I think Mycroft does care, actually -- possibly more than he lets on to Sherlock, or more than Sherlock believes he does, but he definitely cares about anonymous lives and sees them as more than just tallies on a scorecard.
His face, the despair there when he gets Moriarty's text, I think was very telling, especially since he was alone at the time. He was crushed at the failure, not just annoyed or frustrated or indifferent, and I think he's not so narcissistic (as Sherlock is) to be crushed only because he thinks it means he's been outwitted.
And again, when Irene says "the lives of British citizens might be at stake" when they're negotiating over the contents of her phone. This, too, I think shows he cares about it genuinely.
A lot of fic has portrayed him as omnipotent and just as cold as Sherlock, but I think this episode has gone really far in terms of showing he's not actually omnipotent, and is in fact operating within the constrains of the law and with quite a few people who are "really" in charge knowing what he's doing
( ... )
I definitely agree regarding Mycroft's sense of responsibility towards the Britiish public, and his reaction when he got Moriarty's text was one of my favourite moments in the whole episode. It showed how, well, human he is, despite the way he portrays himself. And I think what really brought him down was the fact he knew Sherlock was responsible for it, and therefore himself. Possibly he blames himself for a) not seeing the possibility of this happening when he introduced Sherlock to Irene, b) not being able to give Sherlock more affection so Sherlock wouldn't try to impress anyone who showed him some, and c) him growing up the way he is, and Sherlock following in his emotional developmental footsteps
( ... )
OK, I don't have a considered and thoughtful comment, but I just wanted to say thank you, I hadn't really analysed that end bit and it jarred a little, but your thoughts on it make me so happy. YES Mycroft must know, and I love the idea that John is an unwitting conduit of conversation between the two brothers, especially when that conversation is about himself :D
Also I loved every minute of it. Nudity! Snark! Sibling relationships! And especially how Sherlock can respond so fully to Irene and still come across as asexual - that was very nicely done.
Yes I loved the way they dealt with Sherlock's sexuality as well - very tastefully done.
I'm glad someone managed to get what I meant - it's difficult putting what I believed the exchange meant into words. It was jarring the first time I watched it, too; why would they put a random scene into the end where they dealt somewhat half-assedly with the outcome of Irene? But on the second watching, I felt the only variable in that scenario was John, and what he told Sherlock was the whole point of that scene. (Also, in my headcanon, Mycroft is pretty much all-knowing. It seemed impossible to me that Sherlock would hare off to some country in Europe and save Irene and Mycroft would not at least know about it, even if he couldn't do anything about it.)
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His face, the despair there when he gets Moriarty's text, I think was very telling, especially since he was alone at the time. He was crushed at the failure, not just annoyed or frustrated or indifferent, and I think he's not so narcissistic (as Sherlock is) to be crushed only because he thinks it means he's been outwitted.
And again, when Irene says "the lives of British citizens might be at stake" when they're negotiating over the contents of her phone. This, too, I think shows he cares about it genuinely.
A lot of fic has portrayed him as omnipotent and just as cold as Sherlock, but I think this episode has gone really far in terms of showing he's not actually omnipotent, and is in fact operating within the constrains of the law and with quite a few people who are "really" in charge knowing what he's doing ( ... )
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Also I loved every minute of it. Nudity! Snark! Sibling relationships! And especially how Sherlock can respond so fully to Irene and still come across as asexual - that was very nicely done.
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I'm glad someone managed to get what I meant - it's difficult putting what I believed the exchange meant into words. It was jarring the first time I watched it, too; why would they put a random scene into the end where they dealt somewhat half-assedly with the outcome of Irene? But on the second watching, I felt the only variable in that scenario was John, and what he told Sherlock was the whole point of that scene. (Also, in my headcanon, Mycroft is pretty much all-knowing. It seemed impossible to me that Sherlock would hare off to some country in Europe and save Irene and Mycroft would not at least know about it, even if he couldn't do anything about it.)
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