we interrupt your regularly scheduled program to remind you that Jenny Flint, Madame Vastra’s wife and companion, or the John of Moffat’s fem!lock, has a backstory
in which she has been “ostracised” from her family
anyhoo nothing to see here, move along, John Watson’s military background and hinted family estrangements totes have no role to play whatsoever in the expression of his sexuality, nuh uh
Parallels and Speculation - River and Twelve in Doctor Who S09 Christmas Special (The Husbands of River Song) versus John and Sherlock in Sherlock ~ Past, Present, and Future
In The Husbands of River Song, we learn that what River thinks of as the Doctor’s view of her and love are not necessarily what is actually the case. The unreliable narrator strikes again.
River thinks that the Doctor is simply too extraordinary to commit to something as mundane as love. She loves the Doctor, but what use is loving a monolith which ignores her?
(Also, this scene has shades of incredulous John in the ASiP 221b drug sweep scene, as well as indignant John with Irene at the power plant in ASiB.)
Meanwhile, it is common knowledge among enemies of The Doctor that “When
this woman is in danger, the Doctor will always come.”
Oh, that reminds me of John and Sherlock.
Sherlock is willing to fake death (TRF) and kill Magnussen (HLV) to save John from harm. The mere threat to John’s life is enough to spur Sherlock to action (ASiB) and bring him back from the brink of death (HLV). And yet -
John simply thinks that Sherlock doesn’t feel things that way, that Sherlock doesn’t follow him everywhere (but we know that’s not the case).
Not that Sherlock has been helping matters. In the unaired pilot, Sherlock tells John at Angelo’s that “No. You (John) need to eat. I need to think. The brain’s what counts. Everything else is transport.” This line of dialogue disappears from A Study in Pink, but in both versions retain this line: “You may as well eat. We might have a long wait.”
However, things may be changing.
Twelve was rather aghast at how nonchalantly River was about stealing the TARDIS. She says “he’ll never know it was gone”, while Twelve assures her “he’ll notice now.”
River: I can take it, do whatever I want for as long as I
like, and pop it back a second later, he’ll never know it was
gone.
The Doctor: Yes, he will.
River: How?
The Doctor: He’ll just know.
River: Well, he’s never noticed before.
The Doctor: Maybe… he’ll notice now.
TARDIS is used … for TRANSPORT. Sherlock apparently thinks that the brain is what counts, and everything else is transport. And he has been know to not notice when John disappears.
From John’s standpoint, Sherlock certainly did not seem to have laid claim to John. So far.
And John is dealing with his feelings about Sherlock just fine, just like River with Twelve. (NOT.)
But maybe … Sherlock’ll notice now. After all, we’ve learnt in both Sherlock (HoB, S02E02) and Doctor Who that the body’s got a mind of its own, and can certainly betray the head. Oh!
And further out in the warm waters of Speculation Cove:
We have another test run at The Three Garridebs, where River and Twelve fight with each other to see who will save the day because they are just as precious to one another:
The Doctor: Get back in the TARDIS! This is my job!
River:
This is my job!
The Doctor: I’ve been doing it longer.
River: I do it better.
The Doctor: River, not one person on this ship, not one living thing, is worth you.
River: Or you.
Heartwarming, non? And let’s hope that Johnlock in full bloom will come sooner than Christmas Day in 4 years’ time:
The Doctor: Excuse me, um, I’d like a table on the balcony
with a view of the towers.
Receptionist: I’m sorry, sir, the first available
slot I have is Christmas Day in four years’ time.
The Doctor: Not a problem.
So, thanks for reading. (Part 1 - The Diary is here, Part 2 - The Unrecognized Face is here, Part 3 - Moriarty is here) I thought this was going to be it, but some odds and ends sort of … happened.
The universe has to move forward. Pain and loss, they define us as much as happiness or love. Whether it’s a world, or a relationship, everything has its time. And everything ends.
