Watolock: Miss Sherlock, Queerbaiting, and Portrayals of WLW in Media
Queerbaiting and portrayals of WLW (Women who Love Women) in media deserve their own barrages of blogs dedicated solely to these topics, but I will be condensing and selecting some aspects that I feel are especially pertinent to Watolock in Miss Sherlock.
Disclaimer: I know queer is not a term that everyone in the community is comfortable using for themselves, and I in no way want to force this term upon anyone who rejects it. That being said, a lot of people in the LGBTQ+ community have reclaimed the term, so I will be using it here NOT as a slur in any way.
What is queerbaiting? The Wikipedia definition:
“Queerbaiting is the practice of hinting at, but then not actually depicting, a same-sex romantic relationship between characters in a work of fiction, mainly in film or television. The potential romance may be ignored, explicitly rejected or made fun of.
The derogatory term "queerbaiting" is meant to imply that this is done for the purpose of attracting ("baiting") a queer audience with the ultimately unrealized suggestion of relationships that appeal to them. The concept arose in and has been popularized through Internet discussions among the fandom of popular films and television series.”
Now for some background, we’re going to fast-forward to an infamous moment in WLW content history: Lexa’s death in The 1*0. I won’t write out the whole of what went down (too much), but I will focus on the aftermath that ensued. There was an online campaign that rallied around “LGBT Fans Deserve Better” and to my recollection, this is the first time I’ve personally witnessed the outrage of fandoms mobilizing a large number of people to reach people who weren’t even in these fandoms. The Bury Your Gays trope became a focal point in discussion for mainstream media representation what with people becoming more aware of how terribly LGBTQ+ characters are treated and the negative effects on LGBTQ+ viewers (I remember seeing how calls to LGBTQ+ teens suicide hotlines skyrocketed after Lexa’s death, etc.)
This incident and the whole movement helped bring the prominence of how LGBTQ+ representation gets sidelined and has always been sideline to a mainstream consciousness. And while this issue harmful LGBTQ+ representation is very much still present , there have been strides that show even minute changes. For one, a variety of people actually talked about it, not just LGBTQ+ fans who were so easily ignored before. ClexaCon became a thing. Media with thoughtful and fleshed out representation like Moonlight and The Handmaiden are critically acclaimed. We have seen shows choose deliberate responses in how they interact with potential queerbaiting like with how Wynonna Earp specifically had Officer Haught wear a bulletproof vest that saved her life (even more pointed considering how Lexa was killed off by a stray bullet) and how Steven Universe, Adventure Time, Andi Mack, The Legend of Korra, and She-Ra: Princesses of Power all have overtly LGBTQ+ characters.
I do think the issue of queerbaiting is especially prominent in Sherlock Holmes and related fandom, mainly because of BBC’s Sherlock. I avoided watching any of the show because that was the first thing I heard about it - the show queerbaits like none other but then yanks the rug right after with strong denials of queerbaiting and repeated statements that nothing like JohnLock will ever come to fruition. And as someone tired of shows alternating between queerbaiting to lock in a certain demographic of watchers and then having the token non-straight character only to kill them off in some manner (https://www.glaad.org/whereweareontv16). So many characters have died and note: a lot of them did not have to die. Seriously. It’s not that hard. There aren’t that many LGBTQ+ characters out there, and it’s telling that so many of them end up dead.
For Sherlock Holmes fandoms, you already feel the difference between BBC’s Sherlock and Miss Sherlock in how people frame the relationships between the Sherlock and Watsonian character. There are at least 3 allusions to JohnLock being in a gay relationship within the first episode and no one ever seems to question whether Watolock could be vaguely romantic. To be fair, with Miss Sherlock, you have the context where the legitimacy of wlw relationships in media are already so often questioned (’They’re just really good friends, the best of friends, who would die for each other and repeatedly profess that the other is their most important person) along with being in Japan, an Asian country that is not exactly the most progressive when it comes to LGBTQ+ issues.
This ties into how society frames relationships between certain genders - man-woman must always be romantically linked, man-man that has any connection must be romantically linked because how else could you have a close relationship with anyone else as a man, and woman-woman must be friends only because the limits of friendship can be so stretched for women and not at all for men so that it is inconceivable that women could ever be together in a romantic notion.
Back to Miss Sherlock because what’s been said in the previous paragraph can be disseminated in so many ways - I am reluctant to claim that Miss Sherlock has queerbait written into Watolock. I am however suspicious that HBOAsia as a TV network or the writers, producers, anyone involved in the show would not expect for people to interpret the relationship between Watolock as a shippable one given that they take cues from past Sherlock adaptations - all of which have interactions with fans who rabidly ship Sherlock and Watson.
https://twitter.com/search?l=&q=%23misssherlock%20from%3AHBOAsia&src=typd&lang=en is a link to HBOAsia’s twitter with the hashtag MissSherlock - and 3 of those involve Watolock.
https://twitter.com/HBOAsia/status/1009965542738878464 => basically I don’t believe at all that they didn’t expect this - maybe they didn’t expect how big the ship would be given that it is 2 Asian women together, maybeeeeeee, but I still don’t buy it.
I guess I do appreciate them highlighting Watolock in a positive manner instead of shouting from the rooftops that it could never ever happen. But please don’t let this turn out to be like SwanQueen. Pls.
For fans who ship wlw or mlm ships, there is always a lot of reading in between the lines, over-analyzing subtext, making our own fanon because canon would never recognize such ships as truly legitimate. It is tiring when the only options are to just be resigned to these characters never getting their happily ever afters and having fan-created content that canon content creators mock as ‘Cute. But that would never happen.’
This is a topic I tire of having to explain to people who could never really get just how painful and exhausting it is to sometimes have to interact with this kind of content for scraps of representation that no one should ever have to settle for. I appreciate Watolock as the non-queerbaiting form it is in at the moment because it’s true that the two have a special relationship in the show and have been recognized within and outside the show as such. I just hope that this show could possibly join the slim ranks of positive wlw media out there, or at the very least be a concrete stepping stone of inspiration in paving the way for other shows that will be more willing to be overt and respectful with its LGBTQ+ representation. LGBTQ+ Fans Deserve Better.
I was really hoping to have done more creative little projects on this blog - creating gifs, videos, even creative writing.
But there’s nothing stopping me, after the conclusion of the academic project portion of this blog!
There’s a lot more that can be said about Miss Sherlock, and the tributaries of all sorts that stem from Sherlock Holmes canon. The show itself could be analyzed in so many other ways apart from what I’ve covered so far on this blog with the show composition itself, camera work, specific plot choices, placing what has been a mainly Western story into a Japanese setting and context and genderbending it at that. The characters of Sherlock and Wato themselves are fascinating in their own right - Sherlock’s name has been revealed (Futaba Sara Shelley) but not the reason for her use of Sherlock itself, and the characterization of Wato in comparison to the standards of the Watsonian character would be great to delve into.
I’m really craving for more Miss Sherlock content - fanmade and canon-wise. To give the fall of Sherlock without her inevitable revitalization would just be :/
It’s safe to say that Miss Sherlock is my most favorite rendition of any Sherlock Holmes content, and I recommend it to anyone who loves Sherlock Holmes in any capacity. Please. If you haven’t watched season 1, do yourself a favor and watch it. The actresses have definitely done other shows, and Miss Sherlock has demonstrated their strong acting chops and I myself am tempted to check out some of their other stuff.
It has been rewarding to take something I’ve so enjoyed and critically analyze it and look at various aspects of the show, and I definitely want to continue this kind of interaction with other types of content I enjoy.
That being said, I’m nowhere done with the Miss Sherlock fandom. A fan forever, if you will.
BACKGROUND: Sherlock Holmes adaptations (original text versus intertexts)
The viewing experience of Miss Sherlock is always going to be colored by the pre-existing adaptations of Sherlock Holmes canon. The only instance in which I can think where you would not have an already influenced perspective of the series is where you’ve never been exposed to literature/TV/film/popular culture or actively stayed away from consuming any of the aforementioned mediums. Basically, Sherlock Holmes is one of those characters that you can’t get away with NOT knowing.
With this in mind, it would be foolhardy to provide meta analysis on Miss Sherlock without keeping prior adaptations in mind. This post hopes to acknowledge both overt and subconscious influences that can be dissected from this lovely miniseries.
Because the amount of Sherlock Holmes content out there is OVERWHELMING (there are 91363 AO3 fics as of the last time I checked), I will be focusing mainly on ACD’s OG Sherlock Holmes and BBC’s Sherlock - ACD for background and canon references, and BBC’s Sherlock for characterization that has made fanon transcend into canon. Keep in mind, I’ve only read a few of ACD’s Sherlock Holmes stories and watched 3 episodes of BBC’s Sherlock so this is going off of my own observations and opinions, and I have no real impressive credentials to offer.
The OG canon consists of 4 novels and 56 short stories which were written from 1887 to 1927. Off the top of my head, I’ve read “A Scandal in Bohemia” and “The Adventure of the Speckled Band.” The Sherlock Holmes character was inspired by Joseph Bell, a surgeon that ACD had clerked for, who apparently also could draw conclusions from minute observations. Despite ACD’s insistences that Sherlock Holmes was indeed a fictional character, it is still a existent conspiracy to this day that Sherlock Holmes was a real person that ACD knew and merely recorded his adventures. I’m personally inclined to believe that Sherlock Holmes was a fictional character but to each their own.
Sherlock Holmes was killed off in “The Final Problem” in 1893 but was brought back to life with The Hound of the Baskervilles in 1901 - a plot point that is especially relevant to BBC’s Sherlock and Miss Sherlock.
A few things about Sherlock Holmes adaptations tend to stay constant: the partnership between the Watson character and Sherlock, the iconic deduction skills that makes up the core of the Sherlock character, and some incarnation of the Moriarty character.
This brings us to BBC’s Sherlock, with what I deem to be the most relevant example of how fanon has become canon for the Sherlock Holmes character. Don’t know what I mean?
“I'm not a psychopath, I'm a high-functioning sociopath.”
ACD’s Sherlock Holmes would likely be hard-pressed to be considered neither a psychopath nor a sociopath but as someone without the knowledge to really say anything accurate, I’m not touching upon that. I’m rather touching upon the fact that BBC has taken the Sherlock Holmes character to be an asshole, and somehow justify that by shoving the label of sociopath upon him. The asshole part is not really canon Sherlock, but it seems safe to say that most people - because of BBC’s Sherlock - would associate him to be one because he’s of such godly intelligence and above everyone else, or just someone completely out of touch with his own humanity.
Which I find rather unfortunate because there kind of has to be some component of humanity in the Sherlock Holmes character, in my opinion. In “The Adventure of the Yellow Face,” Sherlock is proven to not only be fallible but capable of recognizing that fact and asking for Watson to check him (”Watson, if it should ever strike you that I am getting a little overconfident in my powers, or giving less pains to a case than it deserves, kindly whisper 'Norbury' in my ear, and I shall be infinitely obliged to you” - a quote in relation to Sherlock’s investigations of a case that dealt with interracial marriage, a radical issue at the time). This Sherlock cares enough about other people and is not so sure of himself that he would disregard any possible suspicions about his own capabilities to call upon Watson to offer such assistance should the situation arise.
Now, Miss Sherlock is an adaptation of Sherlock Holmes that has caught my eye, and I’m going in with some already set-in-place perceptions of Sherlock Holmes. I’m excited to see what this version has to offer, and what it will continue to contribute to canon and fanon for Sherlock Holmes - because I certainly am hopeful and sure that it will offer a lot more positive characteristics for Sherlock Holmes fanon.
Finale: The Dock - WATOLOCK, True Love, and why we need more Miss Sherlock
fjadflkasdf cannot believe we’re at the end of S1 Miss Sherlock.
Apart from how blatant the psychological manipulations Wato is undergoing here, the takeaway is that Wato is in deep pain. Say what you want about Moriya, but Wato clearly cared about him and looks to be blaming herself for his death (which clearly, no), and Moriwaka is invested in having Wato believe that Sherlock is responsible for Moriya’s death, and thus Wato’s pain.
:( This is a 180 I don’t like. Meanwhile, even though Sherlock had reason to shoot Moriya (preventing the spreading of the apocalypse-causing virus), there is a warrant out for her with orders to shoot if deemed necessary.
In a way, the desire to want to verify a theory is the height of logical thinking - that is, if you don’t consider how many people are getting hurt in the process of doing so. Of course, given that that is a part of what Moriwaka thinks, still logical. For her.
(translation: Especially to you)
Highlighting the main difference between two scarily-intelligent and logically analytical women here.
I’m. Going. To. Scream. Even Moriwaki knows how much you care about Wato, Sherlock.
Wato, who has indeed been taken to the Dock.
In the end, everything was linked back to Moriwaki.
(Sherlock’s big brother calling it like it is)
Sherlock’s going to find Wato with or without help, tyvm
And she definitely needs to find her before Moriwaki’s plan of making Wato a terrorist comes to fruition.
Sounds about right
Have you ever seen such a not-in-danger-but-still-distraught Sherlock?
I just love this so much as an older woman figure comforting and supporting the other women in her life.
Wato is getting a v twisted version of that - except not really. At all.
Sherlock just got one step ahead here.
Ah yes, Miss Sherlock is echoing the OG Sherlock Holmes with a reference to the Reichenback Fall. For anyone familiar with this part of Sherlock Holmes canon or has seen all of BBC’s Sherlock, you can probably guess what is about to happen in the next few minutes. (It also gives hope for *spoiler* Sherlock’s return which is basically confirmed in the last few minutes of the episode.)
Everyone acknowledges Watolock, it’s canon.
THAT LOOK
*UNINTELLIGIBLE SCREECHING*
Sherlock acknowledged Wato as her friend. Her first friend.
WATOLOCK LIVES
Seems inaccurate, but ok. Like really, really inaccurate. Not a psychology major, but from a neuroscience standpoint, I’m going to need a really in-depth look at what brain circuits Wato has reshaped.
(Not showing pictures of Sherlock being wheeled out - but do note that her face or body isn’t shown)
DIRECT PARALLEL! DIRECT PARALLEL TO SHERLOCK STARING AT WATO’S EMPTY SEAT WHEN SHE COULDN’T BOUNCE HER IDEAS OFF OF HER BECAUSE SHE WASN’T THERE!
Yes, they really did a flashback just to show that Wato was indeed clutching the jacket Sherlock flung at her from episode 1.
So much has changed. Wato has changed. Watolock has changed.
WE NEED TO KNOW. WATO NEEDS TO KNOW.
(Translation: Even though the time was short)
Who let these waterworks be such not-regulation/protocol.
Just another twist - it might make Wato feel worse initially but I didn’t agree with their logic of not telling her? Perhaps it would make it worse that she was brainwashed into wanting to kill Sherlock for a reason that wasn’t even true, but at least it would clear any thoughts that Sherlock /did/ kill the person Wato was romantically involved with?
This camerawork!! Hitting me in the feels with the parallel to that shot where Sherlock and Wato were coming up together on the left side.
Sad Wato makes me sad. Also she’s SMELLING Sherlock’s coat. This ship writes itself.
BUT WHO IS THAT WITH THE SIGNATURE DIOR HEELS AND JACKET!!!
And the episode ends before we see Sherlock actually confronting Wato as alive - because it’s canon because who else could it be in that ensemble?? C’mon, Sherlock Holmes get revived in canon!!
When it comes to Watolock, this is the episode I will point to for anyone who even doubts the depth of the relationship. Even if you don’t ship it romantically (which like. How??), you cannot deny that Wato and Sherlock feel deeply for each other - after a whole season of denials of their friendship, Sherlock admits to Wato that she is indeed her friend (her very first friend!), while Wato’s surface consciousness finally almost gains sentience again when she’s about to shoot Sherlock for real (as opposed to all those practice rounds of an imaginary Sherlock as target).
This episode is driven by Sherlock’s search for Wato to bring her to safety, and the climax/resolution of the conflict is Sherlock literally sacrificing herself so Wato doesn’t end up with a split personality (still not convinced by this btw) and is free of Moriwaki forever. That’s true love. Wato grieves for Sherlock by clinging onto something of hers that has very tangible traces of Sherlock (her smell, her snark, her memory) and placing a rose at the place they last saw each other. That’s true love.
I’m still crying over the parallels between Sherlock worrying over Wato’s empty seat and Wato grieving over Sherlock’s empty seat. This is the kind of angst my heart cannot bear.
Please HBO Asia or any other TV network out there. Give us more Miss Sherlock. The audience wants it, and Wato and Sherlock need more continuations of their adventures. Together.
Ep. 7: Stolen Virus - Sherlock’s Humanity, Wato’s Pain, and the Most Logical Villain Reveal
I’m pretty sure at this point in pop culture, any scene where a scientist is seen to be dealing with test tubes means that shit is about to go down in the form of a world-ending virus. No? Just me? Biological terrorism and warfare is very much a reality I could see descending - and the popularity of games like Plague Inc. and Pandemic really echo just how aware of or at least present in society’s psyche biological terrorism/warfare are. Japan is no stranger to such external forces providing massive tragedy to the country (atomic bombing, Tokyo subway sarin attack, etc.) so it comes at no surprise that Miss Sherlock would use a deadly virus as a plot point.
A deadly virus is on the loose, and all data on Moriwaka has been erased. Beyond the show’s main plot, this seems to me a pointed critique of bioterrorism as a whole. How is it that in trying to protect themselves from potential bioterrorism, they’ve actually rendered all the more possible to wipe themselves out? The Sherlocksian character may have been created in the late 1800s, but Miss Sherlock proves that such a character can be kept relevant even in regards to globalized, modern issues - and perhaps even more necessary in these cases.
On a lighter note, this wouldn’t be Miss Sherlock if not to point out Wato’s dedication to investigating with Sherlock.
(You’ll never compare Moriya, cough anyway)
You are shady as is.
Yes, his name is Moriya, yes that is such a blatant nod to Moriarty’s name, yes (spoiler) what a blatant misdirection his name is.
Speaking of blatant misdirections
Accusation against the main character! What a game changer! (Not.)
Wato definitely isn’t buying it
(We see that automatic going to protect Sherlock, Wato.)
But of course things go to shit yet again because Sherlock just does things that do NOT help her trustworthiness at all
To be fair, this is probably the most logical course of action because Sherlock would be detained otherwise.
Fight me if you don’t think Sherlock cares about people, FIGHT ME
Government corruption for the sake of profits, who woulda thunk...
Is anyone really that surprised though.
Regardless, Sherlock is now on high alert to protect Wato.
This harkens back to how Sherlock stopped herself from killing the captor in the last episode, and more importantly, how much Wato believes in Sherlock’s innate humanity.
Which gets tested with every step taken in this episode
Sherlock’s mad dash to the Tokyo subway station might be a subtle nod to the sarin attack that happened there years ago? Unsure.
She still ends up finding Moriya though. Who begans to confess in earnest
Ah, the classic selfless-conviction-of-antagonist-that-goes-wrong-because-it’s-too-extremist-for-true-peace-and-resolution-of-conflict versus the moderate-here’s-how-you-actually-resolve-conflicts-protagonist-perspective.
Ah, so Moriya has been influenced by Moriwaki’s psychological manipulations most likely. So while he has indeed been revealed as an antagonist, Moriwaki still exists as the truly Big Bad of the show.
Doesn’t mean Moriya can’t still cause huge trouble what with him infecting himself with the virus to unleash it upon Japan. This forces Sherlock to shoot him, which happens before Wato’s very eyes.
And she’s not taking it very well.
In turn, Sherlock had to fight for her beliefs and do what it took.
The Dock? WHAT’S THAT?
dOCtoR!?!?
I think before this episode, one could’ve made a (weak) argument that Miss Sherlock might share similarities with what has now become the stereotypical mold for the Sherlock character - ‘sociopathic’/misanthropic, totally uncaring toward other people, lacking compassion, an absolute asshole, etc. But even if moments from previous episodes such as Sherlock showing care or at least consideration for the vulnerable people she runs across (Wato, the baby daughter in Ep 4, the bride in Ep 5) aren’t considered, one cannot deny that Sherlock has proven herself to care not just about herself - see her confrontation with Moriya over his plans with the virus or how she so desperately tries to seek Wato out of danger.
Sherlock’s humanity was never in question for me. But it is now for Wato given the amount of pain Wato was shown to be in - for your closest and most trusted friend (fight me) to shoot the person you’re in a relationship with right before you? Pained Wato is vulnerable Wato is most-open-to-the-manipulations-of-her-therapist-who-has-probably-been-manipulating-her-this-whole-time Wato. Needless to say, this does not bode well for Wato.
And of course, the reveal of Dr. Moriwaka to be Mariko Irikawa is pivotal to this episode. Setting up Dr. Moriwaka to have done research on psychological manipulations really just framed Mariko as the only real possible contender to be the Big Bad here, especially given her closeness to Wato and their interactions a constant appearance in the series. Really, who else could Moriwaka/Moriarty be?
Moriya’s dead, Wato’s taken in by Mariko to the mysterious Dock, and Sherlock is emotionally compromised and desperate to keep her closest friend alive. The perfect setup for a tumultuous season 1 finale, amirite.
Nothing like a dismembered ear to start off an episode, or so I would assume. I heard that this episode is one that definitely draws upon one of the OG ACD Sherlock stories so there’s that bit of trivia for you.
The episode cuts to Sherlock being well, Sherlock:
Never stop being you, Sherlock. pls
A light-hearted exchange that sets up the Chekhov’s gun that is the knife in this scene while providing some great Watolock banter.
The action is brought back to the ear delivery of course, which introduces the recipient of the unfortunate package:
A spoiled teenager who gets what he wants with the backing of a former head of police for a father. Oof that political clout.
There’s a bit of an interlude in which Wato questions Sherlock’s origin of her personality:
And Sherlock’s lack of friends throughout her life gets pointed out repeatedly, while simultaneously emphasizing the importance of Wato in her life, despite her fervent denials.
Somehow, this all culminates into a sweet potato party in which Wato’s therapist and Moriya both attend and meet Sherlock for the first time. Sherlock correctly deduces that Wato’s therapist is indeed a therapist (much to Wato’s chagrin)
And we get a brief overview of what the show thinks of psychology as a field - which as a neuroscience major, I’m always a bit bemused/displeased/put off by how pop culture portray psychology.
We get some random psychology test deeming Moriya as a psychopath which ??? is not the greatest nor most scientific test (OOC for Sherlock here) - which I’m all for denouncing Moriya as the sketchy character he is, but this is not the way to do it.
Regardless, we get more of Wato’s loyalty and draw to investigations with Sherlock when Sherlock dashes off after updates on the case (despite what Wato says)
(that forlorn look of longing tho - and we can’t even see her face geez)
Taika, the father of the woman killed in the hit-and-run accident that’s become the focal point of this case is introduced. Although, he’s been reportedly a changed man
Very much so suspicious and alarming
With these nuggets of information, Sherlock and Wato continue to ponder on the case. Wato’s attention wanders back to the son who received the packages of first the ear, and then the finger.
What is a seemingly throwaway observation of Wato’s sparks Sherlock’s mind however
Thus revealing that
Sadly, while Sherlock has cracked the case, this direct confrontation lands Watolock into an even more direct attempt on their lives:
Scuffle scuffle scuffle, Wato ends up saving Sherlock:
Which leads to Sherlock almost doing not-quite-the-unthinkable:
(Honestly she probably would’ve done some sort of damage if you didn’t say anything Wato - that quivering knife in her grip was no joke)
(Sherlock’s little grin after Wato runs off tho makes me squeal every time)
Unfortunately, figuring out the hit-and-run does nothing for the son who gets stabbed by Taika
And as the son bleeds out, Taika takes his own life - Sherlock and Wato can only watch in surprise and do nothing for him.
A fundamental difference in philosophy toward life but I think Sherlock is changing more because of her interactions with Wato
Now we’re getting into the thick of the overarching plot here
Guiding seems to trigger a memory for Sherlock, leading her to recall a study on
sound familiar anyone...
Stella Maris is actively challenging Sherlock to what seems to be a game of wits and manipulation. As always, the case defining this episode is interesting enough in of itself, but now we’re seeing how most of the cases have been linked to Stella Maris. Takai is shown to be the model vehicle for what Stella Maris is capable op: the transformation of a grieving but forgiving father into a suicidal, revenge-driven shell of a person.
There is a link to Wato as well when she’s taken into consideration with people like Takai and the mother from the first episode. They all lost what was their deemed purpose in life at some point or another - it’s just that Wato managed to find another when she met Sherlock. As heartwarming as that is, this just sets up Wato to be a potential target to the manipulations of Stella Maris.
This episode is also the height of the Watolock dynamic in a sense - we see Wato’s unwavering desire to be with Sherlock in their investigations, Wato protecting Sherlock with her wits, Sherlock in turn being impressed and appreciative of Wato’s existence despite her verbage to the contrary, and a moment of understanding between two women when considering one’s purpose in life.
Ep 5: The Missing Bride - Wato’s Mental and Physical State, Sherlock’s Concern, and Women Acting Instead of Being Acted Upon
Miss Sherlock pulls no punches nor does it shy away from showcasing Wato’s struggles with her PTSD. Presumably following quite soon after her flashback in the streets, she is seen relegating her experience to her therapist:
As it turns out, Wato was a survivor victim of a bombing. Saito (her therapist) diagnoses her as having PTSD due to her having experienced trauma from her volunteering in Syria along with her symptoms of flashbacks.
Memories fade with time, but their potency is most fresh in the times closest to their inception. This does not stop Wato from trying to plaster on a brave face:
She actively dons a smile before speaking with Hatano, a detail that really clues you into how much Wato tries to appear ‘normal’ when interacting with others.
We can’t have a scene in 221B without Miss Sherlock herself:
Only for the calm of the moment to pass with a new case popping up, much to Sherlock’s glee:
The subject of love and marriage is a running theme in this episode, most appropriate for a case dealing with a missing bride I suppose (I just realized the pun here heh). Regardless, the episode fleshes out Wato and Sherlock with their perspectives on relationships and marriage with the avenue that a case centered on relationships provides.
An optimist versus a cynic?
Of course, we couldn’t get through a relationship-centric episode without some heteronormative pairing being shoved down our throats.
(translation: Maybe it was meant to be - regarding their meeting)
(Blegh. Yes, yes it was.)
(Same Wato. Same.)
Moriya makes an advance at Wato which she quickly rejects (when she is at least tipsy, which is v sketch) - although the show hints that it’s for reasons that you wouldn’t necessarily consider later on...
Back to the case however. Sherlock and Wato identify a person of interest in their investigation at a store through some brazen demands to watch video footage. The very same person comes into the shop, but immediately runs when Wato lets out an involuntary noise of acknowledgment:
Wato has another attack during the chase, and the man successfully gets away. Frustrated, Sherlock leaves Wato there to continue on in the investigation by herself.
Needless to say, Sherlock’s not taking the mistake all too well. Wato on the other hand, seeks out her therapist about her most recent attack:
Time and time again, Miss Sherlock has shown Wato’s vulnerable side in a way that does not exploit the character for anyone’s means, but in a realistic manner - that of a complex woman struggling under what society expects of ‘normal’ people. Wato is smart, capable, mature, and adept enough to interact with others comfortably. But she does struggle with these moments of having to confront her reconciliation of what seems to be her otherness compared to the people she is surrounded by - be it forcing a smile on her face for others or being afraid of others’ biases.
Even her own therapist misunderstands her. Wato doesn’t only have mental scars of war-zone memories, but physical scars that literally map out her experiences there:
(I have to mention that I really appreciate the lack of any gratuitous camera movements when Wato was showing her scars that focused on her act of taking clothes off for the sake of taking clothes off)
But her therapist is quick to reassure her that she views Wato no differently despite these scars.
The fear of being someone you can’t even recognize after your experiences... Wato may be the most relatable, most universal character in Miss Sherlock.
Despite Sherlock’s annoyance with her, she still waits for Wato to return home:
Giving no indication as to whether she is aware of where Wato has been, Sherlock launches right back into the case and fills Wato in with details that she has missed. Wato goes right along with the rhythm.
The paramount clue here was that the found wedding dress had no stain on it despite the assistant’s claim that she had spilled orange juice on it and went to go for stain remover, the time in which the bride had disappeared. The assistant confesses to helping Risa disappear, which clears up some of the mystery thus far.
A final confrontation brings the groom to the site where he stored the stolen Miku’s sketchbooks, only for him to be caught by Risa, Miku’s old fiancee, and Watolock and gang.
It’s revealed that the groom murdered Miku to get his hands on her designs that she was unwilling to give him.
This reveal was satisfying to watch unfold because Risa is a kickass woman who was anything but complacent in trying to right the wrong of Miku’s death. Faking a marriage with the killer of your best friend and partnering up with the best friend’s wrongfully accused fiancee so you could bring the killer down for his crimes? True friends only.
It would also only be true friends who would design your wedding ring as well.
I suppose the angle for Watolock in this episode is that only true friends would try to make the other happy, which is why Sherlock pushed Wato to reconcile with Moriya in a sense.
Sherlock does notice just about everything you know.
Oh please, as if Sherlock would ever accidentally make too much.
I’m not showing ending screenshots of this episode because the imagery is unnecessary, but Miss Sherlock never fails to pull the audience back to the overarching plot at some point throughout these individual case episodes. Stella Maris is looming over Sherlock and Wato’s heads here - it’s time to see what happens next.
This episode is rather Wato-centric - she is in some ways, the heart of this show. It is Wato’s emotional and physical trauma that makes her seem the most human to the audience because she has known pain and is in pain. But there is a healing of sorts that occurs throughout this episode - she reveals her scars to her therapist, she reconciles with Moriya, Sherlock gives her toner for her scars (at some point Sherlock, you have to admit that your concern for Wato has tipped far into caring for her at the very least as a good friend but anyways). There is no demonization or stigmatization of Wato’s mental health, because PTSD or any mental health issues are nothing that should make others think of you differently. Wato is still Wato despite what has happened to her and what may happen to her, but she has a support system. She has Hatano. She has Sherlock. And she has herself.
Risa is also such a good character here - I just love love love how Miss Sherlock really lets the women characters have their agency in determining what courses of action they take in confronting their problems. She only appears this episode, but she achieved her goal through her efforts - aided mainly by other women be it the wedding assistant or Sherlock and Wato’s own investigations.
Ep 4: The Wakasugi Family - Logic v. Empathy and the Relevance of Wato’s PTSD
TW: Blood, PTSD
Well that’s a bloody exciting way to open the episode (sorry not sorry about the pun)
Meanwhile, Sherlock laments about the lack of interesting cases taking up her attention
Which cues
(I probably enjoyed the lack of personal space that Wato initiated here far more than I should have but I have no regrets)
The dynamic has been set: Wato always apologizing for Sherlock’s less-than-polite interactions with others. Sherlock charges ahead, and Watolock and the client of the episode stumble upon an exorcism of his home. A premise that sets up this Watolock moment quite nicely:
Sadly, Sherlock does shake her off but the client goes ahead and introduces the two to his mother-in-law:
Without missing a beat, Sherlock denies Wato as her friend.
The investigation starts off, and the client shares the mystery and the reason for the exorcism of the house - a family curse involving ancestors killing vampire bats. It seems to have descended upon the client’s wife, thus resulting in her ‘mindless’ attack and sucking of their baby daughter’s blood (who suffers from a serious heart condition and requires constant care and monitoring).
Sherlock scoffs.
Logic and reasoning above everything after all, especially superstitions that just don’t line up with reality.
Sherlock continues her investigation, which leads to her examining the baby (with utmost care may I add).
Her posture, her measured movements, her hesitance, her expression of concern. There was just something about this particular sequence that struck me as really highlighting Sherlock’s humanity - yes, the woman is brash and irreverent of most social cues, but she stills shows gentleness and care. She doesn’t purposefully go about the examination in a harried manner, but with active control so she does not disturb the child who doesn’t awake from her vulnerable position at all throughout this moment.
Sherlock is absorbed enough that she doesn’t even notice the presence of the client’s son until he makes himself known.
A battle of will ensues (in a rather childish manner on both sides to be fair), and Sherlock promptly leaves.
(I’m amused by how blunt Sherlock is to Wato’s rather teasing question because SAME, but also Sherlock was still caring in her interactions with the baby so I see you Sherlock. You may hate them, but you won’t hurt kids.)
This was also a great moment the highlight the juxtaposition between Wato and Sherlock: emotional versus rational, or rather the irrationality of hyper-rationality and the rationality of considering emotional maturity. Of course kids won’t be as great at logical thinking - they’re kids. Acknowledging that fact would be logical in of itself, something that Wato can see but Sherlock does not apparently.
Sherlock can sense Wato’s investment in the case, and uses that to her advantage here in baiting Wato:
Which pans out quite nicely - Wato finds out that the client’s wife visits a shrine regularly which will be an essential point later on. What the audience also sees is how Wato can branch off from Sherlock, and still be vital to the case they are investigation.
Which admittedly Sherlock seems impressed by
But Wato still has some things to learn.
Is that a hint of a pleased smile I see... :>
Sherlock and Wato go to visit the theater group together - which ends up in the inevitable of Sherlock pissing off the people:
Logic and rationality are powerful, but so is being emotionally aware.
But logic and rationality definitely have their place and usefulness.
The episode hits a bit of an interlude from the main case when Wato decides to visit an exhibit on war photography. There, she meets the photographer himself, the unfortunately named Toru Moriya.
The interlude is nothing like a filler episode as it introduces someone who seems to be central to the overarching plot of the show. Even more importantly, he is someone who can relate to Wato because both suffer from PTSD (though she does unknowingly at the moment).
Moriya is someone who will be sticking around, if not at least for his characterization of having shared experiences with Wato.
With this detail ironed out, the plot returns to the case. Sherlock has unlocked the scientific evidence for the non-curse:
Wato wonders at the use for such a poison, and Sherlock utters her iconic quote:
Which leads us exactly to the truth:
Who turns out to be Daiki. While Sherlock can determine who the culprit is however, it’s Wato who can figure out why he would inject his baby sister with poison.
Sherlock is perplexed
But Wato has grown into holding her own with useful observations.
From there, it’s easy enough to capture the person instigating the poisoning of the baby:
The instructor at the pissed off theater group - who was the fiancee of the client’s wife’s best friend. She passed away while the client’s wife survived, a fact the instructor remained bitter about as the wife was able to have a family she was happy with. Doesn’t mean she forgot about her best friend though.
Couldn’t help but notice how Sherlock looks at Wato with what seems to be new respect in her eyes, and moves to stand beside her. (刮目相看 as the Chinese saying goes)
In the end, a wholesome resolution to the case overall:
Sherlock’s not budging on this one though lol.
The episode fast-tracks right back onto the overarching plot though:
And one last denial by Sherlock but even her brother has picked up on the growing dynamic between her and Wato:
Wato who seems to suffer her first overt PTSD attack:
All in all, we see the show starting to emphasize more of Wato’s mental health in relation the plot which definitely has repercussions for later on. More juxtaposition between Wato and Sherlock, as the two serve as a kind of foil for the other, in the best way possible really. Sherlock has her logic but Wato has her emotional understanding. But with the two interacting with each other, we see shifts in Sherlock’s own emotional capacity/processing and Wato’s reasoning skills. Gotta love that character development which ties into the plot quite neatly. On to the next!
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