source:
http://behindtintedglass.tumblr.com/post/4890982133/8i-heartsandminds*breathes*
Okay. Let me take a moment to try and outline what is brilliant about this scene as if the entire show wasn’t already brilliant but this had been absolutely ****ing epic.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD, so read at your own risk.
I love the symbolism of where Moriarty had been aiming to shoot, as if he knew where it will hurt the most, of what each man treasures in himself, and more importantly, in the other. In this screwed-up and simultaneously amazing relationship, Sherlock is the mind, and John is the heart, but it’s so much more than that. Sherlock’s ability to put logic above everything tempers the emotions John isn’t able to control, which gets in the way of reasoning when the situation needs to be assessed clearly and thoroughly. Likewise, John’s sincerely caring nature reminds Sherlock that in order to truly understand people, he has to feelwhat they do, because it’s the humanity in people (with all their faults and miseries) that ultimately directs what will happen in their lives.
But in this scene, the tables are suddenly turned, and the balance suddenly shifts. For someone who told John that caring for people is a useless endeavor because it doesn’t accomplish anything, and being attached to people is only a hindrance, Sherlock loses his grasp on cool logic and lets slip his mask of indifference with the knowledge John — his friend — is going to die because of him. And John, dear sweet John, gently talks to Sherlock in a manner that is so calm and clear-headed, setting aside the fact that there’s a ****ing bomb strapped to his chest because he knows that, with Sherlock as unhinged as he so unusually is, he needs to be the one to keep Sherlock in check.
One is the mind, the other is the heart. And sometimes, when it matters the most, they are both.