“It’s for science, John.”
“It’s for history, Sherlock.”
The fact that we have Mary Morstan in our midst currently, unlike Granada or TPLoSH’s version of events, is because John has to reject Mary and choose Sherlock. It’s a necessary part of the plan. I personally would have gone in the direction of omitting her entirely, but I would have been wrong. For the sake of HISTORY we have to have the marriage occur. In the BBC version we see the fix; John marries during a time when he thinks Sherlock is dead thereby eliminating the rejection of Sherlock found in SIGN.
The writers went further, laying the groundwork for retrospection once our boys are a couple. They gave us the stag night, the night when a ‘groom’ goes out on the town for a last debauched night of lap dances and paid for sex. What did we get? Two men drunk and almost acting on their desire for the other. Then there is the rejection of Mary post honeymoon. John dreaming of Sherlock and pushing Mary away, John keeping packed incase Sherlock calls for him, John choosing to ride solo to work on his bike versus spend time in the car with his wife. All evidence that it will not be her assassin past or shooting Sherlock which drives John away, no, he was leaving Mary before any of that occurred or was revealed. Sherlock in TAB is correct, Mary has already lost her husband.
Mark and Steven are changing the historical view of Holmes and Watson, and it is so nuanced and clever, all the arguments anticipated and made moot before they are even put forth.
Yes! Love this.
