**IMPORTANT** More on Johnâs hallucination theory.
Which you can see in this video, this post, and this one. In the latter I tackled the subject of Johnâs repression in TFP, but I just have the need to expand on this and continue to draw your attention to it because, the way I see it, it was the central theme of Johnâs dream. Seriously, it gets much better.
So, John sees himself imprisioned in a hellish institution that serves to âtrap demonsâ, according to Mycroft âwho John imagines as no other than Lady Bracknell. That character of Wildeâs âThe Importance of Being Earnestâ is first and foremost a symbol of bigoted Victorian upper-class negativity, and its conservative and powerful repressive values. They invented the âdemon of homosexualityâ, but of course âthere never was any monsterâ âas John heard Sherlock say (keep that detail in mind). Could go on but I think you get the idea (I recommend Ghost Stories Are Gay Stories by @heimishtheidealhusband.)
Now the coffin John pictures in the center of one of the gray rooms of his mind has âI Love Youâ carved on the lid. Itâs his love for Sherlock that he puts into a coffin. Remember when TAB gave us the decoder of coffins = cupboards?
JOHN IS CLOSETED AND WISHES SHERLOCK WOULD âBREAK HIM FREEâ
Only Sherlockâs love would save him. He thinks âI am lost without your love, save my soulâ. He listens to âI Want to Break Freeâ, and envisions Sherlock bringing down his walls just like in Queenâs music video.
Remember John projects his feelings onto other people, like Sherlock did in TAB. Shaky Molly telling Sherlock âI love you, you know itâs always been true, you say it firstâ is the personification of Johnâs tiny feels. He wants Sherlock to love him back so bad. And he comes to that conclusion, that Sherlock does love him and will not let their love die, that losing him would make Sherlock suicidal. That exchange they had at the end of TDL when Sherlock told him âWe might all just be human⌠even YOU.â, resonates in Johnâs mind, so he knows Sherlock understands him, and is willing to help him break free from his island of hell, to come down from his plane of isolation and land safely on his loving arms.
Remember Eurus is John, he even pictured her wearing his favourite jumper. Like I wrote on that link above, Sherlock stepped closer to him, and even entwined fingers with him because HE DIDNâT SEE A BARRIER. This is the representation of overcoming queerphobia, because remember, John heard Sherlock say âthere never was any monsterâ. Sherlock not noticing the glass is the same Moffat did with Vastraâs âwhen you stopped seeing itâ, and I canât stress enough the importance of that.
JOHN KNOWS EMBRACING HIS LOVE FOR SHERLOCK AND THEREFORE COMING OUT IS WHAT WILL SAVE HIS SOUL. Embracing his identity is the solution to the final problem. Thatâs why the episode ended with that ridiculous line in Maryâs mouth. Mary saying âwho you really are doenât matterâ IS THE FINAL PROBLEM. Remember in T6T when Vivian was retelling the Samarra story and Mary showed up just to say the word âdeathâ? Because Mary is the representation of death, she is the tragic ending in Samarra, the embodiement of heteronormativity, the ultimate villain who must be defeated.
Thereâs no possible way TPTB had put themselves in that position and not deliver resolution, not answering the question âcan Samarra be avoided?â, and not give us John and Sherlock going to Sumatraâs fix-it story that Sherlock dreamed of since he was a child. The fourth episode is a must. Itâs the only way Benâs words make sense:
âThere are a huge number of pay-offs in this series,â he says. âI think, in the past, you could get away with watching a few episodes in isolation, but this⌠theyâre vine branches in the jungle of Sherlock, you have to keep swinging from one to the next to really understand. And really⌠the pay-offs are massive if you do.â (x)
If you donât read TFP as Johnâs Garridebs hallucination, that statement would be ridiculous because plot-wise nothing would make sense. But knowing this was Johnâs horror nightmare and that there will be another episode literally bringing the solution to TFP in which âlove conquers allââŚÂ the pay-offs will be massive indeed. Pulling this off will be television history.
