Distractions40

The first time we flash forward we go from John sleeping on the couch to John sleeping on the bus. Classic technique for flashing time sequences in tv/film. 

John gets a text and wakes up. 

We are supposed to presume that this text is from Sherlock and that John is replying that his wife will allow him to go. But there are problems with this assumption. First, why would John need Mary’s permission when he and Mary are both working with Sherlock on this and on everything. There is no indication whatsoever that Mary keeps John away from Sherlock or casework. 

Second, the text is not signed “SH.” And, Sherlock always signs his texts SH even to John. Plus, Sherlock wouldn’t say “belter.”

Third, the text doesn’t say 221B, or 221B Baker street, it just says Baker street. Mrs. Hudson lives there too. 

I think this is John, after Mary’s death, texting with Mrs. Hudson, and the Mary he is talking about is Rosie. 

Bear with me as this theory, too, jumps in time. In Morocco John and Mary have this convo:

John figures out that Mary gave their daughter her name because she couldn’t use it- Rosamund Mary. They both say that they liked Mary the best. I believe after her death, John now calls Rosie Mary in honor of his wife - baby Mary. 

so, back to the bus sequence. John texts with Mrs. Hudson ( i posit) and realizes that an attractive woman is staring, flirting and smiling. He smiles back, gets self conscience and gets off the bus, only to see his reflection with the daisy.

Now, even though this sequence is already a flash forward, we nevertheless flashback - INSIDE THE FLASH FORWARD- to see how John came to have a daisy in his hair:

John, taking care of Mary, every bit the image of a single father. We than flash back to John’s reflection in the bus, he pulls out the daisy, the bus swooshes by (swooshing is another technique for time sequence changes in film/tv), and we are immediately at 221B.

Because of the text message above on the bus, we are of course invited to assume that this is the same timeline and this is where John took the bus. But it is not the same timeline. The bus was the future and this scene is back in the linear timeline. They lineup perfectly, but falsely, because of Lestrade and Baker street, but I do not believe they are referential. 

The next time we flash forward is when John and Mary are on the plane home from Morocco. We hear a john voice over say “so many lies...” and we flash to the bus scene. The redhead -E- gives John her number and he thinks about putting it in phone or throwing it out, ultimately keeping it. 

on a side note -that date on the phone could be evidence, but i haven’t found other dates to compare yet. 

So, john enters her contact info and texts her “hey,” she texts back “hey”, the screen fades to black. Then, we are back in the Watson’s bedroom when Rosie starts crying. This is the second time we have been in this scene. The first time was in the linear timeline, while it was happening. This time we are in the flash forward and John is remembering what happened, but this time we see him text:

we are- of course- expected to believe that this is John texting with E, the redhead. But it is not. This is a memory of events long before E came along. John is texting with Mrs.Hudson or his sister Harry. It is not Sherlock because no signature and Sherlock would never say “miss you.” Nor Samford. But Mrs. Hudson- maybe. Most likely? His sister Harry. This is John thinking about how hard it is being a parent, and now single. He is thinking about how there is no time for anything, he is remembering how he didn’t even have time for his sister (or friend). 

Just like in the first flash forward where we flash back to see how he got the daisy in his hair, here we see why he sends a breakup text--

Notice he doesn’t say I am married. He says I am not free. He is thinking about baby Mary and how he cannot get involved. Normal fears that would plague a man in his situation. But then he sees E and immediately regrets sending the text.

I do not know who she is, but I think she has yet a role to play. The poster is also a good indication that her story line with John is in the future. This is a set up for some twist.