Hi. I just wanted to thank you for your meta about TFP. Seeing a professional writer recognising JL made me feel better. I never believed it would be canon, but I was positive I was watching a story with romantic undertones and I sincerely started to doubt my critical thinking skills for the past few weeks. So, yeah, thank you!
You’re welcome! Yes–I see a LOT of literary patterns in how John and Sherlock interact and their relationship arc that easily fit a romantic story. Like I said in my post, some of the meta I saw did seem to be “reading into” what was there–mainly in symbolism and set design, etc. But even without that kind of analysis, the story itself fits the pattern.
However, that romantic story arc is sometimes used for non-romantic relationships too, so the fact that the writers didn’t go that direction is disappointing for many people but not technically against any literary rules.
I am a HUGE proponent of intimate friendship (any gender combination) and the concept of queer platonic relationships fascinates me. So part of me is just happy that the end of TFP shows the two of them together in what looks to be a permanent arrangement. (I’ve been told there’s an interview in which Moffat claims they’re not living together, but that’s a technicality because, even if physically true, they’re living together in all the ways that matter most.)
But, personally, I see no reason why they shouldn’t have made a romance canon. Lots of people love a good romance, myself included. It would have made for a great story and would have done a lot of good for everybody. And I know that many people find a romance a more satisfying story than a friendship, so from a story-telling perspective, it probably would have been stronger.
I don’t know why they didn’t go there. I don’t really want to speculate. But all the ingredients needed for it were there–you don’t need to doubt your thinking skills.
What we can do with the story as it now stands, though, is go philosophical about it.
Did the platonic route really change the way John and Sherlock love each other? Does it somehow negate everything that has gone before?
The show appears to reject the idea that they are sexually involved with each other. But that doesn’t erase the deep commitment they have to each other, the trust, the desire they have to be with each other, the delight they take in just being together, the need they have for the other person, the way they fit together, the true affection, their growing ability to comfort and care for each other, the way they are so often in sync and understand each other.
None of that has changed–except to become deeper, more mature, and stronger.
They’ve got their friends and family, sure. But at the heart of that is this relationship that is held up as equal to any romantic relationship. Even John’s actual marriage had to eventually shape itself to fit within the space of the bond between John and Sherlock.
This goes beyond even the original stories. This John Watson isn’t going to drift away and lose contact with Sherlock. I mean, let me qualify that–the writers could always decide to do an episode without John in it (not highly likely), but I doubt that it would be just because they’ve decide John has become indifferent or disinterested in Sherlock. Never say never, but it’s not highly probable at this point.
We can view this a number of ways. We can say that this is queer baiting–that if it had been a male-female relationship that it would have become a romance. We can look at it as some kind of bro-fantasy–all the benefits of deep, committed love without having to bother with “icky, girly romance crap.”
Or we can view it as an opportunity to question our ideas of platonic friendship.
Honestly, I have a hard time believing that Moftiss truly meant to portray some revolutionary kind of deep friendship. Maybe I’m underestimating them, but I just don’t think they intended that.
But regardless of intentions, that’s what we’ve got. And it’s kind of fascinating. Is such a love possible without sex? Is this as satisfying a story as a romance would have been?
For that matter, could it still be a romance, even if it didn’t end in a kiss? Can you have a friendship that is romantic in its own way? Is anything that we’ve seen invalidated because they’re not having sex with each other?
We definitely need LGBTQ+ stories. We need to challenge heteronormativity. So none of what I’m saying is meant in any way to detract from that real need. That’s where the disappointment comes in for me–this was a missed opportunity to provide some badly-needed validation for that community and to challenge the biases in the rest of us.
Sherlock didn’t end up being that story, even though it totally could have. Maybe someday it will, though I wouldn’t advise holding out hope for that at this point. All we can do about that, if we are creators, is to try to do better in our own work to address those needs.
But what we do have with this show is a relationship that still manages to challenge a lot of social norms and common wisdom and makes us rethink our understanding of love and the way that most of us typically rank and prioritize relationships.
That could end up being a really good thing.
