. Mrs. H, Lestrade, Molly, violin-playing, Sherlock at both his best and his worst, lovely John doing his best to be a friend to everyone, gifts, soft snow falling outside, lights in the windows. I need to get my DVDs out and watch this again!

 

Last edited by ancientsgate (July 3, 2015 7:09 pm)

I love Ben's comment about this scene: "This might be the first time when people actually lose the sympathy with Sherlock".

Vhanja wrote:

I love Ben's comment about this scene: "This might be the first time when people actually lose the sympathy with Sherlock".

Yes, he certainly was a horse's ass in that scene. But there was (to me) something vulnerable and likeable about him, too, showing his humanity, flawed as it was. Don't we all have people like that in our lives, who are brilliant but lacking in social graces, and who you'd like to blacken their eye but also kiss them, right at the same moment?  lol
 

Vhanja wrote:

I still don't get why he would go as far as comment the size of her "mouth and breasts", though. Sherlock can be rude because he lacks social grace and patience, but is very rarely consciously mean. And that final comment was just absolutely horrible.

Weird that the writers wrote that comment for him to say, IMO. Weirder still that Ben's Sherlock would actually say it, so I agree with you. Maybe in the early episodes, both the writers and Ben were still experimenting with exactly who their Sherlock should be, how he should act, etc.