Hints at Marriage/Wedding between Sherlock and John.
We know we have plenty of evidence for Sherlock and John becoming a stable romantic couple/life partners/canon johnlock. But I wanted to see an exclusive list of every suggestion at the possibility of Sherlock and John in a bond of marriage/wedlock/tying the knot/putting a ring on it.
I surprised myself clueing for looks for this, because the list kept going on and on! I wrote it on the basis that if anything I see or hear in the show makes me even consider the idea, then it’s most likely deliberately put there to trigger in me that association. I’ve learnt that’s like a rule of thumb for reading the subtext in ‘Sherlock’.
ASiP
💍 John implying that marriage = nice stuff that could happen to you.
These entries are from before and after he meets Sherlock.
💍 Mrs. Turner’s “married ones”. In the canon, ACD referred to Mrs. Hudson as Mrs. Turner in ‘A Scandal in Bohemia’. Mofftiss took this original continuity error and ’fixed it’ (as they like to say, it’s what they’re doing with this show) by getting Mrs. H. mistaken for Mrs. Turner on John’s blog, the neighbour from next door, whose lodgers are a married gay couple.
💍 Mrs. Hudson comparing Sherlock to her ‘husband’. Her natural emphasis on ‘my’ makes the equation more evident. As in, ‘Yours is just like mine was’. They do this type of thing again in THoB, when Billy asks John ‘Is yours a snorer?’.
💍 “Might we expect a happy announcement by the end of the week?”. Right off the bat and in John’s face, Mycroft is blatantly implying marriage. Also, ‘end of the week’ = end of the show? He basically kidnapped his potential brother-in-law to make sure he’s a keeper, with physical examination and all.
💍 Sherlock delicately slipping the ring back on mirror-John’s finger. My favourite. We’re familiar with Jennifer Wilson being a mirror of John, and the fact that Sherlock’s deduction about her ring foreshadows John’s marriage with Mary… but can we just take a moment to appreciate the beauty of this particular shot?
💍 “I’m married to my work”, says the man who by season three keeps ignoring cases in order to plan the perfect wedding for John. The writers could have chosen ANY other way to phrase it, but they chose the word ‘married’. This trope has allowed Sherlock to have an arc in which he eventually realized he needs to make amends and focus on the things that ‘keep him right’ (his love for John).
TBB
💍 John literally saying his name is “Holmes” to the ticket guy at the circus, because he made reservations under Sherlock’s name. Sherlock is so inserted in his life at this point that he practically ‘took his name’ too. It just sounds so natural on John’s lips. Sarah is Not Impressed.
💍 Lucy & Westie were engaged to be married, and we know that they mirror John & Sherlock respectively.
THoB
💍 Sherlock admitting he can no longer “divorce” himself from feelings. Again, they could have chosen ‘separate’, ‘detach’, ANY other word, but not if the writers wanted us to make an association with a marital bond.
💍 The ‘sentimental widow’ who still wears her late husband’s ring around her neck, could mirror John, mourning Sherlock like a widower.
TRF
💍 This visual of Sherlock and John tied together by their wrists:
We’ve always seen this as romantic. But it’s interesting that the idiom we know as “tying the knot” actually comes from ancient wedding traditions were bride and groom were literally tied by their wrists with some sort of cord to symbolize the binding together of their two lives into one. Many people still do this today, even in the uk, like THIS same-sex couple. (My mind blew when I saw this connection, and was the reason why I started this post.)
TEH
💍 Visual metaphor of Sherock ‘walking down the aisle’ and John as the waiting groom. Like you all flailed about in this lovely post.
💍 Sherlock teasing that weddings are ‘not his thing’ with a wink. When we know he ended up being the best wedding planner you could possibly ask for. (Also everybody in this show seem to contradict themselves.)
The whole of TSoT
💍 This promo picture personally attacking me.
💍 This exchange on John’s blog. If you didn’t know them and just stumbled upon this entry, you’d think they’re talking about John and Sherlock’s wedding, since Mary’s not mentioned even once on that page:
Sherlock’s little “we” there does the trick. Bonus points for domestic banter.
💍 John says “My husband is three people”, Sherlock is one of them!
💍 Sherlock’s motif -instead of Mary’s- plays when John and Mary come out of the church as newlyweds, like Rebekah pointed out. ALSO, you can hear the beauty of Sherlock’s motif actually played in a special way underneath that loud bell-pealing sound, if you isolate the audio on channels 1 and 2:
💍 “Just the bride and groom, please” *Sherlock lingers*
💍 Sherlock first talking against ‘love’ and ‘weddings’, and later contradicting himself by declaring his love for John, calling John his ‘helpmate’ and saying ‘weddings are great, love a wedding!’, all in the same speech.
💍 John popping ‘the big question’ to Sherlock like he’s proposing.
So, we didn’t get to see John finish his -already awkward- interrupted proposal to Mary, but we did have this loving, heartfelt, beautifully framed scene instead. After all, John did indirectly confess that he loved him, and we saw them softer than ever. Sherlock later says this ‘request’ made him feel ‘flattered’, ‘suprised’, ‘a little daunted’, and ‘very close to being moved’. Also, come on, asking someone ‘the big question’ is asking them to marry you, NOT to be your best man. And finally, this was a ‘relationship upgrade’ for them (from Friends to Best Friends), so this scene was indeed about them ‘taking things to the next level’.
💍 Just like Bainbridge’s murder was a rehearsal for Sholto’s, this very wedding might be a sort of first try in the show’s story too; another ‘inside joke’ from the writers, as in they planned the johnlock wedding and rehearsed it. After all, the paper Sherlock stares at in his MP was about the wedding itself:
💍 The general way in which Sherlock behaves like one of the grooms instead of the best man. (ie. sitting next to John in the center like they are the celebrated couple, or even throwing his buttonhole flower like a bride would a bouquet)
💍 Sherlock’s Vow as a ‘Declaration of Protection’:
Like the trope’s definition specifies, this could perfectly have been a comradely statement, but instead they chose a wording ‘akin to a Love Confession’. Fitting, given that Sherlock is making a vow to John (and not-Mary and not-John’s/inexistent-baby) AT A WEDDING.
💍 Sherlock teaching John the wedding waltz AND dancing it with him (which they couldn’t show because for two ‘just friends’ who have unspoken feelings for one another that’s literally a Convenient Slow Dance). Also Sherlock didn’t get his dance after confessing he loves dancing, and that he lives ‘in hope of the right case’.
💍 This dialogue and framing, which just scream ‘husbands’:
💍 Sherlock angrily writing about a ‘next wedding’ on John’s blog:
Also, when Sherlock is sarcastically posing as John at the beggining of the entry, this is what comes to his head as he writes:
HLV
💍 Waking up from dreaming of Sherlock, John tells Kate that Issac, who he knows is “the drugs one” is her “husband”, when it’s actually her son. Freudian slip?
💍 Lady Smallwood’s pressure point is her husband; Sherlock’s is John.
Since she’s not only a foil to Mary in the plot, but also a mirror for Sherlock. Magnussed used both of them as leverage and sexually harassed them. (Yes, it was sexual harassment) I mean look at how he treated them (deleted scene on the right). We didn’t see Magnussen doing that to Mary, did we?
💍 Missis Hudson saying “It was my husband’s cartel, I was just typing”.
💍 When Sherlock proposes to Janine, the first time we ever see the ring and realize what he’s doing we get this shot:
And then of course this heartbreaking one:
💍 John sees Sherlock’s parents as “a fine example of married life”. Mummy and Daddy Holmes mirror Sherlock and John respectively. So much so, it’s astounding.
💍 Sherlock thinks that naming someone ‘Sherlock Watson’ could work, like pointed out by this lovely person.
TAB
💍 Maybe Lestrade explaining the crime scenes had “rice on the floor like at a wedding and the word YOU written in blood on the wall”? Since ‘YOU’ means ‘John’? I just added it here because it made me associate the ideas of ‘wedding’ and ‘John’ yet again. But I think this may as well be Sherlock equating ‘John marrying Mary = death’. Either as in ‘I died that day!’, or as in ‘marrying Mary was John’s doom’. Please feel free to let me know your perspective on this.
💍 Mary calling John “my husband” while embodying Sherlock:
Since we are inside Sherlock’s head, this looks like Sherlock proyecting himself on Mary, since he recognizes they are similar (and rivals for John’s affection). Therefore, he visualises her having his mannerisms and same dramatic way of storming out when an exciting case arrives.
Also, “Just a friend in need (…) England.” = “Who needs me this time?” “England.”
Remember that in this episode Hopper dressed up as a man. Sherlock mouthed other charaters’ voices. The sharp and observant brunette Maid told John things Sherlock would say (I’m not the only one seeing this). So why won’t he be proyecting himself on Mary as well? I’m 100% sure this was the creator’s intention. Mofftiss managed to have a personification of Sherlock calling John his ‘husband’ in Victorian times.
💍 Hooper saying that Emelia was “positively identified by her own husband seconds before he died”. Which always reminded me of John checking Sherlock’s pulse seconds after the fall. ouch
💍 The Bride, Eustace and Lady Carmichael in the maze framed like Sherlock, Mary and John in the empty houses. We know the Bride is meant to represent Emelia, to whom Eustace once promised marriage, while Lady Carmichael is his current wife. Of course, I’m not denying that Lady Carmichael is the mirror for John and Eustace is Mary’s. I’m only pointing out the parallel that IMO these specific visuals are making; both are love triangles. The two women are romantic rivals, just like Sherlock and Mary are.
SETLOCK, June 16th, Kennignton Street
💍 Extreme likeliness of ‘The Wedding Wardrobe’ boutique appearing in the background of that scene.
(x)
Here’s the full front of the boutique behind that bus stop in Google Street View:
Now, I needed confirmation of the position of the camera when filming there to account this as the possible background for that scene and I remembered the extra that took this picture from inside the bus:
After all, why would you choose THIS location out of 19,000+ bus stops in London, if not for its surroundings? (Also, ‘wardrobe’ = ‘closet’?) I can’t wait to see a confirmation of this.
So, in a show that pays SO much attention to detail, wording in dialogue, cinematography, etc. Why would they want to introduce in my head the idea of marriage with things related to Sherlock and John’s relationship? I mean most of these aren’t even necessary to set them up as a couple -the rest of the show already does that. See what I mean?
Thanks for reading, and please feel free to add your perspectives on this. If there’s any other hint I missed, or if you can think of arguments against this reading please don’t hold your thoughts back. I learn a lot from you all. :)
[Sorry if there’s anything unusual in the layout, I’m learning how to do all this. Tagging some geniuses: @inevitably-johnlocked @quietlyprim @vauxhallandi @consultingeastwind @teapotsubtext @deducingbbcsherlock @warmth-and-constancy @sussexbound @vanetti @skulls-and-tea ]
Oh wow! This is great!! Nice catches everywhere. Further proof of a Johnlock Endgame :)
Great work, pulling all of this together! I sort of remember some earlier metas about the more subtle visual suggestions, was it by @bug-catcher-in-viridian-forest, or @just-sort-of-happened, ?
Beautiful!!!!! Loads in there I hadn’t seen yet. I went through and found a couple more that I knew I’d seen
this thread started by @cupidford
visual metaphor in asip by @bug-catcher-in-viridian-forest
this little one by me
and there’s that post that i can’t find where “the Watsons are about to have a domestic” then Sherlock and John have an argument, not John and Mary.
