gaytectives:

Okay, now I’ve had a chance to go back and watch That Scene again, here’s what they did in a beautiful and extremely clear way:

1. They repeatedly had John’s Mary hallucination confirm that she is John’s way of arguing with himself. She’s his subconscious. She is inside his head.
2. They had John’s hallucination of Mary tell him to “get the hell on” with being the man he “wants to be.”
   
3. They had Sherlock OUTRIGHT CONFIRM that there is NOTHING romantic between him and Irene - “It was just texting. People text.”
4. He said that to John. It was completely out of context. He even said “It’s not my place to say, but.”
5. He said it to John because he wanted John to stop assuming that his connection to Irene was romantic - John mentioned passionate nights and sex and Sherlock wanted to SHUT IT DOWN ASAP.
6. They left both boys open with nothing between them anymore. No guilt stopping John, no miscommunication stopping Sherlock.

I don’t see how anyone could read that as anything but a path to a Johnlock endgame.