Belated thoughts on "The Empty Hearse"
That was quite interesting, because Sherlock was much more thoughtful, subtle, sensitive, and considerate than he's ever been before. He sees the value of friendship. He's practically cuddly. And one of the most interesting things about him in S1 and S2 was how hard he was to like, or love.
I said somewhere or other that something in John Watson prefers people who are hard to love, people like his alcoholic sister Harry, who continually push him to new extremes of patience and loyalty.
I adored the redemption of Anderson. I've done a little fanficcy sketch of his personality.
I think that he fancies himself more clever and insightful than average, nurses grievances for long periods, has often been called "over-sensitive", consoles himself with science fiction, and loves the idea of a mysterious sub-surface to the world. (He probably adored "The X-Files" and identified heavily with Mulder.)
His virtues are his imagination (which is considerable, though undisciplined), his doggedness, and that he really wants to do his job well and contribute to bringing about justice. That desire (plus Mulder) is why he became a forensic technician.
His tragedy is that he keeps hoping to find himself in a Sherlock Holmes story, and he actually is.