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The transition period between the first and the second half of the season re: Joan (sober companion versus graduating detective-in-training) was more transitionary, in lack of a better term, than I had remembered, or rather, it's ironic that at the point where Joan isn't officially Sherlock's sober companion anymore and hasn't yet accepted her new detective identity that we get her at her most sober companionest. By which mean A Gun fully loaded with Drugs, aka the Rhys the (ex?) drug dealer episode. Aside from the obvious reason - i.e. drug dealer, ex or not, in the house of recovering drug addict is about one of the triggeriest situations you can imagine, and that's leaving out what actually happens near the end -, it's also the first time we see Joan in protective friend mode. Given that she's at this point staying around without a salary out of M related concern, this is not surprising: Joan has a far easier time realising "this person has become my friend, and I'm invested in his welfare beyond my professional duty" than she has to admit "I really like being a detective better than being a sober companion, I do want to make that radical life change for good".
The Rhys episode is of course also fascinating in regard to the two s3 Oscar episodes. ( Spoilery reasons why. )
Given all of this, it's not surprising, really, that Sherlock is able to interact amiably with Rhys - who is an acceptable face of his drug taking past, with virtues as well as flaws, making it look redeamable - but not with Oscar, who is an unbearable mirror and a worst case future (the Gollum to his Frodo, if you will).
Another episode in this transition period with great relevance to the s3 events is The Deductionist, in which we meet FBI profiler Kathryn Drummond. ( Spoilers are not keen on being profiled and absolutely abhor if this happens in writing. )
It's probably significant we only see Joan's therapist during those transition episodes, though the implication of their conversations is that Joan's been visiting her for a while. After Joan has decided to embrace the detective life fully, the therapist isn't seen again; she's less a character than a plot device to spell out Joan's options and the drawbacks on what she's embarking to do, to give the audience a look at Joan's thought process. Which is probably why the show didn't keep her around. After all, the episode where Joan's friends decide to stage an intervention fulfills much the same purpose and it feels more natural. Ditto, btw, for Gregson's later attempt to get Joan another sober companion job after the pursuit of Moriarty has heated up. This gives Joan the opportunity to argue back (and point out no matter how well motivated, he's behaving patronisingly), but it's a scene between two characters the audience cares about, who both act the way they do for understandable motives, and thus doesn't feel espositionary the way the scenes of Joan and her therapist early in the second half of s1 do. Speaking of Gregson, another shift and transition in retrospect is that for the first half of s1, he's the cop closest to Holmes; post-M and onwards, Bell becomes that (starting with the practical; pre-M, it's Gregson whom Holmes calls when contacting the NYPD for whatever reason, post-M, it's Bell), and for a good reason. I've seen the argument that there aren't real consequences between Gregson and Holmes after the scene in the bar (complete with bunch) post M, but I disagree, because especially with the subsequent show in mind, what Gregson says in that scene - that yes, he'll continue to work with Holmes as a consultant, because this does save lives, but he'll never trust him as he used to again - is just what turns out to be true. Just because Gregson doesn't cold shoulder Sherlock anymore in the later half of s1 doesn't mean they're back to pre-M relations; there's an degree of closeness irrevocably lost. And when Gregson at the start of s3 tells Holmes that it's up to Watson whether or not they'll take him back as a consultant, because Watson has become their go to consultant by then and as opposed to Holmes she's reliable, there's no doubt he means it.
Joan as a learning detective in later s1 gets two subplots, but her "graduating" case, so to speak, is of course Moriarty. This also the first time we see Sherlock hand over the investigation to Joan, and it says something about how well the series has presented Joan's learning process and getting better at the deductive method a la Sherlock while also bringing on her own medical background and emotional insight until this point that as an audience member, you both believe this and share his confidence in her. On a parallel level, of course, the show established Irene Adler's emotional importance to Sherlock throughout the first season to make his decision at the start of the finale two parter understandable from that angle as well. Which brings me to the big s1 twist. ( Spoilers aren't boring at all. )
Revisiting the first season has been lovely. But now I'm missing the show all over again!
The Rhys episode is of course also fascinating in regard to the two s3 Oscar episodes. ( Spoilery reasons why. )
Given all of this, it's not surprising, really, that Sherlock is able to interact amiably with Rhys - who is an acceptable face of his drug taking past, with virtues as well as flaws, making it look redeamable - but not with Oscar, who is an unbearable mirror and a worst case future (the Gollum to his Frodo, if you will).
Another episode in this transition period with great relevance to the s3 events is The Deductionist, in which we meet FBI profiler Kathryn Drummond. ( Spoilers are not keen on being profiled and absolutely abhor if this happens in writing. )
It's probably significant we only see Joan's therapist during those transition episodes, though the implication of their conversations is that Joan's been visiting her for a while. After Joan has decided to embrace the detective life fully, the therapist isn't seen again; she's less a character than a plot device to spell out Joan's options and the drawbacks on what she's embarking to do, to give the audience a look at Joan's thought process. Which is probably why the show didn't keep her around. After all, the episode where Joan's friends decide to stage an intervention fulfills much the same purpose and it feels more natural. Ditto, btw, for Gregson's later attempt to get Joan another sober companion job after the pursuit of Moriarty has heated up. This gives Joan the opportunity to argue back (and point out no matter how well motivated, he's behaving patronisingly), but it's a scene between two characters the audience cares about, who both act the way they do for understandable motives, and thus doesn't feel espositionary the way the scenes of Joan and her therapist early in the second half of s1 do. Speaking of Gregson, another shift and transition in retrospect is that for the first half of s1, he's the cop closest to Holmes; post-M and onwards, Bell becomes that (starting with the practical; pre-M, it's Gregson whom Holmes calls when contacting the NYPD for whatever reason, post-M, it's Bell), and for a good reason. I've seen the argument that there aren't real consequences between Gregson and Holmes after the scene in the bar (complete with bunch) post M, but I disagree, because especially with the subsequent show in mind, what Gregson says in that scene - that yes, he'll continue to work with Holmes as a consultant, because this does save lives, but he'll never trust him as he used to again - is just what turns out to be true. Just because Gregson doesn't cold shoulder Sherlock anymore in the later half of s1 doesn't mean they're back to pre-M relations; there's an degree of closeness irrevocably lost. And when Gregson at the start of s3 tells Holmes that it's up to Watson whether or not they'll take him back as a consultant, because Watson has become their go to consultant by then and as opposed to Holmes she's reliable, there's no doubt he means it.
Joan as a learning detective in later s1 gets two subplots, but her "graduating" case, so to speak, is of course Moriarty. This also the first time we see Sherlock hand over the investigation to Joan, and it says something about how well the series has presented Joan's learning process and getting better at the deductive method a la Sherlock while also bringing on her own medical background and emotional insight until this point that as an audience member, you both believe this and share his confidence in her. On a parallel level, of course, the show established Irene Adler's emotional importance to Sherlock throughout the first season to make his decision at the start of the finale two parter understandable from that angle as well. Which brings me to the big s1 twist. ( Spoilers aren't boring at all. )
Revisiting the first season has been lovely. But now I'm missing the show all over again!
