Sherlock Holmes Was The First Reply Guy

I love Sherlock Holmes. I need to say that first because what follows is going to sound like I don’t.

Sherlock Holmes is the original reply guy. He is the prototype. Every man on the internet who has ever quote-tweeted a woman to explain her own field to her is descended, spiritually, from 221B Baker Street. The whole appeal of this character is watching a man be condescending while the narrative tells you he has earned it. He walks into a room, looks at your shoes, and tells you about your divorce, and you are supposed to be impressed instead of asking why a grown man is staring at your shoes.

Watson is the most patient woman in literature and he is a man. Watson is in a situationship with a guy who will not tell him where he is going, disappears for days, comes home covered in someone else’s blood, and expects dinner. We have been told for over a century that this is one of the great friendships in English fiction. It is a great friendship the way any relationship where one person does all the emotional labor is a great friendship, which is to say, for one of them.