Gay Easter Eggs in BBC Sherlock

(I trust the above requires no explanation.)

Perhaps someone has done this before, but I wanted to put together a compilation of gay easter eggs in the show that I’ve seen other people point out and/or have thoughts on myself. So here it is!

When I say “easter eggs,” I’m thinking of small clues that the show creators included in the set designs, music choices, and other details of the show to reference that Sherlock and John are in love. I’m thinking of things you could miss at first, especially little clues that often require a bit of extra information or require observations across episodes to understand.

Of course, there’s also lots of subtext woven into the show, moments where interpreting the dialogue or visuals in a certain way tells us something about Sherlock, John, and/or the state of their feelings for one another. I’m not sure if I can clearly define “subtext” versus “easter eggs” and explain what distinguishes them, but at least to me, several of the things I’ve listed here seem a bit different from what people often refer to as subtext. Maybe subtext is about uncovering the layers to a piece of dialogue or an action that takes place in plain sight and seeing how that impacts our interpretation of the story, but easter eggs are about spotting smaller, hidden details. I’m not trained in literary or film studies, though, and I’m not trying to be doctrinaire about this at all! This list is just for fun, anyway. (The above image might not actually count as an easter egg, but I couldn’t resist including it here. Indulge me.)

The more I read about this show and the harder I look, the more I think that hardly anything is there on accident. All these easter eggs must have been included on purpose. The creators knew they were telling a love story all along.

I’ve linked to the posts where I initially saw people point these out or to other good sources, and for some of these I’ve added my own commentary/observations/interpretations. I’m sure there are many other easter eggs that I’ve missed! What have you spotted?

John’s PIN in TBB – When John tries to pay for his groceries at the beginning of the episode, we see that his PIN is 743. In ASIB, Irene’s code to unlock her phone is SHER, which would be 7437 on a phone keypad. So, John’s PIN is a clue that he is or will be in love with Sherlock. Source: @loudest-subtext-in-tv, here.

Shaftesbury Avenue, 20m from Piccadilly Circus in TBB – While investigating in Chinatown, Sherlock and John bump into each other at what used to be a cruising spot for gay men in London. Source: @the-signs-of-two, here.

Archer the American in ASIB – In the scene where the American CIA agents try to get Sherlock to open Irene’s safe, the head CIA agent pressures Sherlock by threatening to have one of his men shoot John. The agent says: “Mr. Archer, on the count of three, shoot Dr. Watson.” Ordering someone named “Archer” to shoot John could be a reference to Arthur Conan Doyle’s poem “The Blind Archer,” which is about Cupid and describes Cupid shooting two men who sound an awful lot like Sherlock and John. Source: couldntpossiblycomment, here.

“¿Dónde Estás, Yolanda?” in TEH – The song that plays during the scene with John and Sherlock’s disastrous reunion at the Landmark restaurant is a cover of the song “¿Dónde Estás, Yolanda?” performed by the band Pink Martini. The Spanish lyrics to this song are about searching for a long-lost lover, which is fitting for the scene where John sees Sherlock again for the first time since his fall. Notably, the creators didn’t use the first of the two versions of this song that Pink Martini has released. The band’s first version appears on their 1997 studio album Sympathique and features a man singing about a woman. Instead of using that version, the creators used the version from Pink Martini’s 2011 compilation album A Retrospective, in which China Forbes performs most of the vocals. So, the creators deliberately chose a remade version of the song in which a woman sings about a woman. They chose a gay song about searching for a long-lost lover for Sherlock and John’s reunion. abrae (@tea-and-liminality on tumblr) has a meta with more to say about the use of this song here.

John’s “oscillation on the pavement” in TEH – In TSOT, John observes a potential client standing outside 221B and trying to make up her mind as to whether to come in. Sherlock tells John “I’ve seen those symptoms before. Oscillation on the pavement always means there’s a love affair.” In the previous episode, John came to visit Sherlock at 221B but hesitated on the pavement outside, staring at the door and trying to decide whether to go in. Sherlock’s comment, “I’ve seen those symptoms before,” is a hint that we, the audience, have also seen those symptoms before—with John in the previous episode. Source: @bidoctor, here. (I saw someone else point out that last part about Sherlock’s hint to the audience, but I can’t find that post, sorry!)

Lilac dresses in TSOT – While planning John and Mary’s wedding, Sherlock chooses lilac-colored dresses for the bridesmaids. When John tells Sherlock that he likes the bridesmaids in purple, Sherlock pointedly corrects him by stating that the dresses are lilac. Apparently, “In Victorian times, giving a lilac meant that the giver is trying to remind the receiver of a first love.” So by dressing the bridesmaids in lilac, Sherlock is trying to remind John of his first love: himself, Sherlock. My heart breaks. Source: @asherlockstudy, here.

Putting the horns on Mary and Janine in TSOT and HLV – In TSOT, there’s a shot where Mary gives Sherlock and John a thumbs up before they head out on a case. The way Mary is standing, the horns on Sherlock’s cow skull thing on the wall behind her are placed right over her head. (I always thought this shot looked pretty weird, but now I see that it must have been intentional!) In the HLV scene with Janine at 221B, there’s a moment when Janine steps in front of John in the frame to kiss Sherlock, and her movement positions the horns right over her head. “Putting the horns” on someone means cheating on them. So in both cases, placing the horns right above Mary’s and Janine’s heads indicates to the audience that Sherlock and John are the real relationship in this show. Source: this post from multiple users on the @sherlockmeta blog.

The architecture of Sherlock’s mind palace in HLV – In the mind palace scene after Mary shoots Sherlock, the architecture of Sherlock’s mind palace is based on locations from ASIP. Sherlock literally built his mind palace out of places from his first case with John, illustrating that his relationship with John is what grounds him and that it means everything to him. abrae has some very helpful screencaps of this here (and I would recommend that whole meta, btw!)

The glasshouse scene in TAB – In TAB, the Victorian John tries to ask Sherlock about his sexuality and sexual history while they’re sitting in a glasshouse. In Victorian Britain, “glasshouse” was another term for a military prison. So John, a military veteran, asks Sherlock about his sexuality in a setting that represents where he would have been sent if he had acted upon his homosexual desires at a time when homosexuality was criminalized. Source: @haffieliesel, here.

What do we say about coincidences? The universe is rarely so lazy.

Almost forgot to post one today! Here we go!

The Sign of the Three

The wedding went according to plan,

Until Sherlock’s speeches began.

He drove them insane-

Then he drops the champagne,

When he figures out the mayfly man.

Edit:

I did an alternate for this one so vote on your favourite.

The Sign of the Three

A wedding event is much fun!

The speech was a ridiculous one:

The result, it would seem,

He’s the right drama queen

To solve it before dancing begun.

yes can we discuss this for a moment

Hey Nonny!

LOLLLLLL HONESTLY, same tbh hahah. There’s a couple good AU fics with that, notably Performance In a Leading Role by Mad_Lori :)

YEEEEEEPPPPPPP Completely Sherlock-and-John's wedding more than John-and-Mary. Like... Sherlock's best man speech was basically a wedding vow and love confession as well.

This episode is what twigged a LOT of us to thinking Johnlock was the inevitable endgame, and why S4 feels so out-of-place.

WHOOP THERE IT IS.

Last summer my cousin happened to pick the venue from HLV as her reception location. I about died of excitement (obviously). It was an absolutely lovely wedding and I realized after all this time I never shared the pictures, so I figured, better late than never!

The hall had obviously been painted for Sherlock or repainted after, as the walls were all white. It was a modestly sized venue but for a smaller wedding it was quite comfortable. The area where John and Sherlock (etc.) were seated in the episode (and where Sherlock gave his speech) was where dancing was set up for my cousin's wedding. You know I'm a sadist and requested "December, 1963" before the night was over ;) The opposite side of the room had a permanent looking bar. The windows let in beautiful light and the gardens outside were exquisite (and included an underground grotto with a waterfall, where many of us sought reprieve from the heat). The scenes elsewhere (the church, the scene with Sherlock showing off his dance moves, outside Sholto's room, confronting the photographer, etc.) were not filmed here. Happy to answer any questions, I know I've been AWOL from Tumblr for ages but I'll check back in now and then to just spam everyone's timelines with Johnlock and get back in my feels about it all. It was a fantastic experience, and we also spent a few days in London and visited the London Aquarium where the infamous odd Mary death scene was filmed, and stopped by Gower St. and Speedy's obviously. I am happy to post on those too if anyone is interested :)

John says “you have got to get me out” about both the possibility of being eaten alive by a monster dog and having to plan the wedding with Mary. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Also the hound was fake, and so is Mary.

interesting how john shot the dog tho

hmm.

THE STAG NIGHT RECAP (S3EP2)

Okay. Uh. Where do we begin? There’s a lot to unpack here.

Okay. First of all, let’s begin with the fact that this is in The Sign of Three, I just had no fucking clue how to fit this entire queerbaiting bisexual-lighting nightmare into a post with a ten picture limit. We’re going to, ah…yeah.

So. TO BEGIN, SHERLOCK PASTES JOHN’S FACE ON THE VITRUVIAN MAN AFTER PULLING OUT AN ENTIRE FUCKING FILE ABOUT HIM. YEAH. WHAT THE FUCK DOES THIS IMPLY? I DUNNO!

SERIOUSLY, HOW IS PUTTING YOUR BEST FRIEND’S FACE ON A DRAWING OF THE LITERAL ‘IDEAL MAN’ NOT SUPPOSED TO BE GAY?

ANYGAY-

These fuckers go to celebrate the Stag Night (AKA John’s last Bisexual hurrah before a prison-like existence with M*ry-)

And. Of course. They get drunk. They weren’t supposed to get drunk, but John accidentally spiked Sherlock’s drink instead of his own while standing, bathed in bisexual lighting, at a bar. Don’t believe me? I don’t believe me, either.

Yet here it is.

You’re welcome.

Also…this is the song that’s playing:

What. The. Fuck.

Honourable Mentions for other songs that played:

If this isn’t gay, I dunno what is.

Anyway, Sherlock gets drunk as hell and basically gets into a fight with a couple of guys. He shouts, “I KNOW ash!” and takes some of the glitziest, gayest swings at someone I have ever seen-

Either way, they get kicked out of the bar and end up somehow making it back to Baker Street without being murdered.

There, the real gay stuff begins. (You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.)

HE’S HOLDING HIS HAND WTF-

They play Celebrity Heads. In case you live in a (Hobbit) hole, that’s a game where someone puts a name of a person on your head, and you have to try to figure out who’s on your face while the person describes you.

Let’s begin, shall we?

John has the name ‘Madonna’ on his head, and Sherlock has the name ‘Sherlock Holmes’ on his. They’re both drunk and STILL drinking.

Blah, blah, blah-

The two fuckers are SO drunk, uh…

They’re guessing, etc.

(Btw, after John asked ‘Am I pretty?’, Sherlock looked confused and John had to CLARIFY by pointing at the paper and smirking. I don’t know what to say at this point.)

John leans over, puts his hand on Sherlock’s knee…

John: “I don’t mind…”

Sherlock: “…Anytime…”

Um. What? What did you just say, Mr. I’m-Not-Gay and Mr. Married-To-My-Work?

I’m going to fuck someone up so bad-

Anyway. They, uh, they end up having a client, yada-yada, they go to investigate-

Sherlock was RUBBING CIRCLES INTO JOHN’S BACK-

And then they got arrested because Sherlock can’t fucking think when he’s drunk.

Also, he threw up on a crime scene.

(Also, if you notice Sherlock’s scarf is tied differently than usual, that’s because it is. It’s tied the way that John ties his. Which means that John tied his sc- *is shot before I can finish*)

And then they wake up together in a jail cell the next morning.

I’m gonna go get a drink…

I love that John and Sherlock both point at each other and I think John is winking.

Sherlock: Yes, exactly, THIS is why I chose you, you perfect little man, now come!

John: Look Sherlock, this is the biggest and most important day of my life, and I want to be out there with the two people I love and care about most in the world

Sherlock:

Mind Palace John’s Clothing

So, why this particular outfit? Well, it’s what John wears during their second day on the Baskerville case:

Cool. Interesting. So what? Why does Sherlock take this one random version of John with him in his mind wherever he goes? John has lots of jumpers and plaid shirts in endless combinations.

Well, this particular combination is what John is wearing on the day that Sherlock makes this realization:

Sherlock learns a lot about himself in this episode (his vulnerability, anxiety, etc.), but he also learns something about John that explains why he needs this man. John makes him better without even trying. Simply by being with John, Sherlock is a better detective and a better man. With that realization, it’s no wonder Sherlock took this version of John with him when he is away for two years. He needed to be in top form if there was to be any hope of returning to his Conductor of Light.

Well this made me unexpectedly emotional

wow, i have seen mind palace john's outfit compared to the one in TGG at the pool, but this actually makes a lot more sense, the conductor of light is who sherlock turns to in his mind palace.

The Waters Gang scene was always such a weird opening to TSOT but looking back on it, it set the mood perfectly. I too am kicking inanimate objects shouting "in the act!" thinking I've finally caught them red handed only to get the rug yanked out from under me with some random nonsense

they should have put mark and steven in the clown masks.

I love bbc sherlock they really just said heres a wedding episode and the only vows you see are sherlock promising to protect and love Watson, but no homo. Like it really doesnt get wilder than that. im not mad

My new hobby is pausing TSOT to see gems like this again and again. This is the moment where Mary's old "friend" is telling John "John, you are a very lucky man". The distance between Mary and John and JohnandSherlock is very funny here.

@helloliriels @tjlcarchives @gaylilsherlock @dinner--starving @asherlockstudy

continuing the series with poll number two: it was a wedding rom-com hours kind of night. favourite bit of the midpoint episode, go!

can't believe they just let sherlock profess his love for the groom in front of a room full of people like that. gavin i thought you were supposed to be helping him with this. (please share additional thoughts in the tags; limiting me to ten options here is nothing short of cruel!)

@victorianpining isn't the "you keep me right" line right near the midpoint of the episode? it's been a while since i watched it, or your analysis.

continuing the series with poll number two: it was a wedding rom-com hours kind of night. favourite bit of the midpoint episode, go!

can't believe they just let sherlock profess his love for the groom in front of a room full of people like that. gavin i thought you were supposed to be helping him with this. (please share additional thoughts in the tags; limiting me to ten options here is nothing short of cruel!)