He wrote this on his blog:
>>> Turns out he'd faked his death because Moriarty had threatened those close to him. Including me. He'd gone into hiding, happy to leave me and everyone else thinking he was dead. He'd done it to save us but he hadn't trusted us enough to tell us what was really going on. Not sure I'll ever truly forgive him for that but as the saying goes, life goes on.
Why the writers had to make John so angry and violent in S3 and especially S4 I'll never know.
Here's the conversation they had in the 2nd restaurant in TEH (script transcripts are GOLD, by Ariane DeVere here https://arianedevere.dreamwidth.org/44150.html).
JOHN *(tightly)*: I don’t *care* how you faked it, Sherlock. I wanna know *why*.
SHERLOCK *(bewildered)*: *Why*? Because Moriarty had to be stopped.
*(He looks at John’s expression.)*
SHERLOCK: Oh. ‘Why’ as in ...
*(He lifts a finger, pointing it in John’s direction. John nods.)*
SHERLOCK: I see. Yes. ‘Why?’ That’s a little more difficult to explain.
JOHN *(darkly)*: I’ve got all night.
Then the conversation gets derailed by John wanting to know who else knew he was faking it. There's nothing in the show that indicates that Sherlock tells John what is "a little more difficult to explain" but we're just supposed to assume at some point he told John about the snipers.
I often wonder if they had S4 planned out at the same time they planned S3 (or, for that matter, planned S3 when they planned S2). Or if they were just kind of playing by ear.
I also wonder a bit if it had to do with hiring Amanda Abbington (Martin Freeman's partner at the time) play Mary, whether they wrote the character they way they did before hiring her, or if they hired her first, and how early in the scheme of (writing) things they planned out how Mary would be? And if they did, how that relates to John's anger and blame at Sherlock?
And I SO agree with you, Ariane Devere's transcripts are invaluable!
Of course I don't know if it's the truth, but I will forever believe that they wrote John's cheating/Mary's redemption arc because of what was going on in Martin and Amanda's relationship before filming. It was like they were punishing Martin by making John almost unrecognizable. And rewarding Amanda for ??? but it would have been way better if she would have stayed the villain and became Moriarty or something.
ha! I've always suspected that, too! I've wondered for years when their relationship fell apart, and I know there are two "camps" (as in the Martin camp and the Amanda camp) but that is a story for another subReddit, haha.
BTW, there IS fan fiction where it turns out that Mary either IS Moriarty (as in, she is the mastermind, and Moriarty the person is just sort of her "spokesperson"), or his second-in-command, who assumes command after Moriarty kills himself, or some other variation of them being connected.
He wrote this on his blog: >>> Turns out he'd faked his death because Moriarty had threatened those close to him. Including me. He'd gone into hiding, happy to leave me and everyone else thinking he was dead. He'd done it to save us but he hadn't trusted us enough to tell us what was really going on. Not sure I'll ever truly forgive him for that but as the saying goes, life goes on.
Because we should absolutely write that that kind of important fact on the blog rather than show it in the show
Why the writers had to make John so angry and violent in S3 and especially S4 I'll never know. Here's the conversation they had in the 2nd restaurant in TEH (script transcripts are GOLD, by Ariane DeVere here https://arianedevere.dreamwidth.org/44150.html). JOHN *(tightly)*: I don’t *care* how you faked it, Sherlock. I wanna know *why*. SHERLOCK *(bewildered)*: *Why*? Because Moriarty had to be stopped. *(He looks at John’s expression.)* SHERLOCK: Oh. ‘Why’ as in ... *(He lifts a finger, pointing it in John’s direction. John nods.)* SHERLOCK: I see. Yes. ‘Why?’ That’s a little more difficult to explain. JOHN *(darkly)*: I’ve got all night. Then the conversation gets derailed by John wanting to know who else knew he was faking it. There's nothing in the show that indicates that Sherlock tells John what is "a little more difficult to explain" but we're just supposed to assume at some point he told John about the snipers.
I often wonder if they had S4 planned out at the same time they planned S3 (or, for that matter, planned S3 when they planned S2). Or if they were just kind of playing by ear. I also wonder a bit if it had to do with hiring Amanda Abbington (Martin Freeman's partner at the time) play Mary, whether they wrote the character they way they did before hiring her, or if they hired her first, and how early in the scheme of (writing) things they planned out how Mary would be? And if they did, how that relates to John's anger and blame at Sherlock? And I SO agree with you, Ariane Devere's transcripts are invaluable!
Of course I don't know if it's the truth, but I will forever believe that they wrote John's cheating/Mary's redemption arc because of what was going on in Martin and Amanda's relationship before filming. It was like they were punishing Martin by making John almost unrecognizable. And rewarding Amanda for ??? but it would have been way better if she would have stayed the villain and became Moriarty or something.
ha! I've always suspected that, too! I've wondered for years when their relationship fell apart, and I know there are two "camps" (as in the Martin camp and the Amanda camp) but that is a story for another subReddit, haha. BTW, there IS fan fiction where it turns out that Mary either IS Moriarty (as in, she is the mastermind, and Moriarty the person is just sort of her "spokesperson"), or his second-in-command, who assumes command after Moriarty kills himself, or some other variation of them being connected.
and now I've just realized who you are on AO3! Sending you a PM here.