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i think it says something about mofftiss that their best, most satisfyingly laid out character arcs are a) completely accidental and b) involve abuse.
like! looking just at what is said and shown in the show, there is really little complaint to be had about the character arcs of the holmes parents being abusive and neglectful, particularly to mycroft (see here for an in-depth episode-by-episode analysis). it's satisfyingly laid out, the evidence gradually building until it grows to be undeniable (in my opinion). it explains a lot about mycroft's character, as well as his interactions with sherlock. there is foreshadowing from A Study in Pink. i have my complaints about how mofftiss don't see it as abusive -- i'm somewhat concerned for moffat's kid -- and about how mycroft deserves better, but strictly from a character perspective of mycroft and sherlock, neglectful parents really do make the most sense. (the parentification, isolation and abuse is a little unnecessary, though.)
as for john watson being abusive to sherlock? that's somewhat less well done -- really, the abusive holmes parents arc is *chef's kiss* -- but it's still satisfyingly laid out. personally, i prefer to view john as falling off a cliff of his kindness and goodness as a person in between seasons 2 and 3, but others have found substantial foreshadowing for That Morgue Beating (and later things, and earlier things) early -- @rosemelodyshah has something about John and Sherlock's efforts to comfort Sarah in The Blind Banker (or, in John's case, "efforts" to "comfort" Sarah). it also sheds new light on the characters. john convincing sherlock that mycroft is not to be trusted at the start of tfp? it gets so much worse if you look at john as abusive, because that's fairly clearly john trying to isolate sherlock, playing on his distrust of mycroft to remove the one person who a) cares about sherlock deeply and b) has the power to actually Do Something about john's abusiveness.
and that's not to say that i don't read fics with decent holmes parents (my default is still neglectful/abusive until shown otherwise though) or like johnlock. i do! i'm fine with ignoring or cherry-picking canon. it's what i do with tfp -- take the bits i like and carefully edit out eurus and that whole insanity. but going purely based on the show's evidence, and taking it all at face value, the conclusion i reach is that:
"john watson" is an abusive scumbag of a person and should not be allowed anywhere near sherlock holmes ever again.
he's actually really interesting as an inverse to sherlock -- while sherlock is superficially an asshole he's a fundamentally good human being, and john looks sweet and unassuming and knows how to navigate society but is in fact an abusive scumbag using his superficial niceness and grasp of social cues to act with relative impunity. it's actually a great commentary on the nature of abuse and abusers! too bad it's unintentional.
mycroft deserves better in life
mark gatiss has some serious Issues with his brother that i don't think he's quite worked through. (for real it seems like he ascribes this fundamental malice to mycroft in script which makes perfect sense if you read his comments about how his brother used to beat him up and bully him or something, i forget the exact details -- he's writing mycroft and mycroft's interactions as though it's a given mycroft did that but we never actually see him doing that.)
the fact that mycroft doesn't go no contact with his parents after they consistently abuse him says a lot about the man's mental health and views
actually, further thought: they actually worked in another insightful and intriguing point completely accidentally and without realizing it! if we look at mycroft's relationship with his parents and sherlock's relationship with john we see similarities. both of them consistently make room for, are loyal to a fault for, and allow themselves to not only be abused but think they deserve it, by abusers! obviously this is mostly just them both being abusive relationships, but still. for all their intelligence, their upbringing prepared them both to be abused. and that's a fascinating parallel, both of them quietly working and sacrificing so so much for people who fundamentally do not deserve it!
like it's honestly impressive how oblivious mofftiss seem to be to some of the most insightful points, well-laid-out character arcs and genuinely disturbing things in the show.
(also while i'm at it: tfp actually kind of works as a last episode! it sheds new light on the characters and show. unfortunately for mofftiss, that new light is that the show fucking sucked and had numerous fucking awful parts from very early on.)
You are so absolutely right!! And I'd like to add other points of S1&2 abusive John:
Baskerville. Literally Baskerville. People mistake this episode so much I can't even:
Sherlock sees the dog and he's terrified. He's terrified because his mind has betrayed him with this beast and he doesn't know what to do about it, he's scared— and he turns to John in his time of need and is vulnerable. And what does John do? He laughs at Sherlock and goes all "come on you're not really entertaining that possibility are you?? It's all in your head and you're going crazy. Calm down."
Sherlock is understandably hurt by this and then goes on to prove that he hasn't lost his mind by deducing a bunch of people there. Then John has the guts to go "but we're friends" and gets insulted when Sherlock snaps back that he has no friends, because John just say him be vulnerable (like he's always nagging Sherlock to be, btw) and called it insane all in your head stupidness. And now he's angry that this very much not-friend thing is treated as such, and he's angry that Sherlock build up walls.
And Sherlock apologises, because apparently the base of Sherlock and John in BBC is full of John beinf awful and toxic and abusive and hypocritical, and Sherlock having to apologise anyway.
And a plus point here bc I'm tired of people forgetting: Yes, while Sherlock thought the drug was in the sugar, it actually wasn't and Sherlock didn't actually drug him. Stop adding Baskerville to the list of Sherlock drugging John.
The Blind Banker.
Remember how everyone talks about how John is instantly great and good with Sherlock and how the Mycroft scene is proof of that?? Well, clearly Mycroft should have scared him a bit more because Shelrock's university bully reaches out, insults and humiliates him, and John sits there smirking like yeah that's wonderful.
And then Sherlock says John's my friend, and you know what John does? Denies it instantly. Sherlock's barely finished his sentence wnd he's instantly been demoted. In front of his bully. The "you didn't talk to the secetary you lied to annoy him" line does not erase the fact that John stayed silent while his so called best friend was humiliated and then added to it.
And on top of that, going back to Baskerville, the first time John ever brings up being a friend of Sherlock's is after he emotionally and mentally insults and breaks him down because Sherlock clammed up as a direct result of his vile cruelty. Before that, he's wholeheartedly denied it. Sherlock didn't even know that this toxic thing they were having was being called friendship, but yeah, John is right to be mad. Who decided to throw rocks at someone and then declare friendship?? Who waits until they've kicked someone to bring up the fact that they cinsider the guy their friend?? No one mentally sane, I'd argue.
And then there's his most dangerous insistence, again and again:
Emotions while Shelrock's solving cases. Emotions that, we've seen, lead to his demise. He tells Sherlock that "There are lives at stake. Actual, human lives. I just want to know, do you care about that at all?" In The Great Game. This is after Sherlock's reaction to that woman dying btw. I just... He's not stupid. He keeps acting like Sherlock is insane for focusing on trying to save people and it's ridiculous to me.
This, by the way, the same guy who we're told about in the first episode as "you're not haunter by the war, Dr Watson. You miss it." And not long after kills a guy for someone he barely knows, and then immediately is normal and joking and laughing about it.
This is the same guy who, the moment the danger is over, as I've mentioned in case of Sarah's comforting, immediately finds it a hilarious story to tell at dinner and moves on in his life completely. I actually can't remember if he comforts one person throughout the whole show. Attempts such as Sarah's do not count one bit.
Sherlock comforts Sarah. Sherlock comforts the girl on the plane. Sherlock talks to I believe all the victims or families of victims throughout the show. Sherlock attempts to talk (kindly, btw) to the girl in Riechenbach. Sherlock is the one that helps Henry emotionally. He's the one that talks and keeps (or tries to keep, in some cases) the peoole in The Great Game calm. He's the one that stops James Sholto, John's pre-show friend, from letting himself die. He's the one that actually talks to Mary through most of S3 and 4 and he's genuinely more interested in saving her (which brings into question why it's treated like his fault, but not the point here). He's the one that brings Archie out of his shell, that helps Janine out, that desprately wants to stop Magnessum from taking advantage of people. He's the one who talks to that's Black Lotus woman in TBB and who helps Billy and, while not exactly a victim, he's the one who helps Irene. He's wayy nicer than John but oeople just don't notice that because (truama being the main reason, the other being his job is dangerous and he cannot afford the risks emotions can bring while working dangerous cases) he's outwardly sheilded.
He's also literally the only reason John is alive. Or has anyone to talk to. Or was "healed" of his issues at the start of the show.
(also, stuff like this frequently make me wonder if the real reason all lf Johns friends/acquaintces except like James Sholto are Sherlock's because everyone else he'd ever befriended or tried to befriend were done with his toxicity.)
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i think it says something about mofftiss that their best, most satisfyingly laid out character arcs are a) completely accidental and b) involve abuse.
like! looking just at what is said and shown in the show, there is really little complaint to be had about the character arcs of the holmes parents being abusive and neglectful, particularly to mycroft (see here for an in-depth episode-by-episode analysis). it's satisfyingly laid out, the evidence gradually building until it grows to be undeniable (in my opinion). it explains a lot about mycroft's character, as well as his interactions with sherlock. there is foreshadowing from A Study in Pink. i have my complaints about how mofftiss don't see it as abusive -- i'm somewhat concerned for moffat's kid -- and about how mycroft deserves better, but strictly from a character perspective of mycroft and sherlock, neglectful parents really do make the most sense. (the parentification, isolation and abuse is a little unnecessary, though.)
as for john watson being abusive to sherlock? that's somewhat less well done -- really, the abusive holmes parents arc is *chef's kiss* -- but it's still satisfyingly laid out. personally, i prefer to view john as falling off a cliff of his kindness and goodness as a person in between seasons 2 and 3, but others have found substantial foreshadowing for That Morgue Beating (and later things, and earlier things) early -- @rosemelodyshah has something about John and Sherlock's efforts to comfort Sarah in The Blind Banker (or, in John's case, "efforts" to "comfort" Sarah). it also sheds new light on the characters. john convincing sherlock that mycroft is not to be trusted at the start of tfp? it gets so much worse if you look at john as abusive, because that's fairly clearly john trying to isolate sherlock, playing on his distrust of mycroft to remove the one person who a) cares about sherlock deeply and b) has the power to actually Do Something about john's abusiveness.
and that's not to say that i don't read fics with decent holmes parents (my default is still neglectful/abusive until shown otherwise though) or like johnlock. i do! i'm fine with ignoring or cherry-picking canon. it's what i do with tfp -- take the bits i like and carefully edit out eurus and that whole insanity. but going purely based on the show's evidence, and taking it all at face value, the conclusion i reach is that:
"john watson" is an abusive scumbag of a person and should not be allowed anywhere near sherlock holmes ever again.
he's actually really interesting as an inverse to sherlock -- while sherlock is superficially an asshole he's a fundamentally good human being, and john looks sweet and unassuming and knows how to navigate society but is in fact an abusive scumbag using his superficial niceness and grasp of social cues to act with relative impunity. it's actually a great commentary on the nature of abuse and abusers! too bad it's unintentional.
mycroft deserves better in life
mark gatiss has some serious Issues with his brother that i don't think he's quite worked through. (for real it seems like he ascribes this fundamental malice to mycroft in script which makes perfect sense if you read his comments about how his brother used to beat him up and bully him or something, i forget the exact details -- he's writing mycroft and mycroft's interactions as though it's a given mycroft did that but we never actually see him doing that.)
the fact that mycroft doesn't go no contact with his parents after they consistently abuse him says a lot about the man's mental health and views
actually, further thought: they actually worked in another insightful and intriguing point completely accidentally and without realizing it! if we look at mycroft's relationship with his parents and sherlock's relationship with john we see similarities. both of them consistently make room for, are loyal to a fault for, and allow themselves to not only be abused but think they deserve it, by abusers! obviously this is mostly just them both being abusive relationships, but still. for all their intelligence, their upbringing prepared them both to be abused. and that's a fascinating parallel, both of them quietly working and sacrificing so so much for people who fundamentally do not deserve it!
like it's honestly impressive how oblivious mofftiss seem to be to some of the most insightful points, well-laid-out character arcs and genuinely disturbing things in the show.
(also while i'm at it: tfp actually kind of works as a last episode! it sheds new light on the characters and show. unfortunately for mofftiss, that new light is that the show fucking sucked and had numerous fucking awful parts from very early on.)
You are so absolutely right!! And I'd like to add other points of S1&2 abusive John:
Baskerville. Literally Baskerville. People mistake this episode so much I can't even:
Sherlock sees the dog and he's terrified. He's terrified because his mind has betrayed him with this beast and he doesn't know what to do about it, he's scared— and he turns to John in his time of need and is vulnerable. And what does John do? He laughs at Sherlock and goes all "come on you're not really entertaining that possibility are you?? It's all in your head and you're going crazy. Calm down."
Sherlock is understandably hurt by this and then goes on to prove that he hasn't lost his mind by deducing a bunch of people there. Then John has the guts to go "but we're friends" and gets insulted when Sherlock snaps back that he has no friends, because John just say him be vulnerable (like he's always nagging Sherlock to be, btw) and called it insane all in your head stupidness. And now he's angry that this very much not-friend thing is treated as such, and he's angry that Sherlock build up walls.
And Sherlock apologises, because apparently the base of Sherlock and John in BBC is full of John beinf awful and toxic and abusive and hypocritical, and Sherlock having to apologise anyway.
And a plus point here bc I'm tired of people forgetting: Yes, while Sherlock thought the drug was in the sugar, it actually wasn't and Sherlock didn't actually drug him. Stop adding Baskerville to the list of Sherlock drugging John.
The Blind Banker.
Remember how everyone talks about how John is instantly great and good with Sherlock and how the Mycroft scene is proof of that?? Well, clearly Mycroft should have scared him a bit more because Shelrock's university bully reaches out, insults and humiliates him, and John sits there smirking like yeah that's wonderful.
And then Sherlock says John's my friend, and you know what John does? Denies it instantly. Sherlock's barely finished his sentence wnd he's instantly been demoted. In front of his bully. The "you didn't talk to the secetary you lied to annoy him" line does not erase the fact that John stayed silent while his so called best friend was humiliated and then added to it.
And on top of that, going back to Baskerville, the first time John ever brings up being a friend of Sherlock's is after he emotionally and mentally insults and breaks him down because Sherlock clammed up as a direct result of his vile cruelty. Before that, he's wholeheartedly denied it. Sherlock didn't even know that this toxic thing they were having was being called friendship, but yeah, John is right to be mad. Who decided to throw rocks at someone and then declare friendship?? Who waits until they've kicked someone to bring up the fact that they cinsider the guy their friend?? No one mentally sane, I'd argue.
And then there's his most dangerous insistence, again and again:
Emotions while Shelrock's solving cases. Emotions that, we've seen, lead to his demise. He tells Sherlock that "There are lives at stake. Actual, human lives. I just want to know, do you care about that at all?" In The Great Game. This is after Sherlock's reaction to that woman dying btw. I just... He's not stupid. He keeps acting like Sherlock is insane for focusing on trying to save people and it's ridiculous to me.
This, by the way, the same guy who we're told about in the first episode as "you're not haunter by the war, Dr Watson. You miss it." And not long after kills a guy for someone he barely knows, and then immediately is normal and joking and laughing about it.
This is the same guy who, the moment the danger is over, as I've mentioned in case of Sarah's comforting, immediately finds it a hilarious story to tell at dinner and moves on in his life completely. I actually can't remember if he comforts one person throughout the whole show. Attempts such as Sarah's do not count one bit.
Sherlock comforts Sarah. Sherlock comforts the girl on the plane. Sherlock talks to I believe all the victims or families of victims throughout the show. Sherlock attempts to talk (kindly, btw) to the girl in Riechenbach. Sherlock is the one that helps Henry emotionally. He's the one that talks and keeps (or tries to keep, in some cases) the peoole in The Great Game calm. He's the one that stops James Sholto, John's pre-show friend, from letting himself die. He's the one that actually talks to Mary through most of S3 and 4 and he's genuinely more interested in saving her (which brings into question why it's treated like his fault, but not the point here). He's the one that brings Archie out of his shell, that helps Janine out, that desprately wants to stop Magnessum from taking advantage of people. He's the one who talks to that's Black Lotus woman in TBB and who helps Billy and, while not exactly a victim, he's the one who helps Irene. He's wayy nicer than John but oeople just don't notice that because (truama being the main reason, the other being his job is dangerous and he cannot afford the risks emotions can bring while working dangerous cases) he's outwardly sheilded.
He's also literally the only reason John is alive. Or has anyone to talk to. Or was "healed" of his issues at the start of the show.
bbc sherlock's holmes parents are abusive to mycroft, especially mummy: an in-depth look
TLDR: Exactly what it says. The most damning direct evidence is this from Mycroft: "We both thought you were an idiot - we had nothing else to go on. Until we met other children." Another line puts Mycroft at seven years older than Sherlock, meaning Mycroft did not meet another child until he was at least seven, probably older. But fear not; there's more! Also, Mofftiss tend to play it as a joke. "Haha, isn't it funny how Mycroft was emotionally abused, neglected, kept isolated and parentified? Everyone laugh!"
Anyway. Evidence and discussion below the cut.
Trigger warnings for discussion of emotional abuse by parents, neglect, drug abuse, parentification, and a brief mention of suicide.
Important note: these are taken from the script. As such, they may or may not appear in the final scenes.
A STUDY IN PINK
It wasn't me who upset her, Mycroft.
appears to be a very obvious line at first. However, technically, this implies nothing about who did upset her. It is an indicator, however.
Onwards.
A SCANDAL IN BELGRAVIA:
Mycroft: I'll be mother.
Sherlock: And there's a whole childhood in a nutshell.
This clearly implies that Mycroft functionally raised Sherlock, or at least was a significant carer for him.
Mrs Hudson: Family's all we have in the end, Mycroft Holmes.
Mycroft: Oh, shut up, Mrs Hudson!
It's easy to dismiss this as him being rude, but, considering -- his family clearly doesn't have an issue with abandoning him, as he well knows. What Mrs Hudson says can't be true to Mycroft, because if so, he's got nothing.
THE EMPTY HEARSE
Sherlock: Can't handle a broken heart. How very telling.
Mycroft: Don't be smart.
Sherlock: Oh, that takes me back. "Don't be smart, Sherlock. I'm the smart one!"
Mycroft: I am the smart one.
Sherlock: I used to think I was an idiot.
Mycroft: We both thought you were an idiot - we had nothing else to go on. Until we met other children.
Let that line sink in for a moment. They didn't meet other children until they were old enough to remember such things. It is worth bringing out a quote from the ACD canon, spoken by Holmes in The Adventure of the Copper Beeches:
It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside...But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser.
At the very least, this is indicative of children with nowhere to turn to if abuse should happen. Combined with the hints of neglect seen elsewhere, one wonders as to how much responsibility Mycroft was forced to take on.
Sherlock: Oh, yes. That was a mistake.
Mycroft: Ghastly. What were they thinking of?
Sherlock: Probably something about making friends?
Mycroft: Oh, yes. Friends.
Consider this with knowledge of what happened to Sherlock's first friend, and it makes you wonder -- did Mycroft realize what Eurus would do? He is the smart one, after all. Did he try to avoid having friends so Eurus wouldn't kill them?
Mycroft: I'm not lonely, Sherlock!
Sherlock: How would you know?
It seems likely to me that Mycroft deliberately keeps people far from him, so they don't become targets.
Sherlock: Mycroft promised to take them [his parents] to a matinee of 'Les Mis'. Tried to talk me into doing it.
In fact, the scene at Les Mis is played for a joke.
Mycroft: But you don't understand the pain of it! The horror!
And it's true that what we see doesn't seem so terrible. But there is another element. It's possible that they are being abusive to Mycroft, but not Sherlock (well, except for the whole 'ridiculous levels of isolation' bit alluded to above). That these are merely further occasions for them to hurt him.
THE SIGN OF THREE
Mrs. Hudson: Your mother has a lot to answer for.
Sherlock: I agree. I have a list. Mycroft has a file.
Again, it's supposed to be a joke. But the idea. That he has a file. And in context, it's about Sherlock's manners and lack of knowledge of the world. But we don't know that's what it's about. Possibly it's about that. Possibly it's about their abuse. Possibly it's about their neglect.
HIS LAST VOW
Mycroft: I shall have to phone our parents, of course. In Oklahoma. It won't be the first time your substance abuse has wreaked havoc with their line dancing.
The way he says it, it sounds like it's coming from him. But that doesn't sound like Mycroft. He wouldn't care for line dancing, I imagine; he would view it as a distraction, and caring for Sherlock as paramount. Anyway, he knows guilting Sherlock won't work.
So most likely, he's repeating what someone else said to him. Presumably, his parents, asking him why he interrupted their line dancing for something as unimportant as their son taking drugs.
And then Christmas.
Mycroft: Dear God, it's only two o'clock. It's been Christmas day for at least a week now, how can it only be two o'clock. I'm in agony.
Again, you're supposed to laugh. And that seems to be a habit -- Mycroft will say things like that, and you go ha-ha. But what if you take them seriously? What if that's why he dislikes Christmas -- because he has to spend time with his family, and be reminded of how they hate him, no matter what he does?
Sherlock's mother: Mikey, is this your laptop?
Mycroft: On which depends the security of the free world. And you've got crumbs on it.
Sherlock's mother: Well, you shouldn't leave it lying about if it's important.
Mycroft: Why are we doing this? We never do this.
Sherlock's mother: Because Sherlock's home from hospital and we're all very happy.
Mycroft: Am I happy too? I haven't checked.
Am I happy too? I haven't checked.
I'm not over that line yet.
And then, immediately after:
Sherlock's mother: Behave, Mike.
Mycroft: Mycroft is the name you gave me, if you possibly struggle all the way to the end.
One presumes he's voiced this before -- it seems unlikely to be the first time he brings it up. But either way, she doesn't apologize for it.
Sherlock's Father: Gave it all up [her career] for her children
What, abusing them? I find this difficult to believe. Presumably he was frequently absent, to not notice such things.
Sherlock's mother: Are you two smoking?
Mycroft: No! Sherlock: It was Mycroft.
Mycroft denies, but Sherlock blames Mycroft -- because, of course, he knows Mycroft will take the blame, cover for him.
By the way, a very fascinating script divergence in the scene in which Sir Edwin goes: "If this is some expression of ... familial sentiment ...", Mycroft replies:
Mycroft: Don't be absurd. You know what we did to our sister.
Not strictly relevant, but I thought I'd mention it.
THE ABOMINABLE BRIDE
Regarding Victorian!Mycroft's heart:
Sherlock: There’s only an empty cavity where that organ should reside.
Mycroft: It’s a family trait.
To be fair, this is all in Sherlock's mind. But even so...family traits are generally inherited.
Presumably, from their parents.
Mycroft: We have an agreement, my brother and I, ever since ... that day.
Mycroft: Wherever I find him, in whatever back alley, or doss house, there will always be a list.
Wherever I find him. There's no indication his parents search for him. We don't even know if they realise he's missing. It's all Mycroft's job, searching.
Mycroft: Sherlock, listen to me.
Sherlock: No it'll only encourage you.
Mycroft: I'm not angry with you.
Sherlock: Well that's a relief, I was really worried. No, hang on, I really wasn't.
Mycroft: I was there for you before. I'll be there for you again. I'll always be there for you.
And he is, and no one recognises it, because they assume the rock will always be there.
Mycroft: This was my fault.
Sherlock: It was nothing to do with you.
His automatic taking of the blame for Sherlock's drug usage. Sherlock's immediate deflection, a more touching moment: This isn't your fault, there are some things you can't control. Probably as close as he ever gets to I'm sorry.
THE SIX THATCHERS:
A clinical, cold kitchen. Things still bubbled-wrapped. It’s never used.
MYCROFT comes in.
He rubs his eyes wearily, goes to the fridge. Nothing in.
First of all, note the indication that his eating disorder extends in rather the opposite direction. Second of all, how absolutely miserable his house is. This seems the place of a workaholic, or someone rather depressed -- it's certainly not a sign of stunning mental health.
And either his parents don't notice, or they don't care.
THE LYING DETECTIVE:
Mrs Hudson: Anyone who stays here a minute longer is admitting to me, personally, that they don't have a single spark of human decency.
[Mycroft stays.]
Oh, Mycroft... it's worth noting he leaves when she tells him to, calling him a reptile. But this quiet declaration, that he believes himself to not have a single spark of human decency -- someone's put that thought in his head, or, if it put itself in, failed to help him.
THE FINAL PROBLEM, AKA: HOO FUCKING BOYYYYYY
First of all, the starting scene reflects poorly on John's character, as he's clearly isolating Sherlock and getting Sherlock to distrust another major figure in his life, i.e., Mycroft. But we'll ignore that; this isn't a discussion of John's abusive tendencies.
Mycroft: Mother and father were terrified, they thought it [Eurus cutting herself] was a suicide attempt - but when I asked Eurus what she was doing[...]
Now, there are two likely options here, I think.
Their parents didn't bother to actually ask why their child was attempting to commit suicide, or what she was doing, or anything. And if not that, then why anything else?
Mycroft was Eurus's 'interpreter', i.e., given the responsibility of translating for her and explaining her actions. This is probably better, but even so, disturbing considering the information she'd be relaying.
Finally, note that he never specifies they. Household staff? Their parents? Someone else? We don't know. Given the fact that he promptly says 'Mother and father' shortly after, if it was their parents, it would make sense to say 'Mother and father found her with a knife once' and then say 'They were terrified', but he doesn't, which is an implication that it wasn't their parents who found Eurus.
Mycroft: This [her death] is the story I told our parents - to spare them further pain and to account for the absence of an identifiable body.
Why was he the one telling him? If it was Rudi/Rudy -- the spelling is inconsistent across episodes, but it seems to be Rudi here -- who made the decision, why was Mycroft saying it? Was Mycroft involved? Judging from their appearances, he'd probably be fifteen or so at the oldest. He should not have been responsible for that.
When Sherlock adds that he told them this to "prevent their further interference", he agrees:
Mycroft: That too, of course.
He shouldn't have been preventing it. Why was he responsible for preventing it? Why was he responsible for any of that?
Mycroft: Oh God. I might have expected this. Pathetic. Eurus is right. You always were the slow one. Always the idiot. And that’s why I’ve always despised you. You shame us all. You shame the family name. Now for once in your life do the right thing.
But...he doesn't despise Sherlock. He's made that quite clear. And yes, he's lying. But there's something else.
You shame the family name.
Sherlock doesn't seem the type to put much stock in that.
You know who does?
Mycroft.
Again, someone's said something like this to Mycroft before.
(Maybe just his own head. But in that case, no one noticed.)
Mycroft: Well, I suppose there is a heart somewhere inside me. I don’t imagine it’s much of a target, but why don’t we try for that?
This echoes the empty cavity scene in TAB.
Mycroft: Good bye, brother mine. For the greater good.
For the greater good. That's why he thinks he should die. Because it's the greater good.
Lestrade re Mycroft: Bit shaken up, that’s all. She didn’t hurt him - just locked him in her old cell.
If she didn't talk to him, he'd still be alone, with no knowledge of where his brother is and with a psychopathic sister on the loose, for hours. And if she did...well, just because he's harder to manipulate, when his self-esteem is practically negative, it's got to be easy.
Bit shaken up. Clearly not -- Mycroft must be a mess, internally at least.
Hell, he must be a mess for the whole thing! Of course he is! He's not an Iceman! And Sherlock can throw a tantrum and John can have Sherlock and Mycroft -- Mycroft's not able to break down. Mycroft's not able to show his emotions.
Now for The Big Scene.
The family scene.
Script:
Mrs Holmes in full flow. Her anguished husband at her side, Mycroft blasted by his mother’s wrath. Sherlock sits to one side, silent.
And then
Mycroft: What Uncle Rudi began, I thought it best to continue -
When? It seems like Mycroft was involved in this very early, when he was still a kid.
Mrs Holmes: I’m not asking how you did it, idiot boy. I’m asking, how could you??
Idiot boy. When we hear Mycroft in Sherlock's mind palace, Mycroft belittles him using very similar terms. If anything, he's gentler. This lends itself to a few possibilities:
Mycroft was communicating in the way he knew how, as a child -- and he learned it from Mrs Holmes.
Mycroft was in charge of relaying things from Mrs Holmes to Sherlock, and tried to report them accurately, which leads to Sherlock attributing them, at some level, to Mycroft.
Sherlock's clear viewing of Mycroft as a parental figure extends to ascribing to Mycroft things his parents said to Sherlock.
Sherlock overheard Mrs Holmes saying things like this to Mycroft as a child, observed their effect on Mycroft, and decided to try it as a means of getting him to do things.
None of these are good options.
Mrs Holmes: Then you should have done better.
Mycroft, about to speak. Realises that’s crushingly right.
HE WAS A FUCKING CHILD.
And if, at best, this is meant to be 'Mycroft thinks that's crushingly right' that still shows an alarming degree of parentification. He was, again, in his early teenage years at the oldest. That is not an age to be managing the incarceration of your psychopathic sister who everyone in your family but you and your uncle thinks is dead.
Mrs Holmes: Well then, he’s very limited.
I note, by the way, that Mycroft seems to have been the only one to. You know. Respond. Him and Rudi. The Holmes 'parents' seem to have done next to nothing. We hear them arguing at one point about how to make Eurus tell them where Victor is, but that's it.
Mrs Holmes looks at him coldly - her disappointing son. And looks to
Mrs Holmes: Sherlock? Well? You were always the grown-up.
On Sherlock[,] realising, to his own surprise, that that’s true. Mycroft, slightly lowering his acknowledging the same.
A claim that is not only ludicrous, but suggests that they don't even recognize their parentification.
In The Sign of Three, the moment immediately preceding Sherlock's comment on Mycroft's 'file' is the realization that Sherlock thinks tea has just been appearing out of nowhere, rather than Mrs Hudson making it.
It appears that Mr and Mrs Holmes took much the same approach to their children's parenting.
CONCLUSION
Essentially, there are almost no positive interactions between Mycroft and his purported parents. What we see, instead, is a pattern wherein his family, particularly his mother, persistently ignores his desires on things as minor as what he'd like to be called, places massive responsibility on his shoulders and blames him for not managing it perfectly, passes off most if not all of the work of dealing with Sherlock's self-destructive tendencies to Mycroft, and isolates him from seeing any other child for at least the first seven years of his life, probably nine at minimum seeing as Sherlock would also need to remember to know that!
This is a fairly clear-cut case of psychological abuse, probably neglect, and -- honestly, I don't even know what to call the isolation Mycroft grew up with. I genuinely do not know. It is absolutely insane.
And they get off with nothing! No one objects to this! No one says, "Hey, what the fuck are you doing?" No one.
I honestly do not know what to say except that it is a fucking marvel that BBC Mycroft is able to put on a front of functioning.
I cannot be the only one thinking Silas isn’t dead. I watched and rewatched the fall, and if i’m being honest, it looks survivable as long as you don’t hit your head or neck in the way down, and Silas did not. The likeliest way he could’ve died is if he lost consciousness on the way down and ended up drowning but, it’s also plausible that he didn’t and will reappear in the next season(s). Don’t get me wrong, I really, REALLY want him to be dead, I just don’t think he is. I have studied and am currently studying filmmaking, and the show has used a lot of tricks, like the POV shot in the garden to show Beatrice heard Sherlock and Silas’ conversation, and if they wanted Silas to stay dead, it would make sense if they actually showed when he died instead of cutting to a wide shot. Wide shots are a pretty classic strategy if you want to revive a character later.
Someone please tell me i’m not the only one thinking this🥲
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Mummy Holmes is busy in the kitchen when baby Sherlock wakes up from his nap, fussy and hungry.
Mummy asks seven year old Mycroft to go to the grocery store around the street corner and buy formula for Sherlock.
Mycroft takes his mission very seriously, and clutches the coins that Mummy gave him as he makes his way to the grocery store to buy food for his baby brother.
Sherlock is even more distressed when Mycroft leaves the house, and starts squalling.
Mycroft immediately gathers the baby in his arms when he gets home, and tries to soothe him while Mummy prepares a bottle.
Years later, teen Sherlock finds a picture of kid Mycroft sitting on a cushion and feeding him a bottle. Below the picture, his mother has written that little Mycroft saved the day by going to the grocery store all by himself.
It’s only on the next day that Sherlock realises that Mycroft did this errand at age seven, whereas his brother still wouldn’t allow him to go by himself to the shop on the same side of the street as their home.
"So you can go to the grocery alone at seven, and it's ages away, but I can't grab a lollipop from the shop on the same side of the street!?"
"I did that for you, and I'm doing this for you, brother dear."
"...Why am I so red?"
"You started crying when I left. You still pout when I leave."
"Yes, because it's hardly fair to me! Where are you going!"
"I've to go to work."
"You're not fair."
And that is the story of why Mycroft refused to go to work in the middle of an international crisis, and Sherlock ignored cases numbered 8, and Gregory Lestrade went to Mycroft's to see if someone had died and instead found Sherlock sleeping on Mycroft's lap and Mycroft protectively holding on to him, also asleep.
I spent. So many days on this. Reworking, recolouring re shading, I despise drawing real people with a passion, I never think they look good. But here’s what I was finally satisfied with 🙏 my two favourite boys. The Holmes brothers 💙
I’ve seen a lot of people saying that Sherlock not telling James about the key was him shutting James out because he’s mad/doesn't trust him anymore. However, I did not read it that way at all. I read it as an offer. James has just thanked Sherlock for saving him from a life of boredom. I think Sherlock hopes that if he can keep James entertained, he can keep him from going down the wrong path. He teases the key to entice James’ curiosity and ambition in another direction. He doesn't elaborate because he wants James to choose to follow him for the key instead of pursue the formula. He wants to see James put in the effort rather than just give it to him.
the one thing i've been thinking of since i watched the show was that sherlock has been turning morally grey. he has no qualms with stealing or escaping jail, if it means that he can clear his name. he also has no problem breaking his mother out of a hospital, if it means that she's safe. but also he selfishly took the key when his brother told him not to. the conversation itself before that was that when did their father turn wrong? perhaps he never knew himself or something like that
sherlock is doing things he doesn't know if it's a turning point to his morality. but one thing is for certain , he's making sure james is right behind/in front of him
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I’ve seen a lot of people saying that Sherlock not telling James about the key was him shutting James out because he’s mad/doesn't trust him anymore. However, I did not read it that way at all. I read it as an offer. James has just thanked Sherlock for saving him from a life of boredom. I think Sherlock hopes that if he can keep James entertained, he can keep him from going down the wrong path. He teases the key to entice James’ curiosity and ambition in another direction. He doesn't elaborate because he wants James to choose to follow him for the key instead of pursue the formula. He wants to see James put in the effort rather than just give it to him.
I will never get over the casting for the Holmes family, specifically Sherlock and Beatrice because it’s insane to me that two of the Holmes’ family actors are actually related and it’s NOT them. It just adds so much to how the characters constantly parallel each other narratively, and it genuinely catches me off guard every time.
I cannot stop thinking about how much layers this adds to James’ relationship to both of them
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