Freebatch: Could it be that it affected the future of Sherlock?!
Now that Sherlock is most likely over (sorry) I feel more free to write about a theory I have had all this time regarding Freebatch. Actually, I must have already written something about it but certainly way more cautiously because the reactions were strong back in the day.
The theory is very simple... and maybe it's not a theory but rather a common untold speculation. There must have been something about Cumberbatch and Freeman and it went wrong.
First of all, initially the show was hinting at a future romance developing between Sherlock and John, let's not go back into stating the obvious. One needs no more than to watch the pilot. And the actual episodes. The actors must have been prepared for the romantic possibility by the screenwriters. Martin once said in an interview that Mark had asked him whether it would be a problem to kiss Benedict on screen, "as a joke, of course". This could be the exact truth or perhaps Martin added the clarification it was a joke in order to not spoil the plot so badly. In any case, I find it hard to believe that all actors had to speak out the lines of A Scandal in Belgravia or The Sign of Three, without ever discussing among themselves that, obviously, Sherlock was not straight and John was struggling with ambiguous feelings too, at the very least.
Of course, whether Sherlock and John were to be romantic or not, that is irrelevant to how Benedict and Martin felt for each other. They might have been just professionally friendly or enjoy each other's company or neither. The problem is, no matter how many optimistic fans wave off the rumours of a fallout between them as yellow journalism, their relationship did deteriorate at some point unfortunately.
Even when they were not together often for press, Benedict and Martin seemed really close and very touchy and playful with each other during the first three seasons. In the interviews, they would often get distracted and start praising each other. They were close even outside of the Sherlock set, one highlight being Benedict stopping by New Zealand, as you do, to say hello. And there was so much more. Search the tag "freebatch". Search it in my own blog too. I really recommend the Freebatch Retrospective posts by welovethebeekeeper who has been deactivated unfortunately but you can find the posts in my blog. They feature some little known and well researched stuff. Let me be clear, I do not mean all this is proof they were together. However, it is proof they were close - closer, whether as friends or not.
And then suddenly they weren't. We became aware of something going very wrong in this interview where Martin let it slip that "Benedict could go fuck himself". Martin Freeman is a tongue-in-cheek guy to be sure, however he immediately asked for the next question and he clearly regretted it the moment he said it, apparently understanding he couldn't convince as facetious this time and that this could harm his, Cumberbatch's and Sherlock's interests. Which means he kinda meant this one, otherwise he could keep on joking. There is this theory that Martin can't always be asked about Ben in his interviews which is totally understandable but this would justify exasperation towards the journalist and not Benedict himself. No, without a tin hat on, Martin meant this for Ben and he was pretty serious about it. Time proved it, after all. Besides, Martin looks consistently mad and uncomfortable when Ben is mentioned ever since.
Interestingly, the select few who still write articles about Cumberbatch and Freeman's relationship hardly ever mention this first incident and they analyze confidential reports of how they acted on set in the last season or how they disagreed about the impact of the Johnlockers on the future of Sherlock (more on that later). And yet, Freeman's curse sits there staring at us.
Something happened after the third season and before The Abominable Bride. In fact, many things happened at the time. Cumberbatch got married and was an expectant father, Cumberbatch and Freeman had a feud and Freeman's marriage to Amanda Abbington was coming to an end. Maybe all of them are irrelevant to one another but there was certainly A LOT going on in their lives.
His Last Vow aired in January 2014.
Martin was angry at Benedict in a Hobbit promo by the mid / end of 2014 because the last Hobbit movie aired in December.
Benedict announced his engagement to Sophie in November 2014 and married her in February 2015.
Then a frigid setlock for the Abominable Bride followed. It aired in January 2016.
By the spring, Amanda and Martin were not together anymore but kept it secret until the end of the year. Meanwhile, they were shooting the fourth season of Sherlock and the atmosphere was once again cold.
One consistent thing I have noticed during all this time is that Martin was always the more obviously angry one. You might have your doubts but I feel very strongly that Martin was furious then and still isn't over his anger. This suggests that whatever happened between them was serious and, moreover, that Martin was the one who felt wronged in some way. Granted, maybe Cumberbatch can control his emotions better for the sake of the press and fans but he also seemed like the most willing to compromise between the two. In the very few times they are together on set in TAB and later, it seems like Benedict does small steps to get closer or "have a moment" with Martin, to which Martin responds stiffly and quickly. This could mean that either Benedict admits whatever happened between them was his fault and is sorry or simply that he was more aware of the necessity for the two of them to pretend they are on good terms during the publicity of the show. For Martin it was harder to pretend because he was so furious about it still.
Regarding Benedict's marriage to Sophie Hunter, I must say I do not believe those edgy speculations that Sophie forced him in this marriage and that she is evil and blah blah blah. To me, they look like a perfect match and the three sons in a row sort of back this up. I wish them well. However, there were a lot speculations about how this relationship appeared all of a sudden in the mid of rumours of Benedict going out with other girls and Sophie was pregnant and all. Who knows, maybe the relationship started unusually but then their bond strengthened? Or maybe they had indeed escaped the paparazzis successfully. The point is, many people other than fans had thoughts about this wedding including Amanda Abbington who seemed to support her husband and laugh ironically at the press entertaining of the prospect that Martin could be Benedict's best man. Of course he wasn't and of course they didn't attend his wedding.
In general, it seems like Amanda had her own thoughts about Cumberbatch and his relationship with Freeman and was finding it hard to not spill the beans just then and there. Amanda Abbington has also confessed she was against Johnlock initially which I can't understand coming from a professional actress. To not get it, fine, but to be annoyed at the possibility... why? Back in the day she was making quite a few passive aggressive tweets, sometimes targeted subtly against shippers. Something unprofessional. It almost seems as if she felt invested somehow, as if she couldn't quite tell Johnlock and Freebatch apart. Sometimes I also wonder why SHE was chosen for the role of Mary Morstan. Was it coincidental, was it the set being one big family that also included Ben's parents and Moffat's wife and mother-in-law or did she push for it, to be there and see what is going on. Coincidental or not, the introduction of Mary or Amanda in the show changed the dynamics forever and I doubt it was for the best. I don't mean anything bad about such a good actress as Amanda and I understand where she's coming from as the wife but I am just telling it how it is. Amanda was very involved, even in the most unexpected of moments.
See this. At first, it may seem as if it's just playing around but I am not quite sure. There are negative feelings in this thread. First of all, Amanda responds unprompted at the jokeful insinuation that Ben and Martin have a thing, even though neither Ben nor Martin respond to the tweet. Of all things she could say for fun, she chose to say that Benedict was pretending to be affectionate with him for his own (unclear) purposes. Pegg doesn't get it and keeps joking and the thread goes on with no less than Amanda asking if he fucked Ben. As in, if Ben was the submissive one. At first, this may seem like dirty joking. In truth, I believe this to be either in very poor taste or a byproduct of anger and hurt. Again, why this of all things? Why insinuate, even as a joke, that Cumberbatch is insincere and feigns interest or affection? And also imply that this is the reason Martin plays hard to get?
Consider this along with the fact that during and after the fallout Ben was the one appearing more friendly while Martin was getting progressively all the more distant.
It is clear that in his mind, Freeman thinks he was taken in or used or fooled, be it professionally or romantically or platonically. We will probably never know what Benedict thinks and feels about it.
At some point after Sherlock S4, Martin said something along the lines that everyone was feeling pressure to change the original plot due to the Johnlockers. This was weird coming out of Martin's mouth, of all people, who was the one who claimed he had no problem with this concept "as an actor". Even removing everything else, Freeman doesn't strike me as an actor who wouldn't go for the bold move or for one to take up the screenwriter's position so earnestly. He sounded contradictory to his younger self and somewhat defensive about the eventual lack of Johnlock! That was the most vocal Cumberbatch got about this whole situation, when he described as "pathetic" the idea that the cast and crew would be so affected by the shippers to feel pressure to change the story. In this case, I can't help but make the wild speculation that the enstrangement of the two and especially Freeman's fury actually informed the plot of the last season. Not only there isn't any Johnlock subtext in the slightest but even the famous chemistry of the two is gone. Often, their scenes together are more awkward and cold and the ease and warmth there was between them in previous seasons is no more. John's whole character arch is destroyed based or justified by this change of dynamics. How coincidental can this be? Is it just Amanda? It feels as if Martin too couldn't tell Freebatch and Johnlock apart anymore.
Before S4, I was making speculations that in this season Sherlock and John would have a major breakdown, regardless of the Freebatch status. However, I believed this taking for granted there would be a fifth season that would bring them closer than ever and seal the deal. Now that I don't see them very enthusiastic about a new season, it is apparent that they ended the show with John and Sherlock being at their lowest. In the last episode, dead Mary (Mary, again) subtextually gives them her blessing but you never see anything and you never feel any reconciliation between them at all. John literally looks dead inside and I am not sure this is pure acting.
Amanda Abbington said the show incidentally imitated her break up with Martin. Just like John was texting Eurus, Martin had been emailing a colleague. It could be this or this could be a cherry on top of an already lost cause. Mary was gone after making the mistake to get too caught up between what Sherlock and John had. This could be "art imitates life" too.
In my opinion, Freeman now looks better than ever, in the outside. There was a short time though, during the last of Sherlock and a little after, that I was worried about him. He looked too skinny and greying and miserable. In the last interview of his I read, (I never remember sources, but I did read it, trust me) he was asked what was something he was told that hurt him the most. Martin replied "I am not in love with you". Someone at some point broke his heart badly. It could be before his wedding to Amanda but I doubt he felt so strongly about something so back in time. It wasn't Amanda either because Amanda was devastated when they had to break up. I believe it was someone recent and the period that Martin looked to be in a bad emotional state was the years 2014 - 2016. It could mean nothing or it could mean something.
Martin Freeman is almost certainly bisexual. He once joked about it and another time he almost directly said it. Benedict Cumberbatch has admitted to have experimented with men but concluded it wasn't doing much for him after all.
I want to be clear that I don't have an opinion on whether Benedict did Martin wrong. For all we know, Benedict could feel as strongly but not be ready for it becoming known. Perhaps he was afraid it would hurt their careers. Perhaps Martin got invested in a professional relationship where Ben took it for granted that they should be close if they had to be the modern gay Holmes and Watson. Perhaps Cumberbatch asked for a bigger salary or more alone scenes. Whatever it is, I do not demonize him a) because I have no proof and b) because he may have a justifiable reason for how he chose to act. We can't know is all I am saying and I certainly approached this as if Ben, Martin and Amanda are the only people in the world. I know but I am sure that there was something going up and down between them and that Martin felt wronged and it must have affected the show to some considerable degree.
If there was a romantic relationship between them, it must have been short lived but very intense and it must have made Martin feel very involved, with mixed feelings about Benedict.
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