BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 / Sherlock fighting scenes

**Posted by harleyq** November 24, 2012 4:20 am

Okay, this is something that I've been wondering about. Why doesn't Sherlock tell John about the fight he had in the apartment with the guy in the Arab like get up, when John gets home from the supermarket? And, then again in Soo Lin's apartment, when her brother ambushes him? Both times, John thinks Sherlock's kind of goofing off or not taking John seriously. Both instances are rather serious in regards to Sherlock's safety and yet he wouldn't share them, so I was just wondering what everyone's take on that is.

**Posted by tobeornot221b** November 24, 2012 5:18 am

imo Sherlock in general considers explanations superfluous and dull as long as they won't take forward the case.
What if he had told John about the fightings? In the first case it would have been mere showing off, in the second admission of his decreased attention toward an imminent danger.
Sherlock remains an unpredictable character who is hard to calculate for his opponents - even for John ("Sherlock doesn't follow me everywhere..."), and for us viewers this means more fun to watch.

**Posted by Davina** November 24, 2012 7:58 pm

Both fights do lead immediately into a moment of comic relief. The one in their flat with John accusing Sherlock of not even having bothered to move a muscle whilst he has been out and Sherlock surreptitiously sliding the sword under the chair with his foot. The one in Soo Lin's apartment with Sherlock speaking in the husky voice and when John queries it saying he may be settling for a cold. In both instances we, the audience, know the truth which lets us into the joke, whilst John is excluded (this makes it funnier).

**Posted by Wolfhound** November 24, 2012 9:51 pm

And I would add that it might be another nod to the canon since this is the case in the books, Holmes is known for not telling everything to his friend. Watson frequently does not even know for days where Holmes is or what he is up to.

**Posted by kaya67** October 31, 2014 10:34 am

How do you suppose he did that? Was he facing a mirror or something? Some camera trick? Did John really toss the pen? Or was it in Sherlock's hand all along. But that's not really possible since we see he has both hands in front of him. Or...I am just overanalyzing

**Posted by nakahara** October 31, 2014 11:13 am

Oh, you mean their epic pen toss?

Theoretically, Sherlock could see the pen in reflection from some object with reflective surface placed in front of him. Or he simply observed Johnˇs moves by the corner of his eye.