(Image is watson speaking to sherlock on the topic of the assassination plot sherlock is investigating doesn’t actually exist: “No. Well… only that you have a remarkable faculty for deduction, and pattern recognition. And that, perhaps, if ill-applied…”)
(Image of sherlock in acquiescence: “I see things that are not there.”)
god it’s so refreshing to have smart characters written by smart writers.
the awareness that sherlock’s style of investigation hinges on making leaps and bounds, very educated guesses but still guesses all the same, and then highlighting the fallibility of this character’s m.o. not only avoids the standard ‘genius as personality type’ trap that lazy and idiotic writers fall into, but also humanizes him.
and having john point it out in a way that sounds like tired lived experience and gently confronting sherlock about it like this puts both of these characters on equal footing. john watson is a smart man, a doctor, and should be more than able to keep up with whatever quick sharpness sherlock doles out. and in this game, he certainly does.
(image of sherlock responding to watson later in the conversation: “So it seems. Forgive me. Without something to occupy my mind, I turn into an entirely different animal.”)
Also, sherlock hyperfixates! It’s made blaringly clear in the previous game and this one, with multiple characters drawing attention to it. those who know him (mycroft, watson, etc) are aware of it, he’s aware of it, and the heavy neurodivergent coding as well as the focus on mental health and illness in the holmes family fits well with this character; it makes the character’s original idiosyncrasies make all the more sense while also not demonizing mental illness/neurodivergence.
(chapter one spoilers below)