#class acting

i'm no stranger to the sherlock holmes universe. it's impossible to meet anybody who is! sherlock holmes is ingrained in everything, so much so that we use it in english as less of a reference and more as an expression.

'no shit sherlock' one might say. but i have a point. stay with me here.

it's common. it's everywhere. so we watch the show and know that sherlock and james are doomed. there's no spoiler alert for that, we know it's doomed and we're given clues on how this will fall apart with matthew parkhill's interpretation of these characters and the choices they make in this season.

the suspense is the how and the why.

now don't get me wrong, i love our boys. the references - james speaking juliet's lines, addressing sherlock as romeo, whatever the hell that scene was when sherlock gets shot and james cradles him etc etc like yeah i ship our dudes so much they did everything BUT kiss (BOOOOOOOOOO) but like sadly that's not my point today.

my point is the entire time we're watching this show we KNOW that our bubs are doomed. that they're friends in a situationship to enemies in situationship. they've made out before. they don't speak of it but everybody knows.

it's toxic.

they're the only ones who understand each other. they resent each other because the other is larger than life or doesn't have moral capacity to care. they can't stop going back because they're lonely people who never felt at home till they were together. ohhhh the similarities vs contradictions.

so naturally as a viewer i was suspicious of everything. my first watch i was like james is lovebombing this man. james is collecting information like he's starved because this boy, this very sheltered boy who lands in prison for funsies is his in to this society where he'll be respected.

james is using sherlock.

but the using and taking advantage vs actually liking someone, can also be not mutually exclusive. co-occuring if you will.

james didn't have to go all the way. my second watch (yes i've watched this show multiple times and continue to do so because it's the only thing keeping me sane thank you), i see him side eye mycroft who yaps about famine like it wasn't devastating for the irish, as if it's like a dead, crusty bug he found in his shoe.

the dismissal of that experience alone. james knew in that moment he got too comfortable with this family. that if he knew what was good for him, he oughta dip.

but here's the thing. nobody quite challenges him like sherlock does. nobody quite disagrees with him, walks in tandem with him, like sherlock does.

(note that the actors themselves talked about how they choreographed each other's reactions to mirror rather than be overly distinct.)

and this is all a game right?

james is curious. so james stays. he's also vaguely fond of sherlock who at the very least shares his intellectual capacity.

again, that does not mean he does not try to benefit off of him. he's fond of him. he's using him. if sherlock dies there's no point. sherlock is a pest for questioning his methods, as unorthodox as he considers them.

he discovered sherlock. sherlock owes him.

he owns sherlock.

but does he? because the last ep, especially, sherlock holds a key with no answers given.

it's a carrot and all the while james is the donkey.

or not. we'll see how much james tags along with sherlock in the second season. whether bea will be the middle man, playing double agent.

i mean she's literally with james because she likes how he doesn't get weighed by fun things like not murdering people etc.

i mean this girl was straight up like hi papa, you abandoned me, are you doing things that are not ethically sound? awesome sauce, i wanna be a part of your world. and then later on with that weapon - oh you're selling something that would commit mass genocide? cool beans. let's make bank.

james is like silas, that the short cut is a short cut and at no cost will he sacrifice himself, only the people around him. i wonder if bea's fondness for james is an act or whether she's drawn to someone who can help her climb the world with that weapon.

unrelated but they were really obvious about bea's daddy issues by the fact that she was attracted to the guy that emulated her father and was particularly explicit about it ("i know you admire him" and that comment about how he's not weighed down by consequence like sherlock is).

SORRY. we're talking about sheriarty. i just needed the bea thing to be clear because we're like bea and sherlock are two sides of the same coin etc etc in the sense they are not fond of rules, but sherlock looks towards the actual greater good and bea's straight up like what can benefit me the most because i lack power as a woman (marginalised no. 2, making james' intro as irish no 1, and no i'm not ranking these things) and this is how i was taught to pertain it.

i think james likes that in her. but she can't match sherlock on the argument of it. doesn't have a mind place he can access. ends with watching sherlock tuck that key back in his pocket with no context given and him realising he's done something irreversible and the choices are chasing this boy or fighting against him and suddenly both things look the same.

i wonder if they'll show him waking up one day realising that at the cost of his corruption he can't find solace in sherlock. that good, kind and punkrocker (superman reference, sorry but i think it's applicable) and that to satiate that addiction he draws more and more attention to himself.

or the horribly sad thing is he can access that mind place but somebody who is earnest and caring has set up a coat already (watson?).

i would like to think that it would be the first point. that sherlock will be alone and pained and in flies watson, who is like the healthier relationship - different to his benefit - and he'll hang a coat in sherlock's mind place.

a renovation of sorts. but it's same spot moriarty had his.

but i don't think we'll witness watson unless young sherlock goes on long enough to be 'middle aged sherlock' to 'old sherlock' or whatever. we have the BBC adaptation anyway. i don't know.

so to summerise, what is james DOING. what does james WANT.

james wants recognition. james is fighting for a society that hates him to give him power and he's deduced the only way to do it is to break people and not just the rules.

and sherlock was his very first try.

young sherlock? try young james moriarty.