Molly Hooper has been a firm fan favourite ever since the first season of Sherlock hit our screens back in July 2010.
Awkward and adorable, Molly was hopelessly in love with Sherlock when we first met her. Her various bids to impress him faced Sherlock’s indifference and disinterest, but Molly never gave up on him – as a friend, if not a romantic interest.
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Molly is intelligent and sweet-natured, with a heart of gold; so without further ado, let’s take a look at some of her best moments so far…
5. “You always say such horrible things.”
Molly’s ill-fated attempt to impress Sherlock at the New Year party back in Season 2’s opener, ‘A Scandal in Belgravia’, is not a pleasant moment for her at all, but it is a scene in which actress Louise Brealey really does shine.
Dressed up and looking lovely, Molly had brought along her painstakingly carefully wrapped gift for Sherlock, only to be stung by his thoughtless cruelty when he humiliated her in front of the other guests.
Molly’s vulnerability is beautifully played by Brealey, and the scene does provide Molly with the chance to stand up to Sherlock, as she calls him out on his habit of unpleasant comments.
4.) “You look sad when you think he can’t see you.”
Molly showed that she is very astute when she compared Sherlock to her ill father by seeing through his veneer of confidence.
“You look sad when you think he can’t see you,” she told Sherlock whilst he and John worked alongside her in the lab, proving that she is more perceptive than Sherlock originally gave her credit for.
3.) “You’ve always counted, and I’ve always trusted you.”
Later in that same episode, Molly’s importance to Sherlock reached a crucial point in their relationship.
Hounded by Moriarty, knowing that he had to leave John behind, with the press turning on him and even Lestrade reluctantly swayed to take action against him, Sherlock turned to the one person he knew would not let him down: Molly Hooper.
2.) “I said, FOCUS.”
When Mary shot Sherlock in Season 3’s ‘His Last Vow’, Sherlock’s mind palace provided him with a variety of people to help him out.
Anderson, Mycroft, childhood pet Redbeard and even Jim Moriarty showed up – but Molly was the first person Sherlock thought of in that split second. She helped him determine the severity of the wound and least damaging angle to fall and even slapped him in the face twice to force him to concentrate and save his life.
Molly was shown to be a source of support and knowledge in Sherlock’s mind palace – and that says a lot about the respect he developed for her.
1.) “I ended it.”
Everyone remembers the moment back in Season 1’s ‘The Great Game’, where Molly introduced hapless and well-meaning Jim from IT as her new boyfriend.
Naturally, everyone also remembers when Jim from IT actually turned out to be James Moriarty, consulting criminal. But when Sherlock told her that he had to track one of her ‘old boyfriends’ down for ‘being a bit naughty’ (stealing the crown jewels, breaking into a bank, organising a mass prison break), Molly was keen to set things right.
“Jim actually wasn’t even my boyfriend, we went out three times,” she informed Sherlock and John. “I ended it.”
So there we have it. Molly Hooper: the woman who dumped Jim Moriarty.
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What’s your favourite Molly moment? Let us know below…