The MP Waterfall Scene is the key to the entire series
I know Iām risking being super repetitive, because Iāve been blogging about this scene all weekend, but honestly. It is So Important.
Up until that scene, MP John has been, frankly, pretty much of a dick to Sherlock. And Sherlock hasnāt been very kind to John, either. Their normal affectionate bickering has been replaced by anger, true irritation, a nagging exasperation with each other.Ā
Theyāre fed up with not being able to let themselves be who theyāre meant to be together. And as an old school Holmes Ian geek, it thrills me that Mofftiss made them this way in Victorian times. They are fed up with 150 years of repression, they are ready to be together.
But back to the Waterfall Scene.
Sherlock is trying to defeat Moriarty on his own. Again. And heās losing. Heās getting choked, drowned in a waterfall, heās about to go over the edge with Moriarty again, history repeating itself. Moriarty says it always comes down to the two of themā¦
And out steps John. Cool, calm, absolutely BAMF, butĀ differentĀ than heās been in Sherlockās mind palace before. Heās softer, heās smiling, affectionate. Everything is coming together in this moment for Sherlock, his acceptance of himself, his understanding of his and Johnās relationship, itās all coalescing.
āThatās not fair, thereās two of you,ā says MP Moriarty.
āThereās always two of us. Donāt you read The Strand?ā replies MP John.
This is Sherlockās moment of epiphany. There are two of them. There have always been. And critically, Sherlock is realising that in Johnās mind, itās always been the two of them. John is the one who writes the stories in the Strand, John has alwaysĀ made it about both of them, and Sherlockās always tried to keep himself separate. Alone is what protects me. This is Sherlock understanding that alone not only doesnāt protect him, but is actually destroying him.
And John handing him his deerstalker, his public persona, is the last vestige of his holding onto the idea that John needs him to be anything other than exactly who he is. Sherlock cedes control of the Moriarty situation to John, he allows John to kill his self loathing, his fear, his terror at being wrong, his fear of his own sexuality. All that goes over the cliff with Moriarty.
And Sherlock stays with John.
Because he understands fully, for the first time, that John will always be there for him, no matter what. And thatās why MP John is different in this scene, because Sherlock is seeing the Real John here. The John that cares, that never leaves him, that loves him beyond measure, that is his one fixed point in a changing age.
This is a huge moment for Mofftiss as writers, because this is the first complete divergence from ACD canon. This is theĀ fix-it moment. It is the pivot point around which the entire series spins, and has from the beginning. This is the moment that Sherlock chooses not to be alone. Heās changed his own destiny, and Mofftiss has thus changed the whole trajectory of the Holmes/Watson stories.Ā
This episode doesnāt end as ACD canon ends, with Sherlock alone, John gone. It ends with them sitting together, in their home, looking toward a future where they can be together.
