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Why Sex Doesn't Alarm Sherlock
Oct. 8th, 2013 12:48 pm[Originally Posted to My Tumblr]
I tend to rewatch past episodes of Sherlock while doing fanart. So although my focus isn’t on the details of the show, being somewhat detatched can spark a connection I wouldn’t otherwise have made. This happened recently during a rewatch of Scandal, my favorite Sherlock episode, when Mycroft replied to Sherlock’s "Sex doesn’t alarm me" comment with a sneering "How would you know". The obvious underlying explanation to this is that Sherlock wouldn’t know because he has no experience with sex; he is, according to Moriarty’s nickname for him, a virgin.
What if what Mycroft’s dig isn’t about Sherlock being a virgin but is instead reference to his past drug use? This is the same episode in which Mycroft declares that caring is not an advantage, yet he clearly has a system arranged with John in the event of a Danger Night, suggesting that Mycroft has seen Sherlock turn to drugs when facing emotional upheaval. The exchange between Mycroft and John over the phone indicates that this has happened before, confirmed by Sherlock’s complaint to John that he hopes he didn’t mess up his sock index this time.
Thus Sherlock’s destructive history of drug use is a present and visible aspect of this episode alongside the more obvious theme of sexuality. Mycroft’s “How would you know” might not be in relation to Sherlock having no prior sexual experience but rather to the fact that Sherlock was always too high to feel or care or be alarmed when he did have sex.
