Parallels: The Lying Detective and His Last Vow
I was going to have some pretentious introduction, but the simple truth is that TLD clearly and repeatedly mirrors HLV. Over. And over. And over again. I counted eighteen independent parallels between the episodes, and Iâm sure thereâs more I missed.
Coincidence? The universe is rarely so lazy.
Why should I care?
TLD advances Johnâs emotional growth to where Sherlock was at the end of HLV. Then, and only then, can we get a mutual love confession.
By the end of HLV and certainly by the end of TAB, Sherlock admits, accepts, and embraces that he is in love with John. He hit rock bottom in Season 3 and TAB: going on drugs, almost dying, and getting lost in his own drug-addled mind. But through that journey, he realized that a) emotions are not a bad thing, b) he loves John, and c) John loves or at least cares about him. Now, all John needs to do is say the word, and theyâll ride off into the sunset together.
But John? John is still lagging behind. He struggles with self-loathing, guilt, and resentment. He simultaneously wishes Sherlock would love him, and hates himself for not loving Mary more. Seriously, read this this this and this. John hates himself in this episode for his flaws, yet wishes that someone would see his flaws and love him anyways. John may admit that he loves Sherlock, but it still causes him nothing but pain and self-hatred.
That is why we need to see John drink, and hallucinate, and beat Sherlock up, and cry. He needs to go to hell and back, like Sherlock did. Both the audience and John need to admit to and accept Johnâs flaws. Only then he can embrace his love for Sherlock.
Could there be more behind the HLV/TLD parallels? Of course. I discuss ramifications for alibi theory and EMP theory at the end. But minimally, the episode parallels serve to show how John undergoes the same emotional growth that Sherlock had reached by the start of the season.
Chronological Parallels
Without further ado, letâs examine the 18 parallels. Some of them just reinforce the episodesâ connection, but others underscore the advancement of Sherlockâs, Johnâs, and the Johnlock arcs.
1. Eurus-as-therapist looks suspiciously like Magnussen:
(x)
Graying hair, rimless oval glasses, foreign accent.
2. Sherlock is back on drugs because he feels John has abandoned him. John finds him:
a) without meaning to b) in a suburb c) after a woman approaches him for help d) whom he originally thought was Sherlock.
(x)
Sherlock has gone from using drugs to try to get over John to accepting that he needs John, period. In HLV, Sherlock is at least sort-of pretending that heâs getting high for a case. In TLD, he doesnât even try. Heâs high because heâs sad that John is angry at him. This isnât subtext, itâs text.
3. John is angry and, because Sherlock is on drugs, wants Molly to examine him.
(x)
4. The villain is a creepy, well-known businessman shown making a woman uncomfortable.
(x)
My instinct is that Magnussen, the one who can find out information about people, is creepy!Sherlock and Culverton, the short blond one, is creepy!John.
Magnussen is an amoral businessman. He cares about nothing. This is the extreme version of S1 Sherlock that Sherlock overcomes.
Culverton is a compulsive killer. He cannot stop himself from hurting people. This is the extreme version of John that we see in the morgue scene: angry, frustrated, hurting the man he loves.
5. Sherlock truly hates this businessmanâalmost irrationally.
TLD:
SHERLOCK: This is the most dangerous, the most despicable human being that I have ever encounteredâŠ.This monster must be ended.
HLV:
SHERLOCK: Iâve dealt with murderers, psychopaths, terrorists, serial killers. None of them can turn my stomach like Charles Augustus Magnussen. (x)
Why? Because they exploit the truth in order to hurt people. See #16.
6. Both episodes feature a similar-looking morgue.
Discussed by @gosherlocked here.
7. Sherlock or a Sherlock mirror (Billy) threatens someone with a knife.
8. John attacks and knocks down this person.
(x)
The drug den scene foreshadows John at his very worst. In HLV, John tries to tamp down to his addiction to danger and action and Sherlock, but it comes out anyways. In TLD, he tries to tamp down his frustration, guilt over loveing Sherlock and not loving Mary enough, and self-hatred, but it comes out anywaysâwith far worse results. Worse, he now also he hates himself for hitting Sherlock.
This is Johnâs darkest moment. His emotional state cannot get any worse, just as Sherlock could not go any further into the depths of his mind palace. The only way out, of course, is through love.
9. In both cases, Sherlock/Billy does not blame John, and Mary is tangentially involved:
TLD:
Sherlock: No. Itâs OK. Let him do what he wants. Heâs entitled. I killed his wife.
HLV:
BILL: Yeah. Somebody âit me. MARY: Huh? (Bill turns his head to look at John.) BILL: Eh, just some guy. (x)
10. The villain visits Sherlock in the hospital and gets creepily close, both physically and psychologically:
Compare the Magnussen deleted scene (fair warning: disgusting)
11. Someone messes with Sherlockâs drip in the hospital (Janine/Culverton).
12. Sherlock almost diesâhe even flatlines in both cases.
13. A villain says an interesting line:
(x)
14. Because of John, Sherlock survives:
(x)
In HLV, Sherlockâs love for John saves him, and he recovers from the closest to death he has ever been.
In TLD, John also begins to recover from his darkest moment by literally saving Sherlock. Heâs not done healing, but heâs starting to.
15. Mentioning âThe East Windâ
I mean, duh.
16. The villainâs exploitation of truth
Magnussen exploits the truth to control people. Culverton corrupts truth itself, using TS-12. I talked more about the importance of truth in Season 4 here.
17. Honorable mentions to:
Using the same numbers for the number of years Culvertonâs employees had worked and the number of pounds John gained after the wedding
Culverton: âI like to make people into things. Then I can own them.â Magnussen: âOf course it isnât blackmail. This is ⊠ownership.â (x)
The only two episodes in which Wiggins appears are HLV and TLD.
18. An interrupted, aborted love confession at the end:
(x)
In HLV, Sherlock has accepted that he loves John, but not yet embraced it: he knows heâs in love, but heâs still scared of the final confession. To take that leap of faith, heâll have to wait until the TAB waterfall scene. Instead, he cracks a joke to make John happy.
In TLD, John is the one who interrupts. And Sherlock lets him, because he knows that John needs to get this out in order to accept himself.
Then, John is brave. He admits to his flaws and self-hatred. He takes the risk of crying for the first time on the show. He breaks through the habit of repression, and he is stronger for it.
But Sherlock grows here as well. When once he would have mocked sentiment and weakness, he realizes the importance of accepting and supporting John in his show of emotion.
So what does Sherlock do? Sherlock accepts John, flaws and all.
All thatâs left is for John to embrace his feelings for Sherlock and take the final step: a love confession.
Conclusions
Weâve seen how the similarities between HLV and TLD reinforce the theme of John admitting to and accepting his flaws and his love for Sherlock.
But could there be additional reasons behind these parallels? Of course.
EMP Theory would easily explain the similarities between HLV and TLD, if the episode takes place entirely in Sherlockâs head and he is still in a coma after Magnussen shot him. Unfortunately, this also means that none of Johnâs impressive character development actually occurred.
Unreliable narrator or corrupted memory theory could work if most of the episode (except the scenes with Sherlock walking around London) is from Johnâs POV. The idea of his memories having been corrupted by TD-12 was heavily foreshadowed (why else mention that drug?). It would explain some shaky parts, such as why John hit Sherlock so hard (he imagines his actions as worse than they were) while still keeping Johnâs character development. However, without further explanation, it would be a bit strange for Johnâs brain to reuse the events of HLV.
Johnâs alibi theory could work if Sherlock is retelling what happened. It would explain the similarities with HLV, which is also from Sherlockâs POV. However, it wouldnât explain why we see so many events from Johnâs perspective. Also, why would Sherlock need to cover up events after the TST aquarium scene?
(If anyone has ideas on how these theories match the parallels, let me know!)
Whatever theories the parallels support, one thing is certain: TLD set up Johnâs emotional arc to match Sherlockâs at the end of HLV. Both John and Sherlock admit and accept that they love each other. In TFP, theyâll both embrace this, and make history.
Let the Johnlock begin.
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Reblog to read later, and reminder to read all the comments and discussion. I remember noticing that therapist âeurosâ reminded me of CAM.
