Mostly I'm hoping that they keep Joan's family in as an ongoing thread, as even though Mary has expressed some approval over Joan's current job, I suspect it's not something that's resolved quite that easily.

I hope so! I think I was feeling a little (or a lot, actually) short-changed by the quick resolution of this issue between her and Joan, and how much of what should've been about Joan and her family was instead about Sherlock and how he sees Joan. Which was nice? But still cut into Joan's time, I thought.

In the pilot episode, when Mary calls Joan and Joan declines to answer, her phone says it's from "Mom & Dad" and the picture that comes up is of an Asian woman and a white man.