Johann Sebastian would be appalled. | The "I don't have friends" scene:

The “I don’t have friends” scene:

pennytothesky:

An observation:

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This was exactly what I thought, I’ve had enough of them to know and it hurt to see the lengths it went with Sherlock (and John, please, how could you have missed it?).

Another take on the scene: or, why John Watson is a brilliant doctor and friend.

I’m really interested how this scene seems to have been interpreted, namely as John not doing the right thing. I’m also interested that noone seems to have added this scene to one word said later in the episode which explains Sherlock’s reaction entirely:

Lestrade says it must be nice for Sherlock having all the same faces around. John agrees, says it must be nice for his Asperger’s. It didn’t sound sarcastic, just matter of fact. I thought that inclusion by the BBC was kind of mind-blowing - practically “outing” Sherlock and all his idiosyncrasies.

So, let’s say that’s right and Sherlock has Asperger’s (and he really probably does, not any high-functioning sociopath tendencies, sexier though that might sound), I personally think the way John dealt with Sherlock was caring, patient and admirable.

What Sherlock was having is called a “meltdown”. It’s basically like a panic attack but it’s where, to someone autistic, their whole world no longer makes sense. And, for someone who struggles with emotion but revels in logic and problems, that’s pretty horrifying.

Something like a fear inducing drug would really heighten the whole reaction. The great detective rendered stupid. This is a man who can’t handle losing at Cluedo. He definitely can’t accept when his senses show him things that surely can’t be, like giant hounds.

He’s shaking, breathing heavily. His way of regaining control is to “show off”. Of course it is. He needs to go back to normality and for Sherlock, that is knowing everything.

It’s hard to see someone struggling to right their world when it’s fundamentally built on different lines to your own: lines of logic, deduction. If they’re angry and distressed they’ll just snap and get irritable - “I don’t have friends”. They need time to rebuild that world again, to gather their senses once more.

John’s not perfect. He got understandably irritated with Sherlock. But he did do that too: he didn’t keep pressing him, or forcing him to “calm down”. He just gave him space. Probably the best thing to do, if not ideal.

So, that’s my take on it. Maybe I’m reading the scene wrong. But, for what it’s worth: I am a genius IQ’d person with Asperger’s myself (don’t have a mind palace though, sadly). And I would have wanted John to give me a minute too.