Written by Lauren Shultz

Molly Hooper is the only main character in Sherlock who was not in the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle books. Moffat and Gatiss were originally going to keep her as a very small character just to add some chemistry, but Molly grew to be incredibly important, to both Sherlock and to the fans. As the series goes on, her character gains more of a personality and becomes vital to the dynamic of the series. Ladies and gentlemen, presented here are the top five moments that Molly Hooper has proved herself worthy of being an official Sherlock character.

 

5. Asking Sherlock out

This scene from A Study In Pink is usually remembered as the first time we meet Sherlock, but Molly is also introduced here – memorably, while helping him examine bodies for a case she asks him out for coffee. At first, this may seem like a desperate plea for affection, but that is not the case at all. Think about it. This woman is helping Sherlock examine corpses, one of which she witnesses him practically beat to a pulp. Then she asks him on a date? No matter how in love I was with someone, I wouldn’t have the guts to flat out ask him to coffee like that, especially in a morgue. And don’t forget, this is Sherlock we’re talking about. The asexual, high-functioning sociopath. It took a serious amount of courage and determination to pull that off.

 

4. “The Look”

This is one of the most underrated interactions between Sherlock and any other character in the show. Sherlock has asked Molly to assist him with his cases since revealing to John that he was actually alive didn’t go so well. In this scene, they are at a client’s flat and the man mentions that his girlfriend is a big fan of Sherlock’s. When Sherlock starts laughing in disbelief that this man has a girlfriend (there we see the arrogance popping up again), he glances over at Molly, who is glaring at him, and immediately stops laughing and apologises. Molly doesn’t have to say a word and Sherlock apologises on the spot. This statement pretty much sums up the growing relationship between them. This scene only gives a very small glimpse into the amount of respect and admiration Sherlock has developed for Molly.

 

3. Dating “Jim from IT”

There are so many things about this scenario that make Molly Hooper more amazing than we give her credit for. First of all, she introduces him to Sherlock. If I were her, I would keep my new boyfriend as far away from him as possible because I would be sure he would ruin it (which he pretty much did). Secondly, even though she didn’t know it at the time, she was dating a psychotic criminal mastermind. Wait, scratch that. She dated and DUMPED a psychotic criminal mastermind. Molly Hooper dumped possibly the most dangerous man in history and came out unscathed.

 

2. Slapping Sherlock

After John found Sherlock in that beaten-down drug den in the beginning of His Last Vow, he and Mary took him to Bart’s so Molly could give him a drug test. The test came out positive (probably for opium, which is the drug Sherlock Holmes used in the original Arthur Conan Doyle books), and Molly flipped out. She slapped him three times, then continued to tell him off in the best way possible and told him to apologise. The best aspect of this scene is that Molly keeps her cool. She could have easily started screaming at him, but she knew that losing it would make things worse. She stayed calm, and reacted in the perfect way that she knew would impact Sherlock.

 

1. Caring

Everyone can agree that Molly’s best quality is her kindness. She’s an amazing friend and will do anything for her loved ones, especially Sherlock. She has helped him endless times with everything he asks without hesitation. She gives him access to all of the stuff he needs in the morgue for his experiments (which is completely illegal), she stays after hours at work to help Sherlock with cases, and she’s on call 24/7. The best example of this is when she helps Sherlock fake his death by jumping off Bart’s roof. He shared his entire plan with her, so she knew he would be gone. Not seeing him for that long probably broke her heart, but she helped him leave anyway. She’s selfless in everything she does, and that’s what makes her so crucial to Sherlock’s story.

 

You can read Mycroft’s Top 5 Moments here.

 

Have a better Molly Hooper moment? Leave it in the comments below!