lads I watched Handsome Devil last night (which is well worth a watch for queer content!) but I actually burst out laughing at one scene - I can’t find it on YouTube to share with ye!! BUT:
Andrew Scott’s character is a closeted English teacher who has just been caught in a gay bar by one of his students, and he’s trying to sort the situation out on the train home with him, and starts talking awkwardly about how much he likes tea but hates coffee.
poor Andrew is trapped in a tjlc cycle of violence honestly.
Hi! I looked over your masterpost about the drink code in Sherlock. It was extremely helpful, especially for a new fan like myself! I was wondering--what do you think of John and Sherlock drinking coffee at the end of THoB? I could never figure out how that scene fits into the code, and I don't think the masterpost mentioned it. Thanks!
Wow, thanks so much! It’s been a while since I’ve talked about that comp. :)
You’re right, it’s not in the masterpost! But to be fair, we only see their mugs. We’re not told whether it’s coffee or tea, so it’s pretty much up in the air.
I’ve seen a few people complain that this post I made is not actually a shout out to the fandom TJLCers, but rather a completely arbitrary statement and we are Reaching. To counter, in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (dir. Billy Wilder), the answer to this question is yes, absolutely.
The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes has been cited as a major source of inspiration by both Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, and they both admire Billy Wilder’s work, so any similarities between the two cannot be treated as a coincidence. The universe is rarely so lazy.
I invite you to pull up a copy of the movie online (or, if you’re more inclined to a more legal way, pop a DVD in) and skip ahead exactly 20 minutes. This my friends, is the most important part in the entire film. A woman asks Sherlock Holmes to be the father of her child. He declines for Reasons. Those Reasons are explained with the conversation he has with this woman’s translator:
ROGOZHIN: [...] and we considered Tschaikowski --
HOLMES: Oh, you couldn’t go wrong with Tschaikowski --
ROGOZHIN: We could -- and we did. It was a catastrophe.
HOLMES: Why?
ROGOZHIN: You don’t know? Because Tschaikowski -- how shall I put it? Women are not his glass of tea.
Tschaikowski is gay. That’s what that means. It’s not hard to infer. Things didn’t work out because couldn’t get it up with the Madame because he’s not attracted to women. This same analogy is used minutes later to imply that Holmes himself is gay (for Dr. Watson):
HOLMES: The point is that Tschaikowski is not an isolated case.
ROGOZHIN: You mean, you and Dr. Watson -- ? (Holmes nods) He is your glass of tea?
HOLMES: If you want to be picturesque about it.
“Cup of tea” is absolutely code. It was code in TPLoSH, and it is code in BBC Sherlock. This line was inserted by the writers to draw a direct connection to this scene in TPLoSH. It doesn’t actually matter if the writers put this line in for specifically for us or not, but because they did, we know that tea is an important metaphor now, and probably always has been. We’ve been right to look at drinks all along. We've been two steps ahead of the rest of the fandom this entire time.
TL;DR - We were right about tea being gay and now antis are mad.
[This scene also contains the “I’m not free” line, as seen in John’s texts when he breaks it off with E, but that’s something for another meta.]
All S4 Drink Mentions and Their (assumed) Meanings
If you're new to TJLC and the Drink Code, please see my other compilation for some background info first!
I hit post limit at 9pm the day TLD aired (poor planning on my part tbh) so I sat down and rewatched both TST and TLD to comb through for drink appearances and mentions. Therefore, this is mainly just a list at the moment, with a few of my own embellishments and linked metas from what few posts have been made.
This is a living post, open to new additions and contributions at any time. If you see/come up with something that you think should be added, please message or tag me so I can credit you, or else it may get buried beneath notes! Lines marked with a “(?)” are indicative of posts that I’ve seen but can’t find the link to. Help me out?
And now, my friends, once more unto the breach...
The Six Thatchers
- Molly is seen drinking what looks like white wine at John and Mary's flat
- Mrs. Welsborough holds a champagne flute at her husbands birthday party. He's seen without one.
- An glass container of alcohol sits behind them on the counter while they talk with their son Charlie. (This alcohol is sitting on the opposite side of the table when visited by Sherlock, but I’m not sure this is actually significant. Rich white people just always have alcohol out, right?)
- Literally everyone at this party is seen with something in their hands, except the birthday boy. (Possible connection to Sherlock's “birthday” in TLD?)
- The car that Charlie is hiding in is covered in rain droplets. (Emotions/tears)
- John holds a cup of tea/coffee while Sherlock is conferring with the carpenter client. He doesn't drink from it.
- Toby smells haemoglobin (blood), caffeine (coffee/tea) and whisky. That sounds like John Watson to me. (x)
- Ajay lays on the floor of his room drinking what looks like rum as he remembers the days he was kept imprisoned.
- Sherlock asks Karim to fetch the tea. He tea doesn't arrive until Ajay dies, then it spills. If Ajay is meant to be a John mirror, this could be indicative a Garridebs moment ~
- John's mug of tea/coffee sits untouched as he hesitantly texts "E". There is a carton of milk sitting out on the counter behind him. The “straight desire” is there, but the “sexual drive” behind it is only in the background, going bad.
- Before the aquarium scene, John has a glass of red wine. It’s probably because he wants to confess his affair. Mary doesn’t drink any. (x)
- Norbury had been drinking red wine before coming to the aquarium as well, making her a mirror for John. (?)
- A cup of tea sits next to John's phone as Sherlock attempts to contact him. (?)
- A glass of water is sitting next to Ella. Sherlock doesn't have one. This could just be because it’s just a therapist thing, but also Sherlock isn’t very keen to open up to her, emotionally.
The Lying Detective
- John is shown drinking (and gripping his bad shoulder) (?) when he tells his therapist "last night wasn't good".
- A coffee pot sits out on the table when John is thinking about Mary at their flat
- "I'm very busy at the moment, I have to drink a cup of tea" says Sherlock, to a woman who reminds him of John.
- "Is cup of tea...code?” Yes. It means gay. (x)
- “Because you might prefer some... 'coffee'” He gestures to the woman in the sitting room when he says “coffee”.
- Sherlock asks for a cup of tea when Mrs. Hudson walks into the room as he spouts "Once more unto the breach" from Henry V.
- He demands the tea a second time. He just really needs that tea to keep him sane.
- Mrs. Hudson drops the tea (on purpose, in order to force Sherlock to see John). “Spilling the tea” is an expression used to describe sharing gossip, or revealing a surprising truth. (In the case of the show, the tea being spilled is the fact that Sherlock and John are in love.) (?)
- Sherlock lets go of the gun to catch the tea. He chooses Amo over Ammo. (x)
- Sherlock grabs a vase from the therapist's house and drinks the water. Euros (the therapist in disguise) is the name of the Greek god of the East Wind, whose symbol is an upturned vase, spilling water. (x) Euros is also the “bringer of rain” (emotions/tears). (x)
- He asks for a "cleaner" glass of water, and Euros give it to him. (Bringer of rain, again.)
- Sherlock and John sit together in Baker Street again. They're probably both drinking tea. Sherlock's mug has fireworks on it, symbolic of the explosion/”bomb” that is the Love Confession. (x)
- Irene's text alert goes off. Sherlock takes a big swig of tea.
- Lady Smallwood asks Mycroft out for a drink, saying what kind of drink is up to him. She's letting him take this where he wants to go, romantic wine, or Buddy Beer.
The Final Problem
- TBA
MISC:
Baker Street Google Maps Tour
- Coffee sits untouched on the shelf, whereas the box of tea shows signs of heavy use (x)
- The coffee maker is unplugged, to make room for the kettle (x)
- Half-empty bottles of gin sit next to bottles of red wine in two different spots. (x)
PBS Answer Time
- Mark handles the tea. (x)
Tagging the Drinks Code crew to help spread this around, and because @thequagmire1 asked to be tagged as well!
@loudest-subtext-in-tv @skulls-and-tea @thepineapplering @welovethebeekeeper @waitingforgarridebs @warmth-and-constancy @57-circlesofhell @hudders-and-hiddles @heimishtheidealhusband please forgive me if I forgot to tag you it’s been so long
