Let me remind you that Sherlock owns 23 and 24 Leinster Gardens. He owns these two big properties, but, when a cute soldier comes in, HE'S TOO POOR TO AFFORD A FREAKING FLAT ALONE

surface nonsense, absolutely.

metaphorically, hmm... a house might represent the self, or one's life situation. an empty facade, a bolthole, a bleak, narrow hallway: seems pretty lonely and dire. on the other hand it's a ventilation shaft for the trains, trains in tunnels. so there's air (thought) and trains (classic filmspeak for libido) so not totally depressed.

@ebaeschnbliah @possiblyimbiassed @raggedyblue @sagestreet

anyone else still into metaphorical readings? apologies to OP if this isn't where you wanted it to go, but nearly every time there's a bit of utter nonsense on the surface, it turns out to have a metaphorical reading that makes a bit more sense.

I don’t think it was ever about money in the show. (Look at how he dresses, the fees he refuse and how mrs Hudson easily would let them stay for free.)

I think Sherlock might have looked for a flat mate because he can’t really live by himself. (Though he does point out in ASIP that “together we might be able to afford it”, so I dunno.)

@sarahthecoat This is exactly where I wanted it to go. Thank you. Thank you to all the people in this fandom reading between the lines. THIS, the metaphorical, symbolic reading, THIS is why I'm here. Thank you.

(Also the trains for libido??? Is that true? There is some deducing to do about S3 because there are trains everywhere)

glad we found each other! the metaphorical reading is the one i keep coming back to also, though i enjoy reading all the theories and interpretations. fandom is broad and we bring so many different views to the story.

trains, especially trains going into tunnels, have been a cinematic metaphor for sex for a long, long time. not the only possible metaphor, but very commonly used. and in a show that seems to be all about sherlock's brain vs his body, it's not a reach. yes, there are trains everywhere in the show. i think it's interesting that trains figure prominently in TGG also, but only above ground. in TEH they go underground, and in HLV at last we have that ventilation shaft, linking the two states.

oh, and @alltingfinns brings up the money aspect. money is also a rich metaphor. it can be a substitute for emotions (even irl!) for example. so in ASIP, "together we can afford it" could mean "we'll both be much happier together" (so true!). mrs hudson's family discount represents her affection and gratitude. sherlock may scoff at money (sentiment) but he does always seem to have plenty!

The latest @chanceorchesspod episode has got me thinking about the title “The Blind Banker” as a play on ACD’s poem “The Blind Archer” in the context around money that S4 has added. The sentiment of the poem is basically “Love is Blind”, Love can change the plans you set for yourself, etc. The people in the poem are all people who either don’t see love as something “for them” – the old chaperone at a dance (i.e. not dancing, not seeking a partner), the clerk taking a vow of celibacy – or love matches of apparent opposites – the king eloping with “Miss No-one on Nothing a year“, and then this pair:

…I mean, that’s a pair, right? A member of the soberest club in Pall Mall, and an old veteran drinking his port? Otherwise, why are we scolding Cupid when a clubbable veteran who likes port falls in love? That seems fine? Where’s the contrast, the blindness of Love? I suppose the drinking at the “soberest club” could be seen as like, depression/having given up hope of love, but both readings seem at least plausible?? This isn’t even what I started this post to say, but what the hell, if those are two people they are both definitely men. Wow! Plausible deniability strikes again! Anyway! Great! Good for them!

But they change the title to The Blind Banker, for an episode where we see John earn his title as Pockets Daddy, and it’s almost like they’re saying that Money, the need for it or the desire for it, can also change the plans you set for yourself… but also suggesting that Love operates independently of Money? (I’m picturing Sherlock’s “take my card” face here) Because the theme of S4 sure seems to be that John does not have Money and is therefore insecure in his eligibility as a romantic partner. (Faith is “suicidal, alone and strapped for cash, yet … still cooking to impress”, Sherlock musing re: Culverton “What if you were rich and powerful and necessary? What if you had the compulsion to kill, and money? What then?”, the impossibly-remodeled Watson residence, John’s own snazzy new outfits and haircut, etc. etc.). This is certainly the theme in The Sign of Four, where Watson explicitly won’t propose to Mary Morstan until after they confirm that the treasure that would have been hers is lost forever, and he’s therefore approaching her on relatively equitable financial footing (sorry for triggering everyone by even mentioning this). After their first meeting, Watson talks himself out of romantic notions, writing “What was I, an army surgeon with a weak leg and a weaker banking-account, that I should dare to think of such things?” When the treasure is lost at the very end, he yells “Thank God!” and tells Miss Morstan, “Because this treasure, these riches, sealed my lips. Now that they are gone I can tell you how I love you.”

The point is: financial inequality (specifically John Watson feeling like he doesn’t have a lot to offer and also not wanting to be seen as a fortune hunter) is established as an obstacle to romance in the second story in canon. BBC Sherlock uses ACD’s poem to connect Love and Money in the title of the second episode. It seems clear that this isn’t even a consideration of Sherlock’s re: John, so potentially this will be something in S5 that Sherlock will need to realize, to factor in to explain John’s behavior with him, as they figure out what each other’s actions mean and what is actually going on between them.

so, i don’t know why this never popped out at me before, but money as a metaphor for something to do with emotions? i mean, given the way money stands in for emotions in so many IRL relationships? usually the pattern is, the emotional breakdown of the relationship->fighting over money. so here we have possibly the opposite direction of the equation, ie, joking about money because the emotional connection is already so strong on day one. but also, it would be easier for sherlock to hide his feelings if john had taken the money?

This is what I have been saying! There is symbolic weight to the fact that John is dead-broke and Sherlock and Mycroft are filthy rich at the start of the series. When John is forced to pay for the taxi when Sherlock gives his money to his homeless network(TGG). The fact that Mycroft kidnaps John when he’s accessing his ATM(TRF). The 9 mill pound hairpin that Eddy Van Koon didn’t know the worth of(TBB). The bribe that John refuses from Mycroft to spy on his little brother(ASiP). The past due bills that John has, his argument with the chip and pin machine(TBB). Sherlock’s “take my card”(TBB)

There is definitely something else being said here using money, but I’ve never been able to piece it all together. It certainly has to do with emotions, but what?

yeah, that's quite a list! and all in s1-2, hmm. i am less steeped in s3-4, but are there any? either for surface reasons or emotional substitute reasons?

oh, in TGG, moriarty boasts about cutting loose millions of pounds to get sherlock to come out and play, as if that was supposed to make him attractive (as opposed to, like, not being a psycho) and this is when sherlock is still trying to resist emotions, but it's getting a lot harder. cabbie Hope getting paid to murder people, and the money going to his kids is another multi layered example. the divorce and estrangement, the double mirroring, murder as a metaphor, and the connection back to jim "mr sex" moriarty. yikes.

so, i don't know why this never popped out at me before, but money as a metaphor for something to do with emotions? i mean, given the way money stands in for emotions in so many IRL relationships? usually the pattern is, the emotional breakdown of the relationship->fighting over money. so here we have possibly the opposite direction of the equation, ie, joking about money because the emotional connection is already so strong on day one. but also, it would be easier for sherlock to hide his feelings if john had taken the money?

Use mine.

How did I just realise that Sherlock was parroting John’s offer from the first meeting when John offered his phone with the same words? There’s a lot of Sherlock trying to ‘catch up’ in this episode - asking John on a date after turning him down at the restaurant. Offering his card (John offered his phone the first time he met). Saving John’s life (John saved his the first episode).

omg you're right.

ok so the phone=heart metaphor is #confirmed, but how are they using money in this show? IRL, money is often a substitute for emotional connection, ie, the distant parent buys gifts to try to make up for absence, the couple getting divorced fight over money once the relationship is a lost cause. is money the dark mirror of the phone?

off the top of my head, where money comes up...

ASIP, mrs hudson's discount, splitting the rent. free food at angelo's. sherlock doesn't get paid to work with lestrade. cabbie gets paid per murder, and the money is for his kids who he doesnt get to see. so yeah, the people who don't exchange money with sherlock, are his true friends.

TBB, john's card is declined "take mine", and the fat check from wilkes vs john needing a job to pay bills. maybe part of sherlock still trying to be married to his work and keep john at arm's length? (but still close/available)

TGG, moriarty bribes a lot of people, and "cuts loose" a lot of money just to "watch sherlock dance". so as in ASIP, he seems to connect money with sherlock's attention, but he's clearly not relationship material. metaphorically, if he's a dark aspect of sherlock, then more of that conflicted "close but not too close" thing.

ASIB, moriarty makes a connection with irene about money, so that's a signifcant motivator as in ASIP. and again, she's not truly in love with him, only with "the game".

hmm, then i'm not sure if money comes up again? CAM's motivation is more control than money, he's already rich.

THE PIN MACHINE

“You really an automaton – a calculating machine. There is something positively inhuman in you at times.” (SIGN)

(can we dwell for a moment on the metaphorical reading that sees Ms Hudson as Sherlock’s heart? He is about to pull John away and as an excuse invents a mortal wound to his heart. Invent is not appropriate. He admits it does more. And it is heartbreaking)

However, I wanted to talk about something else. Sherlock is described as a machine. Canonically, from John himself, and Sherlock himself probably likes to see himself like that. Perfectly functioning, rational detached, in this screenshot it is perfect. For this reason it is quite fun to see the scene in which, in our guide episode TBB, John, while Sherlock in solitary surrends to flesh’s impulses  (X), trying to do the shopping (and here it is a question of trying to satisfy food needs, and we all know where the food metaphor leads … not in the kitchen but in the bedroom) he finds himself arguing with a machine. A curious coincidence indeed. Also curious the items he buy, if I see well. The first would look like a celery. Celery, apart from its obvious phallic shape (the woman in front, black curls and long dark coat is buying at the same time a bunch of asparagus reminiscent of the cigarettes Sherlock puts in his mouth in THOB), is considered a natural aphrodisiac.

 The second article seems to be a cabbage. There is a Victorian expression:  “take a turn among the cabbages” to means having sex.

Despite John’s good intentions however, the machine seems to be firmly opposed to the purchase, so much so that he begins to interact with it as if it were a human being. He asks for example to lower the tone of the voice. Who knows how many times John wanted to shut up Sherlock.

 At the same time Sherlock is fantasizing about being silenced … by a sword …

The supermarket machine has struggled to recognize the items, but above all it refuses John’s card saying that it is not enabled for payment.

John gives up spending and returns home defeated.

But he finds an incredibly relaxed Sherlock (I can believe …), even if he has just reassembled himself, who acknowledges the problem, offers him his card. His unlock code.

 And if you can’t see the love in this picture then you need Doyle’s opticians.

It is possible that in the guide episode the core of development is already contained. The awareness of Sherlock’s desire, the need to examine it for himself, and the need to show John the access key.

@ebaeschnbliah @possiblyimbiassed @gosherlocked @sagestreet @sarahthecoat @sherlockshadow @the-signs-of-two @loveismyrevolution

Love this, @raggedyblue. These are moments that simply do not make sense without a metaphorical reading. And did we not all wonder in S1 why Sherlock was fighting this guy with the sword and acted as if nothing happened? Of course there is a parallel in the fight with Soo Lin’s brother when he does not call for John’s help either. Thoughts?

Yes @raggedyblue, this is brilliant! :)) Yep, the whole ‘sword fight’ in TBB is probably just happening in Sherlock’s vivid imagination; why else would there be nothing left of this ‘intruder’ whose face we never get to see, when John arrives at the flat moments later? What happened to his unconscious body once Sherlock had knocked him out? I would love to know how the scratch in the table was done, too. What’s also interesting is that the chip-and-pin-machine repeatedly asks John to “please try again”, but John just gets frustrated and “shouts abuse at it”. Then he comes home without the sex food, ranting about lack of money, and Sherlock immediately offers him his money, but John just keeps on whining about how unhelpful Sherlock is. One of John’s problems is, I believe, a certain incompetence in handling machines… ;)

Assorted vegetables is what John tries to buy, @raggedyblue? Makes me think of this… ;)

I’m not sure why Sherlock didn’t call for help later either, @gosherlocked, but maybe he considers his own needs so unimportant because it’s Sentiment, which he very deliberately neglects? It’s also interesting how, at the beginning of this episode, Soo Lin Yao (a Sherlock mirror) seems to shut everything down around her when Andy (a John mirror) tries to ask her out. And she claims that “you wouldn’t like me all that much”, which we later learn probably has to do with her past. Hmm…

@ebaeschnbliah @gosherlocked @sagestreet @sarahthecoat @sherlockshadow @the-signs-of-two @loveismyrevolution

rb for discussion. I wonder also if there isn't a metaphorical connection between emotions and money. It happens often enough in real life, that money, or what it can buy, is used as a substitute for emotion. This early in their association, while sherlock is falling in love but isn't sure he wants to, he could be trying that out. Offering his card simultaneously draws john closer to him, but not quite all the way.

The mirror characters are in a similar attraction/distancing pattern. Andy hasn't figured out how to approach soo lin in a way that she will accept. ("unwanted attention") Soo lin has too much going on below the surface to have room in her life for andy.