So here we have all the references made by the Holmes brothers to Christmas in BBC Sherlock (many thanks to Ariane DeVere for the transcripts). Let’s see what we can deduce.
I feel like I should add on to this meta with the more recent Holmesian references to Christmas. So here they are:
The Abominable Bride
LESTRADE: Yeah,
of course, just to wish you the compliments of the season. Merry Christmas? HOLMES: Merry
Christmas. WATSON: Merry
Christmas. MRS WATSON:
Merry Christmas. HOLMES: Thank God that’s over.
The Lying Detective:
MYCROFT: Why
fixate on Culverton Smith? He’s had his obsessions before, of course, but this
goes a bit further than setting a mantrap for Father Christmas.
The Final Problem:
GOVERNOR: You
even brought her a visitor on Christmas Day. MYCROFT: I took
a calculated risk. GOVERNOR: You
gave her a Christmas present. Remember her Christmas present?
JIM: Then why am
I here? MYCROFT: You’re
a Christmas present. JIM: Ah. How’d
you want me?
JIM: I’m your
Christmas present. So what’s mine? EURUS: Redbeard.
MYCROFT: Her
Christmas treat: five minutes’ conversation with Jim Moriarty five years ago.
So, what have we learned?
I love that moment in TAB but it basically just tells us that Sherlock has little patience for conventional social niceties, which we already knew.
The TLD reference is intriguing because it suggests a sweeter childhood for Sherlock than the one we learn about in TFP… One where “Who is Father Christmas, really?” is the greatest mystery young Sherlock faces. The fact that he is obsessed with the problem suggests a little boy who is deeply frustrated by the world of adult secrets, and therefore one who has led a relatively sheltered life.
The TFP references are interesting, though, in that they suggest a Holmes family tradition of giving REALLY inappropriate gifts. 😉 If Eurus thinks it’s reasonable to ask Mycroft for a date with a criminal mastermind, and Sherlock thinks it’s reasonable to give away Mycroft’s laptop for Christmas, that does suggest some rather unorthodox Holiday exchanges in their youth.
marvelfangirlandsherlockian4ever 