Steven Moffat’s Frustrating Take on Molly’s Role in the Sherlock Finale

That heartbreaking Molly scene in the Sherlock finale wasn’t that big a deal for her character, apparently. Or so Steven Moffat says.

Now that Season 4 of Sherlock is over, it’s time to dissect all the twists and surprises in the finale. And the episode had a lot. Some were good; some were bad. And some were head-scratchingly nonsensical.

In a post-finale chat with Entertainment Weekly, co-creator Steven Moffat discussed a wide-variety of these topics, including the future of the show in general, Andrew Scott’s return, and that really weird Redbeard-is-actually-a-person twist. Your mileage may vary as far as the quality of these answers is concerned, but generally if you squint, you at least can see the logic in them. For the most part.

Not so much as far as Moffat’s answer about Molly Hooper’s post-finale future goes.

“The Final Problem” contains an emotionally horrific scene in which Sherlock must basically trick Molly into saying the words “I love you” to him. This is necessary in order to save her life. But Molly, who been in love with Sherlock since the series began, is ultimately devastated by the fact that she’s forced to acknowledge her feelings to a man who will never love her back. And despite the fact that both Molly and Sherlock end the scene visibly upset, there’s no follow-up sequence. We never see even a throwaway moment that involves an apology or an attempt to repair the damage.

According to Moffat, that’s on purpose. Because apparently Molly wasn’t really that upset about what happened, and possibly got over her latest embarrassing heartbreak by shagging a stranger. (No, we’re not making that up.)

When asked about the decision to leave Molly without any real resolution to such a disturbing scene, Moffat kind of got a little defensive.

"“But that’s not how we leave her. People need to learn to face their televisions, we see her later on– She gets over it! Surely at a certain point you have to figure out that after Sherlock escapes [he] tells her, “I’m really sorry about that, it was a code, I thought your flat was about to blow up.” And she says, “Oh well that’s okay then, you bastard.” And then they go back to normal, that’s what people do. I can’t see why you’d have to play that out. She forgives him, of course, and our newly grown-up Sherlock is more careful with her feelings in the future.”"

In fact, according to Moffat, it’s actually *Sherlock* who suffers the most as a result of this exchange. (Yes, really.)

"“In the end of that scene, she’s a bit wounded by it all, but he’s absolutely devastated. He smashes up the coffin, he’s in pieces. He’s more upset than she is, and that’s a huge step in Sherlock’s development. The question is: Did Sherlock survive that scene? She probably had a drink and went and shagged someone, I dunno. Molly was fine.”"

Well that is certainly….an interesting take on that moment. It is definitely one I didn’t consider. (Or that possibly anyone at all, ever, considered.)

This statement shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, given that all elements of Sherlock seem to matter only as much as they directly impact the lead character. Women in this show don’t generally get much in the way of their own agency or an interior life that’s separate from Sherlock. Molly is only there to serve his story, in the end. So of course Moffat sees her as a nothing more than a tool to facilitate Sherlock’s emotional growth. Of course his pain is what really matters here.

That Moffat sees Molly as a character who is almost cripplingly hung up on Sherlock is clear. That he also sees her as someone who could pop down to the pub, pick up a man and get over everything immediately is just strange. (I mean…How??) His callous disregard for Molly’s feelings in this answer is upsetting. But that’s precisely because his comments are so at odds with how much he’s made us care about them in the first place. How does that dichotomy even exist? I guess there are some mysteries this show will never solve.

Next: Sherlock Season 4 Recap: “The Final Problem”

Should Sherlock return at some point in the future, perhaps we’ll finally get to see a Molly free of her romantic attachment to Holmes. Or at least until her feelings need to serve as a plot point again.