Sherlock (BBC): John Watson (ISFJ)

Si:

“We’ve only just met, and we’re going to go and look at a flat? …We don’t know a thing about each other. I don’t know where we’re meeting, I don’t even know your name.”

“That’s not a plan.”

“No, the address. Where is he exactly?”

John Watson (from BBC’s Sherlock) is a classic ISFJ. He’s cautious and security oriented. He is uncomfortable with a lack of information, and frequently asks questions in order to gain context and be better prepared. Upon first meeting Sherlock, he’s initially bothered by the idea of looking at flats with a total stranger. He’s not comfortable breaking the rules or being overly risky. Watson is the practical and grounded one of the two. He chides Sherlock for refusing cases, not getting a job when money is tight, turning down an advance and etc. While not a brilliant deducer like Sherlock, Watson pays attention to what’s going on around him. He notices small details like scrapes in a table, and is generally irked by Sherlock’s chaotic and messy lifestyle. On many occasions, he is shown having to explain common knowledge to Sherlock, like current celebrities, and he occasionally sees the obvious solution that Sherlock has missed. Watson’s Si is deeply bothered by Sherlock’s failure to remember primary school information, like the earth going around the sun. His detail oriented memory is particularly well exemplified when he calls out the 57 times that Sherlock’s phone had gone off with the sound of a moaning woman.

Fe:

“The only way to save John is to make him save you.” – Mary

“Give the people what they want.”

“There are lives at stake, Sherlock! Actual human live— Just, just so I know, do you care about that at all?”

Watson puts others above himself. He is polite and well-mannered, frequently sacrificing his own needs for someone else. When he first meets Sherlock, he praises him incessantly, calling him both brilliant and amazing. Watson is constantly apologizing for Sherlock, and frustrated by Sherlock’s abrasive attitude toward others. Like any feeler, he gets especially upset about Sherlock’s callous view of victims in their cases, not innately understanding how emotional detachment would be advantageous. Watson tends to smooth over conflict, and attempts to negate the emotional damage that Sherlock has inflicted upon others. However, he oftentimes yields to Sherlock and follows his lead, even to the point where his other relationships suffer. When frustrated or upset, Watson has a tendency toward passive aggressive behavior or statements, like saying “Don’t mind me. I can manage” while lugging groceries into the flat. Watson’s Fe is particularly well exemplified in the scene where Sherlock offers him coffee under the guise of an apology. In spite of Watson’s distaste for sugar, he drinks the whole cup anyway without a complaint in order to demonstrate his appreciation of the sentiment.

Ti:

“Let’s just stick to the facts and what we know. Let’s be rational.”

“Why does everything have to be understandable?”

Watson is a mature and balanced personality, making his Ti relatively healthy as a result. He is calm, collected, and placid. His Ti keeps his Fe in check, making him not a very intense person, and not constantly feeling the need to assert himself. Of course, as a result, he is oftentimes overlooked, which occasionally frustrates him, like in the case of the blog authorship being attributed to Sherlock instead of him. Watson does emphasize being rational when necessary, and uses his Ti to notices when things don’t make sense. After suffering a tragedy, you can see a brief demonstration of bad Ti, or him outright rebelling against his Ti, when he angrily asks “Why does everything have to be understandable?”

Ne:

Inferior Ne is what prompts Watson to ask a million questions in order to feel better prepared. It is the reasons why he gets frustrated with Sherlock’s impulsive behavior and lack of detailed planning. He also demonstrates quirky Ne in small ways, like leaving a red balloon with a smiley face in his chair in place of himself. In another instance, when Sherlock poses a question about what would happen if he swiped a card to get into a highly secured area, Watson readily jumps onto the ‘what-if’ train and shares a somewhat detailed scenario in which Sherlock is led into a small room where he gets his head kicked in. Sherlock asks if it needed to have so much color, and Watson replies that it passes the time. You can also see an instance of Watson falling into the grip of Ne, when he feels the need to change everything after suffering the loss of his wife.