History Heartwarming / Sherlock

* Molly's first speech to Sherlock in the lab, where she earnestly speaks her heart. Especially when this speech comes just after Sherlock has more or less said that Jim's being "naughty" is ''Molly's fault.'' He snidely refers to Jim as Molly's "boyfriend" and downright tells her "for the sake of law and order, Molly, I suggest you forgo all future attempts at a relationship"- as if Molly daring to want a relationship has any connection at all with the kidnapping of two kids. It's by far the cruellest thing he's ever said to her. And she helps him anyway.

* Sherlock comforting Sarah as he's untying her, by briefly putting his hands on her shoulders. He soothes her with something like "it's all right, you're safe, it's over". It's such a small but remarkable gesture of compassion and empathy, considering the earlier scene in Baker Street where it's clear he barely tolerates the woman.

* After the old lady is shot and her call to Sherlock is cut off, there's a heartbreakingly sombre moment as the three men take in what has happened. Sherlock may claim not to care about the hostages, but the expression on his face and the way he sinks back into his chair tells a completely different story. Also, John's hand comes to rest on the back of Sherlock's chair, very close to Sherlock's neck. It looks as if John is ready to comfort his friend if he needs to because he knows that Sherlock must feel some guilt, deep down inside, over not saving her when he had the chance.

* Despite their amenity, [[spoiler:[[ButtMonkey Anderson]] has spent the past few years trying to find proof that Sherlock is alive, and even trying to to convince Lestrade of the fact.]]

-->'''Sherlock:''' [[FunnyMoment I'd be lost without my blogger.]]

[[folder: Miscellaneous/Recurring]]
* In ''A Study in Pink'', Sherlock finds himself asking John if he's all right, because "you ''did'' just kill a man." In ''Belgravia'', he makes an almost identical remark to Irene, commenting that she was very calm when "your booby trap did just ''kill'' a man." For someone with such a huge lack of empathy, he's shown himself twice to be downright ''shocked'' that others can kill someone (regardless of the circumstances or reasoning) and then carry on as normal.
** Also worth pointing out that up until this point we have never seen Sherlock kill anyone. We've seen him torture people and show no objection to when others take a life for good reason (and what concern he does have in those moments is more for the state of mind of the one who killed them). We know that John has killed at least two people and god knows how many lives he had to take on his [[FridgeHorror "bad days"]] in Afghanistan. But so far Sherlock, who has confessed to how little he cares about the lives of others, has never felt the need to take one and is surprised when others are unaffected by doing so. In fact, when Sally Donovan's prediction that one day they'll be [[FridgeBrilliance "standing around a body and Sherlock Holmes will be the one that put it there]]" finally comes true, the body is [[HeroicSacrifice Sherlock's]]. And it's [[FakingTheDead not even dead]].
* The development of Sherlock and John's friendship. What starts simply as two lonely men wanting cheap accommodation quickly becomes the both of them giving the other purpose in life. Sherlock gives John the excitement and danger he's been missing from the war while John gives Sherlock the admiration and praise for his talents that he seems to so rarely get. By the end of the first episode alone they've affected each others lives tremendously. Sherlock has cured John's limp and John has saved Sherlock's life. Over the next two episodes, the initial spark seems to have faded as both have become used to each other and so the 'infatuation' stage if you will has worn off. Sherlock takes advantage of John's loyalty and treats him like a dogsbody that he expects to follow him everywhere and do anything for him regardless of whether John may have his own plans (''The Blind Banker''). John, in turn, is exasperated with Sherlock's coldness and things almost reach breaking point (''The Great Game'') when he's forced to accept that Sherlock isn't a perfect hero. Had their friendship been any weaker then the two would have probably parted ways at that point. The pair don't seem to realise how strongly they really do care for each other until Sherlock sees John strapped to a bomb and John witnesses Sherlock's panicked reaction that shows he really does care. While series 1 was all about establishing their friendship, series 2 revolves around how domestic their situation has become. As Irene points out (in ''Scandal''), they are a ''couple'' in whatever sense of the word. However they're still discovering new things about each other and the series focuses on how they'll stick by each other through the good and the bad. John still becomes annoyed at Sherlock's behaviour at times but it's no longer a surprise for him. That's just how Sherlock is. And John no longer defends him simply out of some fanboy 'crush'; he genuinely adores him and will do anything to protect him. He knows now, more so than he did by the end of ''The Great Game'', that Sherlock's bad points often appear to outweigh the good. But John simply doesn't ''care''. If anything John's devotion is strengthened because he recognises how ''human'' his friend is. Sherlock, in turn, is so used to John's company that he feels he can ignore him or experiment on him but the thought of John either being killed or losing faith in him for good causes him to [[NotSoStoic panic]]. For all the crap he pulls, by the end of the series he appreciates everything John has given him and, in return, Sherlock willingly sacrifices his life (more or less) to save John and his other friends.
* [[PassiveAggressiveKombat Mycroft vs John]] never gets old. Mycroft tells John the first time he meets him that he (Mycroft) is the closest thing to a friend that Sherlock is capable of having- an enemy. When he realises that he's wrong and that John is actually Sherlock's ''friend,'' he's not particularly happy about it. From the conversation in the morgue in ''Belgravia'' it's clear that Mycroft is very controlling and manipulative, and influences Sherlock more than Sherlock would be happy to admit to- but as John's influence over Sherlock grows, Mycroft's dwindles. It seems that overall Mycroft is even more messed up than Sherlock and he honestly believes that developing human emotions is ''bad for Sherlock'' and that therefore John is a bad influence on his brother. John, of course, feels the same way about Mycroft- even before their last conversation in ''Reichenbach'' it's clear how much John resents Mycroft and the way he influences Sherlock. Mycroft might be wrong in how he's brought up Sherlock and the sort of behaviour he encourages in his little brother, but it's heartwarming because he honestly seems to not know he's wrong- he's simply doing the best he can with the only person in the world he seems to care for besides himself.
** Equally as heartwarming is the number of times when Mycroft and John get into it in front of Sherlock and Sherlock reacts by being unashamedly delighted. We first see this in ''The Great Game'' when John points out to Mycroft that having secret missile plans on a memory stick given to a minor MOD worker is pretty stupid, and it shows up in other places as well. We know Mycroft is just as clever and witty as Sherlock and, as the older brother and with a lot of implied history between them, is domineering and knows how to push Sherlock's buttons. It's fairly obvious that Sherlock loves the fact that he now has John to stick up for him, and not only that, but John is at times snarkier than both Holmes brothers ''put together'' and is able to push ''Mycroft's'' buttons. See Mycroft's reaction in ''Belgravia'' when John gets the punchline "though... not how ''she'' treats royalty."
** While they do argue in front of Sherlock, it's heartwarming that neither of them will actively bring Sherlock into the argument or the fight. John never once goes to Sherlock and tells him that Mycroft is a bad example and Mycroft does the same. The latter will try to pull his brother away from John's influence, he never outright places any blame on John. They do not like each other and they do not respect each other, but they both love Sherlock and whether Sherlock admits it or not they both know that Sherlock loves them both back. They know that forcing him to choose between them would do him no good even if it removes a bad (in their eyes at least) influence on him.
* John can, and does, put ''so'' much meaning into two words: "'You okay?" The same phrase, said in the same gentle, concerned way, crops up again and again- everywhere from ''A Study in Pink'' (when Sherlock wanders out of 221B and gets into a taxi with a serial killer) to ''The Great Game'' (after collapsing ''himself'' at the swimming pool after Jim leaves) to ''A Scandal in Belgravia'' (when Sherlock, drugged, has just more or less collapsed on his bedroom floor, and on overhearing Sherlock telling Mycroft that Irene was dead) to ''The Reichenbach Fall'' (before Sherlock takes the cab on his own, and most heartwrenchingly, when he answers the phone call from the roof). And it's always said in the context of John knowing full damn well that Sherlock isn't okay and probably also knowing he isn't going to say so either. John continues to reach out anyway, just in ''case'' Sherlock ever wants to admit he's not okay and ask for help/support.
** Which makes it rather a TearJerker when Sherlock finally confesses to Molly "You were right. I'm not okay." She'd earlier pointed out both that he ''wasn't okay'' and that hell would freeze over before he would ever tell John that, or let John see how sad and afraid he was.
** And on the other side, whenever Sherlock takes a moment to ask John if he's "All right?". From the uncharacteristically soft way he delivers the question after John has just shot the cab driver (even though ''he'd'' been the one who'd narrowly avoided being another murder/suicide) to his utter panic when John is strapped to explosives or even after the experiment at Baskerville which ''Sherlock'' himself had set up. Even when he's being arrested and humiliated, all he cares about is reassuring John that it's "all right" even when they both know it's really not. These small displays of empathy are not limited to John either, as Sherlock's attempts to comfort both Sarah and Mrs. Hudson show.
* At the beginning of ''A Study in Pink'', Sherlock seems to take himself ''very'' seriously. He's certainly hilarious, frequently, but it's generally snark or social awkwardness, and not him intentionally being funny. At the conclusion of the chase after the cab, John starts laughing at the absurdity of it all and how ''golden'' Sherlock's punchline "Welcome to London" was- Sherlock looks confused by John's laughter and demands "what...?" By the time they get back to the flat, he's ''giggling'' and making jokes just to get John to keep laughing as well. Later, in ''Belgravia,'' he's stealing ashtrays and making jokes at Mycroft's expense- again, for no other reason than to make John laugh. He ''tries'' to do it again in ''Baskerville,'' trying to "break the ice"- John doesn't respond to it this time, which helps clue him in that he might actually have to apologise. He doesn't deliberately joke with John ''often,'' and he doesn't seem to do it for anyone else's benefit. But there are definite moments where you can see his sense of humour developing and becoming more "normal." Also, it's extremely heartwarming that sometimes he just wants to cheer John up by, oh, say, nicking him an ashtray from Buckingham Palace. He genuinely likes to see John happy.
* It might not seem very heartwarming, but Sally's attempts to make John stay away from Sherlock. Of course we, the audience, know that Sherlock is no criminal and that he and John will become best friends, but Sally doesn't. Even though she is very snarky about it, she is genuinely worried about John, a man she barely knows, and simply wants to protect him from the possibly dangerous 'freak' she believes Sherlock to be. On the other hand, John ignoring her and staying loyal to Sherlock (even if that might not be the smartest option) is heartwarming in its own way.
** There's one moment in ''The Reichenbach Fall'' particular- although she's ''gloating'' at the time, she reminds John that she had told him Sherlock was a psychopath "the first time we met." There's a few "first meetings" mentioned in ''The Reichenbach Fall''- the first time Sherlock met John, the first time they met Moriarty- that the first time Sally met John scores a mention really is quite oddly heartwarming, considering that Sally hasn't been seen at all since ''The Great Game'' and even then only had a few lines. And the majority of those lines weren't her disdain for Sherlock- they were her suggesting [[CrowningMomentOfFunny hobbies that John might like to take up]] rather than hanging around with Sherlock. Line for line, she really does spend a surprising amount of time not snarking about or to Sherlock, but trying to convince John to protect himself by staying away from him.
** In ''The Great Game,'' Sally (probably unintentionally) gives an indication of her regard for John, with this:

*** Although John exasperatedly assumes this is simply yet another jab at the nature of his relationship with Sherlock, it can also be seen as a backhanded compliment. Sally has made it clear that she hates everything about "Freak." John, however, she'll admit is his "opposite", saying she quite likes him as far as she's seen him. (Incidentally, in hindsight, she also betrays that she knows next to nothing about John and is making superficial assumptions about him. She doesn't know that kind, mild-mannered Dr Watson is actually a badass adrenaline junkie who so far has offed ''two'' villains, one by shooting him through two windows from the next building, the other by tripping a rigged crossbow shaft straight through his torso using his ''foot.'' There is just no way that John is going to take up model trains instead of hang around with Sherlock.)
* John's general character development over the course of the whole series. It is obvious that John is a good influence on rude and callous Sherlock, but actually, it goes the other way around as well. At the beginning of ''A Study In Pink'', John lives on his own, complains that nothing happens to him, has no friends and won't even go to his own sister for help. It's not that he has no one to take care of him -- almost all of the few people he meets are very nice to him -- it is that he actively ''drives them away''. He doesn't want anyone in his life, maybe because he thinks no one understands him and what he has gone through in Afghanistan. Look at his interactions with Ella, his therapist: She just wants to do her job and help him, he mocks her for all its worth and lies straight to her face. There is also his encounter with Mike Stamford. John reacts very reserved and it takes Mike a lot of effort to get him to talk about his problems. And even then, John keeps up his mask of dry wit and sarcastically brushes them off as if they're nothing. John is a man who has already given up at this point -- and then he meets Sherlock. Someone who doesn't treat him like an invalid. Someone who has some use for him, gives him a new home and something to do with his life. Sherlock understands his need for a thrill, even cures him from his psychosomatic limp. Watch how John developes after that: He warms up, becomes a lot friendlier towards people, makes friends again, dates several women and attempts to get his own life right again, e.g. getting a job in ''The Blind Banker''. In the second series, we see John happier than ever. He laughs and smiles a lot more and has become confident enough to not only play the part of Sherlock's bumbling sidekick who follows him everywhere and does all the dirty work, he considers himself an essential part of their team and asks questions or looks for pieces of evidence on his own, without having Sherlock tell him what to do (especially obvious in ''The Hounds of Baskerville''). Sherlock, for his part, seems heartwarmingly pleased with these developments and often refers to the two of them as "we" where he would have used "I" in the first series.
** On that note, more from the power duo of mutual heartwarming:
*** Sherlock and John, before they meet, are actually not that different from each other. We already know that Sherlock hardly eats or sleeps when he is on a case. Judging from ''A Scandal in Belgravia'', the same thing seems to happen when he is depressed. In addition, he doesn't talk, which is exactly what he warned John about during the meeting at Bart's. Now watch the beginning of ''A Study in Pink'' and pay attention to John's behaviour: He is clearly very depressed (possibly even suicidal, depending on how you interpret why he keeps his gun ready in the top drawer of his desk), doesn't sleep much and maybe doesn't even eat properly [[note]]Look at his breakfast -- an apple and a cup of coffee -- he puts them down next to his laptop and we never actually see him eating. His meal may be that simple because of his poor financial situation, but from the looks of it, he doesn't have much of an appetite anyway.[[/note]], hardly talks and never really smiles (see the ''A Study in Pink'' folder). It's hard to believe this is the same John Watson who, upon meeting Sherlock, is constantly seen eating, seems to get a healthy amount of decent sleep (when he's not working on a case with Sherlock), shamelessly uses his charm on everyone and everything and jokes around a lot. The difference is astounding, and almost ''instant,'' as he starts smiling during the cab ride to the Brixton crime scene and even hits on Anthea on the way ''back'' from the Brixton crime scene. Later that same night he's ''giggling'' at the absurdity of the chase across Soho.
*** And then there's the fact this rubs off on Sherlock, too: Apart from him talking practically nonstop for the entire series, the second season quite often shows him with a quick snack in his hand and in one scene in ''A Scandal in Belgravia'', it is implied he has developed a habit of sleeping in late. Seems like he actually took some advice from his doctor ...
* So in two series, John has put up with a ''lot'' from Sherlock. Apart from him being probably the worst flatmate in history, simply being ''friends'' with Sherlock has (directly or indirectly) caused John to be, among other things: kidnapped twice (and that's if you ''don't'' count Mycroft's efforts), threatened with execution by gunshot, strapped to explosives, held at gunpoint no less than four times, knocked unconscious twice, drugged once and arrested twice. He's killed two people, pointed a loaded gun at several more, committed housebreaking, fraud and arson, conned his way into a top secret weapons base, assisted in the hacking of a computer system and encouraged a fellow doctor to violate doctor-patient confidentiality by getting her drunk and chatting her up. Let's not go into the fact that Sherlock has apparently, deliberately or otherwise, also sabotaged no less than ''four'' of John's relationships. He's had national newspapers make sly insinuations as to his sexuality because of his friendship with Sherlock. He's been ignored for days at a time, insulted, dismissed, used as the butt of numerable mean-spirited jokes and cruel put-downs, had doors literally shut in his face and has had Sherlock hang up the phone on him mid-sentence. And he's still Sherlock's friend. Twice in Season 2 do things reach a crisis between Sherlock and John: during the fireside conversation in ''Baskerville'' and the conversation about Sherlock being a fraud in ''Reichenbach.'' [[note]]Since the "Mrs Hudson has been shot" argument is a set-up and Sherlock is incredibly passive, it doesn't really count as a two-sided conflict.[[/note]] And both arguments were about the same thing: John will simply take all of the above listed crap, that comes with being Sherlock's friend, but he can't stand the idea of Sherlock saying or implying that they ''aren't'' friends.
** John's ridiculous level of loyalty and wanting to be Sherlock's friend, despite taking so much crap from him when John gives nothing but devotion in return, almost crosses the line from heartwarming to [[FridgeHorror terrifying]] in how codependent their relationship is.
* On the issue of codependency: Sherlock's continually commandeering John's computer without his permission might annoy John, but he can hardly talk, considering that over the course of two seasons Sherlock has casually ''offered John his bank card,'' and apparently known but not cared that John was walking around with a three-figured cheque in Sherlock's name, that he frequently picks up Sherlock's phone and checks the messages, and that he apparently rifles through his belongings looking for drugs if and when Mycroft decides it's a "danger night." Sherlock doesn't just use John's computer because he's intent on invading his privacy. He just has a different concept of what privacy ''is.'' And judging from John's long-suffering sigh when Sherlock tells Henry he's been reading John's private emails to his girlfriends, he's kind of just resigned to the fact that Sherlock just doesn't have the same privacy boundaries as everyone else- and while Sherlock must simply trust that John isn't going to mishandle his money and that he's not going through his belongings out of sheer morbid curiosity, John in turn realises that Sherlock isn't going to use any information he finds on his computer maliciously. Now ''that'' is a trusting friendship.
* Sherlock's repeated attempts to please John by giving him things, and the fact that John gradually recognises that that's Sherlock's "love language" and the only way he really expresses emotions like gratitude or sympathy or remorse. Some of it [[FridgeBrilliance takes a while to sink in,]] but there's a definite pattern. In ''A Study in Pink,'' Sherlock ditches John at a crime scene- then apologises later by taking him out with him to dinner, then on a chase across London, "curing" his psychosomatic pain, and offering to give him Lestrade's badge. Later, Sherlock's gratitude isn't "thanks", it's "good shot" and "... dinner?" In ''The Blind Banker'' Sherlock, [[SherlockScan seeing]] John flustered, embarrassed and probably totally broke, offers him his bank card. After having kept John up all night deciphering book code, he suggests they go out and when John tells him he has a date, it's highly implied that all three of the circus tickets were funded by Sherlock. In their last scene together in ''The Blind Banker,'' Sherlock tries to make up for what John has been through (being partly Sherlock's fault) by making him a cup of coffee. In John's blog, there's a mention of Sherlock's reaction to finding out John had broken up with Sarah, largely due to Sherlock-related reasons: Sherlock responds to the news by buying John beer. In ''Baskerville'' John is so used to this that Sherlock can manipulatively use making coffee for John as a way of poisoning him (or so he thinks). John even tells him he doesn't have to keep apologising. At the end of the episode, Sherlock ''does'' bring John a presumably non-poisoned cup of coffee, as a way of apologising, as well as offering him various ketchups while avoiding admitting to what he did, clearly guilty about the whole thing.
** Mycroft seems to do this too. His offering Sherlock a cigarette in ''A Scandal in Belgravia'' was more to test his willpower on a possible "danger night" than anything else, and we later see that Sherlock saw through it- though Mycroft thought Sherlock would buy the "Merry Christmas" line. Since both Holmes brothers apparently equate showing repressed affection for someone by ''giving them stuff,'' or taking them somewhere cool, the obvious and very [[TearJerker sad]] conclusion is that their parents were the same way. [[note]]It's practically a given that Mycroft and Sherlock came from money, probably Old Money. No doubt they were given both plenty of expensive things and expensive opportunities like overseas trips, elite educations, etc.[[/note]] It seems more and more clear, the more we learn about Mycroft and Sherlock, that they were deprived of ordinary parental affection, and thus find it nearly impossible to show "normal" affection to others.
** There are two instances in particular where Sherlock is unable to express himself by his usual methods, and so tries to do so in the usual way- verbally. In ''The Great Game,'' he tries to thank John for selflessly risking his own life to give him a chance of escaping, and in ''The Hounds of Baskerville'' he tries to apologise to John for telling him to his face that he doesn't have friends (and therefore, that John is ''not'' his friend.) Both times he finds this excruciating, and although both times John knows what he's trying to express and appreciates it, it's worth noting that ''nowhere'' in either scene are the expressions "thank you" "thanks" "sorry" or "apologies" ever found. It's what makes his apology to Molly in ''Belgravia'' so amazing- in two seasons of wronging people left, right and centre, it's the only instance of him using the magical phrase ''I am sorry. Forgive me.''
* On the above note, Sherlock, having some sociopathic tendencies, is a skilled manipulator and lies very convincingly. Except when it comes to telling lies to John, where he is almost always ''awful'' at it, and has to rely on John's naivete or fear or other factors to avoid being caught out. (Examples include lying to John about what happened in Soo Lin's flat in ''The Blind Banker,'' lying to him about giving Mycroft the memory stick in ''The Great Game,'' lying to him about the hound glowing in ''The Hounds of Baskerville,'' lying to him about not caring about Mrs Hudson in ''The Reichenbach Fall'' and, later in the episode and the most epic example of all, lying to him in the phone call at St Bart's. In all these examples he's so awkward or acts so badly that it's clear he's not comfortable telling those lies.) He finds lying to others easy when he's able to put on a fake persona, but with John he's genuine, making it difficult for him to effectively lie. By the end of series 2, he actually goes out of his way to avoid having to directly lie to John (examples include simply ''ignoring John'' in ''Belgravia'' if he doesn't want to tell him the truth, and his behaviour in ''Baskerville'' when forced between lying to John about locking him in the lab, and admitting to doing that to him, neither of which he wants to do.)
* In ''The Reichenbach Fall,'' at [[spoiler:Sherlock's grave,]] Mrs Hudson tells John that Sherlock [[spoiler:made her feel]] angry with his eccentric, borderline-criminal behaviour- the cadaver parts in the fridge, the shooting in the flat in the middle of the night, vandalising the place, etc. The thing is, in two seasons Mrs Hudson hasn't ever shown her anger ''to Sherlock.'' She adores him through it all and is very gentle with him. In ''A Study in Pink,'' where it's implied that Sherlock has taken about five minutes to trash the place with all his stuff, she simply says gently "''Sherlock,'' the mess you've made...!" Her response in ''Belgravia'' to the thumbs in the fridge? "Oh dear!" She casually tells one of Mycroft's people that Sherlock ''shot'' the doorbell. She makes a comment in John's blog where she more or less admits to doing Sherlock's laundry for him, so she was probably ''highly'' unimpressed in ''The Hounds of Baskerville'' when his clothes turned out covered in pig's blood. The closest she's ever come to being ''angry'' with Sherlock is when she sees the spray-painted smiley face and the bullet holes and demands "what have you done to my bloody wall?! I'm putting this on your ''rent,'' young man!" But the way she says it, and probably her choice of words, simply causes Sherlock to smile at his own handiwork. Mrs Hudson comes across as so incredibly sweet and good-natured and "fluffy old lady", that it's a surprise, and very heartwarming, to find out that after all Sherlock's bad habits ''do'' make her angry- she just loves him too much to really take that anger out on him.
* Furthering the above note, Mrs Hudson's relationship to Sherlock and John in general. All ''three'' residents of Baker Street start out as lonely people who really need each other. Mrs Hudson may not come across as keen of intellect[[note]]except for that time when she outwitted three angry CIA agents[[/note]] but she must be, because Sherlock respects her, and he doesn't respect fools. One of the first things we see the "high-functioning sociopath" do is throw his arms around Mrs Hudson in a big hug, and on his way out the door to the Brixton crime scene, he ''kisses'' her. She in turn just adores Sherlock (as we've seen above, she really is never truly angry with him no matter HOW much of an annoying dick he's being.) On first meeting John, who at that stage in ''A Study in Pink'' is standoffish and terse and very messed up, Mrs Hudson instantly sees his vulnerability and loneliness, and decides he needs to be mothered as well. [[note]]It's interesting that neither Sherlock nor John seem to have had a biological mother in the picture, or at least, not in recent times. Mycroft's reference in ''A Study in Pink'' to "You know how it always upset Mummy" is in the past tense, implying Mrs Holmes is either dead or at least no longer in contact with her sons. Neither of John's parents are mentioned in any way, shape or form, though he's not old enough for the assumption that they have died of natural causes.[[/note]] In ''The Blind Banker'' she's saving the day by bringing up something decent to serve Sarah, and in ''The Great Game'' it's revealed that while Sherlock is off doing whatever it is that Sherlock does, John and Mrs Hudson frequently watch "crap telly" together- something Sherlock seems not to be aware of until John mentions it. There's a brief moment that indicates Mrs Hudson now buys food for Sherlock and John- she brings some in just after John storms out, and although she leaves the receipt on the table, you get the idea that ''Sherlock'' isn't going to pay her back, though John probably would. In ''A Scandal in Belgravia'' Mrs Hudson is cooking and cleaning for both her "boys". She's just as worried about Sherlock as John is, and never fails to compliment him on his violin (or, online, his [[CrowningMomentOfFunny lovely hat.)]] She's the sole witness of John getting dumped and despite the fact that John deserves it, she never tells him so, just remarking that it "wasn't very good." She takes a ''beating'' for Sherlock's sake on New Year's Eve. We don't see much of her in ''Baskerville'' but we do see that by now John will openly and strongly defend her if Sherlock upsets her- and Sherlock upsets ''everybody.'' This all pays off in ''The Reichenbach Fall.'' By now she's a credible reason for John to turn on Sherlock- look at his reaction when he thinks she's dying, he's practically in tears and rushes off with no regard for either Sherlock or for his own safety or liberty. Sherlock, meanwhile? We know what Sherlock does for her sake, and for John's and Lestrade's.
* Mark Gatiss has said that the only personal picture that Sherlock keeps in his bedroom is one of [[spoiler:him and Mycroft]].

* There's a heartwarming difference in the pilot from the aired version in just how John's psychosomatic pain leaves him. In the aired version, he simply dashes off with Sherlock because he's excited and has forgotten the pain. In the unaired pilot, he leaves the restaurant and dashes after the taxi, the driver of which has just drugged Sherlock and abducted him.
* Sherlock and John's conversation in the taxi is similar to the aired version. But there are heartwarming additions. Sherlock's small snippets of insecurity- his response to John's compliments are "really? You really think so?" He's not being sarcastic; he's genuinely touched.

* As in the aired version, Sherlock and John go to a restaurant, primarily so that Sherlock can keep an eye on the taxis outside. As in the aired version, John eats ([[RunningGag or at least orders]]) and Sherlock doesn't. The difference is that when John remarks on it and asks if Sherlock isn't going to eat, Sherlock asks him what day it is. John replies that it's Wednesday, and Sherlock's comment is "I'm all right for a bit." John is completely appalled, turns all doctor-y on his new flatmate, and order him to eat something.

* Sherlock, pretending to be drunk, goes after the cabbie and the last thing he says to John is "Watch; ''Don't'' interfere." When the cabbie actually drugs Sherlock, bystanders can't tell the difference between Sherlock pretending to be drunk and Sherlock ''actually'' drugged. But John, watching from a considerable distance away, can:

** On noting that Sherlock's plan had "gone wrong" John ignores Sherlock's order not to interfere, jumping up, running after the cab and then calling the police, prompting Sherlock later to smile and muse "Good old Dr Watson. I underestimated him."
** Sherlock, in a weak and drugged state, desperately [[SayMyName calling out John's name]] as his helpless body is being dragged off by the cabbie, even though John is [[NightmareFuel too far away to hear him]]. He's surrounded by a huge crowd that he could try to alert, but in that terrifying moment, he wants ''John'' to help him.
** The cabbie tells Sherlock, who is rapidly losing consciousness, that "[his] friends all think [he's] acting... [and] that's the problem with people. They're all ''stupid."'' However, what the cabbie doesn't realise yet is that John, who is already Sherlock's friend by this stage, doesn't think Sherlock is acting and is already rushing to his aide.

* This is from [[http://www.johnwatsonblog.co.uk/blog/16march John's writeup of the Baskerville case,]] and is something heartwarming this troper also noticed:
-->And then Sherlock did one of the most human things I think I've ever seen him do -- he made Henry look at the dog's body. He didn't need to, he'd solved the case but it was as if he knew that the truly important thing was showing Henry what was real and what wasn't. Maybe the fear and doubt he'd felt, and maybe his experiences with Irene Adler, had humanised him?
* In his blog entry, he remarks on Donovan's calling Sherlock a "psychopath" by pointing out that it was "hardly a professional diagnosis".
** Mike's comments on John's blog are completely adorable. He's like a one-man John Watson cheer squad. He clearly thought incredibly highly of John in the past, and still does. Mike is also the one who let Sherlock know that John was blogging about him, and gave him the link to John's blog. He thinks John is awesome for having a blog at all (he points out that he himself can hardly work his phone) and obviously gave Sherlock the link because he wanted him to see John's compliments toward him. This is heartwarming of John, as well, since it's clear that he wasn't writing those things for Sherlock's benefit- he in fact never initially intended for Sherlock to know about his blog or read it.

** That's a pretty stunningly accepting attitude right there about a guy he'd just met.
* In [[http://www.johnwatsonblog.co.uk/blog/07february the same entry,]] this:

** John's not much older than Sherlock, but he ''acts'' a lot older, and calling him a "strange child" is unbelievably adorable. And given later events, these same lines become [[FridgeHorror really,]] [[TearJerker really painful.]]
* And just below that, the man who a fortnight before was having a borderline breakdown, who was so bored and frustrated he developed a hand tremor, who honestly believed that "nothing ever happens to me", and probably thought it never would again, writes this:

* John, over the course of both seasons one and two, posts a number of things about Sherlock that are just adorable. He talks about how charming he is, how much he admires him, but he also writes sometimes about how vulnerable Sherlock can be. We know Sherlock reads John's blog, as every now and again he pops in to make some witty sarcastic comment, to correct John or bitch about how he doesn't describe the cases in the dry, logical way Sherlock prefers. But he ''never'' addresses some of the more emotional things John posts about him: about how he thinks Sherlock sometimes doesn't know what he's feeling, or how Sherlock pretends to be fine when he's actually upset, and one particular incident where John describes Sherlock as looking like a "little, lost child." You'd think Sherlock would find so many readers finding out about his softer side to be embarrassing, but apparently not. It's also heartwarming in that John, from what we've seen, would never actually say these things to Sherlock's face. It's just not his way. But he ''knows'' that if he puts his thoughts on how Sherlock might be feeling, or expresses concern for him on his blog, Sherlock ''will'' read it.
* Harry, LoggingOntoTheFourthWall, posts obsessively on John's blog; it's probably the only way she can get in touch with him. When anonymous poster "theimprobableone" shows up to his blog to insult John, [[http://www.johnwatsonblog.co.uk/blog/07february Harry is a little bit upset.]] So upset, in fact, that John has to delete a couple of her comments and start scolding her for her language. [[note]]It's interesting how John censors Harry apparently swearing up and down, but is apparently cool with being ''trolled by someone insulting his intelligence.'' Although theimprobableone has already been making uncomplimentary remarks toward him on Sherlock's website, it would have been easy and understandable for him to have deleted the whole conversation between theimprobableone and Harry when it took place on his own blog. Sherlock never responds directly to theimprobableone's somewhat creepy obsession with him, and totally ignores the insults to his flatmate. The only time John ever reacts to 'theimprobableone' is on a comment on how he 'sounds stupid' on Sherlock's forums- he simply responds with 'why don't you pay us a visit? I'd love to meet you.' He must have the best self-esteem of any fictional character in existence.[[/note]] Harry and "theimprobableone" get into it on several occasions. It's barely touched in the actual series, but the supporting stuff online suggests Harry loves her brother and is very protective of him. [[note]]Harry Watson actually has an unusually prominent place in the tie-in blogs, when you consider that she is mentioned twice in the first half hour or so of "A Study in Pink" and then not again until ''A Scandal in Belgravia.'' Whether the writers are intending to introduce her as a minor character in the series, rather than just a reference point for Sherlock's deductions and an extra element to John's character, remains to be seen. Certainly it changes John's character somewhat. There is nothing in what Harry Watson writes to her brother online that indicates she's anything other than a friendly, happy, outspoken person who perhaps is going out of her way to ignore John's barely concealed hostility toward her. Oh yes. And she's ''well'' aware of John's thing for Clara, and apparently has been aware of it for some time![[/note]]
** John's very first blog post post, ''A Study In Pink'', mentions offhand the events of that adventure, including the fact that he, you know, almost came face to face with a sadistic serial killer. Judging by Harry's rather alarmed response, she apparently spends a lot of time following this trying to get in touch with him to make sure he's okay.
*** At one point Ella, John's therapist, ''also'' comments asking him to answer his phone. Making it possible that Harry was so worried about John (and suspected he might be avoiding her on purpose) that she got in contact with his therapist and asked her to try to contact him. YMMV, however, as not long before Harry seems to have had [[TearJerker no idea her brother was in therapy.]]

** The smiley face conveys so much, and also adorable when you consider that John has complete contempt for anyone his age using the expression "LOL" and doesn't know what "PMSL" means. And that John completely ignores Sherlock telling him there are apparently ''human feet in the fridge'' and takes the message in the well-meant spirit it was intended. Aww.
** Sherlock's comment in itself is amazingly heartwarming when you see it as him scolding John for not telling him about something like that. It's pretty rough to find out your best friend's girlfriend broke up with him ''weeks later on said best friend's blog.'' Sherlock's comment indicates that so far as he's concerned, John ''should'' tell him these things, because he's interested in what's going on in John's life and wants to know if something is upsetting him. It's entirely possible if not probable that [[SherlockScan Sherlock already knew that John and Sarah had broken up]], but the point wasn't that they'd broken up, it was that John told his ''blog'' about it before he told ''Sherlock.'' Especially when you consider that John had pointed out that a large part of why it hadn't worked with Sarah was because of his devotion to Sherlock. Reading that about yourself on a public blog would be pretty awful, especially as it's implied that John didn't tell him directly because he didn't think Sherlock would care. Sherlock's response is "I ''do'' care, and I'd like you to tell me these things in person because I do care." And instead of sulking childishly about the fact John doesn't confide in him, Sherlock just goes out and selflessly buys his friend a present[[note]]we've never seen Sherlock drink beer so far and it doesn't seem to be his preference of beverage[[/note]] to cheer him up and, at the same time, apologize in his own way for being the part of the reason him and Sarah broke up.
* Since the events of ''The Great Game,'' John seems much more appreciative of his sister. Initially, if he responded to Harry's comments at all, he was being hostile or sarcastic. He becomes a lot more affectionate toward her, making comments that indicate they're now texting if not actually literally talking, asking her if she's okay and, at one point, telling her he's proud of her efforts to stop drinking. Awww.
*** At one point, one of Harry's comments suggests that she's posting drunk, having fallen OffTheWagon. John's (almost instant) response is to gently reply that he's on his way, presumably to make sure she's okay.
*** On the [[http://www.johnwatsonblog.co.uk/blog/12august same blog post]], the next day, Molly unexpectedly comments for the first time in ages. (Predictably, she's defending Sherlock, who is being incredibly rude to a prospective client.) John interrupts the proceedings to ask Molly if she's okay, as he apparently hasn't heard from her in a while. Awww.
** And without fail- friends Mike and Bill are there to comment on every case and congratulate John, no matter how he downplays his role in the action, on a job well done. Bill at one point insists he should get a medal ("well, another one") and Mike is clearly thoroughly enjoying watching his friend make a comeback from the guy he used to be. Let's all say it: awww.
*** All the comments from Bill Murray are even more heartwarming if you recall that, [[MythologyGag like in the stories]], [[http://www.johnwatsonblog.co.uk/blog/28january he was the nurse who saved Watson's life after he was shot in Afghanistan.]]
* John [[http://www.johnwatsonblog.co.uk/blog/01april writes up his feelings]] about being a hostage in the cliffhanger of The Great Game:
-->I could see the look in Sherlock's eyes -- a flash of, not anger, but hurt. For a second, he looked like a little, lost child. I should have been horrified that he'd even doubt me for a second but, to be honest, it was so refreshingly human of him. He actually did value our friendship. He did, despite himself, care.
** In the above, he also speculates on the person holding the rifle, and refers to the unknown assistant of Moriarty as "his John Watson". He naively, adorably assumes, comparing this guy to ''himself,'' that of course he wouldn't kill Moriarty, an assumption he was working on when he [[TakingYouWithMe tried to get Sherlock an escape route.]]
** Considering that said sniper was most likely Sebastian Moran, he was probably completely right.
** He also reveals he thought, at the time, about whether Sherlock would have done the same for him. He doesn't mention what his conclusion to that was, however. The implication is that this doesn't matter to him, and that his protection of Sherlock is not dependent on whether he reciprocates or not.
* He then writes up his feelings on [[http://www.johnwatsonblog.co.uk/blog/31december possibly the crappiest festive period anyone could ever have,]] including telling [[spoiler:every single one of his readers that Irene Adler was alive (!!)]], but there's a sweet mention that, as he remarked in an earlier blog post, he and Sherlock got Mrs Hudson her own laptop for Christmas so she doesn't have to go next door and use Mrs Turner's anymore. Awww. You can definitely see why Mrs Hudson overlooks the thumbs in the fridge and the bullet holes in the wall.
** In the same blog post, he mentions that despite originally having New Year's Eve plans, he'd had to cancel them so he could stay home with Sherlock (who ignored him all night, as we saw in the episode) and keep an eye on Mrs Hudson, who'd been hurt that day. D'aww.
* In an earlier [[http://www.johnwatsonblog.co.uk/blog/25december not-so-festive blog post,]] he comments that he can't bring himself to bitch at Sherlock about how he was rude to all of their guests, and got him dumped as well, because he was clearly so upset about Irene.
* Kirsty Stapleton's message to Sherlock. She's an 8 year old girl asking Sherlock to please find Bluebell. Her ''rabbit''. She's just so precious in the way she writes, asking him if John is a real doctor, telling him that she likes his stories, ending her message with "lots of love"... This kid is simply adorable.
-->'''theimprobableone:''' ridiculous\\
'''Kirsty Stapleton:''' It's not ridiculous and I know my spelling is good because Mummy's computer has a spell-checker so I know it is all right. You are rude.
* After the third episode of series two, John posts just a single line. [[spoiler:He was my best friend and I'll always believe in him.]] This doubles as a tear jerker.

* Most of the [[FanFiction Fan Vids]] are this or [[TearJerker Tearjerker.]] In fact, a few fans have declared [[SillyLoveSongs "A Thousand Years"]] by Christina Perri to be Sherlock/John's theme.
* Thanks to OrwellianRetcon this [[http://johnwatsonblog.co.uk/blog/29march entry]] that was posted at the end of Series One no longer exists but this beautiful line deserves some spot-light:
--> A few months ago [[TearJerker nothing much happened to me]]. That's all changed and I'm happy. Life is good.
* You remember Chris Melas from [[http://www.johnwatsonblog.co.uk/blog/16june The Geek Interpreter]]?. Check the comments section on [[http://www.johnwatsonblog.co.uk/blog/13july this]]. He's happy, recovered from his brush with insanity, and he has a girlfriend.

* From the tie-in book; [[http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sherlock-The-Casebook-Guy-Adams/dp/1849904251/ Sherlock: The Casebook]], we get a number of adorable post-it notes from the characters on John's 'scrapbook' of the cases. On one we get to see Mrs. Hudson's Christmas card to Sherlock and John, which reads like a mother's card to her sons.
--> ''To my lovely boys, Hope the new year brings you all the dead bodies and things you like. Mrs Hudson x''

* The "I believe in Sherlock Holmes" movement. The Sherlock fans have been putting "I believe in Sherlock Holmes" and variations thereof everywhere in every way possible from t-shirts to bracelets to signs to fan videos ever since he was [[spoiler:declared a fraud]] in ''The Reichenbach Fall''.

* After months of grieving, [[http://www.johnwatsonblog.co.uk/blog/20april John has finally posted to his blog again]]. And who should be commenting but Mary Morstan herself!

* John's final blog post after having watched the dvd Sherlock made him from Many Happy Returns.

* On that note, there's something great about the blog fully launching itself up again, especially after ''The Empty Hearse.''

* theimprobableone is a frequent, somewhat annoying commenter. In Death by Twitter, s/he makes a comment indicating hurt depression and disappears. John tries to comfort him/her, and John's therapist mentions sending an email and asks him/her to respond. When s/he comes back in The Empty Hearse, several commentators show relief.
* The blog entry "[[http://www.johnwatsonblog.co.uk/blog/03june Happily Ever After]]". A woman goes to them believing that her husband is having an affair. Eventually, they learn that it was the ''wife'' who was having the affair...with another woman. She had been desperate to leave her unhappy marriage, as her husband had blackmailed her into marrying him so he could live off her family's money. Sherlock gives her all the evidence of the affair, removing any hold he had left. She came out to her family, was accepted, then divorced her husband and ended up with the woman she loved. Mrs. Hudson commented "And people say he hasn't got a heart".
** What makes it even more heartwarming is that it was ''Sherlock'', not John, who talked her into coming out to her family. In the comments, he says it was "Just an intellectual exercise." Sure it was, Sherlock. Sure.
* The lack of blog entry based on [[spoiler:His Last Vow]]
* In the [[http://www.mangareader.net/sherlock/2 manga]] [[http://www.mangareader.net/sherlock/2/3 adaptation]], John describes how Sherlock made him feel like a happy man again:
-->'''John:''' Every day was pitch black. There was nothing. On one of these days, at a place I went to with a friend whom I had coincidentally met...there was this strange man. From that day on, all my days were coloured.

-->'''Sherlock:''' That -- uh -- thing that you did -- that you offered to do -- that was -- um...good.

--->'''Mycroft:''' ''[pouring tea]'' I'll be "mother."[[note]]i.e. He'll serve the tea.[[/note]]\\

--->'''Mrs Hudson:''' You left it in the pocket of your second-best dressing gown, you ''clot.''

--->'''Sherlock:''' I knew the effect it had on a superior mind so I needed to try it on an average one. ''[John looks annoyed]'' You know what I mean.

--->'''Sherlock:''' I'm a fake.\\

--->'''Sherlock:''' I think I'll surprise John. He'll be delighted!

* * Mary's casual mentions that John talks about Sholto all the time to her. Sherlock seems quite jealous of how close John is to his new wife and how much of his past life he's confided in her. Mary notices this and hugs Sherlock sympathetically.

'''John:''' ''[exasperated]'' ...''you''.
--->'''Sherlock:''' So, in fact, y-you mean... I'm ''your''... best--\\

-->'''Victorian!Watson:''' What's he like then? The other me in that other place?\\

-->'''Mary:''' Sherlock is the cleverest man in the world, but he is not a monster.\\

-->'''Sherlock:''' Forgive me, but I feel you are doing yourself a disservice. I have known many people in my time, made but few friends, and I can safely say that you --

* After Sherlock gives him coffee, [[spoiler: unknowingly to him to see if he's poisoning him with hallucinogens]] John continues to drink it, even though it tastes revolting to him. And he goes out of his way to praise it for Sherlock's sake.

* [[spoiler: One line from John. "Of course I forgive you."]] Sherlock's face really says it all.

-->'''John:''' "I asked you for one more miracle. I asked you to stop being dead."\\
'''Sherlock:''' "I heard you."

--->'''Mary:''' "Oh, Sherlock! Neither of us were the first, you know."

** Also, his choice of stories to tell during his speech. He chooses two cases that he ''couldn't solve''. Beforehand, he objected to John mentioning unsolved cases on the blog--now he's voluntarily recounting them to all of John's wedding guests. The second was chosen as a "funny" and "embarrassing" story about John, but he didn't choose a story that's embarrassing because John couldn't follow Sherlock's deductions or because Sherlock was pulling a trick over on him. Instead, he chose one that's at least as embarrassing for Sherlock as for John.

-->'''John:''' "The thing about Mary is that she has completely turned my life around. Changed everything. But, for the record, in the past few years, there have been two people who have done that and the other one is... ''[looks to where Sherlock was sat which is now empty]'' [[CrowningMomentOfFunny a complete dickhead!]]"

-->'''John:''' "I want to be up there with the ''two'' people that I love, and care about, ''most'' in the world."\\
'''Sherlock:''' ''[still oblivious]'' "Yes."\\

'''John:''' "So Mary Morstan..."\\
'''Sherlock:''' "Yes."\\
'''John:''' "And..."\\

'''John:''' ''[exasperated]'' "...''you''."
--->'''Sherlock:''' "So, in fact, y-you mean... I'm ''your''... best--"\\
'''John:''' "Man."\\
'''Sherlock:''' "Friend?"\\
'''John:''' "Yeah, of course you are. Of course you're my best friend."

-->'''Sherlock:''' "Mary and John. Whatever it takes, whatever happens, from now on I swear I will ''always'' be there. Always. [[FreudianSlip For all three of you.]]"

-->'''John:''' "If you were anywhere near this kind of thing again, you could have called, you could have talked to me!"

* Sherlock [[spoiler: killing Magnussen]], sacrificing his freedom and being sent to certain death, in order to protect John and Mary, fulfilling [[TitleDrop his last vow]] from the previous episode.

* Mycroft's concern for Sherlock throughout [[spoiler: the entire present-day sequences]]. There's nothing snarky or mean-spirited about it. Their conversation on [[spoiler: the plane]], when Mycroft tells Sherlock that he is always there for him, is a rare moment of genuine concern from a big brother who fears that his little brother is putting himself in danger.

--> '''Victorian!Moriarty:''' "That's not fair, there's two of you!"
--> '''Victorian!Watson:''' "[[TrueCompanions There's always two of us]]. Don't you read ''The Strand''?"

--> '''Victorian!Watson:''' "What's he like then? The other me in that other place?"
--> '''Sherlock:''' "Smarter than he looks."
--> '''Victorian!Watson:''' "Pretty damn smart then?"
--> '''Sherlock:''' ''(smiling)'' "Pretty damn smart."
* In a curiously meta way, the very ending. Everything is wrapped up, the reveal is given that what we've just seen was [[spoiler: simply a drug-induced hallucination/mind-palace episode of Sherlock's]], onto the next case. And then the credits music literally slows to a crawl and we arrive back in the 19th Century, with Victorian!Holmes and Victorian!Watson discussing [[spoiler: everything we've seen in the 21st Century as a drug-induced hallucination of Victorian!Holmes's. This gives the idea that the entirety of the modern series is all actually Victorian!Holmes' imaginings.]] To traditionalists and Conan-Doyle purists, it's rather a sweet touch. [[spoiler: The "real" Sherlock Holmes could in fact be the original we all know and love.]]

[[folder: The Six Thatchers]]

* The way that [[spoiler:John's hallucination of Mary]] changes throughout the episode shows how he's slowly recovering from deep grief. At the beginning, he argues with her about [[spoiler:whether she's dead or not,]] and in the therapist's office [[spoiler:Mary stands to one side, crying for him.]] But by the end of the episode, she's [[spoiler: standing in 221B, giving sass about how Sherlock has to wear "the hat" in tribute to her, and otherwise being all lightness and fun. Even when John confesses to "cheating" on her, she doesn't judge him, but tells him to move on.]]
** When John tells Mary he [[spoiler: had been talking to another woman and admitting he wanting more besides texting, Mary only just looks at him and quietly says "Well then", before smiling and tearing up just saying one thing: 'Get the hell on with it'. She ''really'' wants him to move on..]]

-->'''Mary:''' "Sherlock is the cleverest man in the world, but he is not a monster."\\
'''John:''' "Yes, he is."\\
'''Mary:''' "Okay, he is! But he's ''our'' monster."

** More specifically, [[spoiler: John confessing his emotional affair with the girl on the bus to his hallucination of Mary, and achieving catharsis by crying in Sherlock's arms. What's more, Sherlock doesn't think John's crazy. He even says good-bye to "Mary" in a friendly manner when they leave the flat. Given [[MushroomSamba the events of the episode]], Sherlock is perhaps the only person who could understand John's frame of mind.]]

** John also hears [[spoiler: Irene Adler's text noise on Sherlock's phone and deduces she's still alive. He encourages Sherlock to reach out and talk to her more, because he knows from experience [[TheLostLenore there might not be another chance]].]] Although he doesn't quite understand the relationship, and knows that [[spoiler: Irene]] is dangerous, he tells Sherlock to take advantage of the fact that someone cares about him and wants to be with him while he still has the chance.

--> '''Sherlock:''' "Forgive me, but I feel you are doing yourself a disservice. I have known many people in my time, made but few friends, and I can safely say that you--"
** And from that noise, he also [[spoiler: deduces it's Sherlock's birthday, as Irene would only have texted if it was a special occasion.]] Then he takes him out for cake.

-->'''Mycroft:''' "This is a private matter."\\
'''Sherlock:''' "John stays."\\
'''Mycroft:''' "This is ''family.''"\\
'''Sherlock:''' "[[PunctuatedForEmphasis That's.]] [[FriendshipMoment Why.]] [[FamilyOfChoice He stays.]]"
* At the beginning of the episode, Mycroft's movie is interrupted by a home film of the Holmes family on the beach. Two things stand out from this: one is little Sherlock bear-tackling a younger Mycroft in a hug in the film and the second is that [[spoiler: Sherlock chose this film to begin with.]]
** Mycroft's [[spoiler: reaction to the home movie sells it. First he's confused, but when he sees little Sherlock playing with him, he begins to smile and even show signs of love at seeing his little brother]].

-->'''Sherlock:''' ''(Sitting in a corner after a HeroicBSOD)''
-->'''John:''' "Sherlock..."
-->'''Sherlock:''' ''(looks up)'' "...Soldiers?"
-->'''John:''' "Soldiers."
-->''(John helps Sherlock up)''

** Just the look on Mycroft's face when instead of shooting either of them, Sherlock [[spoiler: turns the gun on himself]].

-->'''Sherlock:''' "Make sure he's looked after, okay? He is not as strong as he thinks he is."

--> '''Mary:''' "PS, I know you two. And if I'm gone, I know what you could become. Because I know who you really are. A junkie who solves crimes to get high. And the doctor who never came home from the war. Will you listen to me? Who you really are, it doesn't matter. It's all about the legend. The stories, the adventures. There is a last refuge for the desperate, the unloved, the persecuted. There is a final court of appeal for everyone. When life gets too strange, too impossible, too frightening, there is always one last hope. When all else fails, there are two men sitting arguing in a scruffy flat like they've always been there, and they always will. The best and wisest men I have ever known. My Baker Street boys. Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson."

* The "I believe in Sherlock Holmes" movement. The Sherlock fans have been putting "I believe in Sherlock Holmes" and variations thereof everywhere in every way possible from t-shirts to bracelets to signs to fan videos ever since he was [[spoiler: declared a fraud]] in ''The Reichenbach Fall''.

-->'''John:''' "Something's wrong..."
-->'''Angelo:''' "No, no. All part of the plan. Sherlock ''always'' has a plan."
-->'''John:''' "Yes — and it's ''gone wrong.''"

-->'''Sherlock:''' "Where is it?"
-->'''John:''' "...Where's what?"
-->'''Sherlock:''' "Don't — just ''don't.'' What did you do with the ''gun?''"
-->'''John:''' "Oh. [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Bottom of the Thames.]]"

* Mark Gatiss has said that the only personal picture that Sherlock keeps in his bedroom is one of [[spoiler: him and Mycroft]].

* When they first go to look at the flat, Sherlock waits for John at the top of the stairs before opening the door for him and leading the way in. And later, he invites John out with him, saying Northumberland Street is a five minute walk from there - meaning it's probably a ten minute walk at the least for John with his leg. Unlike the well-meaning Mrs Hudson (who assumed John needed to rest simply from getting up the stairs) and the less well-meaning Mycroft, Sherlock ''refuses'' to treat John like an invalid who can't cope with a ten minute walk, cane or no cane. Which is exactly, psychologically, what John needs.

--->'''Lestrade:''' "Who's this?"\\
'''Sherlock''' "He's with me."\\
'''Lestrade:''' "Yeah, but who is he?"\\
'''Sherlock:''' "I ''said'' he's with ''me''."

-->'''John:''' "So I'm basically filling in for your skull?"\\
'''Sherlock:''' ''(smiling)'' "Relax. You're doing fine."
* As soon as Sherlock and John walk into the restaurant, the owner, Angelo, rushes up to shaker Sherlock's hand with a warm smile, and [[HospitalityForHeroes immediately offers him anything he wants, on the house]], for him and ''his friend''. He also brushes off Sherlock's snarking at him and treats him incredibly kindly, as oppose to Lestrade tolerating Sherlock with gritted teeth, Donovan calling him a freak, and [[spoiler:Mycroft]] saying the closest thing to a friend Sherlock is capable of having is an enemy. It also really speaks to how much Sherlock helps people, whether he does it for their sake or not, to have Angelo gushing over him for getting him off a murder charge - and it's all showcased for John's benefit, with Angelo quickly and proudly explaining to John what Sherlock did for him while Sherlock ignores him.

-->'''Sherlock:''' "What do real people have then in their real lives?"\\
'''John:''' "Friends. People they like, people they don't like..."

-->'''Sherlock:''' "...Problem?"\\
'''John:''' "Yeah. Sergeant Donovan."\\
'''Sherlock:''' ''[looking exasperated]'' "What about her?"\\
'''John:''' "She said you get off on this. You enjoy it."\\
'''Sherlock:''' "And ''I'' said "dangerous" — and here you are."\\
'''John:''' "...''Damn it!''"

-->'''Sherlock:''' "We're going out tonight."\\
'''John:''' "Actually, I can't. I've got a date."\\
'''Sherlock:''' "What?"\\
'''John:''' "It's where two people who like each other go out and have fun."\\
'''Sherlock:''' "[[LiteralMinded That's what I was suggesting]]".

* Sherlock informing the woman at the end how much her hair pin was worth and thus making her a millionaire. If not the fact alone that he didn't need to tell her about it - they'd only had a brief conversation before this and he didn't owe her anything - but also the huge grin on his face at how thrilled she is.

-->'''Sherlock:''' "[[FunnyMoment I'd be lost without my blogger.]]"

* In the scene referenced above, where Sherlock tells John not to make him into a hero, he asks if caring about the victims will help save them. John confidently answers "no" so quickly it's almost before Sherlock finishes asking the question. John anticipated the question, and the point. It didn't change his mind or even his perspective — people with normal emotions and normal levels of empathy don't make a choice to care about people as a tool to helping save them, they care about people because they just do, they can't help themselves, that's what empathy and compassion ''is.'' As Sherlock bitingly pointed out at the hospital when John asked him to remember that there was a woman involved who might die, John is a doctor. No matter how good a doctor he is, a combat medic in particular would have had patients die on him. Doctors are trained extensively to cope when that happens, to not blame themselves, to be philosophical about it and move on to help the next person. John ''knows'' that "crying by their bedsides" will not do them any particular good.

--->'''Sherlock:''' "Don't make people into heroes, John. Heroes don't exist and if they did I wouldn't be one of them."
** While it's delivered to sound quite brutal, there is an underlying heart-warming factor to it in that; Sherlock believes he has to be cruel to be kind. He seems genuinely put off that John is disappointed in him. Instead of trying to regain John's approval or impress him again, Sherlock simply lays it out flat — this is who he is and John is only going to be upset if he expects him to be something more. For someone with such a huge ego, it really is an impressive display of how humble he can be when he tells John that he's ''not'' a hero and also shows how [[TearJerker even Sherlock]] is aware of the type of [[AntiHero potentially twisted person]] he is.

--> '''John:''' "Let him go, or I ''will'' kill you."

* It's hard to imagine anyone being more gentle or kind than John is with West's fiancée when he goes to interview her. He's dealt with other grieving family and friends in the episode and used diplomacy and tact, but there's a difference between them and this girl- not only has she lost her fiancé, but the government thinks he was a traitor. He brings this up when he has too and she predictably reacts badly, but while he remains honest with her about what everyone thinks might have happened, he does it in the best way possible.

-->'''Sherlock:''' "Beautiful, isn't it?"

* During the standoff at the pool, when Moriarty mentions "thirty million quid just to get you to come out and play", there's a shot of John's face. His eyes are closed and he looks really pale and haggard. Then a shot of Sherlock glancing at him twice in quick succession — he seems to be trying to look at John and Moriarty at the same time. It's just after this that he asks John if he's all right and hands over the memory stick, which unfortunately doesn't end the standoff. But Sherlock was hoping it ''would.'' He had previously called Moriarty's criminal consulting "brilliant" and was otherwise showing himself to be fascinated by him, but by this time he's no longer overly interested in hearing more of Moriarty explaining how brilliant he was and how he engineered all those "little problems." He could see that John ''really'' wasn't okay, and just wanted to get him out of the bomb jacket and somewhere safe before he passed out.

** When John grabs Moriarty, Sherlock is visibly shaken, but he shows no signs whatsoever that doing what John told him to — running away, and leaving John there to be killed — ever occurred to him as an option.

-->'''Sherlock:''' "That – uh – thing that you did – that you offered to do – that was – um...good."

* Lestrade serves no practical purpose in this episode. He isn't involved in the main story's plot, aside from the brief montage of cases at the beginning. His involvement in any scenes after that are purely for social reasons — not to be a typical InspectorLestrade. He calls the D.I. in charge of the hiker murder just to ask him to try and not punch Sherlock in the face. He's not seen again until the Christmas party at 221b where he's there purely as a guest with the rest of their friends. And then the last time he's seen is when the ambulance takes away the CIA agent that Sherlock beat up. Break-ins are not Lestrade's division, but he visited anyway because he was concerned for his friends. Sherlock had even asked for Lestrade's least irritating officers, but Lestrade decided to spare Sherlock the frustration and come by himself.

--->'''Mycroft:''' "We are in Buckingham Palace, the very heart of the British nation. [[FullNameUltimatum Sherlock Holmes]], ''put your trousers on.''"

--->'''Mycroft:''' ''[pouring tea]'' "I'll be "mother."[[note]]i.e. He'll serve the tea.[[/note]]"\\
'''Sherlock:''' "And there is our whole childhood in a nutshell."

** Irene trying to help Sherlock out by insisting he doesn't know the code. She looks down at herself as a last-ditch clue, which may have been the moment Sherlock realised what she'd meant about already giving him the code. Remember that Sherlock came to Irene's house as an adversary — he was trying to steal the phone, without which ''Irene would be dead in six months.'' And as for John, she doesn't know John Watson from a bar of soap. She may lack integrity in a lot of ways, but she's not a monster.

-->'''John:''' "What are you – what – no, no, no, no. Back to bed. You'll be fine in the morning...just sleep."\\
'''Sherlock:''' "Of course I'll be fine. I am fine. I'm ''absolutely'' fine."\\
'''John:''' "Yes, you're great. Now I'll be next door if you need me."\\
'''Sherlock:''' "Why would I need you?"\\
'''John:''' ''[wryly]'' "No reason at all."

--->'''Sherlock:''' ''[into phone]'' "Lestrade? We've had a break-in at Baker Street. Send your least irritating officers and an ambulance... Oh, no, no, no, no, no, we're fine. No, it's the burglar. He's got himself rather badly injured."\\

--->'''Sherlock:''' "Oh, a few broken ribs, fractured skull, suspected punctured lung. ''[Attacker switches from confused to looking worried]'' He fell out of a window." ''[cut to Mrs Hudson and John hearing someone go through a window after some time]''

--->'''Sherlock:''' "Mrs. Hudson? Leave Baker Street? England would fall."

-->'''Sherlock:''' "Do you think there's something wrong with us?"

-->'''Sherlock:''' "Happy New Year, John."

-->'''Irene:''' "It's for his own safety."\\
'''John:''' "So is this. Tell him you're alive."\\
'''Irene:''' "I can't."\\
'''John:''' "Fine. ''I'll tell him'', and I still won't help you."

--> '''Mycroft:''' "That's all it takes. One lonely naïve man desperate to show off, and a woman clever enough to make him feel special... I drove you into her path. I'm sorry. I didn't know."
* Mycroft doesn't want Sherlock to know that [[spoiler: Irene is actually dead - even if he ''did'' order her execution - and asks John to help him sell the lie that Irene's in Witness Protection]]. He doesn't know that [[spoiler: Sherlock's beat him at his own game]] and is concerned about his little brother's emotional health.

---> '''John:''' "Sherlock, you're doing really well. Don't give up now."

* As he did in ''The Great Game,'' Sherlock says he's not going to take the case but he's putting his "best man onto it" - John. He even pats his shoulder while he says it, which is a bluff, but a surprisingly sweet gesture from someone who rarely touches anyone affectionately, other than Mrs Hudson. He then goes on to explain that he can trust John to send him all the relevant data, even though he "doesn't understand a word of it himself." It comes across as an insult, but Sherlock seems to have meant it as a compliment. John has much more patience than Sherlock for collecting data; He's constantly writing things down, photographing them on his phone, and he's thorough and organised.

* When Lestrade shows up in Dartmoor, Sherlock is outrageously rude to him, while John goes out of his way to give him something to do that neither John nor Sherlock are qualified for - interrogating the locals -, and later takes Lestrade aside to assure him that, deep down, Sherlock is actually ''pleased'' that he's there.

---> '''Sherlock:''' "It's all right. It's okay now."

--->'''Sherlock:''' "I knew the effect it had on a superior mind so I needed to try it on an average one. ''[John looks annoyed]'' You know what I mean."

** Even though he knows the papers are already making snide comments about his sexuality and his relationship with Sherlock, it doesn't prevent John from accompanying him to the "trial of the century"- an ''extremely'' high profile situation which was just going to fan those flames.

-->'''Molly:''' "You look sad. When you think [John] can't see you."

-->'''Lestrade:''' "Well don't let it get to 'ya. ''I'' always feel like screaming when you walk into a room. In fact, so do most people." ''[glares at Sgt Donovan]''

-->'''John:''' "Got a warrant? Have you?"

--->'''John:''' "He's not resisting!"\\
'''Sherlock:''' "It's all right, John."\\
'''John:''' "He's not resist- — no, it's ''not'' all right, this is ridiculous!"\\
'''Lestrade:''' "Get him downstairs, now."\\
'''John:''' "You ''know'' you don't have to be-–"\\
'''Lestrade:''' "Don't interfere... or else I'll arrest you too."

** John gets in a very subtle and unintentional one as well. When Sherlock holds a ''loaded gun to his head,'' John doesn't so much as flinch. This is the man who has more reason than most to know guns are dangerous- he has killed people with one, and in turn once nearly died himself after being shot. He simply trusts that Sherlock not only wouldn't dream of shooting him on ''purpose,'' he wouldn't do it ''accidentally,'' either. Given how ridiculously careless Sherlock is with gun safety, it becomes an even more amazing sign of trust.

-->'''Mycroft:''' "John... I'm sorry. Tell him, would you?"

-->'''Molly:''' "What do you need?"\\
'''Sherlock:''' "If I wasn't everything that you think I am, everything that ''I'' think I am...would you still want to help me?"\\
'''Molly:''' "What do you need?"\\
'''Sherlock:''' "...You."

--->'''Sherlock:''' "I'm a fake."\\
'''John:''' "''Sherlock.''"\\
'''Sherlock:''' "The newspapers were right all along. And I want you to tell Lestrade, and I want you to tell Mrs Hudson, and Molly — in fact, tell everyone who will listen to you — that I created Moriarty. For my own purposes."\\
'''John:''' "Okay, Sherlock, shut up. Shut ''up.'' The first time we met — the first time we ''met'' — you knew all about my ''sister,'' right?"\\
'''Sherlock:''' "Nobody could be that clever."\\
'''John:''' "''You'' could."

--->'''John:''' "You're the best... ''[pauses]'' ... yeah. You're the best thing that could've happened to me."\\
'''Mary:''' "I agree."\\
'''John:''' "Sorry?"\\
'''Mary:''' "I agree, I'm the best thing that could've happened to you."

--->'''John:''' "Shut up."\\
'''Mary:''' "Or what?"\\
'''John:''' "Or I'll marry you."\\

--> '''Mycroft:''' "You're safe now."

--->'''Sherlock:''' "I think I'll surprise John. He'll be delighted!"

-->'''Molly:''' "Should I be taking notes? John says that's what he does, so if I'm being John-–"\\
'''Sherlock:''' "You're not being John, you're being yourself."

---> '''Sherlock:''' "I hope you'll be very happy, Molly Hooper. You deserve it."

** Major Sholto is, as Mary says, "almost a recluse"; the conversation he has with John implies the two haven't been face-to-face in years, and even showcases that John doesn't even know where Sholto lives. But in the flashback to the table-napkin scene in 221B, John is ''absolutely convinced'' Sholto will be there, even though Mary quietly tells Sherlock that she doesn't think he's coming and points out he hasn't rsvp'ed. And John is right - Sholto does come through for him. It's John's faith in people he loves, just as he entrusted the best man duties to Sherlock when everyone thought it would be a disaster, that inspires them to step up and be worthy of it.

* It's small, but during the charades game when John asks for a hint about what woman he is, asking if he's a "pretty" woman, Sherlock tells him that beauty is nothing but a construct informed by childhood experiences and role models. Sherlock may be full of himself, but he's incredibly non-judgmental. Petty qualities that ordinary people pay attention to - like looks - don't even matter to him.

--->'''Sherlock:''' "What's wrong? What's happened? Why are you all doing that? John? [[TearJerker Did I do it wrong?]]"\\
'''John:''' "No, you didn't. Come here." ''[as he stands up and hugs Sherlock]''\\
'''Sherlock:''' "I haven't finished yet."\\
'''John:''' "I know."

-->'''John''': "The problems of your past are your business. The problems of your future are my privilege. That's all I have to say. That's all I need to know."
-->''[They finally hug]''
-->'''John''': "All this doesn't mean that I'm not still basically pissed off with you. I am ''very'' pissed off, and it's gonna come out now and again."
-->'''Mary''': "Oh, I know."

-->'''John''': "Invited us to Christmas with his lovely mum and dad, fine example of married life - I got that much. That's the thing with Sherlock, it's always the unexpected..."

-->'''Sherlock:''' "Give my love to Mary. Tell her she's safe now."

-->'''Sherlock:''' "You will look after him for me, won't you?"
-->'''Mary:''' ''(she kisses his cheek and hugs him)'' "Don't worry. I'll keep him in trouble."
-->'''Sherlock:''' "That's my girl."

* How did Sherlock help [[spoiler: immerse himself in his Victorian mind palace]]? He read the entry on John's blog telling the story of how they first met. This was after he thought he had just said goodbye to his best friend for the last time.

-->And then Sherlock did one of the most human things I think I've ever seen him do - he made Henry look at the dog's body. He didn't need to, he'd solved the case but it was as if he knew that the truly important thing was showing Henry what was real and what wasn't. Maybe the fear and doubt he'd felt, and maybe his experiences with Irene Adler, had humanised him?

--> Sherlock: You never told me about [[spoiler:Sarah]].
--> John: You never even noticed I'd [[ActorAllusion been to New Zealand]].
--> Sherlock: I went shopping earlier. There's some cans of beer in the fridge. Next to the feet.
--> John: ''':)'''

** Sherlock's comment in itself is amazingly heartwarming when you see it as him scolding John for not telling him about something like that. It's pretty rough to find out your best friend's girlfriend broke up with him ''weeks later on said best friend's blog.'' Sherlock's comment indicates that so far as he's concerned, John ''should'' tell him these things, because he's interested in what's going on in John's life and wants to know if something is upsetting him. It's entirely possible if not probable that [[SherlockScan Sherlock already knew that John and Sarah had broken up,]] but the point wasn't that they'd broken up, it was that John told his ''blog'' about it before he told ''Sherlock.'' Especially when you consider that John had pointed out that a large part of why it hadn't worked with Sarah was because of his devotion to Sherlock. Reading that about yourself on a public blog would be pretty awful, especially as it's implied that John didn't tell him directly because he didn't think Sherlock would care. Sherlock's response is "I ''do'' care, and I'd like you to tell me these things in person because I do care." And instead of sulking childishly about the fact John doesn't confide in him, Sherlock just goes out and selflessly buys his friend a present[[note]]we've never seen Sherlock drink beer so far and it doesn't seem to be his preference of beverage[[/note]] to cheer him up and, at the same time, apologize in his own way for being the part of the reason him and Sarah broke up.

-->I could see the look in Sherlock's eyes - a flash of, not anger, but hurt. For a second, he looked like a little, lost child. I should have been horrified that he'd even doubt me for a second but, to be honest, it was so refreshingly human of him. He actually did value our friendship. He did, despite himself, care.

--> '''theimprobableone''': ridiculous
--> '''Kirsty Stapleton''': It's not ridiculous and I know my spelling is good because Mummy's computer has a spell-checker so I know it is all right. You are rude.

* John's general character development over the course of the whole series. It is obvious that John is a good influence on rude and callous Sherlock, but actually, it goes the other way around as well. At the beginning of ''A Study In Pink'', John lives on his own, complains that nothing happens to him, has no friends and won't even go to his own sister for help. It's not that he has no one to take care of him - almost all of the few people he meets are very nice to him - it is that he actively ''drives them away''. He doesn't want anyone in his life, maybe because he thinks no one understands him and what he has gone through in Afghanistan. Look at his interactions with Ella, his therapist: She just wants to do her job and help him, he mocks her for all its worth and lies straight to her face. There is also his encounter with Mike Stamford. John reacts very reserved and it takes Mike a lot of effort to get him to talk about his problems. And even then, John keeps up his mask of dry wit and sarcastically brushes them off as if they're nothing. John is a man who has already given up at this point - and then he meets Sherlock. Someone who doesn't treat him like an invalid. Someone who has some use for him, gives him a new home and something to do with his life. Sherlock understands his need for a thrill, even cures him from his psychosomatic limp. Watch how John developes after that: He warms up, becomes a lot friendlier towards people, makes friends again, dates several women and attempts to get his own life right again, e.g. getting a job in ''The Blind Banker''. In the second series, we see John happier than ever. He laughs and smiles a lot more and has become confident enough to not only play the part of Sherlock's bumbling sidekick who follows him everywhere and does all the dirty work, he considers himself an essential part of their team and asks questions or looks for pieces of evidence on his own, without having Sherlock tell him what to do (especially obvious in ''The Hounds of Baskerville''). Sherlock, for his part, seems heartwarmingly pleased with these developments and often refers to the two of them as "we" where he would have used "I" in the first series.

*** Sherlock and John, before they meet, are actually not that different from each other. We already know that Sherlock hardly eats or sleeps when he is on a case. Judging from ''A Scandal in Belgravia'', the same thing seems to happen when he is depressed. In addition, he doesn't talk, which is exactly what he warned John about during the meeting at Bart's. Now watch the beginning of ''A Study in Pink'' and pay attention to John's behaviour: He is clearly very depressed (possibly even suicidal, depending on how you interpret why he keeps his gun ready in the top drawer of his desk), doesn't sleep much and maybe doesn't even eat properly [[note]]Look at his breakfast - an apple and a cup of coffee - he puts them down next to his laptop and we never actually see him eating. His meal may be that simple because of his poor financial situation, but from the looks of it, he doesn't have much of an appetite anyway.[[/note]], hardly talks and never really smiles (see the ''A Study in Pink'' folder). It's hard to believe this is the same John Watson who, upon meeting Sherlock, is constantly seen eating, seems to get a healthy amount of decent sleep (when he's not working on a case with Sherlock), shamelessly uses his charm on everyone and everything and jokes around a lot. The difference is astounding, and almost ''instant,'' as he starts smiling during the cab ride to the Brixton crime scene and even hits on Anthea on the way ''back'' from the Brixton crime scene. Later that same night he's ''giggling'' at the absurdity of the chase across Soho.

* [[AmbitiousSituation It might just be a sarcastic throwaway line]], but if there's any truth to this exchange then this says ''loads'' about Mycroft and Sherlock's relationship:

* This little exchange:
-->'''Mycroft:''' This is a private matter.\\
'''Sherlock:''' John stays.\\
'''Mycroft:''' This is ''family.''\\
'''Sherlock:''' [[PunctuatedForEmphasis That's.]] [[FriendshipMoment Why.]] [[FamilyOfChoice He stays.]]
* Before the grenade explodes in 221B, Mycroft, Sherlock, and John are trying to remain calm and discuss "The Importance of Being Earnest." Mycroft reveals that he acted in a high school performance of it, Sherlock remembers and appears to sincerely compliment his performance, and Mycroft looks quietly pleased.
* Another moment from before the grenade explodes in 221B: Sherlock asking Mycroft if John can make a phone call to say goodbye to his daughter. Mycroft doesn't respond to Sherlock, who asked the question, but directly to John, sincerely apologising that it's not possible. John hadn't mentioned Rosie or asked to contact her (or whoever was looking after her just then). But so-called sociopath Sherlock thought John might want to contact his child in what was potentially his "very last few seconds", and so-called sociopath Mycroft genuinely empathised with John because he couldn't.
* Just the idea that Sherlock, Mycroft and John, three grown men, obviously got so much glee out of dressing up, hitting the high seas and playing out boyish fantasies of being actual pirates:
-->'''Mycroft:''' This man stole my boat. He's a pirate!
-->'''John:''' Yeah, I really am.

-->'''John:''' Sherlock...
-->'''Sherlock:''' ''(looks up)'' ...Soldiers?
-->'''John:''' Soldiers.

** Crossing into TearJerker: Just ''the look'' on Mycroft's face when instead of shooting either of them, Sherlock [[spoiler: turns the gun on himself]].
** In a tragic sense, it's still heartwarming how, regardless how hard it is for Sherlock, it doesn't take him many seconds to decide to point the gun at Mycroft as he could never imagine shooting John.
* At one point Mycroft points out to John that his sister is manipulating the two of them into competing as part of her games. John doesn't care, and says that neither of them matters, and that they need to set aside self preservation to save the little girl on the plane. Mycroft, taken aback, commends John for his priorities.
** There is a subtle sense of heartwarming to Mycroft's respect for John, and it ties to Mycroft's words in the first episode where he described John as the possible making of his brother, and his decision to bowing out so that John can stay by Sherlock's side.
* Definitely combined with a TearJerker, Molly admitting, even after all this time, that she still loves Sherlock. What's more, when Sherlock says "I love you" to her, it's clear that, in ''some'' way (be it as a friend, romantically, or otherwise), he completely means it.
** Also, the fact that, in the background, Mycroft (who claims to care about others even less than Sherlock does) looks just as horrified as the other two about the possibility of Molly dying.
*** Listen closely, which Sherlock his hesitating to say "I love you," Mycroft says, "Say it!"

** The better part is Mycroft and Mr. and Mrs. Holmes are there too, seeing the two play the violin, for all we know, it could be a sign that Sherlock's interaction (and theirs as well), ''might'' help Eurus recover in the end.
* Sherlock ''finally'' gets Lestrade's first name right, which actually leaves him completely speechless for a second.
** Better when he talks to a police worker by saying Sherlock is not just a great man but [[CallBack he is a good man.]]
* Sherlock is a ''lot'' more gentle towards Mycroft after seeing how shaken he is by the events in the episode. He even defends him from their parents when they call Mycroft out on lying to them.
-->'''Sherlock:''' [''to Lestrade''] Make sure he's looked after, okay? He is not as strong as he thinks he is.
* Although the little girl on the plane is actually [[spoiler: Eurus]], the way Sherlock speaks to her is kind and sweet; quite the difference--especially in comparison to his previous interactions with children. It shows how human he really is and highlights his character development.
* At the beginning of the episode, Mycroft's movie is interrupted by a home film of the Holmes family on the beach. Two things stand out from this: one is little Sherlock bear-tackling a younger Mycroft in a hug in the film and the second is that [[spoiler: Sherlock chose this film to begin with.]]
** Mycroft's [[spoiler: reaction to the home movie ''sells it''. First he's confused...but when he sees little Sherlock playing with him, he begins to smile and even show signs of love at seeing his little brother]].
** The fact that Mycroft isn't so above it all and was having a good time with a FilmNoir is rather endearing.

--> '''Mary:''' PS, I know you two. And if I'm gone, I know what you could become. Because I know who you really are. A junkie who solves crimes to get high. And the doctor who never came home from the war. Will you listen to me? Who you really are, it doesn't matter. It's all about the legend. The stories, the adventures. There is a last refuge for the desperate, the unloved, the persecuted. There is a final court of appeal for everyone. When life gets too strange, too impossible, too frightening, there is always one last hope. When all else fails, there are two men sitting arguing in a scruffy flat like they've always been there, and they always will. The best and wisest men I have ever known. My Baker Street boys. Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson.

** We also see Sherlock sending a text saying "You know where to find me". While it's not stated, it's definitely implied that he's taking John's advice and seeing Irene again.

* During Mycroft's rant to the general, the first thing he says is, "If the safety of my sister is compromised." While he's extremely worried about the threat to national security Eurus poses, he also wants to keep her herself safe and is prepared to do not-pleasant things if he finds out she's been hurt or somehow put in danger by others.
** He's got so many of these moments in this episode, we might as well just re-name it "Mycroft Really is a Human Being".

* Every positive thing "Mary" says about Sherlock in this episode is really John's own subconscious admitting his feelings for his best friend, showing that the resentment and loathing he gives Sherlock is all just a mask.
-->'''Mary:''' Sherlock is the cleverest man in the world, but he is not a monster.\\
'''John:''' Yes he is.\\
'''Mary:''' Okay, he is! But he's ''our'' monster.
* John and Sherlock [[spoiler: reconciling at the end.]]
* Mary's continuation of her message from the stinger, as an order to Sherlock: "Go to hell, Sherlock...[[spoiler:...right into Hell, and make it look like you mean it. If [John] thinks you need him, [[UndyingLoyalty I swear he will be there."]]]] And go he did.
** More specifically, [[spoiler: John confessing his emotional affair with the girl on the bus to his hallucination of Mary (who doesn't judge him), and achieving catharsis by crying in Sherlock's arms. What's more, Sherlock doesn't think John's crazy. He even says good-bye to "Mary" in a friendly manner when they leave the flat. Given [[MushroomSamba the events of the episode]], Sherlock is perhaps the only person who could understand John's frame of mind.]]
** John also hears [[spoiler: Irene Adler's text noise on Sherlock's phone and deduces she's still alive. He encourages Sherlock to reach out and talk to her more, because he knows from experience [[TheLostLenore you might not get another chance]].]]
** And from that noise, he also [[spoiler: deduces it's Sherlock's birthday (which he didn't know before). Irene only would have texted if it was a special occasion.]]
** The [[spoiler:hug]] between Sherlock and John deserves a special mention. [[spoiler:Confronted by his best friend in tears, Sherlock approaches John the same way most people would approach an unexploded bomb...yet one arm goes around his friend, the other cradles his neck, and Sherlock gingerly hugs John as he breaks down. He attempts an "it's okay" platitude, before finally admitting that no, it's not okay: in John's own words, it "is what it is." No condescension, no dodging the topic, no leaving someone else to deal with it. Sherlock might still avoid the whole "social skills" thing when given a choice, but for John he'll absolutely make an exception.]]
* Sherlock's scenes with Faith early in the episode. Upon realizing she's suicidal and has self-harmed, he decides they'll get chips, and they share a sweet moment of genuine connection (until the reveal). He tells her he'll take the case but not for free. She offers cash, he wordlessly makes it clear what the actual price is, and she hands over the gun she was considering using on herself. He throws it into the river and gives a beautiful, if manic, speech against suicide wherein it's clear he does have some idea of the past grief John went through and hints at his own grief over Mary's death. The speech itself doesn't condemn those suicidal but does make clear suicide is a painful, tragic thing, especially for those who lose loved ones to it.
** Although it gets real dark when it's revealed [[spoiler:that Faith wasn't there. Sherlock's sister is impersonating as her.]]
* While teasing Mycroft about how he doesn't know Sherlock as well as he thinks he does, she says that Sherlock thinks he's clever, which means, at some point, Sherlock admitted this to Mrs. Hudson.
** Which means the same also goes for Sherlock telling Mrs. Hudson that he knows John is an idiot but it's okay because he's a "lovely doctor".
* John being something of a ShipperOnDeck when he finds out that [[spoiler: Irene Adler is, in fact, alive, and she and Sherlock text.]] Although he doesn't quite understand the...relationship, and knows that [[spoiler: Irene]] is dangerous, he tells Sherlock to take advantage of the fact that someone cares about him and wants to be with him while he still has the chance, and use it as an opportunity to be the man she thinks he is.
* Sherlock tentatively asking John if he can come round to visit his goddaughter.
* Mrs Hudson realises Sherlock needs help... so she handcuffs him, ''forces him into the boot of her Aston Martin'' and '''''fucking books it the length of the town to find John''''', who ''can'' help.
** And while she was doing this, she called Mycroft... who agreed with her drastic measures and proceeded to get her out of what might otherwise be time in jail.
* John's fatherly pride over his baby girl.
-->''"She's beautiful. Perfect. Unprecedented in the history of children. And that's not just me being biased, that's scientific fact!"''
* When Mrs Hudson sees the distress John is in after realising the "Miss Me?" video is of Mary, she doesn't hesitate to kick half a dozen Spooks, including Mycroft, out of her flat to protect his privacy.
-->''"This is '''my''' house, and this is '''my''' friend..."''
* The way that [[spoiler:John's hallucination of Mary]] changes throughout the episode shows how he's slowly recovering from deep grief. At the beginning, he argues with her about [[spoiler:whether she's dead or not,]] and in the therapist's office [[spoiler:Mary stands to one side, crying for him.]] But by the end of the episode, she's [[spoiler: standing in 221B, giving sass about how Sherlock has to wear 'the hat' in tribute to her, because she's dead; teasing him about being 'the posh boy', and otherwise being all lightness and fun. Even when John confesses to cheating on her, she doesn't judge him, but tells him to move on.]]

* John tells Sherlock that Mary taught him to be the man she thought he already was. In the episode we see [[spoiler:John is still doing that. He hallucinates Mary beside him, encouraging him to be smarter, braver and more compassionate; deducing like Sherlock, confronting Mycroft's lies, and suppressing his urges to be petty or mean.]]
--> [[spoiler:'''Mary:''' Attaboy.]]
* And, of course, what else has John been doing for the past four seasons but teaching Sherlock to be smarter, braver and more compassionate - by treating him like he already is those things? It's implied in ''A Study in Pink'' that this has always been Lestrade's approach, too:
-->'''Lestrade:''' Sherlock Holmes is a great man. And I think one day, if we're very, very lucky, he might even be a good one.
** When John is telling Sherlock that having a romantic connection would help him to be a better person like Mary did for him, Sherlock begins to explain that ''John'' is the one who has helped him to be a better man, before he's cut off by John's cheating confession.
--> '''Sherlock:''' Forgive me, but I feel you are doing yourself a disservice. I have known many people in my time, made but few friends, and I can safely say that you-
* John wishing Sherlock a happy birthday for the first time. Then taking him out for cake.

* Sherlock saying sorry to a family who lost their son on a case. Sure, he got the gender wrong at first. Sure, he can't stops himself from investigating when he shouldn't. But he managed to console them in an appropriate manner, a huge development from his old jerkass self.
** Also, Charlie Welsborough opting to try and surprise his father by coming home from his gap year in Tibet and joining him for his fiftieth birthday. Sadly, he died from a seizure before he could surprise him, but the fact that he was willing to come home for his father's birthday counts.
* Sherlock's interactions with John and Mary's baby and Toby the dog are the proof that Sherlock Holmes ''does'' have a heart.
* John works out that Sherlock didn't want Toby because he's a good sniffer dog (he doesn't move for ages) but just that Sherlock is fond of him. Sherlock turns it around and says the same can be true of his feelings for John.
* Sherlock showing Mycroft a photo of Rosie on his phone for no other reason than he just wanted his brother to see his goddaughter.
* Apparently as a child, Sherlock didn't like the outcome in "An Appointment in Samarra" - that is, he didn't like that a person couldn't outrun death. So he wrote his own ending called "An Appointment in Sumatra" where the main character goes to a different place and survives...and becomes a pirate.
** All of which is revealed by Mycroft, who remembers the story.
* Mary's [[spoiler: last words to Sherlock?]] [[CallBack "I like you."]]

** Mycroft asking for John to look after his little brother, complete with a soft-spoken ''please'' at the end.
* Watson is undeniably a case of DeliberateValuesDissonance in regards to women. Yet, despite realising a woman is pretending to be a man in order to work an at-the-time almost exclusively male job, he never tries to expose her. In fact, it's only revealed he knows after she insults both him and Holmes. He waits until no one else is around (well, aside from the moronic Anderson), makes a pointed comment to let her know he knows, and literally tips his hat to her. There's definitely some bite to the gesture, but there might have been some genuine respect in it, too.
* In a curiously meta way, the very ending. Everything is wrapped up, the reveal is given that what we've just seen was [[spoiler: simply a drug-induced hallucination/mind-palace episode of Sherlock's]], onto the next case. And then the credits music literally slows to a crawl and we arrive back in the 19th Century, with 19th Century Sherlock and 19th Century Watson discussing [[spoiler: everything we've seen in the ''21st Century'' as a drug-induced hallucination of Sherlock's. (Admittedly, a startlingly accurate one, regarding technology, gender politics etc...but then it is ''Sherlock Holmes'' who's hallucinating a future. This, however small, however immaterial to the grander series, gives the idea that the entirety of the modern series is all actually the 19th Century Holmes' imaginings.]] To traditionalists and Conan-Doyle purists, it's rather a sweet touch. [[spoiler: The "real" Sherlock Holmes ''is'' in fact the original we all know and love.]]
** The final line, Sherlock's "I've always know I was a man out of my time." can also be taken as "Sherlock Holmes is ''forever.''"
* The scene at [[spoiler:the "actual" Reichenbach Falls]] can be this, on a sort-of meta level. Near the end of the episode, after lapsing in and out between [[spoiler:present-day and the 1895 dream-sequences,]] there we are, with Sherlock and Jim, at the cliffside by [[spoiler:the famous waterfall,]] where so many Sherlock Holmeses and Moriartys have fought in the past. It all seems like it'll go that same road, Moriarty has Sherlock by the collar, about to throw them both down the slippery slope.
--> '''Moriarty:''' Shall we go over together? It has to be together, doesn't it?! At the end, it's always just ''you'' and ''me.''
** And then John Watson, instead of being a spectator from a distance like he usually is in damn near every adaptation of [[spoiler:the Reichenbach Fall]], is standing right behind them with a gun raised, beckoning Moriarty to step away from his friend and get on his knees.
--> '''Watson:''' *ahem* Professor, if you wouldn't mind stepping away from my friend, I do believe he finds your attention a shade annoying.
--> '''Moriarty:''' That's not fair, there's two of you!
--> '''Watson:''' [[TrueCompanions There's always two of us]]. Don't you read ''The Strand''?
** Just getting to see Holmes and Watson triumph together like that, [[spoiler:at the Reichenbach Fall,]] [[spoiler:after 128 years of canonical stalemate with Moriarty]], can be a crowning moment of both awesome and heartwarming for fans who're in any way familiar with other versions of this story. Having John primly [[spoiler:kick Jim off the edge]] is just an extra slice of awesome.
** When John asks Sherlock what the Real John is like, Sherlock's answer shows his appreciation for his friend has come along way since calling him an 'idiot' in the first episode.
--> '''John:''' What's he like then? The other me in that other place?
--> '''Sherlock:''' Smarter than he looks.
--> '''John:''' Pretty damn smart then?
--> '''Sherlock:''' (smiling) Pretty damn smart.
* The fact that Sherlock, who usually has a difficult time connecting with and understanding women, sympathises heavily with the with the women in the secret organisation, highlighting their long-present struggles as he gives his exposition speech and telling John that "this is a war we must lose". Also nice in a meta sense because Benedict Cumberbatch is a very vocal feminist in real life.
* John Watson is now officially [[spoiler:the anti-virus program of Sherlock Holmes' brain.]] Pass it on.
* Mary is awesome in this episode. She hides her spy work from the world's greatest detective, tracks down the secret society, and [[spoiler: hacks MI5 from a cell phone... except she doesn't do any of that. It's all a hallucination cooked up in Sherlock's brain.]] If there was any doubt that Sherlock thinks Mary's the shit, The Abominable Bride dispels it completely.

[[caption-width-right:350:''"But it is what it is."'']]

** "Go to hell, Sherlock" [[spoiler:"Go right into Hell and make it look like you mean it.", "If he thinks you need him, I swear... he will be there."]] And go he did.

* John turning PapaWolf on Sherlock when Molly confirms that he's been taking drugs.
-->'''John:''' If you were anywhere near this kind of thing again, you could have called, you could have talked to me!
** To parallel John being worried about Sherlock's habit, Sherlock also seems to show concern for John's adrenaline addiction. He looks surprised, not amused, when Wiggins hints that John attacked him - probably knowing Wiggins was harmless despite appearances. Sherlock later goes as far to turn Mary's confrontation into an intervention for John to get him to face up to his need for a dangerous lifestyle because he can see that trying to repress or deny it is affecting him badly.
*** On a similar note, Mycroft shows his BigBrotherInstinct by turning up at Sherlock's flat when John calls to tell him about the relapse.
* Anderson when he is conducting the Drug Raid on Sherlock's apartment. Unlike the first time in "A Study in Pink" where he did it just to tick off Sherlock, this time he is doing it because he wants to help Sherlock if he does have a drug problem. He even tells Sherlock he is sorry when Sherlock returns home but believe it is for his own good.
* John wonders who Sherlock Holmes would bother going on the run to protect. He sits down to ponder this, and realizes that his chair has rematerialized. It slowly dawns on him that he's [[YouAnsweredYourOwnQuestion just answered his question]]... or, rather, he ''is'' [[TheNotLoveInterest the answer to that question.]]
* John and Mary's conversation in front of the fire in the Holmes' cottage. [[spoiler: He's found out that she's not really a nice nurse and an orphan who loves him and his carrying his child, but a nice nurse who's also a retired former professional killer who loves him and is carrying his child. Both Sherlock and Mary have pointed out to him that he's deeply attracted to dangerous people and he knows Sherlock trusts her because when she was in a position to kill Sherlock, she only wounded him instead. John's been brooding in silence about this for ''months''. Then he stands in front of her and tells her he's rehearsed what he wants to say:]]
-->'''John''': The problems of your past are your business. The problems of your future are my privilege. That's all I have to say. That's all I need to know.

-->'''John''': All this doesn't mean that I'm not still basically pissed off with you. I am ''very'' pissed off, and it's gonna come out now and again.
-->'''Mary''': Oh, I know.

-->'''John''': Invited us to Christmas with his lovely mum and dad, fine example of married life - I got that much. That's the thing with Sherlock, it's always the unexpected...
* Sherlock pulls himself out of ''being clinically dead.'' Why? Because John is in danger.
* "Also, your loss would break my heart." Oh, ''Mycroft.''
** This is a man who makes no secret of his and Sherlock's mutual dislike for each other, seems to have even less empathy in general than Sherlock does, and apparently treated him like crap growing up. So you wouldn't be blamed for wondering if he's being sincere or not. But then, not long later, Magnussen identifies Mycroft's pressure point as being Sherlock. And it's the only one he mentions.
* Magnussen identifies only two "pressure points" for John. That one of them is his pregnant bride isn't a surprise. The other is Harry...a sibling he barely speaks to and maintains he dislikes. She didn't even show up to his wedding.
* Magnussen's "files" usually list one or two pressure points at most for whoever he's looking at. It identifies ''five'' of them for Sherlock. You know, the sociopath who cares for very few and is almost incapable of empathy? As Moriarty said so long ago, "We both know that is not quite true."
* The short scene showing Mary's rapport with and obvious affection for Sherlock's father, and his frank adoration of his wife. FridgeBrilliance when one considers the obvious resemblance, in personality and demeanour, between Mr Holmes and John. Mary even asks him if he's "the sane one."
* [[spoiler: Suffering from a bullet wound, Sherlock immediately thinks of previous instructions from Molly and Mycroft to save himself from dying of the wound.]] He clearly appreciates their expertise.
** [[spoiler: Sherlock's comfort place to save himself from shock is seeing his deceased dog, Redbeard.]]
** Just that the fact that the information in his mind palace is represented not by a collection of inanimate objects or shelves of files, but by the people he respects most in various fields (including, surprisingly, his former chew toy, Anderson), and that in his mind, he's willing to ask for their help and opinions- something he's rarely seen doing in the real world.
** FridgeBrilliance kicks in when you remember Sherlock's words from ''A Study in Pink'': "Anderson won't work with me." Not "I don't like Anderson," not "Anderson's an idiot," just "Anderson won't work with me." He apparently already respected Anderson as much as he was capable of respecting "ordinary people" before the series began.
** Right back to FridgeLogic: Why wasn't John there in Sherlock's mind palace to help him with his wound?
*** Because John isn't Sherlock's head, he's Sherlock's heart. After all, it was the thought of him in danger that brought his heart back to life!
* Mummy Holmes was a brilliant career mathematician, but she gave it all up to raise her family and she doesn't regret any of it.
* "[[spoiler: William Sherlock Scott Holmes,]] [[CallBack if you're looking for baby names...]]"
** This ties into the previous revelation that Sherlock essentially pried the knowledge of John's middle name out of him; hell, he had to dig up his birth certificate to find it. For someone who is incredibly bored by the mundane, and even calls his straightforward ordinary parents "his cross to bear", the name [[spoiler:"William"]], so commonplace and simple, must have pissed him off to no end. It's easy to understand why [[spoiler:he chose to go by Sherlock, which is far more unique.]] So the fact that he [[spoiler:divulges his full name]], with its ordinary nature completely exposed, speaks volumes to how much he trusts and respects John.
*** Also possibly FridgeBrilliance - earlier, we learned that Myrcroft's first name is Mycroft. Could it be possible that Mycroft got picked on for his eccentric name, leading his parents to give a more common name to Sherlock, who then rejected it in order to be like his big brother?
* Combined with a TearJerker, Mycroft repeatedly shouting, "Don't fire. Do not fire on Sherlock Holmes. Do not fire on Sherlock Holmes."
** "Your loss would break my heart", anyone?
* Also at the same scene, Mycroft sees Sherlock, his little brother, as a small, crying kid - just as he once was.
* The runway scene at the end, when it's made clear that despite the fact that Sherlock likes to constantly make fun of Mary for shooting him ''dead'', he doesn't hold a grudge against her for it.
-->'''Sherlock:''' You will look after him for me, won't you?
-->'''Mary:''' ''(she kisses his cheek and hugs him)'' Don't worry. I'll keep him in trouble.
-->'''Sherlock:''' That's my girl.
** Even though she shot him, Sherlock seems more hurt over the fact that [[spoiler: Mary]] didn't trust him enough to come to him for help rather than having almost killed him. [[spoiler: Mary]], scared out of her mind, threatens him twice more after that and still Sherlock does all he can to encourage her and John to reconcile rather than coming between them.
* The earliest scenes with John and Mary. They're awoken at an ungodly hour by a crying neighbour who is invited in and given tea and a shoulder to cry on... John is less than tactful once or twice, but Mary is wonderfully sympathetic. Then both of them go to a smack den to retrieve the neighbour's son, even though Mary is still in her dressing gown and slippers. John is gentle and fatherly with Isaac, calling him "mate" and checking he's physically all right without judging him or castigating him. And it ends with the Watsons taking Sherlock and two other drug addicts to a hospital for medical attention. Mr and Mrs ''Psychopath?'' Hardly.
** On that note, Isaac Whitney. The kid may be an addict baked out of his brain, but he's still mild-mannered and kind of sweet even though he's drugged up, calling John and Mary "Dr Watson" and "Mrs Watson" and respectfully asking Mary if he could please get into the car.

-->'''Sherlock:''' Give my love to Mary. Tell her she's safe now.
** And note the choice of words. It's not "Give my regards to Mary," or even "Give my best to Mary" -- it's "Give my ''love'' to Mary." He really does care for her because of ''her'', not just because John does.
* Earlier when he sees her [[spoiler: in Magnussen's office]], once he gets over the initial shock he tells her that he can help her.
* A dark one, but: Sherlock deduces one of the knocked out guards is a white supremacist and orders John to focus solely on Janine. It's not so much the implication the white supremacist doesn't deserve medical attention (no matter how horrible, he does), it's the fact this is evidence Sherlock truly cares about Janine and jumped on the first thing he knew might sway John to make sure she was prioritised above a stranger.
* Sherlock inviting John and Mary to his parents house on Christmas. He and Mycroft complain about their parents constantly, you never see them say anything nice about either of their parents and they find it mentally painful to spend time with them. But when Mary and John's relationship is in trouble Sherlock bring them to his parents house. Sherlock views his parents as the the prime example of a happy marriage, and a good influence on the struggling couple. This is extremely impressive considering Sherlock's usual disdain for marriage in general. If the Christmas party was just a ploy to get his brother's computer he wouldn't have invited Mary. He wasn't obligated to invite her, [[spoiler: she had just shot him after all]]. With all the irritation he let's out in the part of his home life he still sees his parents as a perfect, or near perfect, couple. And of course he's right, even Mary and John agree that the Holmeses helped in their recovery.

* The skill and effort that Sherlock puts into his best man duties are ridiculously heartwarming. As he says in the episode, he doesn't really grasp exactly why the wedding day is so important to John, but he goes out of his way to make it as special and as personal an experience as he can muster. Observe the pub crawl Sherlock organises for the stag; firstly, how far it puts Sherlock out of his comfort zone, considering he's rarely seen eating, never mind recreationally drinking; and, more importantly, precisely how much effort he puts into the whole thing. He shuns conventional pub crawl ideas, instead favouring the "personal touch", he enlists Molly to help him work out the exact amount of beer necessary to have the best possible time, and he ends up totally pissed in 221B, to the extent that John's finishing his catchphrases. That's an impressively thoughtful stag night by anyone's standards, but for Sherlock? It's an unprecedented amount of care and attention paid by a character who has a notorious lack of awareness or respect for the wishes of others.
** Many of Sherlock and John's interactions during the stag night are just completely adorable. The fact that it's just the two of them and John doesn't seem to kick up any fuss about none of his other friends being invited (though he might not care if thinking, from ''Many Happy Returns'', [[FridgeBrilliance all his other friends hate him]]). When Sherlock is drunk after John accidentally spikes his drink and starts a fight with a stranger, John quickly rushes in to rescue his friend and drag him away before he gets beaten up. The two of them then return home ready to have a 'cosy' nap together ''on the staircase'' before Mrs. Hudson wakes them. The whole 'Who Am I?' game scene with the two of them giggling at each other is precious. It should also be noted that, when Tessa is explaining the case to the boys, it's the only time in the series we see them sat on the sofa ''together'' rather than in their separate chairs as they usually do when interviewing a client. Sherlock even starts falling asleep at one point with his arm around John before waking up.
** Sherlock organised a memorable stag, looked after the best interests of his friend's relationship, played a huge role in wedding planning, give a speech that reduced members of the audience to tears, set a lovelorn bridesmaid up with a suitable guy to the apparent detriment of his own happiness, wrote a waltz specifically for the bride and groom, and delivered the happy news that Mary was pregnant. Oh, and he solved two outstanding mysteries and prevented the murder of John's beloved commanding officer to boot. He was a best man worthy of the name, despite all of his natural limitations.

* The over theme of this episode, as pointed out in [[http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/s129/sherlock/recaps/a541143/sherlock-series-3-the-sign-of-three-recap-the-end-of-an-era.html one review]] especially, is that it's just "one big love letter to John Watson".
* It's mostly the setup for a gag, but when Sherlock texts Lestrade for help at the beginning, he uses the word "please", and seems to mean it. Lestrade in turn completely flips, rushes out on making an arrest he's been dying to make for eighteen months, and pulls out every backup crew possible to ensure Sherlock's safety.
** And on that note, Sally Donovan. She's here shown to have a good working relationship with Lestrade, tolerating his angry rants, addressing him as "Boss" when she's trying to compliment him, and calling him "Greg" when she's trying to calm him down/admonish him for throwing a tantrum and kicking his car tyres in a rage.
* John asking Sherlock to be his best man. Sherlock takes a while to realise that John is asking him and when he finally realises it he freezes with shock for many long seconds..
-->'''John:''' I want to be up there with the ''two'' people that I love, and care about, ''most'' in the world.\\
'''Sherlock:''' ''[still oblivious]'' Yes.\\

'''John:''' So Mary Morstan –\\
'''Sherlock:''' Yes.\\
'''John:''' – and...\\

'''John:''' ''[exasperated]'' ...''you''.
** And when Sherlock finally snaps out of it, he's practically stuttering, completely taken off-guard.
--->'''Sherlock:''' So, in fact, y-you mean...I'm ''your''...best -\\
'''John:''' - man.\\
'''Sherlock:''' - friend?\\
'''John:''' ...Yeah, of course you are. Of course you're my best friend.
** And the expression on John's face at that point is just as good. It says 'How could you not know this?'

* John trying to reassure Sherlock that him and Mary getting married won't change their friendship.
-->'''John:''' The thing about Mary is that she has completely turned my life around. Changed everything. But, for the record, in the past few years, there have been two people who have done that and the other one is – ''[looks to where Sherlock was sat which is now empty]'' [[CrowningMomentOfFunny – a complete dickhead!]]
* Sherlock's best man speech. Also probably doubles as a TearJerker.
-->[[spoiler:''"The point I'm trying to make is that I am the most unpleasant, rude, ignorant, and all-around obnoxious arsehole that anyone could possibly have the misfortune to meet. I am dismissive of the virtuous, unaware of the beautiful ''[glances at the Maid of Honour]'', and uncomprehending in the face of the happy. ''[camera briefly pans to Mary and John]'' So if I didn’t understand I was being asked to be best man it is because I never expected to be anybody's best friend. Certainly not the best friend of the bravest, and kindest, and wisest human being I have ever had the good fortune of knowing. John, I am a ridiculous man. Redeemed only by the warmth and constancy of your friendship. But as I'm apparently your best friend, I can not congratulate you on your choice of companion. Actually, now I can. Mary, when I say you deserve this man, it is the highest compliment of which I am capable. John, you have endured war, and injury, and tragic loss. So sorry again about that last one. So know this, today you sit between the woman you have made your wife, and the man you have saved. In short, the two people who love you most in all this world. And I know I speak for Mary as well when I say we will never let you down, and we have a lifetime ahead to prove that."'']]
** The reactions to Sherlock's [[spoiler:speech,]] which prompts this:
--->[[spoiler:'''Sherlock:''' What's wrong? What's happened? Why are you all doing that? John? [[TearJerker Did I do it wrong?]]]]\\
[[spoiler:'''John:''' No, you didn't. Come here. ''[as he stands up and hugs Sherlock]'']]\\
[[spoiler:'''Sherlock:''' I haven't finished yet.]]\\
[[spoiler:'''John:''' I know. ]]
** And also a TearJerker, but just the fact that John started crying in front of about a hundred people and hugged Sherlock so publicly. This is a man who before Sherlock's return refused to cry in front of his therapist or Mrs Hudson.
** John seems to know he's not going to be able to resist hugging Sherlock when the speech begins to get more touching. For this troper, though, the best part was the fact that during the hug, everyone started applauding and we get to see the touching smiles of Lestrade, Molly and Mrs Hudson. Awesome, heartwarming and tearjerking all at once.
--->'''John:''' If I try to hug him, stop me.\\
'''Mary:''' Certainly not.
** The fact that Sherlock uses what are almost certainly the titles of John's blog entries to allude to the cases, considering how dismissive he was of them at the beginning.
* When Sherlock is in his mind palace, he sees Mycroft goading him to find the logical answer. In the end, he rejects Mycroft and yells, "You! You! It's always you. John Watson, you keep me right...don't solve the murder; save the life." - at John. He uses John to guide him.
* Mary, John, and Sherlock when Sherlock reveals that [[spoiler: Mary is pregnant]]. They freak out, he freaks out with them, then tells them that they will be great parents because they've already had practice with him, before Mary starts crying and John grabs them both in a hug.
** Sherlock's line about them already being great parents says a lot about his feelings for the both of them but especially Mary. We've seen John and Sherlock interact for two series and can see why Sherlock thinks the protective, wise and caring John would make a wonderful father. But Mary is also Sherlock's idea of the perfect mother. At the beginning of the episode, Sherlock shows signs of resentment towards his own mother and comments that she 'never understands a word'. Sherlock loves Mary because she does understand; she's able to see through his lies and can tell when he's scared, encouraging his friendship with John instead of coming between them.
* When he's uncomfortable at the wedding reception, who does Sherlock call? His "arch-enemy" and big brother, Mycroft.
** Then you find out that he's been trying to convince him to come to the wedding, perhaps a CallBack to their discussion in the previous episode where Sherlock tells Mycroft he needs some friends.
*** Although it's not said in the most uplifting manner, Mycroft says he'll be seeing more of Sherlock now that Mary and John are married, "Just like old times." Apparently the brothers spent more time together before John Watson showed up then they let on.
* Everything about Major Sholto, John and Sherlock. Sherlock's jealousy that he isn't the first anti-social man John's befriended, describing John as "bouncing like a puppy" around his ex-commanding officer. He's right, John is ''beaming!'' And it turns out that John, a man who used to hate opening up to his therapist, still sees her occasionally even now that he's happier. His hint to Sholto that talking to someone might help him, and that seeing a therapist doesn't have to mean you're crazy or weak, is such progress for him and his concern is very sweet. And he even calls his C.O. by his first name later! John must have meant a great deal to Sholto: he rarely leaves his house, he's disfigured and has one working arm, he's had multiple death threats, he's lost his career and reputation, and yet he put on his dress uniform and attended the wedding of a subordinate who was invalided out of the army four years ago. John is one of the few people who remained loyal to and continued to believe in both Sholto and Sherlock. The two men explicitly identify with each other, culminating Sherlock begging Sholto not to kill himself at John's wedding. "We would NEVER do that to John Watson!" is enough to get this suicidal man to ask for John's help.
** But Sherlock did do that to John. And even though he wasn't actually dead, he originally didn't see how his fake death deeply impacted John. It wasn't until it [[AngerBornOfWorry smacked him straight in the face]] that Sherlock even recognized that he owed John an apology. The character development in Sherlock saying "We would NEVER do that to John Watson" is astounding. He recognizes how badly he hurt John, and he knows that Major Sholto's death would likely do something similar. It's his own experience in hurting John and having to make amends that allows him to talk Major Sholto down.
** Major Sholto is, as Mary says, "almost a recluse"; the conversation he has with John implies the two haven't been face-to-face in years, and John doesn't even know where Sholto lives (presumably the wedding invitation was emailed to him or something.) But in the flashback to the table-napkin scene in 221B, John is ''absolutely convinced'' Sholto will be there, even though Mary quietly tells Sherlock that she doesn't think he's coming and points out he hasn't rsvp'ed. And John is right - Sholto does come through for him. It's John's faith in people he loves - just as he entrusted the best man duties to Sherlock, even though everyone thought it would be a disaster - that inspires them to step up and be worthy of it.
* Sherlock's relationship with Archie, John and Mary's young pageboy. He successfully gets a kid who originally refused point-blank to go through with his ceremonial duties. Not only did Archie do them well enough for Sherlock to compliment him on it, but this kid just adores him, throwing himself at him and ''clinging'' to his waist after the ceremony. We're then shown how Sherlock convinced Archie to go through with it... by talking to him like he was an adult and indulging him in gory crime scene photos of maggots in people's eyes and beheadings. Sherlock is really a man-child himself, and it's so clearly demonstrated with how well he gets on with this little boy. The kid was also eager to help solve the case, and Sherlock allowed him to give his opinion. And he was ''right.''
* Sherlock notices that Mary's ex still loves her...so makes an implied threat that he would be watching him closely should the man try and ruin Mary's relationship with John. The man is quite obviously terrified.
* Mary's casual mention that John talks about Sholto all the time to her. Sherlock seems quite jealous of how close John is to his new wife and how much of his past life he's confided in her.
** Mary notices this and hugs Sherlock sympathetically.
--->'''Mary:''' Oh, Sherlock! Neither of us were the first, you know.
* Sherlock's repeated assertions that John's role in their adventures is just as remarkable as his own and more noble: Sherlock may solve murders, but on many occasions, John has saved people's lives.
** Also, his choice of stories to tell during his speech. He chooses two cases that he ''couldn't solve''. In season 2, he objected to John mentioning unsolved cases on the blog--now he's voluntarily recounting them to all of John's wedding guests. The second was chosen as a "funny" and "embarrassing" story about John, but he didn't choose a story that's embarrassing because John couldn't follow Sherlock's deductions or because Sherlock was pulling a trick over on him. Instead, he chose one that's at least as embarrassing for Sherlock as for John.
** Sherlock's absolute ''pride'' in his friend, most notably during telling the story of ''The Bloody Guardsman''. He stares at John with admiration, first when John is demanding that the Major let him examine Bainbridge and then when he's trying to save his life. Remember is from a man who spent the first two series believing that solving the crime was all that matters, not caring for the lives at stake.
* During the drunken "Who am I?" stag night game, Sherlock hilariously takes a bunch of clues that obviously refer to himself and concludes they apply to John. It's played for laughs (particularly "not as tall as people think" and "people don't like you because you tend to rub them up the wrong way"), but one of the clues drunk!Sherlock is sure applies to John? ''Clever.'' Remember in series one, he called him "an idiot", and in series 2, he only admitted he had an ''average'' intelligence.
* Despite no longer living in 221b, John still shows concern when Sherlock doesn't eat, interrupting his Mind Palace scene to ask if he's okay and noting he hasn't touched his food. Considering what John saw Sherlock go through the [[FridgeBrilliance the last time]] he was leaving his breakfast untouched, he obviously isn't ignoring Mary and Mrs Hudson's warnings about the effect his upcoming marriage might be having on Sherlock.
* Sherlock actually manages to befriend and flirt with a bridesmaid, enough to create hints of mutual liking and even attraction, even if nothing comes of it.
** When Sherlock and Janine are practicing waltzing in private, Sherlock says they have to practice because Janine's dancing skills are "appalling." Far from being offended at all, Janine laughs and says "Well, you're a great teacher, and a brilliant dancer." She didn't just brush aside the insult to herself to praise Sherlock's dancing, she praised him as a ''teacher'', and teaching requires interpersonal and communicative skills that most people, Sherlock included, assume he does not have. We later find out he [[FridgeBrilliance also had the skills and patience to successfully teach John to waltz, too.]]
* Not only does it actually occur to Sherlock to ask after Molly's fiance, he even remembers the guy's ''name'' (even if he's guessing a bit). From anyone else that might not seem like such a big deal, but this is ''Sherlock'', who's been as dismissive and derisive of Molly's dates as he was of John's girlfriends. And he still refrains from making a single snarky comment about Tom, which speaks quiet volumes.
** It's also sweet that the moment he thinks he might have accidentally insulted Molly by implying that she has a drink problem he tries to make it up by complimenting her and asking about how her relationship is going.
* Sherlock snapping at John to "keep [his] wife under control!" is a bit shocking even for Sherlock, although it's mitigated somewhat by the extreme circumstances. But he makes up for it a minute later by kissing her on the forehead, echoing his kiss on Molly's cheek after he humiliated her. He clearly cares about this woman for her own sake and not just because she's important to John.
* When Sherlock calls John to arms to try to save Sholto, his immediate reaction is to turn and kiss his wife.
** And when she goes against his wishes and follows them out, he doesn't for a second try to send her away or act annoyed that she has a mind of her own. They run up two sets of stairs hand in hand, and when Sherlock tells him to control her, John tells Sherlock she's right.
* Mary has only known Sherlock for a few months and she, unlike John, can tell when he's lying.
** All the scenes where it's obvious that Mary adores Sherlock. After they've found out Mary is [[spoiler: pregnant]], Sherlock tells them to go dance, and it's Mary who tearfully reaches for Sherlock and asks; "What about you?"
* Sherlock wasn't just John's best man. He was practically the wedding planner. He helped organise the colours, the napkins, the music, the seating arrangements, as well as seeing to the guests and others involved in the ceremony. All John asked of him was to make a speech. But Sherlock heard John when he said that this would be the biggest day of his life and Sherlock, for all his cynicism about weddings, was determined to make it ''perfect''.
* Despite everything, Sherlock still thinks about [[spoiler: Irene. And while he thinks about her in her "battle dress", she does not outwit him or manipulate him or hit him or slap him... she tenderly caresses his face.]]
* Doubles as a TearJerker: when Mary and John are waltzing, Molly isn't smiling and watching them - she is smiling and watching ''Sherlock'' play the violin for them.
** Similarly, when Mary and John go off to dance, Sherlock looks around and, seeing he is alone, leaves the wedding. Molly notices and looks visibly upset to see him go. She may have a boyfriend, but she still very much care for Sherlock.
* The skill and effort that Sherlock puts into his best man duties are ridiculously heartwarming. As he says in the episode, he doesn't really grasp exactly why the wedding day is so important to John, but he goes out of his way to make it as special and as personal an experience as he can muster. Observe the pub crawl Sherlock organises for the stag; firstly, how far it puts Sherlock out of his comfort zone, considering he's rarely seen eating, never mind recreationally drinking; and, more importantly, precisely how much effort he puts into the whole thing. He shuns conventional pub crawl ideas, instead favouring the "personal touch", he enlists Molly to help him work out the exact amount of beer necessary to have the best possible time, and he ends up totally pissed in 221B, to the extent that John's finishing his catchphrases. That's an impressively thoughtful stag night by anyone's standards, but for Sherlock? It's an unprecedented amount of care and attention paid by a character who has a notorious lack of awareness or respect for the wishes of others.
** Many of Sherlock and John's interactions during the stag night are just completely adorable. The fact that it's just the two of them and John doesn't seem to kick up any fuss about none of his other friends being invited (though he might not care if thinking, from ''Many Happy Returns'', [[FridgeBrilliance all his other friends hate him]]). When Sherlock is drunk after John accidentally spikes his drink and starts a fight with a stranger, John quickly rushes in to rescue his friend and drag him away before he gets beaten up. The two of them then return home ready to have a 'cosy' nap together ''on the staircase'' before Mrs. Hudson wakes them. The whole 'Who Am I?' game scene with the two of them giggling at each other is precious. It should also be noted that, when Tessa is explaining the case to the boys, it's the only time in the series we see them sat on the sofa ''together'' rather than in their separate chairs as they usually do when interviewing a client. Sherlock even starts falling asleep at one point with his arm around John before waking up.
** Sherlock organised a memorable stag, looked after the best interests of his friend's relationship, played a huge role in wedding planning, give a speech that reduced members of the audience to tears, set a lovelorn bridesmaid up with a suitable guy to the apparent detriment of his own happiness, wrote a waltz specifically for the bride and groom, and delivered the happy news that Mary was pregnant. Oh, and he solved two outstanding mysteries and prevented the murder of John's beloved commanding officer to boot. He was a best man worthy of the name, despite all of his natural limitations.
* The relationship between John and Mary showcased in the scene where Sherlock is fretting over table napkins and John is barely listening and searching for cases on his phone (because Mary asked him to, as well as because wedding planning bores him.) When Mary discovers John's cousin hates her, she doesn't seem offended, just surprised. She actually checks over her shoulder to see that John isn't paying attention before lowering her voice and asking Sherlock "Who else hates me?" She knows John, who is so protective of people he loves, would probably go ballistic if he found out there was an entire list worth of wedding guests who hate his bride-to-be, even if Mary doesn't care what they think.
** And the fact that Sherlock wrote up the list beforehand means he anticipated her asking. He could have remembered it, if it was just for his benefit. He wrote it down, ''having recognized that Mary would want to know, and that saying it out-loud might hurt John's feelings.''
* In this episode we meet John's commanding officer for the first time, and multiple times he is compared to Sherlock. Between their distaste for public appearances, antisocial behavior, their life being threatened, John... etc the do seem very similar. Even Major Sholto notices in his first actual conversation with the detective, and Sherlock agrees. Consider this when rewatching the series. There are so many times John stops everything to do what Sherlock tells him to do, usually with out a please, thank you, or even an explanation. John drops everything to do menial tasks like hand him a phone, as well as go far out of his way to follow an order. Never once does he refuse. It's sweet that John is so loyal to Sherlock, but it's touching when you think that maybe, just maybe, John does this because Sherlock reminds him of the commanding officer that John clearly loves and even looks up to. Mycroft asks John if he's seen the battle field when he spends time with Sherlock and it's clear that the answer is yes. The two haven't even done anything dangerous yet and John already feels like he's back in the action. Perhaps it's because his new flatmate subconsciously reminds him of his own commanding officer.

-->'''Sherlock:''' Mary and John. Whatever it takes, whatever happens, from now on I swear I will ''always'' be there. Always. [[FreudianSlip For all three of you.]]
** It's not just the vow itself that's heartwarming, but the fact that he ''unconsciously'' counts the baby. He only realized at some point that day, he hasn't told them yet, and it might not even be a ''fetus'' yet, but he's already made up his mind that it's included in his vow — to the extent he forgets ''not'' to mention it.
** Also the fact that the only vow he plans to make in his life is reserved for John Watson and his family.
* It's small, but during the charades game when John asks for a hint about what woman he is, asking if he's a "pretty" woman, Sherlock tells him that beauty is nothing but a construct informed by childhood experiences and role models. Sherlock may be full of himself, but he's incredibly nonjudgmental. Petty qualities that ordinary people pay attention to - like looks - don't even matter to him.

* Mycroft rescuing Sherlock from a cell in Serbia. Despite Sherlock thinking his brother enjoyed seeing him beat up, this seems to not be the case, with Mycroft personally going to bring his brother home, instead of sending one of his agents.
--> '''Mycroft:''' You're safe now.
* The very first thing Sherlock asks about when returning to London, brushing off what information Mycroft is trying to tell him about the terrorist plot.
-->'''Sherlock:''' What about John Watson?
** There is something rather cute [[TearJerker (and maybe a little bit sad)]] about Sherlock's naive expectation that his best friend will be so happy that he's alive.
--->'''Sherlock:''' I think I'll surprise John. He'll be delighted!
* On the above, Mycroft admits that he's kept an eye on John... for ''two whole years...'' so much so that he knows where John has a date that night (and, judging by his hints about the champagne menu, he also suspects John will be proposing to Mary, and that Sherlock would not be welcome there and then.) Anthea has John's file immediately on hand to give Sherlock. Since John's assassin in ''The Reichenbach Fall'' was "invited to reconsider" by Mycroft's men, he doesn't seem to have ever been under real threat since Sherlock's "suicide." Mycroft looked out for John both out of deference for the absent Sherlock and because ''he actually cares about him.''
* Sherlock subtly and not-so-subtly telling Mycroft that he needs to [[spoiler:make some friends]].
** What's more, we finally see for the first time that Mycroft and Sherlock really ''are'' friends and their bantering in past episodes really ''was'' just playful brotherly banter. Crosses into TearJerker territory with the implications that Sherlock is Mycroft's only friend and, before John, Mycroft was Sherlock's.
** Mrs. Hudson's commentary as the two brothers talk.
--->'''Mrs. Hudson:''' He's secretly pleased to see you under all that.\\
'''Mycroft:''' Sorry, which one of us?\\
'''Mrs. Hudson:''' Both of you.
* We finally get to see Sherlock and Mycroft's parents. And they, from what we can see, are ''completely normal, friendly people''. After all the dire speculation about them, it's kind of sweet. Although considering who they are, there's probably some ObfuscatingStupidity going on...
** Sherlock does eventually promise them that he'll get in touch more often.
** Plus, they were played by [[spoiler: Benedict Cumberbatch's real life mother and father]]. D'awwww.
** The fact that cold, distant Mycroft ''promised to take his parents to a matinee of Les Mis'' and actually went through with his promise, even though he describes it as pain and horror and abjectly begs Sherlock to take over. He doesn't just make an excuse about being busy and refuse to take them at all.
** Then there's the fact that [[spoiler: Mr and Mrs Holmes]] are dressed very similarly to John and Sherlock. Apart from the fact that we now know that the great Sherlock Holmes [[spoiler: dresses like his mother,]] it gives us a clue as to why Sherlock took such an immediate liking to John- consciously or unconsciously, John reminds Sherlock of [[spoiler: his father]].
* Mary immediately gets on well with Sherlock - probably having heard all about his quirks already from John - and doesn't hesitate to encourage John to go hang out with him again. Plus the fact that [[spoiler: when she figured out someone was sending her threatening messages about John she went straight to Sherlock despite just having met the man in person.]]
** Sherlock barges his way back into John's life right in the middle of what is pretty obviously a marriage proposal to her, pisses John off so much that they get kicked out of three restaurants, keeps trying to make jokes at John's expense instead of explaining himself properly - and she still decides she likes him and that John needs to make up with him. She's able to see past all his eccentrics (and the fact that he was accused of being a mad criminal a few years ago) and recognize that he really does love John and he really is sorry for upsetting him. And when she sees John is shaving off his mustache the next day, she playfully jokes about him doing it because ''Sherlock'' didn't like it in a way that suggests she is completely fine with John doing things because Sherlock said so. And John half-proposes to her right then and there, with a lot more confidence than he had in the restaurant, because she's the first girlfriend to get his relationship with Sherlock.
** Rather tellingly, Sherlock actually takes the time to do a SherlockScan of Mary and seems pleasantly surprised with what he finds. Remember, this is the same guy who in "A Scandal in Belgravia" appeared to either never bother to get to know John's girlfriends or intentionally mixed them up with past girlfriends in an effort to annoy them.
*** Becomes more HeartwarmingInHindsight. WordOfGod is the reason Sherlock didn't pick up on the fact that she's [[spoiler:an assassin]] is that he ''wanted'' to like her. John's happiness means enough to him that he subconsciously ignored any red flags so he wouldn't ruin their relationship.
* Sherlock asking Molly to help him solve a crime. Everything he says to her is so sweet and shows how much their friendship has shifted since the second series.
-->'''Molly:''' Should I be taking notes? John says that's what he does, so if I'm being John –\\
'''Sherlock:''' You're not being John, you're being yourself.
** And after the case is done, when he congratulates her on being engaged, complete with a kiss on the cheek.
---> '''Sherlock:''' I hope you'll be very happy, Molly Hooper. You deserve it.
* Lestrade giving Sherlock a hug when he comes back. Though at first, especially considering John's reaction (at least ''three times''), his sharp indrawn breath seems to indicate that he's coming in for a punch... And then the hug, instead. D'aww.
** Fridge heartwarming, if it could be called that - John repeatedly failed to recognise Sherlock when he was standing right in front of him. After two whole years, Lestrade recognised Sherlock by briefly hearing his voice. He instantly ''believes'' in him, despite how convinced he was of Sherlock's death. He asks no immediate questions and embraces him without hesitation, even if he does acknowledge he's been a "bastard." This is the reaction [[TearJerker Sherlock clearly wanted from John.]]
* [[spoiler: One line from John. "Of course I forgive you."]] Sherlock's face really says it all.
* Sherlock actually trying to comfort a woman who's stopped hearing from her online boyfriend and is clearly heartbroken. And when he figures out that the woman's stepfather was posing as said boyfriend to break her heart, he seems genuinely ''angry''.
* This is the most…domestic…we’ve ever seen Sherlock and Mycroft, playing games, being less tense, and you hear a bit about how hilariously weird their childhood was. But the best part is when Sherlock starts to hint that Mycroft is lonely and should get a friend like he did, maybe even a significant other. It’s not just the concern that Sherlock has for his brother that’s heartwarming, it’s HOW it’s implied this concern developed, because there’s no way Sherlock would have felt it before he met John. His retort “how would you know?” isn’t just payback for what Mycroft said in “A Scandal in Belgravia”, it’s a comment on how would ''Sherlock'' have known what it’s like to have any kind of companion until he got one, saying to Mycroft, “take it from someone with a very similar personality, it’s a lot better than you think to have someone to love; especially if you find someone who knows you’re a ‘freak’ but doesn’t care, maybe even likes it!” Sherlock never had a real friend until John, and now he doesn’t want to do this without him. The two years Sherlock spent without John (and even now he’s in the same city again with him but John won’t see him) were more painful than he thought possible, and they’ve changed him just as much as the two years he had WITH John.
** It's implied that the reason Sherlock thought he didn't need friends/emotional attachments in the first place is because his brother convinced him of it. Rather than being angry at his brother because he kept him from figuring out he wanted friends for a long time, he recognizes that Mycroft thought he was doing the right thing and tries to convince him otherwise. After he's had to go into hiding for years because of his emotional attachments to people and still hasn't properly made up with John, no less.
** Sherlock recognizes the benefits of having friends, and he cares about his brother enough to try and get him to see those benefits too.
** Mrs. Hudson's face after the above scene, she's so happy to see Sherlock giving his brother emotional advice.
* It’s lovely to see throughout the episode that Sherlock is trying to be more of a human being even without John there to tell him how, though he doesn’t always succeed. He still doesn’t get WHY people react and feel the way they do (‘Why would John be angry with me!?’) but he at least tries to demonstrate empathy when he gets what’s going on. It gives him insight about the isolation of the hat owner, something Mycroft doesn’t pick up on, and it makes him a better detective, just as John’s empathy makes them a better team.
* All the scenes involving just John and Mary. It's obvious that this isn't just another of John's passing girlfriends. She genuinely makes him happy, understands him, doesn't feel threatened by Sherlock but respects how important he is to John. The fact that she's played by Martin Freeman's [[RealLifeRelative real-life partner]], Amanda Abbington, only adds to how natural their chemistry is and how smitten John acts around her.
** The first scene we get of the two of them together is Mary coming with John to visit Sherlock's grave. She doesn't say anything, she just lets him have his moment with his 'dead' friend and then appears to hold his hand. As if John was introducing the two most important people in his life to each other.

--->'''John:''' You're the best thing that could've happened to me.\\
'''Mary:''' I agree.\\
'''John:''' Sorry?\\
'''Mary:''' I agree, I'm the best thing that could've happened to you.
** Also his hesitation. John says; "You're the best... ''[pauses]'' ... yeah. You're the best thing that could've happened to me." It makes it sound like he's weighing what happened with Mary against what could have happened if, at any point, Sherlock returned, and he decided Mary was better for him than Sherlock resurrecting.
** The scene of the two of them together in their bedroom with John shaving off his moustache and Mary reading John's blog. It's so adorable that it's a mixture of heartwarming and CrowningMomentOfFunny. Especially with Mary giddy at the thought of John going to see Sherlock again.
--->'''John:''' Shut up.\\
'''Mary:''' Or what?\\
'''John:''' Or I'll marry you.\\

** Also when Mrs Hudson finally meets Mary, she's clearly very happy for John and warmly welcomes Mary into the fold. Cemented by the final scene when everyone is celebrating Sherlock's return and Mary and Mrs Hudson are sitting together and happily discussing Mary and John's upcoming wedding.
* Everything about Sherlock in the above scene in 221B. Most notably, when Mary gives him a good-natured jab about his interrupting her first proposal, Sherlock, who is pouring champagne (remember what a miserable git he'd been at Christmas several years before? He's learning to relax and celebrate) gives her the most adorable, shamefaced, affectionate ''smile.''
** John tells him the journalists outside are waiting for him and want the full story of the terrorism case he solved. Sherlock smiles and mutters that the journalists can wait - his friends are in the living room having a little celebration in honour of John and Mary's engagement. Sherlock has just blatantly pushed aside an opportunity to go outside and show off at length about how clever he is and instead concentrate on John and Mary's happiness, even though he outright says weddings are not his thing and he really doesn't understand why marriage is important to people.
** And then when Molly's fiancé turns up, Sherlock most notably does ''not'' deduce him into the ground, say anything rude, or even point out his obvious resemblance to himself. He just shakes his hand and excuses himself.
* Repeatedly Sherlock attempts to diffuse John’s grief and rage by making him laugh, though his methods of inspiring this laughter are characteristically in bad taste and almost always make things worse. He disguises himself, tricks John into thinking they’re going to die, bursts in on his new life and makes insultingly flippant remarks, but WHY is he so bent on making John crack up? Because, no matter how much John loves Mary, he still looks so old, tired and sad…until the layers of armour are stripped away and he’s sharing a joke with his best friend again. “I can’t be seen with an old man” isn’t just vanity, he wants the old John back for both of their sakes.

** And the later scene in 221B when he asks "how are you feeling?" The look on his face is almost a TearJerker, practically screaming "oh God, I was so worried about you."

-->'''John:''' I asked you for one more miracle. I asked you to stop being dead.\\
'''Sherlock:''' I heard you.
** The way Sherlock says the last line is so soft and gentle. As if he's saying, "I stopped being dead, for you. It's okay now."
** This is followed by a call back to the scene earlier with Sherlock and Mycroft discussing the hat, which culminated in Sherlock making a point that the guy didn't care about the hat regardless of how ridiculous it was, by putting on the deerstalker he utterly ''despised'' in series 2, because he no longer cares that the hat makes him look stupid or weird, his friends love him regardless.
* Small one, but Sherlock now calls Anderson "Phillip" (his name) and made an effort to call Lestrade "Greg" (though he got it wrong.)
** In the last scene with Anderson, Sherlock also (standoffishly, but still) completely absolves Anderson of the guilt he felt over his "death", saying he was right all along (a brief hint that ''Anderson was cleverer than anyone else'' for guessing it, even if his conspiracy theories were hilariously wrong.) And when Anderson starts sobbing, Sherlock awkwardly pats his shoulder in an attempt at comforting him.

* Mrs Hudson realises Sherlock needs help... so kidnaps him, handcuffs him, ''throws him into the boot of her Aston Martin'' and '''''absolutely fucking books it the length of the town to find John''''', who ''can'' help.

* The final shot of Sherlock and John walking together, side-by-side, smiling at one another. One man who at the start of this episode was "so alone" and another who "didn't have friends"; now they have each other and they're both so ''happy''.

-->'''Mary:''' Sherlock is the cleverest man in the world, but he is not a monster.
-->'''John:''' Yes he is.
-->'''Mary:''' Okay, he is! But he's ''our'' monster.

-->"She's beautiful. Perfect. Unprecedented in the history of children. And that's not just me being biased, that's scientific fact!"

-->"This is ''my'' house, and this is ''my'' friend..."

--> [[spoiler: Mary: Attaboy.]]

-->Lestrade: Sherlock Holmes is a great man. And I think one day, if we're very, very lucky, he might even be a good one.

* A man's weak point should not normally be considered as a heartwarming but in this case it is. Sherlock, this genius who does not need anything from anyone and who is apparently very arrogant and self-centeric – he solves crimes for fun after all – has a weak point to give up his life in order to keep friends away from hurt.
** He is too clever not to choose this way when there are other ways to save his friends. Anyway it seems such an obvious fact about him that Moriarty plans his whole scheme to make him kill himself based simply on it.
* John's reaction to Mycroft asking him to watch out for Sherlock "if it's not too much trouble." He's been hostile and bitchy to Mycroft throughout the entire conversation so far, but here he just looks wry, nods very slightly, and leaves. Before closing the door behind him, he actually ''smiles'' at Mycroft. Of course John's going to keep an eye out on Sherlock. But it was touching that Mycroft had to lower himself to ask for that help from John, and John seems to "get" that. (Further to this, John may have an idea that it explains why Mycroft was even ruder to him earlier than usual- to the extent of ''trolling'' him, and making nasty incredulous remarks about Sherlock having friends. In order to say something heartfelt to John, he had to give him a hard time first.)
* Sherlock's efforts to find the children. We've seen him bribe the Homeless Network before, but here it's implied that he had next door to an entire ''army'' of people out looking all over London for the right site. He comments that he's bribed them, which probably cost him a small fortune of his own money. We know that Sherlock loves solving cases simply for his ego and so that he can always be right, but here it really does seem that he also wanted to find the children for more compassionate reasons too. (It ties in with the point made below about how he makes a surprising effort to be kind and compassionate toward little Claudette when he first goes in to interview her. On some level, he really honestly cares about the welfare of those children.)
* John's support of Sherlock during Moriarty's trial. Heartwarming firstly because, even though he knows the papers are already making snide comments about his sexuality and his relationship with Sherlock, it doesn't prevent John from accompanying him to the "trial of the century"- an ''extremely'' high profile situation which was just going to fan those flames. He doesn't seem to care, putting Sherlock's interests before his own (he even takes on the temporary role of Sherlock's ''bodyguard,'' helping protect him from the crowd of reporters and photographers outside 221B and directing him to get into the near side of the police car to avoid them.) Secondly, even more heartwarming, going to Moriarty's trial means John will have to come face to face, for the first time in a year, with the man who tried to kill him in one of the most horrible ways possible. After all, he didn't just pull a gun on John. He strapped him with enough Semtex to (as Lestrade said) "take down a house"- deliberately set up a scenario to make his best friend think he'd betrayed him, and then used him as a mouthpiece against his will. There's a reason victims of violent and serious crimes now are often video linked to the trials of the people who allegedly hurt them- to avoid the trauma of being in the same room with them. Being right there in front of Moriarty must have been upsetting for John. Further heartwarming in that Sherlock seems to appreciate the effort John went to- he pointedly says "you were there for the whole thing, in the gallery from start to finish"- even after he'd been locked up for contempt and John was there on his ''own,'' taking mental note to report to Sherlock later what happened.
* In an odd way, Kitty Riley's devotion to "Richard Brook" is heartwarming. Think about it: she arrives home one night to find that two men- one of whom she believes to be a criminal mastermind of ''epic'' proportions responsible for bombings and kidnappings- have broken into her house and are waiting for her. Sherlock presses her fairly aggressively to give away her source. She ''refuses,'' even though there's no way she can't have felt very threatened by him and by John. For all she knows, Sherlock is going to hurt her. [[labelnote:*]]It's inside the realm of possibility that if Moriarty hadn't stumbled in, [[FridgeHorror Sherlock might have.]] We know he's not had a problem in the past torturing people.[[/labelnote]] When Moriarty arrives, her primary concern is for his safety, and she even attempts to physically protect him from Sherlock. It's misguided, but it's still heartwarming when you look at it this way. She earlier had told Sherlock he could "trust her"- it seems that Moriarty can trust her.
* Sherlock's call to John from the hospital roof was an extreme TearJerker, but it's incredibly heartwarming that the call was ever made in the first place. The very first thing we ever learn about Sherlock? He ''doesn't like talking on the phone'' and much prefers to text. He ''could'' have just texted "Goodbye, John." He ''could'' have left a comment on John's blog. He ''could'' have just jumped and said nothing to John at all. While he spends most of the phone conversation lying to John and trying to convince him he's a fraud in order to complete Moriarty's story, just convincing the snipers (and everyone else) that he was dead would have been quite enough without it. The only really compelling reason for him to be on that phone is because, feeling terrified and completely ''alone,'' he wanted to talk to his best friend- who stepped up and absolutely ''refused'' to believe anything about him being a fraud. Look at his reaction when John tells him that ''he'' could be that clever.
* In the scene where Sherlock asks for Molly's help, he says he's not okay and he thinks he's going to die. Molly says ''once'' "tell me what's wrong," and then switches to "What do you need?" That is ''incredible'' loyalty, not to ask what a person has done or what's going on, but asking what they need. Sherlock's just told her he thinks he's going to ''die.'' Molly doesn't ask (as most of us would) "WHAT? What the hell are you talking about, what's going on? Tell me the whole story." She's addressing his immediate need and putting that above her own desire for information- and implying that she doesn't care who started what or whether Sherlock is to blame (remembering that he's been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping.) She's not interested in judging right and wrong, she simply wants to help. Plus, Sherlock then more or less asks her if she'd help him if she didn't think he was some kind of romantic hero. That she simply asks him again what he needs is the most heartwarming way of saying "yes" possible.
* In the scene where Lestrade goes to the flat for the first time to ask Sherlock down to the station, he comments that he "bets it was Sally Donovan." But even though Donovan has been- er- less than kind to Sherlock in the past (and the feeling is mutual) not once does Sherlock even ''imply'' that Donovan brought up the accusations due to her being stupid or having a vendetta against him. He simply says that Moriarty is ''smart,'' rather than Donovan is ''stupid.'' And we all know that Sherlock thinks practically everyone is stupid. Sherlock nowhere seems to take Donovan's accusations personally or resent her particularly for them.
* There's a reason cops travel in pairs- accountability and safety. When Lestrade, who is on duty, first goes to 221B to ask Sherlock down to the station, he has Donovan with him- but she never gets any further than the front door. Lestrade knows that if she goes up with him things are likely to get very ugly, very quickly. And he's not the least bit apprehensive about going up on his own, because Sherlock and John are his friends, and he trusts them. He's asking Sherlock privately in the desperate hope that he won't have to humiliate him publicly.
* In the scene where Sherlock is arrested, John goes from helpless, frustrated fury to ''cracking jokes'' and wondering aloud who's going to post bail for himself and Sherlock. No doubt part of it was because punching the Chief Superintendant felt great, but also, by being arrested himself he was able to stay close to Sherlock. We've already seen how badly Sherlock does socially without John. Imagine how "well" he'd do in a police interview. John would probably not be allowed with Sherlock in the interview room, but you just know that if they hadn't escaped, he would have tried. John seems to think that as long as he's ''there'' he can protect Sherlock from everything. He's proved [[TearJerker heartbreakingly wrong]] by the end of the episode.
* At the boarding school, Lestrade points out "Miss Mackenzie, housemistress... go easy." Sherlock responds by whipping off her shock blanket and viciously shouting at her. When she gives him the information he needs and begs him to believe her, he says "I ''do''. I just wanted you to speak quickly." His tone, and for a second his facial expression, is surprisingly gentle. And then he announces "Miss Mackenzie will need to breathe into a bag now"- he cared, on some level, that the woman was now hyperventilating, even though it was his fault. He simply saw the need for information, quickly, outweighing the down side of upsetting her further.
** Later, with the kidnapped little girl, we see Sherlock make a ''truly'' concerted effort to be kind to a victim/witness... adjusting his clothes (to look [[FridgeBrilliance more like the much more approachable John]]), speaking kindly and telling the little girl he understands that talking must be difficult for her just now. Which makes it all the more sad that those efforts of kindness and empathy were responded to by the child ''screaming.''
*** When he speaks to her, Sherlock starts with "Claudette..." This is from the man who didn't know Lestrade's first name for five years and who absent-mindedly calls Molly "John." Not to mention that others in this episode refer to Max and Claudette as "the boy" and "the girl"- even Sherlock himself does it when they were actually at the school investigating. He used the little girl's name. He was trying to be kind and empathise with her.
* Although he never did it a lot in the past, in this episode John refuses to criticise Sherlock in front of other people, particularly the police, even when he completely [[WhatTheHellHero deserves a lecture.]] Most heartwarmingly, when they're at the school after the children are kidnapped, John gets down beside Sherlock on the floor and asks "having fun?" in gentle tones. When Sherlock, missing the point entirely, says he's starting to, all John says is "maybe don't do the smiling... kidnapped children...?" It's a far cry from how aggressive he got over Sherlock's treatment of the hostages in ''The Great Game.'' (Remembering that, although they were keeping their voices down somewhat, he and Sherlock got into it over the old woman at the ''police station.)'' The only sort of criticism John will give Sherlock in front of other people now is simply to say his name as a reminder to behave himself, and that's only if it's important that Sherlock ''shuts up right about now'' (for example, when they're trying to find the kidnapped children in the disused factory.) We see John taking Sherlock to task ''privately'' a few times, but in front of others? United front.
** You can particularly see this in the scenes where Sherlock is arrested. Lestrade comes to the flat the first time; John says not one word until he leaves, then tells Sherlock he should have gone with him. They get into an argument about whether John is or isn't loyal to Sherlock. Lestrade calls John to let them know he's on his way with a few cops and an arrest warrant. John's response is to get angry; he gives Sherlock a lecture about "every police officer you've made to feel like a tit, which is a ''lot of people."'' He's not so much blaming Sherlock for his imminent arrest, but pointing out with some justification that things mightn't be THAT awful if he hadn't alienated most of Scotland Yard, who no doubt were going to ''love'' the subsequent arrest. Once the police arrive, John is back to being "100%" on Sherlock's side- so much so that he's threatened, by a friend, with an arrest for interfering with Sherlock's own arrest, and subsequently ends up punching someone for criticising Sherlock.
* When Sherlock comes up with the location of the kidnapped children, Lestrade jumps up and immediately orders everyone to get moving- it takes him about half a second. Donovan looks reluctant. Lestrade believes in Sherlock so much that he instantly believes everything he says and was prepared to rush a whole bunch of cops out to the scene, knowing it wouldn't be an embarrassing false alarm.
** An important thing to keep in mind is that, while the ''audience'' is shown some rather artsy depictions of Sherlock's thought processes, no in ''in-universe'' is privy to any such thing. From the perspective of the police, Sherlock just mutters something about having "people on it," then ''seconds'' later, suddenly announces where the children are, giving no explanation beyond "it matches everything."
* So Sherlock and John are both arrested one night- and the next day, John shows up at the flat again. Mrs Hudson automatically assumes that Sherlock "sorted it out"- the idea that Sherlock might really have kidnapped and poisoned two children apparently never even occurs to her, even though the police apparently had enough evidence to arrest him on suspicion. (She also isn't particularly surprised to see John, which may have led her to assume he'd managed to "sort out" the whole issue of assaulting the Chief Superintendant of Scotland Yard, too.)
* This line from Mycroft:
-->'''Mycroft:''' John... I'm sorry. Tell him, would you?
** Even if you believe that Mycroft didn't simply [[IdiotBall accidentally sell his brother down the river]] over a computer code that Moriarty never divulged to him and which ''never existed,'' and that he and Sherlock had about six aces up each sleeve the whole time, the line is still heartwarming. Who hates apologising? Sherlock. Who hates apologising ''even more?'' Mycroft. Mycroft has also spent the past five or so episodes in constant [[PassiveAggressiveKombat conflict]] with John, who he's consistently tried to one-up. Here, he's not just asking John to pass along apologies to Sherlock. He's also apologising ''to John.'' Even if he doesn't actually mean it and it's part of an act, it would still absolutely gall him to have to say something like that to John- who responds with complete contempt.
* The scene in which Lestrade presents the deerstalker gag gift to Sherlock. John helpfully points out that Lestrade's public remark about Sherlock's "customary diplomacy and tact" was sarcasm, which Sherlock already understands- even though he's not been all that great at picking up sarcasm previously. So he's learning. Even more, though, even though he ''really hates that hat,'' he wholeheartedly takes John's suggestion and just smiles and puts it on, instead of making a scene and cutting Lestrade or the other cops down with some devastating personal remarks (as he has done previously and is prone to do.) Even though he's aware that Donovan and Anderson are laughing at him.
* Although we don't yet know how it all went down, we do know that Sherlock places huge importance, while on the roof, for John to stay where he is and keep his eyes on him. He's too far away to stop him from going into the building if he insisted on it, and he's too far away to really see if John is keeping his eyes on him or not. The whole thing seems to hang on Sherlock being able to trust John to do exactly as he tells him, without knowing why, even though this involves him fighting the urge to look away from something upsetting, and fighting the urge to save his best friend from harm. And John, who has always been totally reliable and said and done exactly as he has promised, does it. It may well turn out that this unquestioning loyal obedience saved both of their lives. In any case, it goes to show how much trust Sherlock has in John.
* This one really is HeartwarmingInHindsight. When John confronts Mycroft over his indiscretion and then storms out, the last thing Mycroft says to him is that he's sorry, and he asks John to tell Sherlock. John gives him a non-commital, frustrated "you are ''unbelievable"'' kind of reaction and continues on his way. There's no scene where John tells Sherlock that he's even seen Mycroft, let alone what they discussed. If John told Sherlock Mycroft was "sorry", he would have to explain what exactly Mycroft was sorry ''for.'' John is under the impression that Sherlock doesn't know. The source of the leak is of no importance in keeping Sherlock safe- it's all out now regardless of where it came from. Ratting Mycroft out to his brother would accomplish nothing but more bad blood between Mycroft and Sherlock, so while John's refusal to pass on Mycroft's apologies seems harsh, his refusal to tell Sherlock that Mycroft had screwed up ''at all'' can be seen as heartwarming. Particularly when John points out that there are exactly ''two'' people on earth who could have been the leak- Mycroft or himself. Sherlock might start to wonder if ''he'' was the leak, but he still won't voluntarily rat out Mycroft.[[note]]This in turn suggests that Sherlock knew exactly where the leak had come from- he doesn't seem surprised that his entire life story has fallen into the hands of others, even though, as aforementioned, only two people alive would know that information. He never seems to even suspect the leak was John. It's entirely possible that Mycroft was playing John, and Sherlock had known from the beginning that his brother had screwed up and accidentally sold him down the river.[[/note]]
** On that note, the fact that John apparently knows so many details on Sherlock's early life, and is the ''only'' one beside Mycroft to know this stuff, is incredibly heartwarming. Even at this stage of their relationship Sherlock is still quite distant, so it's a huge sign of his bond with and trust of John that he would ever discuss issues that are clearly quite private to him. There are huge hints, for example, that Sherlock's family background was not a happy one, and smaller hints (judged on how he was treated at university, where everyone hated him) that his schooling wasn't much of a picnic, either. In any case it's even more interesting in that we the audience aren't told these details either. We're never (so far) even told Sherlock's age.
* There's another implication of John and Mycroft's meetings in ''The Reichenbach Fall,'' and it's heartwarming for Sherlock and rather a TearJerker for Mycroft. John has repeatedly complained that Mycroft doesn't have to keep freaking kidnapping him to talk to him; he can just ''phone him.'' (On one occasion, in Belgravia, he actually does, but that appears to be because kidnapping him was not good logistically just then.) John is now used to Mycroft's people bundling him into a car to take him to an undisclosed location for a chat with Mycroft. These always involve Mycroft asking John to do something for Sherlock; to protect him or look after him in some way. Mycroft, even 18 months after he and Sherlock met John, does not understand that John doesn't need to be kidnapped, threatened, humiliated, bribed or otherwise manipulated into looking after Sherlock. He's John Watson. It's what he ''does.'' It's his full-time job. He's Sherlock's ''friend.'' Mycroft's attitude toward John heavily implies that not only does he not really understand that John is genuinely Sherlock's friend (heartwarming) it implies that Mycroft doesn't understand what a friend even is, because he doesn't seem to have any himself (tearjerker.) Mycroft has "colleagues." He has people who help him advance in his work, and people he helps to advance in theirs. He has Sherlock. He has people he's polite to for his own ends, and one unnamed person (perhaps the guy at the palace) who he refers to as a "friend"; but I sincerely doubt that That Palace Guy would shoot someone to save Mycroft's life, or crash-tackle the craziest bastard in Britain, expecting to die for it, for no other reason than wanting Mycroft to live.
* Molly's first speech to Sherlock in the lab, where she earnestly speaks her heart. She genuinely cares for him, and it's obvious, perhaps... that he cares too. Even if he has difficulty showing it.
-->'''Molly:''' You look sad. When you think [John] can't see you.
** Especially when this speech comes just after Sherlock has more or less said that Jim's being "naughty" is ''Molly's fault.'' He snidely refers to Jim as Molly's "boyfriend" (not even ''old'' boyfriend. She'd 'ended it' with him over a year before!) and downright tells her "for the sake of law and order, Molly, I suggest you forgo all future attempts at a relationship"- as if Molly daring to want a relationship has any connection at all with the kidnapping of two kids. It's by far the cruellest thing he's ever said to her. And she helps him anyway.
* In the above scene, he surprised look of ''plain disagreement'' on Sherlock's face when Molly initially tells him she "doesn't count."
** The look on his face is almost as if to say "what on earth gave you ''that'' idea?" which may be yet another indication that he has, as yet, little to no idea of exactly how badly he treats Molly and how rudely dismissive he sounds whenever he speaks to her.
* Molly comparing Sherlock to her father. Her ''father?'' She's spent four episodes with a massive crush on Sherlock, but now she compares him to someone she's loved in an entirely different way. (Someone she's loved... and lost.) She's not helping Sherlock because she "loves him" in an unrealistic, obsessive, teenage-crush kind of way. She's helping him because she loves him on a deeper and more profound level, a level that is self-sacrificing and has nothing to do with expectations of romance.
* When Molly embarrassedly finishes up, she mentions going to get some crisps, asks Sherlock if he wants something, then says of ''course'' he doesn't. Sherlock protests "Well, maybe I-" but she repeats that he doesn't, and walks off. Sherlock, who's quite happy not to eat for days on end, was prepared to take up her offer, not because he really ''did'' want something, but just to let her do something nice for him- the sort of thing friends do for each other all the time. It's such a small moment, but it seems Sherlock's abruptly realised that sometimes you let people help you, even if you could just help yourself, and you do it for ''their'' gratification as well as your own. It's part of being human and having human relationships.
* Sherlock later telling Molly that she's wrong when she says she doesn't count. Also, that he has ''always'' trusted her.
-->'''Molly:''' What do you need?\\
'''Sherlock:''' If I wasn't everything that you think I am, everything that ''I'' think I am...would you still want to help me?\\
'''Molly:''' What do you need?\\
'''Sherlock:''' ...You.
* Sherlock proves that he trusts Molly; he absent-mindedly calls her "John." She's understandably annoyed and corrects him, but the fact that he accidentally called her John says a lot about how (relatively) affectionate he felt toward her at the time, since John is his best-loved and most-trusted friend.
* Not so much a moment as a running theme...When things are at their most difficult, with the police turning on Sherlock, the papers slamming him as a fake, and Moriarty playing his usual mind games, you wouldn't blame his best friend for questioning who's right. But John never wavers. Not once. [[spoiler: Not even with ''Sherlock'' trying to convince John that he's a fraud]].
** Sherlock tells John to tell everyone that he's a fraud. And what does John do? He writes one sentence in his blog. One sentence. He could have posted what Sherlock told him to, but he doesn't. He writes, "He was my best friend and I'll always believe in him."
*** And comments are disabled. He absolutely refuses to hear anyone else's dissenting opinion. It's not up for discussion. At all.
*** John's resolute statement at Sherlock's grave.
---->'''John:''' No one will ever convince me that you told me a lie.
* The phone call. "Remember when we first met?"
** The whole section is worth a quote. Especially when John gets Sherlock to ''laugh while he's crying.''
--->'''Sherlock:''' I'm a fake.\\
'''John:''' ''Sherlock.''\\
'''Sherlock:''' The newspapers were right all along. And I want you to tell Lestrade, and I want you to tell Mrs Hudson, and Molly — in fact, tell everyone who will listen to you — that I created Moriarty. For my own purposes.\\
'''John:''' Okay, Sherlock, shut up. Shut ''up.'' The first time we met — the first time we ''met'' — you knew all about my ''sister,'' right?\\
'''Sherlock:''' Nobody could be that clever.\\
'''John:''' ''You'' could.
** Sherlock starts to smile when John mentions "the first time we met". It was probably the first time anyone, ever, had straight-up told him he was amazing and extraordinary, and Sherlock's expression when John brings it up says so much about just what John's friendship has meant to him. Which would have made telling John that he'd ''lied to him'' that day even more painful.
** When Sherlock tells John that the reason he knew all about him and Harry was because he 'researched him', watch John's face. He reels back and grits his teeth, clearly trying to control his anger. Just for a second it looks as if he's accepting that it was all a lie. But no, he ''still'' refuses to believe a word of it and is only furious because he knows Sherlock is lying to him. Rather badly too, considering Sherlock wouldn't have been able to research him before Mike introduced them as he hadn't told Sherlock anything about John before then. John isn't just angry because he's being lied to; he's angry because Sherlock actually expects him to fall for it so easily, as if he hadn't done enough in the past eighteen months to prove how loyal he is and always will be.
* Lestrade gets a subtle one when he calls John informing that he's coming with a warrant to arrest Sherlock. He's essentially just tipped off the suspect about the arrest, which could lose him his badge if discovered. To reiterate: He's just put his friendship with Sherlock before his career.
* John's steadfast defence of Sherlock when the police arrive. He runs down to the front door where Mrs Hudson already is; off-screen we hear this:
-->'''John:''' Got a warrant? HAVE you?
-->'''Lestrade:''' ''Leave it'', John.

--->'''John:''' He's not resisting...\\
'''Sherlock:''' It's all right, John.\\
'''John:''' He's not resist- — no, it's ''not'' all right, this is ridiculous!\\
'''Lestrade:''' Get him downstairs, now.\\
'''John:''' You ''know'' you don't have to be –\\
'''Lestrade:''' Don't interfere. Or else I'll arrest you too.
** And of course, Sherlock's line. Even in the middle of his world crashing down around him and the humiliation of being arrested, he himself is quite calm and quiet, and his primary focus is on reassuring John. Extra poignant because this is Sherlock's ''only'' line during the scene- until he and John speak at the police car, that is. He doesn't say anything else to anyone- he doesn't try to protest his innocence or say anything to Mrs Hudson or Lestrade at all. And it's really in TearJerker territory that if John hadn't got himself arrested and ended up on the run with him- something Sherlock couldn't possibly have expected- the last thing he ever said to his best friend ''would'' have been "it's all right, John."
* And the fact that after Sherlock is arrested and the superintendent comes up and starts insulting Sherlock in front of John -- even though Sherlock isn't there -- John loses it and ''punches the superintendent of Scotland Yard'', earning himself an arrest. Also doubles as a {{Crowning Moment of Awesome}}.

* This one is part heartwarming and part [[CrowningMomentOfFunny funny-]] after [[spoiler:the kidnapped girl is terrified of Sherlock]] Lestrade makes every excuse under the sun for it, in defence of his friend. Sherlock appears to be upset about it. so he tries to cheer him up, in his typical snarky way:
-->'''Lestrade:''' Well don't let it get to ya. ''I'' always feel like screaming when you walk into a room. In fact, so do most people. ''[glares at Sgt Donovan]''
** Extra heartwarming when we remember that Lestrade dealt rather aggressively with Sherlock when the girl started screaming- though he was probably only trying to get him away from the child as quickly as possible and panicked a little at how she reacted. It's possible that Lestrade feels guilty about his own reaction, and is wondering if that might be part of why Sherlock seems so pensive, needing him to smooth over the situation by something that functions as "of course, I didn't ''really'' think she had a ''sinister reason'' for screaming like that, Sherlock- shut up, Donovan."
* Another one from Lestrade, when he's up before the Chief Superintendant, getting an ''epic'' bollocking for consulting Sherlock on "twenty or thirty" cases over the past ''six years.'' This guy could have Lestrade's badge for that, and even if he doesn't, he's still ''humiliating'' Lestrade in front of his team and lower ranking officers, including shouting at him and calling him a "bloody idiot." He accepts the name-calling. Lestrade is being careful (well, he doesn't punch the Chief Superintendent) but he never backs down. He tries to justify his decision(s) to use Sherlock, but never apologises for it.
** Which ties in a little with another heartwarming moment earlier, when Donovan snottily points out that "none of our boys" could have solved the kidnapping case on the strength of a footprint. Without any hesitation or misgivings, Lestrade responds "well that's why we need him, he's ''better!''"
* More on Lestrade: he takes a ''ridiculously'' long time to "get" the insinuations Sally Donovan is making about Sherlock. Either he's so touchingly loyal and believes so much in Sherlock's gifts that it ''honestly'' never occurs to him that Sherlock might be a fraud until it's spelled out, or- like John- he knows ''exactly'' what's being implied and he's making a very conscious decision to ignore anything that might indicate Sherlock is implicated in the kidnapping. While the case against Sherlock falls down if you think about it for more than five minutes, it seems that Donovan and Anderson have a rough time getting him to even ''consider'' the idea from that angle- which is ''his job.'' He's a cop. He has to look at crimes from as unbiased a perspective as possible. He doesn't- like Donovan and Anderson- immediately have to conclude that Sherlock is as guilty as sin, but he doesn't seem to question the little girl screaming, and never makes any basic enquiries that would eliminate Sherlock from the investigation.
* John rushing out to be with Mrs Hudson, after learning that she is apparently dying. He's extremely upset, so much so that he misses a few things: Sherlock's pitifully bad acting, and the fact that they're both sleeping in the lab of St Bart's because they're ''fugitives.'' Either it never occurs to John that going to Mrs Hudson will probably result in his re-arrest (or that it may even be a police trap) or he plain doesn't care.
** It's unclear whether the fake phone call was by arrangement of Sherlock or by arrangement of Moriarty himself. If it was Sherlock, he must have known (based on what we've seen in the past, particularly John's defence of her in ''The Hounds of Baskerville'') that Mrs Hudson is the ''only'' person that John would turn on him in order to defend. [[note]]Because really, a more appropriate choice of fake victim would have been ''Harry.'' John is her only family, it seems, so it would make sense for John to be called if she had a medical emergency. It would also make more sense that Sherlock wouldn't go with him to see her. However, John has chosen Sherlock over Harry before, so there was no guarantee that he wouldn't do so again, [[FridgeHorror even if he thought Harry was dying.]][[/note]] If Moriarty set the call up, then ''he'' knew that John loved Mrs Hudson so much that he'd react the way he did, and leave Sherlock on his own in order to go to her.
* When Sherlock calls John from the hospital roof, John answers the call with "Hey, Sherlock. Are you okay?" John's just been through an emotional wringer of first thinking that his landlady/mother figure was dying, then seemingly having to deal with Sherlock being a real asshole about it, only to find out that Mrs Hudson is fine but that he was lied to and made to leave the scene on purpose, then the anxiety and stress of desperately trying to get back to St Bart's. You could forgive him for answering the phone by angrily demanding to know what the hell was going on. But he doesn't sound angry or resentful or aggressive. All he sounds is ''concerned.'' He might be planning on "discussing" the diversion with Sherlock later, but just at that moment his number one priority is making sure that Sherlock's all right. And of course, [[TearJerker he's not.]]
* When John bails Sherlock out after his contempt of court business, Sherlock seems surprisingly sheepish. He takes John's "I told you so" scolding with a very meek "well I can't just turn it on and off...". Later back at Baker Street, when John tells him to stop giving him "The Look", he again seems honestly to want to know what he's doing to annoy John. When John spells it out that he ''doesn't'' know what Sherlock means, so Sherlock's smug assumption that he does is annoying, Sherlock responds by simply explaining it without being condescending or mean about it, and without insinuating that John was somehow stupid for not understanding it the first time around. By this time, Sherlock is really taking most of his public social cues from John; in these scenes he's demonstrating an honest desire to not annoy John and a willingness to be guided or instructed on how to tone down some of his more irritating habits.
** There's a lovely piece of Fridge Heartwarming here too. In ''A Study in Pink,'' Sherlock casually told John that he was an "idiot" regarding the pink case. In ''Baskerville'' John's intellect has gone up in Sherlock's estimation to "average." Here, he's being pulled up for assuming that John is following right along with his deductions, and is ''just as clever'' as he is. And he's being pulled up ''by John himself-'' nowhere in six episodes does John ever pretend to "get" something when he doesn't understand it for ego's sake. He's secure enough in his own intelligence to not feel threatened by Sherlock's, and has never behaved like it's somehow shameful to say "I don't understand" or "It's not obvious to me" or "I don't know."
* In the scene where Sherlock is climbing the furniture looking for the hidden camera, Mrs Hudson starts fretting about it because she's in her "nightie." Perfectly in character for a woman of her age and habits, but she doesn't seem to care about being in her nightie in front of ''Sherlock and John,'' because everyone at Baker Street is so familiar with each other that it's just not a "thing" now.
* Lestrade's reaction to Sherlock and John escaping. Yeah, Sherlock has a gun to his best friend's head. Yeah, the supposed psychopathic genius has a loaded gun. And Lestrade's reaction is more along the lines of, 'Christ, I have to deal with another mess he's made,' rather than, y'know, actually showing any sort of panic at the psychopathic genius with a hostage and loaded gun running about.
** Not only does Sherlock have a hostage; the 'hostage' is ''John,'' Lestrade's friend. The fact that Lestrade is clearly not all that concerned about John's safety says all you need to know about how he feels about Sherlock and his innocence- Lestrade ''knows'' Sherlock wouldn't dream of actually shooting John.
** Lestrade's situation in this scene is a borderline TearJerker- he's forced to arrest two of his best friends against his will and better judgment. When they escape, he does everything possible to help them, by ordering the other cops to stay back and then, after they make their escape, stalling as much as humanly possible before reluctantly going after them. Moreover, Sherlock and John end up at St Bart's. In the lab. Where they practically live anyway. There is no way that Lestrade didn't at least ''suspect'' that they might be there, but he apparently never goes looking for them.
*** Which also sort of ties in with the earlier moment where Sherlock rather adorably and sadly touched Lestrade's forehead and told him he needed to be strong against the niggling doubts forming in his mind. Lestrade was doing that; despite all the supposed evidence, despite Sherlock's stunt, which really didn't help his case at all, Lestrade still believed in Sherlock's innocence and genuineness.

* Calling someone an annoying dick is generally not considered heart warming in the slightest but...
--> '''John:''' No. I know you're for real.\\
'''Sherlock:''' One hundred percent?\\
'''John:''' Nobody could fake being such an annoying dick all the time.
** ''Why'' this is heartwarming comes from what John is implying. By this time, unlike most of the world, John isn't overawed by Sherlock or intimidated by his genius or his snark. He sees him, as far as possible, for who he ''really is,'' and that includes him often being ''such an annoying dick.'' He's supporting Sherlock not because he's got the wrong idea about the sort of person he is, or because he's in it for the reflected glory; if he was, he'd have jumped ship the minute the shine started to wear off Sherlock's media image. But he's his friend, in it for better or worse, and not even the worst of Sherlock's particularly dickish behaviour is going to stop that. Aww.
** It's also an excellent contrast to ''The Great Game'' which shows John becoming increasingly agitated by Sherlock's cold behaviour until he finally snaps and has a borderline [[HeroicBlueScreenOfDeath HBSOD]] when Sherlock forces him to face up to the fact that he isn't the great and good hero John thought he was. In this episode, John knows what an "annoying dick" Sherlock can be, he knows he isn't perfect and has serious problems with empathy. He's spent the majority of the series either being ignored by Sherlock (like in ''Scandal'') or cruelly manipulated (''Baskerville''). Seeing as how the rest of the world is turning against Sherlock, John probably has more reason than any of them to join in, but not ''once'' throughout the entire episode does his faith waver or he even questions the possibility that Sherlock is a fraud or a criminal. That is until he receives the phone-call about Mrs. Hudson where John [[TearJerker finally does abandon him]] only because Sherlock [[BreakHisHeartToSaveHim needed him to believe he was a 'machine']].
** Also, because after John's punchline, just for a second, both he and Sherlock look like they might be about to smile. In much the same way they reacted to John's "because you're an idiot" in ''A Study in Pink.'' That they ''don't'' smile or laugh is testament to how serious the situation really is, but you can still see the cameraderie by their expressions.
* Sherlock deducing that the little boy would have left the clue with the linseed oil, from seeing detective stories amongst his belongings. It's implied, but not said, that Sherlock was easily able to make the deduction about what the boy was like and what he was likely to have done, because ''Sherlock'' had once been that lonely kid at boarding school, obsessed with spy and detective stories. If this is true, then it has to be one of the first, if not ''the'' first time that Sherlock has directly used empathy to arrive at an important deduction.
** To take it one step further, another interpretation would be that Sherlock was not only that lonely kid at boarding school, obsessed with detective stories, but that he was ''kidnapped as well'' as a child (coming from a rich family, he would've been a likely target), and that Moriarty (having access to Sherlock's life story by now) deliberately conducted the crime in a way that would mirror Sherlock's own abduction (presumably both to screw with Sherlock as well as to make Sherlock connect the dots in a way that is more suspicious than normal.) It also explains why he's so unexpectedly vicious to the teacher who was supposed to be taking care of the kids - he would have a lot of resentment for irresponsible authority figures after that - the "I just wanted you to speak quickly" thing being just a cover, since it's hardly the first time he's impatient with a witness, but he's never gone to the trouble of outright ''attacking'' them like that before.
* John calling Sherlock "the best man [that he's ever known]" at his friend's grave. As well as being a line [[MythologyGag from the original books]], it's also a lovely CallBack to the times when Sherlock has referred to John as his "best man".
* After everything that John has ever done for Sherlock, John finally asks Sherlock for just one thing in return. "Don't be dead. Would you do that just for me?" Yes. He does.
** To add to the above scene, the fact that Sherlock is there, watching John from afar. The placing of the gravestone and how overgrown the burial mound is shows that a considerable amount of time has passed since he faked his death. And yet, Sherlock is still watching over John to make sure he's safe. It's a mix of heart-warming and [[TearJerker tear jerker]] to wonder how often he looks in on John, watching his friend grieve without being able to show himself or comfort him. And John, all the while, not knowing that Sherlock is alive and still protecting him.
* The look on Donovan and Anderson's faces when explaining their theory to Lestrade, that Sherlock may be the kidnapper...neither of them look happy about it. No matter how much Anderson and Donovan profess to hate Sherlock and vice versa, neither really ''wants'' to believe Sherlock is guilty - or else they'd be positively gleeful at the suggestion. Either they don't hate Sherlock nearly as much as they claim to, or Donovan has a soft spot for kids. I'd think it's the former, though; like with Lestrade, Donovan's response to Sherlock taking John as his hostage is to just roll her eyes.
* When Moriarty stumbles in on the scene at Kitty's flat, John doesn't for ''one second'' believe anything he or Kitty says. He confidently challenges Kitty to "explain", but he barely glances at the "proof"- he's not interested. The ''only'' person's explanation that he'll accept is Sherlock's, even though the case seems to be material proof vs Sherlock's say-so. Just ''how'' trusting and loyal John is toward Sherlock is really highlighted here, because this scene had some fans thinking Jim really ''was'' Richard Brook- and made many more seriously question whether it was at least ''possible'' that Sherlock really was a fraud and that Moriarty never existed. John doesn't question this at all.
* This episode is packed full of moments where John demonstrates how protective he is of Sherlock. But there's one subtle moment near start of the episode that proves how it goes both ways. When Sherlock is approached by Kitty in the Men's before Moriarty's court case, he's initially dismissive of her and shows no interest in wasting any time with her. Then Kitty threatens to write about him and John being "more than just platonic" and that's when Sherlock turns on her. He knows John is upset by what his press nickname "''Bachelor'' John Watson" implies and while Sherlock doesn't care what people say about him, he knows that John cares and he doesn't want John to endure any further humiliation. Sherlock doesn't simply make some tactless deductions about Kitty, he enjoys verbally ripping her to shreds for daring to bring John's name into things. Shame that this act of defence on his best friend's behalf is what comes back to aid in his downfall later in the episode.
** Moriarty gives us some excellent foreshadowing during his 'tea party' with Sherlock:
---> '''Moriarty:''' Everyone has their pressure point. Someone who they want to protect from harm.
** The very next thing Sherlock asks is how Moriarty intends to ''burn'' him and Moriarty replies that he already told him. A few lines later he talks about how adorable ordinary people are and makes a point of reminding Sherlock; "You know. You've got John." It's possible that Sherlock understood Moriarty's intentions from that moment as Sherlock becomes noticeably more tense after that. He may as well be confirming for anyone who hasn't been paying enough attention this series that yes, John is his pressure point and he would go to any lengths to protect him [[note]his mind seems be already made on this before he has to think that Mrs. Hudson and Lestrade are targets as well[[/note]]. Which, in the end, [[TearJerker he does]].
* Sherlock committing (fake) suicide to save the lives of his three friends. The moment which [[WordOfGod Stephen Moffat]] himself described as the turning point for Sherlock from being a ruthless, potentially amoral man to becoming a real hero. Even though he doesn't literally die for them, he allows himself to be smeared as a criminal, his genius discredited and goes into hiding, leaving behind everything he knows and lives for, just to protect those he loves. It's the first truly selfless act he ever does as it [[TearJerker leaves him with nothing in the end]]. Though it seems cruel for him to make his friends grieve unnecessarily, even a mind that isn't as narrow and logical as Sherlock's would still argue that it was better they mourn him than be dead themselves. Not to mention he has no other choice but to remain 'dead' for as long as necessary to carry on protecting them. Kind of makes you feel bad for the guy in advance when the warmest welcoming he's most likely going to receive on his return is a punch to the face. That's if he's lucky.
* In his "note", Sherlock not only apologises to John (which can function as an apology for what he's about to do) but also tells him that he researched him, trying to find out everything he could about him in order to impress him. He's telling John that he ''cared'' enough about John's approval that he wanted to impress him. Earlier in the episode Sherlock had explicitly said he didn't care what other people thought.
* Even if the only point of this was to make their get-away easier and to avoid hurting their wrists, every viewer in the country let out a collective 'aww' at these three words:
--> '''Sherlock:''' Take my hand.
** While avoiding having the handcuffs chafe their wrists is the most logical reason for this, there's nothing to say there wasn't more to this moment. In fact the reason behind it is never mentioned and it's only afterwards that John tells Sherlock that they need to ''co-ordinate''. After that, John clutches Sherlock's sleeve or they don't bother at all. It could possibly be that, in that moment after more or less "proving" to the police that he is a criminal and forced to go on the lam, Sherlock honestly wanted some physical reassurance that he still had his best friend with him and that they were in this together. The next time they properly hold hands is when they jump in front of the oncoming bus.
** What was originally a cute line in the midst of all the tension becomes a [[TearJerker tear jerker]] later in the episode when John tries to take the hand (or rather, the wrist) of Sherlock's corpse and has to have his fingers prised off by the crowd to keep him away. The same goes for when Sherlock is on the roof and the shot of their outstretched hands makes it look as if they're reaching out to each other.
* Lestrade being one of the three friends which Sherlock would kill himself in order to protect. We knew that John was a given, he'd already been used as collateral against Sherlock twice, as has Mrs. Hudson who we've seen that he loves like a mum. But Lestrade? We've not seen any example so far of Sherlock showing concern, affection or even much respect for the D.I. In the previous episode Sherlock didn't even know his first name and was incredibly rude to him for just showing up when Lestrade only wanted to help them. We've seen Lestrade show loyalty and trust in Sherlock as well as being willing to go against the law for him several times but there's been little to no examples of Sherlock doing anything as heartwarming for him in return. Now we find out that, despite his ungrateful attitude, he really does care about Lestrade and is willing to throw himself off a building to save his life.
** When he got warned by Lestrade that he was about to be arrested, he did choose to stay and let this happen, rather than flee. He knew that suspicion would likely fall on Lestrade if he was not present, so he chose to stay and get himself arrested, ''then'' attempt an escape, rather than go on the run outright (which would have been considerably easier) in order to protect Lestrade.

* The fact that [[spoiler:[[ButtMonkey Anderson]], of all people is convinced that Sherlock is coming back and is trying to convince Lestrade of the fact.]]
* On that note, the gentle way Lestrade tells Anderson to "take care" and promises to try to get him his job back.
* [[spoiler: Sherlock's birthday video ends with this.]]
* The fact that a beaming Inspector Prakesh of New Delhi addresses only-one-friend Sherlock as "my friend", and wants him to take credit for a case he solved.
* Heartwarming when you think about it - Sherlock tells Lestrade that all of John's friends hate him, but he doesn't include Lestrade himself in that comment. Given that Lestrade refers to John as "an old friend" in his absence, looks in on him, cares how he's doing, and thinks to give him Sherlock's old things, John's been left with at least one genuine friend who doesn't hate him.

* After a drugged Sherlock is taken home and wakes up later, he calls for John, who appears to have been sitting in the kitchen at the time. John doesn't come across as overly worried or sympathetic as he puts Sherlock back into bed, but he does say he'll be "next door" if Sherlock needs him. [[Except FridgeBrilliance]], John's bedroom is upstairs and the living room is two rooms away. For the time being, John was apparently hanging out in the kitchen, on his own, so that, if Sherlock needed him or called out, he'd hear it straight away and be on hand.

* Sherlock is obviously very disturbed when he realises 221b has been broken into, especially when he sees the hints that Mrs. Hudson is in trouble. This then upgrades into TranquilFury once he looks at her beaten state with his SherlockScan. Sherlock maintains a stoic attitude, but during this scene, we get to look inside his head and, with him glancing at her abuser, we see the abuser's body getting littered with the subtitles from the SherlockScan, but all listing the various body parts, organs and blood vessels Sherlock can use to inflict terrible pain upon the man.