Sherlock: a study in faces.
I had wanted to make this post a couple of weeks go but I got a thumb injury so typing was a real butt. Â
During a Skype discussion, I was talking with a few people about the Sherlock âI Love Youâ scene.  While we were talking, someone mentioned that Sherlockâs face during that scene made them think of his face in The Great Game, when he has the revelation about the fake painting.Â
Their point was that, when Sherlock is talking over the phone to Molly, he has several instances where his face seems as if itâs displaying a look of revelation.  Of course, they meant it felt like it in smaller ways, as he doesnât make this very animated expression at all during the ILU scene.  In fact, his expressions remain very, very serious during the whole ordeal. That got me to thinking about some of the times weâve seen Sherlockâs face when heâs âactingâ  regarding his feelings. Â
So many people here are still completely insistent that Sherlock was lying to Molly during Eurusâ test. Â Everyone has pored over the scene, trying to analyze his facial expressions to prove that he was lying. Â The above mention during that Skype call made me go back to some other key scenes where Sherlock WAS lying, and thereâs some pretty interesting things to see. Â Â
While on the call, I pulled up a few gifs of scenes that popped into the discussion. Â First, off letâs look at the one below, which is such a fantastic example of Sherlock lying his butt off and faking the emotion we all fight over so much here: love.
We all know that in this scene, Sherlock is faking a proposal to Janine.  Sherlock tells John this, so John of course knows what heâs doing here.  In fact, John is there, just off to the side, steaming at how cruel this is of Sherlock.  Whatâs important to note here, is his face.  This is Sherlock âlyingâ about love in the most obvious fashion.  He has his full on acting game going.  He is exaggerating his happiness and even putting on a little bit of âlook at my puppy eyes Iâm too cute to say no to.â  This is the Land of B.S.
Next, I pulled up this gif from ASIB, when heâs standing on the front doorstep of Ireneâs place:
While this has nothing to do with love, it is again one of the most memorable instances of Sherlock lying to get what he wants. Â He is again overly animated, and generally trying his damnedest to get the person on the other side to believe his gratitude. Â Sherlock tends to fall into the TryHard School of Acting when heâs manipulating people.
Next, here is Sherlock in TBB trying to convince the lady on the other end that heâs a resident in her building and that heâs locked himself out of the place.Â
His face here.  Thereâs this German word that I love, backpfeifengesicht. It means âa face that cries out for a fistâ.  In other words, heâs lying so hard here I want to punch him with my feeble girl mittens.  This is another example of prime lying Sherlock.  Itâs worth noting thatâs also talking to a female resident here, meaning heâs laying on his bullshit extra thick and creamy. Compare with his fake proposal above.  What a cheeseball.
To follow this one up, Iâm going to put an image here of Sherlock lying to Molly to get what he wants. Â This is pure lie here, heâs being a complete hippo shart by helicoptering his charm poo all over the place:
This is one of the most classic examples of Sherlock lying to Molly Hooper to, let me hear you say it class: Get what he wants! Â Iâm going to post a couple more from this scene because as much as it hurts me, itâs pertinent to the topic.
Notice his facefall in the gif version of this scene. He goes from super smiley, to flat. Â Acting is the smile. Â Truth is the fall of that smile. Â Also the smaller gif, look at him talking to Molly just before that smile. Again, heâs very animated. He is playing a part.
Next is also a terrific example of Sherlock lying his nicely pressed pants off. This time itâs to Henry in THOB. This is just like the scene of he and Molly up there. Â Heâs faking being a nice, personable chap, then as soon as the person in front of him canât see his face anymore, he shows his true colors (his true colors being Churlish AssholeÂŽ and Annoying DickÂŽ). Â
Doesnât he look nice and animated though. Â So incredibly smiley and giddy and oh-so-friendly youâd think he wanted to clean your grannyâs house for her and walk her dog. No, itâs a lie.
Alright, now letâs look at some times when Sherlock is most definitely not lying, mostly to Molly Hooper since this post is about whether or not he was lying when he said âI Love Youâ to her.
To most Sherlolly shippers, this is like the first page of our holy book. Â In this scene, so many people thought he was lying to Molly, faking his wet eyes, faking his fear. Â Then, Steven Moffat said that no, he was absolutely sincere here. I donât always believe Steven Moffat, but he had no reason at all not to be truthful about this sceneâs nature. Note his face. The lack of animation, the lack of cornball smile or overly dramatic tears or gesticulation. Â This scene is very serious to Sherlock, so heâs turned off all Jerk Mode and heâs just being real with Molly.
I want to also mention that, for contrast, Moffat did says that Sherlockâs tears on the roof of Bartâs were not sincere, as he was trying very much to convince John Watson that he was about to kill himself.  It was an act, and it had to be good, because his whole plan hinged on John believing that. Iâm not saying this to hurt other shippers, Iâm saying this to make a clear point. Sherlock looks and behaves in a very particular fashion when he has to âactâ, regardless of the nature of the situation.  The rooftop scene was literally life or death. He had to put on the best performance of his life.
Next is this scene, where Sherlock takes Molly on a case with him. Â Thereâs so many great shots, but hereâs some good shots of Sherlockâs face during several intervals:
Note how much less animated Sherlock is. Â All of these little moments, he is being genuine. Â That smile heâs giving Molly just before he kisses her cheek, thatâs a real smile. Â As an artist, thereâs little tells instructors teach you to watch out for in your work. If youâre going to paint a person smiling, make sure the smile is in the whole face for it to look real. Â Thatâs what Sherlockâs got here. Put that face next to the one where theyâre in the cafeteria where heâs giving her that fake stuff. Â Totally different, especially if you know what to look for.
And finally, letâs get to my real point. Â I could go on and find more examples but I donât want this to get too long (also I have to go get dinner). Â Hereâs the scene where everyone thinks Sherlock is lying to Molly to get what he wants, or simply to save her life as Eurus is threatening to blow her up.
Look. Â At. Â His. Â Face. Â This face does not line up with his lying faces. Â You could always say that, âSherlockâs gotten better at lying though, so now he knows how to lie while looking sincere!â Â Okay but thatâs a heck of a reach. Â It doesnât line up with the evidence of all the other times heâs been lying. Â
âBut all those other times where Sherlockâs making those weird faces, the other person can see him!  Molly canât see him so he doesnât have to put his acting face on!  He could still be lying!â  Yeah, true, but why doesnât he just look over his shoulder then and say these words. Honestly, if these words were for John, why doesnât he simply turn around and say them right to Johnâs face?  If he was going to confess true love to John, this was his prime chance.  Mary is gone, theyâre in a life threatening situation, why not just take this opportunity?  All Sherlock had to do was say it like he meant it, right? He could have turned, said the words to John (or Mycroft, his brother), Molly would have thought the words were for her, sheâd have said ILU back, fulfilling the terms of Eurusâ test.  But noâŚhe says them to the camera, to make sure we as viewers know he is talking to whoâs on the other end of that call: Molly.
Any time Sherlock is being real with someone, this is the face we see. Â A face thatâs quite serious and on point, no B.S., no acting, none of his usual tricks. Â This is the real face of Sherlock Holmes, and thatâs why I believe what he said was not a lie.