Garrideb Moment

Synonyms:	Three Garridebs Moment
See also:
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The term comes from the story "The Three Garridebs' from Sherlock Holmes novels, when John is shot and Sherlock lays bare his real feelings towards the doctor. Therefore, the Garrideb Moment represents a situation where one character’s injury causes another character to express a concern and previously hidden affection.

Often scenes can reach the climax moment preceding Garrideb, but not complete which can frustrate fans, as in the last episodes of "The Twentieth Century Begins".

[elaby]
[...] the only part I didn't like - TOTALLY botched opportunity for a Garrideb moment, guys! For the whole episode, I thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if they got Watson shot so Holmes could freak out?" And it wasn't outside the realm of possibility, since they stuck in random conversations from other stories, like the singed-slippers deduction. And then Watson gets shot, and Holmes does nothing.

Outside of the Sherlock fandom the term has also been used,

[innocentsmith]
People occasionally mourn the lack of a "Three Garridebs" moment for Jeeves expressing his love for Bertie. This is it, kids. It's not as dramatic as Bertie being shot, maybe...but then, people getting shot* isn't really the kind of thing that happens in Wodehouse. And we don't get to actually see Jeeves make this decision...but then we almost never do get to see Jeeves make a decision, even if he's making it right in front of us. He can cosh you without changing his expression.

Canon Examples

Then my friend's wiry arms were round me, and he was leading me to a chair. "You're not hurt, Watson? For God's sake, say that you are not hurt!" It was worth a wound -- it was worth many wounds -- to know the depth of loyalty and love which lay behind that cold mask. The clear, hard eyes were dimmed for a moment, and the firm lips were shaking. For the one and only time I caught a glimpse of a great heart as well as of a great brain. All my years of humble but single-minded service culminated in that moment of revelation.

Later Sherlock expresses his anger to the man who shot Watson saying...

“By the Lord, it is as well for you. If you had killed Watson, you would not have got out of this room alive."

A similar moment was found in a later published short story called The Lion’s Mane.

It was a Garrideb moment in the BBC Sherlock episode “The Sign of Three” when Sherlock Holmes pulls John Watson from a bonfire with his bare hands.

Fannish Examples

• When watching Sherlock Holmes adaptations or reading fan fiction, I will often look for a Garrideb Moment in the story.