Who is Sherlock Holmes?
One of the biggest complaints I see from casual audiences about newer episodes of Sherlock is the change in Sherlock’s characterization. I think the main problem is that because we start off from John’s POV, we are introduced to Sherlock as this mysterious, beautiful, otherworldly being who is rude and charming and completely unattainable, because that’s how John sees him. We get flashes of Sherlock’s true self as John slowly tries to work out the truth, but they’re all muddled by John’s certainty that Sherlock cannot or will not reciprocate his feelings, making Sherlock seem more cold and detached than he actually is.
When we start getting in his head in s3, we see a different version. Someone who is still rude and arrogant at times, but mostly out of ignorance. He doesn’t mean to hurt people, but he’s afraid to get close to them and be hurt so he keeps everyone at arm’s lenght. We see how much Sherlock hates himself, how little he esteems his own talents. And we see how deeply he feels about things, and more than anything else how much he loves John.
Then the special dives in full force to explore Sherlock’s subconscious desires and fears. He wants to remember meeting John and happily solving cases but he can’t help but remember Mary’s presence, a looming reminder of all the mistakes he’s made. MP!John presses Sherlock for more information on his desires and impulses because Sherlock needs to tell John the truth. Throughout the episode he’s also haunted by Moriarty who represents everything Sherlock fears in himself, especially his fears about his sexuality. We’re also shown Sherlock desperately trying to figure out who the real John is, he switches between remembering John’s protection and devotion and fearing that John think’s he’s horrible and will choose Mary over him. At the end we see Sherlock overcoming his fears by realizing John will always be there for him. We are shown how highly Sherlock esteems John, the intimacy between them, and how Sherlocks willingly and happily chooses to let himself fall in love.
Not much of this is visible from the outside, especially to John. So I can understand why viewers who aren’t aware of the shift in point of view have felt like they’re watching an entirely different show. You have to understand that John is blinded from actually seeing Sherlock by his own infatuation and fears that Sherlock won’t return his feelings. It changes him. But Sherlock isn’t really like that, he’s softer, and warmer, and more human than John has imagined up until now. One day very soon though he’ll finally understand Sherlock loves him back, and everything else will get clearer from there.
