Do any of us actually know why Sherlock likes John so much?
This is the great enduring mystery of Sherlock Holmes.
I mean it’s obvious that Sherlock Holmes (in whatever incarnation you like) does like John Watson. But while Watson makes it absolutely clear, with starry-eyed exclamations of wonder and devotion, everything he finds to be remarkable, magnificent and meaningful about Sherlock Holmes…it’s just never been clear what it actually is about John Watson that draws Holmes to him in return.
Now BBC Sherlock has an episode where Sherlock goes on a rambling speech about how great John is…and yet he still manages to not say anything that manages to be more revealing than if he’d boiled it down to “John Watson is great, I hope you all know that, and I feel as lucky to be his friend as he is lucky to be mine.”
Every fan has their own pet theory, of course. It’s John’s loyalty. It’s John’s courage. It’s John’s admiration of Sherlock. It’s John’s willingness to put up with Sherlock being weird and infuriating and still make him coffee in the morning. But we don’t know.
And I feel like that’s as it should be. It’s probably my single favorite thing about every version of Sherlock Holmes ever. Watson is the POV character. Of course he doesn’t know what’s captivating about him. Could any of us answer that question about ourselves? ”What is the thing about you that is the fundamental reason your loved ones love you?”
John doesn’t know, of course. And Sherlock will never tell him even if he knows, because…you can never quite answer that question, can you? It’d be too dangerous, to you and your friend. Like saying someone’s true name. Things too impossibly fragile to ever expose them to light.
For me, this is the question that always draws me back to Sherlock Holmes. This is the driving engine that rests at the heart of the stories, the elementary particle of narrative that cannot be distilled into anything smaller than it is. This is the human angst that John Watson forever carries with him. What makes this great man, this brilliant, scintillating figure who is destined to be remembered by history, love this unassuming retired army doctor?
We watch as closely as Sherlock, and hope to spot clues.
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