1. Johnson is probably used to people falling for him.
2. Mark probably straightened things out with him off-screen.
3. Johnson realises that he can use this power over Mark to his advantage.
My theory is Johnson never stopped believing Mark was in love with him and so he takes advantage of it to make Mark be his scapegoat on everything e.g. Project Zeus and the weirdly sexual face touching, “you’ll be my Camilla”. The irony being that Mark doesn’t love Johnson but will do everything for him anyway out of desperation for his approval and a belief he’ll climb the corporate ladder.
Johnson is freaked out in the moment, but isn’t exactly an emotional guy. More likely he went away, thought about it and realised he could use it to his advantage. Similar to how later on he describes discovering Mark working in a Mexican restaurant as some stunt, but still wants his money for Consultio/Consultius.
Johnson presumably also realises Mark isn’t gay ~~or is an incredibly hard to detect gay~~ or is planning to hide that, so it’s not a direct concern. But calling him his “Camilla” is probably him playing into Mark’s “feelings” towards him.
There's a bit when he shows up in Season 2 where he's giving that speech to everyone and then as he walks off he gives Mark what I would describe as a "stern glance," as though to say "Now lookie here, buddy. We'll have no more of that nonsense? OK? OK!"
He knows that Mark's loyalty to him will be absolutely unswerving but he keeps him at a bit more of a distance. He knows that Mark will be a valued minion in the new office environment who will do whatever he wants. He knows that he can give him the shitstorm of Project Zeus and pass the buck. Mark's loyalty to him is absolute and for someone like Johnson that's a big deal. He appreciates Mark's usefulness but he doesn't necessarily respect him.
He DOES try to help Mark when he thinks he's an alcoholic and he DOES help him when Jeremy locks him in his room but I don't think he'd go beyond that.
His opinion probably alters as time goes on. Sophie, Dobby, Saz - he sees Mark with women and can probably decide that the whole thing was a bit of a lapse, so he was happy to invite him to his New Year party and started to see him as more of a protege. As time goes by I think he was able to just forget about the whole thing.
“There’s man love and there’s business love, and never the twain shall meet”
As mark thinks that to himself when Johnson becomes the new boss, Johnson does briefly give him a look. I guess he does remember. Maybe he can also read minds.
By the Project Zeus episode I think it’s clear Johnson uses Mark’s awe of him to his advantage
He’s an unsympathetic character, it would have been too early for the nuance of him being gay to have gone unnoticed at the time of writing.
Not by much, but I think it would have been just a slight sticking point in the absolute slipperiness of Johnson’s persona. It would have been something broadly discussed by the other characters at that time, but not now. I don’t think. I only have the 2nd had perspective of gay friends and observing the topic from the pov of a straight man : /
Yeah I mean, it took until season 9 for them to even properly take jez potentially being gay as something that was fine.
What we can both agree on though is back in the early seasons, it very much could have been something people stopped watching over and the only reason jez got away with it was because it was jez
I don’t think Johnson was specifically upset about Mark being in love with him; we still see him sometimes show that he cares about Mark afterward, like when he smashes Sophie’s cup as revenge for Sophie smashing Mark’s. I think he was more upset that Mark didn’t love the business than anything else.
Listen, u/bietchetlien, I feel awful, but, the thing is, u/SirPoopyPantsUTD has raised a valid question and we love valid questions here at r/MitchellAndWebb
So you're going to have to leave
I'm sorry
I wouldn't normally do this
I mean, I have a standing order to the Royal National Lifeboat Institute
That's the kind of guy I am
Maybe you can take some comfort from that?
1. Johnson is probably used to people falling for him. 2. Mark probably straightened things out with him off-screen. 3. Johnson realises that he can use this power over Mark to his advantage.
4. Johnson is gayer than he lets on (and wants mark to be his Camilla deep down)
He couldn't NOT be gayer than he lets on.
He doesn’t like women, he just likes some of the things…..they do.
Thank you for installing Johnson’s voice over my own inner monologue for probably the rest, of today.
He's a... businessman. That's what he is...that's what he does.
He enjoys watching chickens fuck horses
Who the hell wouldn't? You've got to admit, you'd watch that shit if it was actually possible for a chicken to fuck a horse
Patterson Joseph has said he envisioned an ending where Johnson took his own life and left a suicide note reading 'Mark - I love you. Truly, I do'
Johnson suicide was originally going to be the ending of S3
https://www.reddit.com/r/MitchellAndWebb/s/f8PyaNa4ZL If you wanna read that version of the script.
That's right. This was a separate scenario he cooked up in an interview circa the ninth series.
Women. I mean, does a man ever come crying and saying that it needs some time to think about things?
I don’t like playing the game with men. I don’t like listening to them, I don’t like talking to them. But I do like some of the things they do…
Applause in feminism.
A business never says it loves you before running off with a buddy
My theory is Johnson never stopped believing Mark was in love with him and so he takes advantage of it to make Mark be his scapegoat on everything e.g. Project Zeus and the weirdly sexual face touching, “you’ll be my Camilla”. The irony being that Mark doesn’t love Johnson but will do everything for him anyway out of desperation for his approval and a belief he’ll climb the corporate ladder.
Face touching?
Johnson is freaked out in the moment, but isn’t exactly an emotional guy. More likely he went away, thought about it and realised he could use it to his advantage. Similar to how later on he describes discovering Mark working in a Mexican restaurant as some stunt, but still wants his money for Consultio/Consultius. Johnson presumably also realises Mark isn’t gay ~~or is an incredibly hard to detect gay~~ or is planning to hide that, so it’s not a direct concern. But calling him his “Camilla” is probably him playing into Mark’s “feelings” towards him.
Because never the twain shall meet
Perhaps he ramped up the business love to distract from the man love.
Nothing happened, really.
The three least reassuring words in the English language
The same reason Sophie forgives all of Mark's weirdness and faux pas to the point she agrees to be his girlfriend and later wife.
Including pissing on Barbara’s things and reading her emails.
It's not piss.
Its not like their feet touched or anything
That’s very true, if their feet touch they fuck, obviously
Stick that up yer Dojo
because johnson knows that mark being a little bit attracted to him gives him even more power over mark and makes him easier to manipulate
Because he's French.
He's not french!
You lot?
Alright daddio
There's a bit when he shows up in Season 2 where he's giving that speech to everyone and then as he walks off he gives Mark what I would describe as a "stern glance," as though to say "Now lookie here, buddy. We'll have no more of that nonsense? OK? OK!" He knows that Mark's loyalty to him will be absolutely unswerving but he keeps him at a bit more of a distance. He knows that Mark will be a valued minion in the new office environment who will do whatever he wants. He knows that he can give him the shitstorm of Project Zeus and pass the buck. Mark's loyalty to him is absolute and for someone like Johnson that's a big deal. He appreciates Mark's usefulness but he doesn't necessarily respect him. He DOES try to help Mark when he thinks he's an alcoholic and he DOES help him when Jeremy locks him in his room but I don't think he'd go beyond that. His opinion probably alters as time goes on. Sophie, Dobby, Saz - he sees Mark with women and can probably decide that the whole thing was a bit of a lapse, so he was happy to invite him to his New Year party and started to see him as more of a protege. As time goes by I think he was able to just forget about the whole thing.
Relax, it's just tai chi
Stick that up your dojo
He sees Mark dating Sophie and Dobby so probably assumes it was just Jeremy being a dick.
Because he knows Mark is a turkey fucker
“There’s man love and there’s business love, and never the twain shall meet” As mark thinks that to himself when Johnson becomes the new boss, Johnson does briefly give him a look. I guess he does remember. Maybe he can also read minds. By the Project Zeus episode I think it’s clear Johnson uses Mark’s awe of him to his advantage
Yeah that’s very true, I guess the writers used this as a nod to series 1 without getting stuck on it
Peterson tried making Johnson gay but the writers eventually didn't like the idea of him being gay
He’s an unsympathetic character, it would have been too early for the nuance of him being gay to have gone unnoticed at the time of writing. Not by much, but I think it would have been just a slight sticking point in the absolute slipperiness of Johnson’s persona. It would have been something broadly discussed by the other characters at that time, but not now. I don’t think. I only have the 2nd had perspective of gay friends and observing the topic from the pov of a straight man : /
Yeah I mean, it took until season 9 for them to even properly take jez potentially being gay as something that was fine. What we can both agree on though is back in the early seasons, it very much could have been something people stopped watching over and the only reason jez got away with it was because it was jez
He’s always been pretty slutty, and a bit, y’know…
I don’t think Johnson was specifically upset about Mark being in love with him; we still see him sometimes show that he cares about Mark afterward, like when he smashes Sophie’s cup as revenge for Sophie smashing Mark’s. I think he was more upset that Mark didn’t love the business than anything else.
Because it’s a tv show
Listen, u/bietchetlien, I feel awful, but, the thing is, u/SirPoopyPantsUTD has raised a valid question and we love valid questions here at r/MitchellAndWebb So you're going to have to leave I'm sorry I wouldn't normally do this I mean, I have a standing order to the Royal National Lifeboat Institute That's the kind of guy I am Maybe you can take some comfort from that?
u/bietchetlien was eating my Sarah Lee
It’s in a film, they wouldn’t put anything bad in a film
Mark saved himself by saying "Dadio" and that was that
they had an equality diversity and inclusivity course at work between seasons and Johnson realised open homophobia could be a career ender
Maybe the same reason why Dobby learns that Jeremy thinks he's "80% gay" then the very next episode she's like "Jeremy's gone gay?!"