In Which I Review Sherlock (4x3)

Now that is how you do an episode of Sherlock. Not since the unbelievably well executed season two finale has an episode of Sherlock resonated so powerfully and so satisfactorily as to be near pitch perfect. If you were to distill down in bullet point form what makes a great episode of Sherlock you would undoubtedly find every single one of those points in the season--and quite possibly series--finale, "The Final Problem." There is so much to pick apart and discuss in this week's installment; from John and Sherlock's relationship to the Holmess' family dynamic (so all the kids are absolutely nuts, right?) to the ideas of morality and whether or not a human being can live without them and still call themselves human and, maybe most importantly, whether or not sociopathy--true sociopathy--can be overturned by the simple act of having a best friend. Sherlock has never been a perfect TV show; it's often too self-indulgent with freeze frames and weird special effects meant to awe instead of move the story along. It gets too caught up in giving the rabid fan bases something to quickly reblog, retweet or turn into a smutty fanfic and it has problems of the average, run of the TV mill sort like hints of misogyny and some overt queer baiting. None of this is dismissed with a spectacular episode, which this unquestionably was, and it's always worth pulling back to examine all the messages that lay behind a rollicking good time but, honestly, problems of ego and privilege aside, didn't you just enjoy the ever loving hell out of this show from start to finish? I know I did. One last time, then. It's only elementary. Let's go!

I love when I'm right. In last week's blog, I predicted that Euros's importance wasn't so much as a threat to national security or some sort of big case-of-the-week (though both of those are equally true), but rather that her existence has been such a closely guarded secret because it was she who made Sherlock who he is. His attempts at cold indifference, at friendlessness, at emotional detachment, and even at sociopathy all stem from the secret sister he locked away in his mind palace and forgot all about. Families. Sometimes they really do suck. Euros herself is an extraordinarily interesting, if extremely terrifying, case. Her sociopathy manifests in a lot of the usual ways. Euros doesn't understand emotions; she can't tell when she's happy or sad and moreover I'm not sure sure she's capable of feeling those; she thinks that constructs of good and bad are social conditions that don't exist outside the realm of society and the impositions it imposes on the world (to be fair, she's not dead wrong). Likewise, Euros can't tell the difference between screaming and laughing and, while children are prone to fits of jealousy when they feel ostracized or neglected, not all children drown the object of their jealousy in a fit (and then proceed to mock their sibling about it with codes and songs). Euros is Sherlock with the brakes off, then. If Sherlock were to completely cut himself off from his friends and family; if he were to stop detective work as a way to not only get high but because his heart is ultimately in the right place, he'd be a perfect male form of Euros. Sherlock's emotions are his saving grace; they always have been. He clings to anything that makes him feel at least a little bit human and grounded--the cases, the small cadre of people that float around his manic and often downright asshole existence. All of these are designed, subconsciously, to keep him from becoming Euros, a person he can't even remember but who killed his best friend when he was just a lad. These things are Sherlock's identity touchstones; so long as he has them, he can continue to function. Euros does not have touchstones; these developments that occur in childhood never did for the little girl who really only wanted a friend. A foot smarter than the smartest person in the room but equally lonely, Euros never forged any sort of a connection and so acted out, deciding that morals (which she can't really understand) were for the weak and the lower creatures of the Earth. As Euros tells Sherlock in the final game, "I never had a best friend. I had no one;" this fact, surprisingly, bothers her. The lack of morals, the total disregard for human life, and the ability to turn the people around her into mindless sheep doesn't seem to strike her as anything with which to be concerned, but the fact that she never had a friend to play with does. Is Euros's sociopathy not true then? Honestly, it may not matter if Euros is a textbook sociopath or not. She's serving a different narrative purpose; she's Sherlock's foil.

Unsurprisingly, Euros and Moriarty get on like a house on fire (her words, not mine!) Moriarty is Sherlock's literary foil; every bit his equal but living a life of crime instead of solving them. They are the perfect match for each other. The one thing missing from the Holmes/Moriarty antagonistic pairing is the all powerful word that got thrown around quite a bit in this episode: family. John is family, if not blood. Mary, Rosie, Molly, Mrs. Hudson and even Lestrade are. Mycroft is, of course, family; Moriarty is not. Euros, though, is. I said up top that the person Sherlock became, his attempts at a softer high functioning sociopath, all stem from Euros; but the question is why...why would anyone want to become what Euros is? The answer, I think, is pretty simple: to avoid pain. To wit: why do junkies get high? Yes, scientifically it's because drugs are addictive but go deeper, go into the emotional reason why. It's because the thing you're addicted to--the booze, the pills, the gambling, the drugs--are all there to make the pain stop, if only for a little bit. After all, if they worked forever and negated the pain long term, there'd be no need to take another hit. Sherlock feels deeply--it's written on his face in so many instances over the years. A bomb jacket strapped to John, texts from Irene Adler, Mary Watson's death, realizing how much he's hurt Molly by forcing her to confess her love, comforting John after his best friend dissolved into tears confessing to an unseen wife, are all instances where Sherlock has been empathetic. He feels pain; he feels his own and others and it all goes back to not being able to find his little friend, Victor--his Redbeard, his first friend, his childhood best friend, an innocent little boy who was drowned in a well by Sherlock's younger sister. So much pain, so much trauma behind that memory that Sherlock did one of the most human things possible: he wrote himself a different story and became just like the person--or as near as he could--who feels no pain and could easily and clinically pass through the world where morals don't matter and people are irrational and boiled down to clever deductions. Becoming Euros was a way to mask the scars of childhood, to forge ahead and not be overwhelmed by grief. This, by the way, is where John comes in. Like calls to like and in each other they saw their pain refracted. John is always saving Sherlock and Sherlock is always saving John but not just in moments of the big denouement with bad guys at pools or waterfalls, but everyday, in every way, by the simple virtue of easing each other's pain and loneliness and giving each other the one thing Euros never had: a friend. Sometimes all we need in this world is one person who truly loves us or, you know, with whom we can solves crimes. Sherlock Holmes and John Watson found each other and that is the true beauty of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories. The cases may mystify and astound but it's the relationship of Holmes and Watson that keeps us coming back. It is, as Mary says in her video post script, all about the legend of those fabulous wonderful, clever and brave Baker Street Boys.

 Miscellaneous Notes on The Final Problem

--Mycroft's umbrella doubles as a saber and a gun. I find this amusing but not at all surprising.

--"This is a family matter." "That's why John stays!"

--Even if her sociopathy could be tempered by family, Euros is without a doubt the scariest villain the show has done.

--So many good shocking moments in this episode that there were times I forgot to breath. Just to name a few: no glass on Euros's cell; Euros killing all three men--guilty and innocent--in the hangman's noose to see how it felt; Molly almost not saying "I love you" back; the plane and little girl not being "real," and Sherlock almost killing his brother.

--Moriarty goes by "Big G" now because he's "relatable that way."

--In a fabulous call back to the first episode of season one, Lestrade tells a fellow detective that Sherlock isn't a great man, "he's better than that; he's a good one."

--The final clip sees Sherlock and John running out of "Rathbone House" which is a loving tribute to Basil Rathbone who played Sherlock Holmes fourteen times over half a dozen years.

--"When all else fails there are two men sitting, arguing, in a scruffy flat like they've always been there and always will....Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson."

In Which I Review Sherlock (4x2)

Ah, now that's a bit more like it. Last week I complained that the season four premiere was decidedly lacking in the interesting case department but this week's episode "The Lying Detective" had a bit more of that meaty mystery that is a hallmark of any Sherlock Holmes story. The fact that the case of the week was bolstered by some deep, emotional, and character moments from Sherlock and John only made this episode that much sweeter. The show still has a tendency to get a bit too self indulgent in its direction and the way it presents a story, but I simply cannot deny that my jaw dropped several times while watching this week. The biggest question I have--apart from the obvious questions about Sherrinford's (or Euors? I'll use that name throughout since that is the name she used to John) existence and what exactly Sherlock's secret sister wants--is about Sherlock's inner psyche. It has been an often repeated phrase that Sherlock is a high functioning sociopath but the question that lingers after an episode like this one is, was Sherlock ever a sociopath or just an ordinary--if brilliant--man who simply hid all his fears and insecurities behind an ice wall of indifference? The answer to me is pretty clear; it's not okay, but it is what it is. Grab your deer hat (after all, it's Sherlock Holmes and he wears the damn hat) and let's go!

While sitting in front of Greg Lestrade, John Watson reminds the cop that "not that long ago, Sherlock shot Charles Magnussen in the head. We always saw it coming; we thought it was fun." Sherlock is not exactly opposed to violence; he's always willing to do what is necessary to solve the case and close the book on a criminal, though I think Sherlock likes the satisfaction of sending a criminal to jail and getting to take some measure of credit for stopping the evil doer more. So what made Charles Magnussen different? What made him worthy of that bullet in a head? It wasn't just that Sherlock himself was in danger or even the fact that Sherlock wouldn't be able to put Magnussen behind bars (how do you prove that someone has an elaborate mind palace with information on every powerful person in the world at their disposal?) No, there was another factor. Well, two if we're being honest: The Watsons. John and Mary were at the forefront of Sherlock's mind when he made the decision to kill Magnussen on his back porch. If ever it seems like John Watson is in danger, Sherlock steps up and does the unthinkable. This is nothing new; in fact, I'm pretty sure I said the exact same thing in my season three finale over a year ago. The bond between the two and the deep--if quiet--affection Sherlock feels for John has never been kept a secret or at arms length. That same connection between Holmes and Watson is under enormous strain with Mary's death; John places blame for his wife's death on Sherlock's shoulders and, despite being drug into Sherlock's insanity, John cares very little for his former friend's state of being and life. And what does Sherlock do when he feels that bond beginning to break? He fixes it; he saves it. With just a little bit of prompting from Mary-beyond-the-grave, Sherlock saves John Watson, gives him something to do and reminds John that while Mary is gone, life is not over. The game is still on. But to bring us back to the original premise, does this mean that Sherlock is actually a sociopath, high functioning or otherwise? After all, one of the traits of sociopathy is a reckless disregard for safety and Sherlock did beg a serial killer to kill him after he downed a shocking amount of drugs. He also exhibits anti-social tendencies and keeps most people at an arm's length, up to and including his older brother Mycroft, his parents, and Irene Adler, someone who got so under his skin that he can only refer to her as "the Woman." But, that's the rub, isn't it? People get under Sherlock's skin; he's not immune to his feelings toward them. He does love Irene; he does love his parents; I suspect he does love Mycroft and there is absolutely no question that Sherlock Holmes loves John Watson. So if Sherlock isn't a sociopath, if he genuinely cares for people and his reckless regard for safety has more to do with protecting those he loves (and because he's an addict who needs a rush, never leave that factor out!) then what kind of person are we really left with? Let's talk about Euros.

Secret siblings are tricky. They reek of soap opera type theatrics and as if the writers simply couldn't think of a new storyline so they invent a totally new person to "spice" things up. In the Doyle canon, there is another Holmes brother but as far as I remember, he never shows up in the narrative. There's flexibility here, in other words, because another Holmes sibling is canon compliant but with enough room for Gatiss and Moffat to invent the character as they see fit. Who else thinks Euros is smarter than Sherlock and colder than Mycroft? I did not expect the woman on the bus, Faith, and John's new therapist all to be the same person, let alone be Sherlock's secret sister. Hats off to the writers for that, but the most important part of this reveal is not the twist but rather trying to puzzle out what sort of relationship Euros has with both Mycroft and Sherlock. We've gotten a sense that Mycroft stays in touch with Euros (side note but is Sherrinford some sort of code word or the name of a hospital?) and makes sure that his sister isn't making any sort of trouble but Sherlock is the more troubling Holmes brother in this scenario. We've been getting flashes of two young kids on a beach, playing like children are wont to do. I had thought that maybe these kids were Rosie and another kid, a flashforward instead of flashback, but upon a closer look, the bloodhound dog is a dead giveaway that it's Sherlock's flashback to his childhood. Sherlock has never discussed a sister or any sort of trauma about another sibling so my prediction is that Sherlock has blocked out this sister; the memory of her is so powerful and so tragic (whatever happened between them) that his mind has stored her in the deep recesses of his mind palace, a corner of his paradise that even Sherlock does not know exists. It this early childhood trauma of Euros that has made Sherlock, at least in part, who he is. So much of who we are and how we react to the world and the people in it comes from our childhood and what happened to us there. What if Sherlock's antisocial tendencies and his cold and cockish behavior stem from an unconscious and unremembered trauma involving his sister? It's like Sherlock told John at the end of this episode, "I have this idea that, from time to time, we might just be human." Sherlock Holmes: human being; I never doubted it.

Miscellaneous Notes on The Lying Detective 

--Our serial killer/villain of the week sums up Sherlock's state of mind and being pretty well, "once you open your heart, you can't close it again."

--Also, how about some major props to Toby Jones for his work as Culverton Smith! I talked very little about the case of the week, but it was strong and interesting and very tense.

--"You're suicidal. You're allowed chips."

--Mrs. Hudson jumping out of the Aston Martin was not a thing I expected but it was a thing I simply loved.

--I need to put on my feminist hat for a moment and state that the writing for Molly this year is pretty sad. Is her only role to be a nursemaid and babysitter?

--Euros means "east wind" which is also Doyle-canon compliant; in the final Sherlock Holmes novel, the detective speaks of an east wind coming to destroy England before it is rebuilt. Doyle was speaking of World War One but it takes on a different flavor now that it has been latched on to Sherlock's sister.

--Anyone wonder if we'll see Irene Adler in next week's episode?

--The JohnLock hug was completely different than the first one they shared on the day of John's wedding. This one felt...more raw and completely visceral. I can't deny that I was crying throughout that whole scene.

--Next week is the finale of season four. Several years ago, both Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman stated they were on for a fifth season but, since then, both actors have become mega stars in Hollywood and it's hard to know whether or not they can keep taking time off shooting big and expensive movies for a BBC drama. See you next week!

In Which I Review Sherlock (4x1)

The boys are back in town. After a year away, Sherlock and John (along with Mary, naturally) get back down to business. Much like with the other BBC imported phenomenon, Doctor Who, having a year away can be either a plus or a negative with a TV show. For the former, it's easy to pick back up on Christmas. Take the Doctor, some space travel, some conflict, add some heart and schmaltz and you've got a fairly standard Doctor Who episode. I think Sherlock's harder; there are more layers of plot to remind the audience of and the overall premise of the brilliant detective and his best friend/sidekick naturally involves a big labyrinthine case that has to be carefully constructed and expertly executed. This is likely why "The Six Thatchers" didn't quite work and gel for me. Yes, just seeing Sherlock and John is a big help, but this episode missed that decidedly delicious element that should always be present in a Sherlock Holmes story: an interesting case. This mixed bag of an episode leaves me feeling a bit underwhelmed and struggling to parse this particular episode. Grab your trusty bloodhound and let's go!

I don't mean to sound overly harsh, but did anyone else find this episode to be a titch boring? At least when you compare it to episodes of Sherlock from season one and two, this season four opener felt like it was missing a good case to sink our teeth (and for Sherlock to sink his teeth) into. It's not that the case of the smashed up Margaret Thatcher busts didn't have promise; it's something that is right up Sherlock's alley being both banal to us mere mortals and fascinating to Sherlock and him alone. But unlike in the past when Sherlock went out on the trail, hunting down various clues and astounding all lookers-on of his deductive prowess, Sherlock more or less sat in his apartment with various other potentially more interesting clients and waited for Lestrade to bring him news of more broken busts before managing to get a big break in the case and then switching tracks instantly. Even the lead-in case of the son who died in his car had significantly more promise than the case Sherlock settled on. The broken busts don't matter or have any serious weight and moreover, the criminal who was shattering all the plaster doesn't matter except in his relation to Mary Watson who, I suppose, is the real case of the week. Mary is, by and large, a fascinating character ever since it was revealed she was a mercenary agent who is as smart as Sherlock and ten times more deadly. My issue is more that the question of Mary was solved in season three; John did not care what her past was, he cared what their future could be. That, really, should have been the end of that. Her past is mostly explained but left in the shadows where she'd wish it to be. We, the audience, are more than capable of filling in some blanks (Mary did bad things and she did them well). It's as if the writers couldn't help but bring the mystery back to the forefront and tried to give it some unneeded heft. Mary, canonically, has to die but to make her death the entire point of a case and to neglect an essential part of any Doyle story feels cheap to both Mary and the Sherlock/John twosome.

The argument the episode is really trying to make, complete with a tortured fairy tale that is retold at least three times, is about predestination and whether or not any of us can really outrun our own personal destiny. Mary was a covert agent who fled her previous life and tried to set up a normal, everyday, ordinary one. To expect her to never run into problems about her past life would be absurd. There's almost an understood "of course" when the Thatcher-criminal turns out to be one of Mary's former cohorts. Her significant half, John, is an adrenaline junkie who missed the war so much he found solving crimes with Sherlock a suitable substitute; of course he ends up having some sort of emotional (maybe physical?) affair. The idea of living a second life, sneaking around, daring to be caught is John Watson's modus operandi to a "T" in his attempts to add some needed spice to his life. And then there's Sherlock who keeps escaping death. From his fake-out fall on the rooftop two years ago to his short-lived exile to his junkie habits, Sherlock has managed to survive when others would have died. He's the famous merchant in Baghdad, trying to outrun the specter of death. Does it catch up to him? Death catches the merchant and it catches Mary so it would follow that it can catch Sherlock too. Sherlock's final case, the most important case of his life, the case that matters more than Moriarty and Magnussen, that case that Sherlock really would die for is given to him by an unexpected client: Mary, from beyond the grave. Save John Watson. No matter what happens, save John. Mary and Sherlock lived/live their life with both ends burning but if any single one of them is destined to survive, it must be John who needs to find adrenaline in the ordinary. If I was in a betting mood, I would suggest that everyone get ready to say goodbye to our favorite consulting detective. This time for good.

Miscellaneous Notes on The Six Thatchers 

--This episode's "previously on" brought up the other Holmes brother. Anyone want to bet we'll meet him before the season is out?

--Toby the bloodhound is super cute.

--So am I the only one who wishes there was a bit more focus on the cases and the teamwork it takes to solve them?

--Mary's real name is Rosamund, the name she and John give to their new baby.

--Sherlock attempting to explain logic to a baby is precious: "if you want to keep the rattle, do not throw the rattle."

--You know what? I think Moriarty really is that boring--I think he left the "Miss Me" message just to mess with Sherlock.

--#ohwhatabeautifulmorning

In Which I Review Sherlock (New Year's Day 2016)

Well. Okay then. You know, I had absolutely no idea what to expect going into this one-off New Year's Day Sherlock special entitled "The Abominable Bride." None at all. Yes, I had seen the trailers and the photos and knew that somehow, inexplicably, we, and our two leading men, were cast into the late 1800s and looked far more like Holmes and Watson that they typically do; but aside from those obvious (and very confusing) spoilers, I had virtually no idea what this episode of Sherlock was even going to be about. What I got was one of the very best episodes of Sherlock we've ever seen. This is the sort of smart, witty, snappy writing I've come to expect from Moffat/Gatiss on this, their other BBC show. Sometimes Sherlock gets bogged down in the tricks and the trappings of a detective story (to be fair, it *is* a detective story) and often becomes a bit too gadget and direction-happy and won't let the audience breathe and enjoy, but this trip back to 1895 was exactly what the good doctor ordered. Grab a pipe, a funny hat, and a cup of good cheer: the boys are back in town! 

My review is going to be rather brief because while the plot is vast in scope, the themes of the episode really boil down to one important question. The question we, the fans, have been asking for a little over a year: is Moriarty alive and how did he survive the modern day Reichenbach Fall? To answer this question, Sherlock (as he is wont to do) go deep into his mind palace and tries to solve another famous crime: that of Emelia Ricoletti, the Abominable Bride. That is the bare bones summation of this plot line. Everything you see back in 1895 is a (sadly drug fueled) trip into the famous mind palace in order to reflect into the present and answer that all important question. But that doesn't mean that our trip to the past isn't incredibly fun. It feels as though Moffat and Gatiss sat for weeks at a computer, scouring through the best of fanfiction.net and AO3 in order to come up with a sensible plot line that was true to Doyle's writing and true to the characters as they have conceived of them in modern day London. They knew that they had a hard task before them, to whet the appetites of the admittedly rabid Sherlock fanbase while admitting that it was going to take at least another year before we get season 4 (damn Cumberbatch and Freeman and their rising-star careers). In order to do that, the writing duo decided to have a little bit of fun. An alternative universe, if you will. It's common enough in fanfiction. Setting the story back in the Doyle era of the original Holmes, we are given a little New Years Day treat but all the while not expecting any of this to be canonized. A romp in the garden, then. We get some fun with our favorite detective boys and are pacified until 2017. Instead, Moffat and Gatiss pulled the rug out from under our feet and made everything about this episode relate to the present tense. And it was insanely well executed.

Right off the bat, the death of Emelia Ricoletti feels familiar. A deranged and macabre woman blows her brains out in front of an audience and then somehow rises from the grave to terrorize all of England. It's Moriarty in a fancy wedding dress. Could Moriarty have survived his death blow? Well, sure; why not? Sherlock survived his fall, after all, and every hero needs a villain in their story. The hero need that element against which they fight in order to prove that they are the hero in the tale being told (this all sounds very Doctor Who-ish, does it not?) The case of the Abominable Bride is not really about Ricoletti, then. Yes, Sherlock in the modern day, having taken an entire lists worth of illegal drugs, is trying to solve the case as his plane lands from whence it too off only moments prior, but in reality, Sherlock is trying to solve Moriarty's case viz a viz Mrs. Ricoletti. It's a great one-two punch because while the Ricolleti 1895 case is clearly a parallel to the 2014 Moriarty one, the audience does not grasp the supreme twist that it's all happening inside Sherlock's head until more than halfway through the tale. Honestly, you have to give some props to the writers for this clever about-face and deception. So is Moriarty alive? Well, yes and no. Is the physical being known as Moriarty alive and well? According to Sherlock, in the end, no. That creature who threatened to burn the heart out of Sherlock is dead. But the memory of Moriarty, what he represents, is. And just as Sherlock often represents logic, order, control, and systematic deduction, Moriarty is a force of chaos. He is a destructive maelstrom who tries to topple Sherlock by playing a long game with the boy genius; his modus operandi is to distract Sherlock and his work by plaguing the detective's thoughts. Sherlock Holmes will never be free of Moriarty. That voice--that chaotic malevolent force--will always be there whispering evil nothings in Sherlock's ear. It's like the 1895 vision of Moriarty says at the Reichenbach Falls, "this is how we end--always together." Moriarty and Sherlock are our very own Satan and God, tangled in a web. Remember who is locked up, deep inside Sherlock's mind palace? It's Moriarty. They are two sides of what it means to be a super genius: the hero who tries to save victims and the villain who creates them. Sherlock stands at a precipice and tries not to fall over, to become Moriarty. But, unlike his arch nemesis, Sherlock has one thing that Moriarty can never hope to have: John.

"There's always two of us!" Fake 1895 John yells before he kicks Moriarty over a cliff. It doesn't matter what the case is, or what time period they happen to be in, Sherlock would be lost without his blogger. John saves Sherlock, just as Sherlock confesses during John's wedding day. As is always the case, there are a lot of Sherlock and Watson moments that feel highly significant but once the curtain rises and we realize that the 1895 drama is, in fact, not really happening outside of Sherlock's wild mind palace, we have to understand that this mustached John is how Sherlock (our modern Sherlock, that is) conceives of his best friend. It's never been hard to deduce what John is for Sherlock--John is really Sherlock's conscience. In a world that threatens to consume the detective, Sherlock turns off all his emotions and focuses on the work and on solving the case. John is there to humanize him. When 1895 John asks his best friend "what made you like this?" it's really Sherlock wanting to know why he is the way he is. His answer is that nothing made him, Sherlock made himself. And isn't that a trifle sad? Sure, he's a brilliant detective and a world class mind, but recall the season three opener in which Sherlock all but admits that he is lonely and sad without John. Sherlock may have made himself this way, but there's always a reason. The ghost of Mrs. Ricoletti causes Sherlock to extemporize on the nature of the past and how we all have ghosts, the ones of our own making. John, as always, is there to lean on, to keep the ghosts at bay, should Sherlock need it. The question we might pause to consider, then, is what are Sherlock's ghosts. Might the mysterious Redbeard that Mycroft has written in his pocket have anything to do with why Sherlock closed himself off? Or the allusion to another Holmes brother?

There were a few other themes that were parceled out to us over the hour and a half but the one that is the strongest is women's agency (something ever so near and dear to my heart). In the 1895 drama, we get a fairly accurate (and sad) depiction of what life was like for women in the world. Either they are ignored by their husbands (Emelia Ricoletti and Mary Watson); they are mute plot devices (Mrs. Hudson with maybe some of the best lines of the night); they are objects meant to serve men but have little meaningful interaction with them (the Watson's maid); and while they might be clever and just as capable as a man, they are forced to hide their gender to get ahead in the world (Molly Hooper with the best mustache in the series. Sorry, John). The invisible amry is a reference to Moriarty's network, which I assume is going to play a significant role in season 4, but it's also a statement by the two chief writers about empowering women; that they could move mountains (or plot and plan the murder of several bad men) if we let them. For a writer (Mofatt) who has been given quite a bit of grief over his misogony on his other BBC show (looking at you, Clara kid) it's refreshing to see him (and Gatiss) make a mostly-strong statement (even if I cringe a bit that the main impetus for this women's army is all about being ill treated by men). A wee bit of speculation but I do wonder if that mission statement will carry through to Season 4. Might we see the return of Irene Adler? Guess we'll have to wait (slightly less than) an eternity to find out!

Miscellaneous Notes on The Abominable Bride

--"I'm glad you liked my potato." I laughed for five minutes solid.

--Tons of call backs and references to earlier modern day cases, which really should have been the big clue that all was not what it seemed: John and Sherlock meeting almost the same way in 1895 (complete with Mike Stamford); the dialogue and Holmes deducing that Watson was in war; the (orange) pips as a harbinger of death; the creepy moors and the supernatural creature that is really just a trick of the mind (ghost, dog); Sherlock playing John and Mary's waltz.

--Fat! Mycroft is one of the best things I've ever seen. "Did you summon me here just to humiliate me?" "Yes."

--Speaking of Mycroft, the modern day gent really does get the short end of the stick with Sherlock. He might be smarter than his little brother, but loves him deeply, as evidenced by the emotion wraught on his face both in the season three finale and in a few tender moments Mycroft tries to have in the modern world. The "I'll always be there for you" was heartbreaking given that Sherlock rejects his brother.

--"I'm your land lady, not a plot device." I want that on a t-shirt.

--"Elementary, my dear Watson." #Nerdgasam

--Men out of time, the pair of them. Bless. See everyone for season 4!

In Which I Review Sherlock (3x3)

Do you ever get through watching an episode of TV and wonder what the heck you just saw? When I watch the shows I review, I have a pretty set pattern. I watch, take about a full page of notes on plot and observations, leave it overnight to settle in my brain and then write the review. With this season finale of Sherlock, "His Final Vow," I figured I'd have to see the episode a few times before I felt comfortable enough to type a review but I never expected to be completely flabbergasted at the end of the first viewing. I sat in shock for 90 minuets and the only note I took on the initial watch was, "Steven Moffat is an evil SOB who literally hates all of mankind." When it was over, I instantly re-watched knowing that I probably missed a thousand and one things in my effort to just keep up with the fast paced, mind bendy, timey wimey, unbelievably GOOD episode of Sherlock. Like all season finale episodes of Sherlock, this one took several turns, had gasp worthy moments, had me both screaming in anger and frustration, laughing with mirth, and sobbing with joy and sadness, both. That's the mark of good writing, folks. When you can feel ALL the things, the writers have done their job. This final episode of the third season puts Sherlock's final vow he made at the Watson's wedding to the test. How far will Sherlock go to ensure John and Mary's happiness and safety? What would he sacrifice for them? The answer is easy and you already know it: everything. 

Meet Charles Augusts Magnussen--newspaper magnet, billionaire, and our evil genius for season three. In the original Doyle work, he went by Milverton but was just as manipulative and intelligent. Magnussen deals in knowledge. He is an expert blackmailer, capable of getting individuals and countries alike to bend to his will simply because he knows the weakness of every important person in the western world. He calls these weaknesses "pressure points" and he has them all locked in his Appledore vaults. The vaults, believed to reside under his house, are a veritable Alexandrian library of knowledge. Files upon files of secrets that Magnussen can trot out any time he wants to get what he desires. It's not easy to NOT compare Magnussen to Moriarty, the latter being our villain for the first two seasons of Sherlock and probably the most recognizable villain in the Sherlock Holmes canon. Moriarty, consultant criminal, got off on the intricate planning and crime work. He loved being bad for the sake of being bad. A true sociopath he cared very little about the people he hurt or the lives he wrecked. But his own weakness was that he was drawn to Sherlock as his equal. With Moriarty and Sherlock, it was a game of chess between two equally skilled opponents. Both knew that they might lose the game because the opponent was a worthy advisory. And it created a sense of respect between them. Moriarty was, I think, a little bit in love with Sherlock and Sherlock admired Moriarty's ability to turn off all feelings and just be a cold, calculating and a down right nasty bastard. Magnussen is different. Moriarty loved chaos for the sake of chaos but never got his hands dirty. Magnussen is right in the thick of things but at the same time you can't touch him. Magnussen doesn't need to create chaos to stave off boredom. He just needs people to think that he can.

Magnussen doesn't need a vast network, he just needs his Appledore files. He loves knowing that he can topple your whole world with the right publication in one of his many newspapers. And when it comes to Sherlock, it's not a chess game because Magnussen believes Sherlock to be totally inferior. Sherlock won't win against Magnussen because Magnussen simply doesn't consider him a threat. Sherlock is a pest, someone buzzing around trying to be self-important but, to Magnussen's delight, Sherlock has many pressure points from the small--Red Beard--to the greatest one of them all--John Watson. For example, when Magnussen shows up at Sherlock's flat (calling it HIS new office), Magnussen toys with Sherlock while Sherlock is trying to maintain the upper hand and remain rational, something that is hard to do when Magnussen decides to take a piss in Sherlock's fireplace while John and Sherlock are almost too shocked to respond. While I prefer the over the top theatrics of Moriarty and the raw chemistry Sherlock and Moriarty have, Magnussen turned my stomach, much like Sherlock's. He won't ruin your life, he'll just threaten to and you'll bend because what he has on you is that devastating.

So to set up a few things for the episode: Lady Smallwood, a member of the British government has hired Sherlock to help her deal with Magnussen, who is blackmailing Smallwood with letters (which Magnussen apparently carries on his person) about her husband and an illicit love affair with a 15 year old.  Sherlock knows that in order to make him more appealing to Magnussen, he will need a pressure point. And because Sherlock is sometimes very stupid (for being a genius) he turns to his drug habit. In the original stories, Sherlock Holmes has a very serious drug problem, though due to time of publication Watson's disapproval comes off more cautionary rather than down right anti-drug . However, our series has yet to really deal with this aspect. It has been alluded to several times in the first two seasons, but Sherlock, we are given to understand, is clean and free of his coke habit. It has been about a month since the Watson wedding and John and Sherlock haven't seen each other in that time. Life moves on. John is living in the suburbs with Mary, going to work, and living a totally normal existence. Which galls John Watson, though he's loathe to admit it. So when danger comes knocking--in the form of a next door neighbor worried about her drug addict son who didn't come home--the good Dr. Watson jumps in his car to go to a drug den and rescue the boy. While there, he fights a drug addict and generally acts very reckless, getting right in the face of drugged out stoners with knives. All of this ties into John's psychology, which we'll talk about in a bit, but the really important part is who else John finds in the drug den: a very high, very drugged out, very hobo-looking Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock insists that he is high because it is part of his case and he is undercover, but John thinks there are some lines Sherlock can't cross and drugs are one of them.

Sherlock high is quite alarming. It's not something we've seen before and something I never want to see again. He's even more condescending and frankly violent, grabbing Mycroft and shoving him up against a door frame. Sherlock is acting like Sherlock but a heightened version of him. He is doing things that Sherlock PRE-John would have done, not the Sherlock who has grown emotionally over the course of the past few years because of John. While he claims it's all for a case, it's hard to watch. Especially when Jeanine (Mary's maid of honor) comes trotting out of Sherlock's bedroom in nothing but a dress shirt. Like John, I was slightly appalled, confused, horrified, and desperately trying to look anywhere but at the kissing smile-y couple. Sherlock shouldn't be kissing people! (Unless it's Molly, John or hell even Moriarty!) My first instinct was that Sherlock was faking a relationship with Jeanine in order to do couple things with Mary and John--an attempt to reinsert himself into the Watson's life the only way he knew how. It took watching the episode twice to really get the subtle ways Sherlock changes in the presence of Jeanine. When she's there in the flesh, he's sweet and tender and lovey-dovey. But the second she leaves, he's our Sherlock again, caring only about Magnussen and the game. Nothing is ever as it appears with Sherlock--perhaps one of the most enduring themes of the show as a whole. Everything is a facade with something swimming underneath.

The real story of Sherlock and Jeanine is cold, through frankly, not wholly out of character for Sherlock, but rather a low character point I didn't expect in season three. Jeanine is the personal assistant to Magnussen in his newspaper office. She is an access point to Magnussen, nothing more. Sherlock manages to convince her to let him into the office, through a surprise marriage proposal--much to John's horror who balks at his best friends depiction of using "human error" against the person in question. It's a little disturbing to be honest. How is this not like what Magnussen does to people, exploiting them for gain? Like John I was a little taken aback at how low Sherlock could go when it comes to getting into an office. Once they get into the office, though, they find Jeanine knocked out on the floor, bleeding from the head. Sherlock knows they aren't alone and leaves John with an unconscience Jeanine while he goes to investigate. Finding Magnussen's bedroom, he sees the newspaper man on his knees, with someone pressing a gun to his head. Sherlock thinks it must be Lady Smallwood, seeking revenge on Magnussen for upsetting her life. But then the person in black turns around and it's not Lady Smallwood. It's not Lady Smallwood at all.

It's Mary. And the look of absolute horror and shock on Sherlock's face is only matched by me screaming in surprise. Because Sherlock Holmes, the man who can deduce anything about anyone, can't see past the end of his nose when it comes to the people he loves. And god help him, he does love Mary. He cares for her because she is John's pressure point and he knows it. He knows that John loosing Mary would absolutely break his best friend and therefore if John cares about Mary then so will Sherlock. Sherlock never even considered that Mary could be a two timing agent. She dazzled all of us. In the first episode of this season, I remarked that there was something suspicious about Mary but didn't really give it much thought. In the second episode, I was so totally enamored of Mary and her desire to not break up JohnLock that any doubt I had about her was washed away. She was a member of the family now. She belonged with John and Sherlock and that's all there was to that. Again, that's the mark of good TV writing. That I could, in the span of one episode, forget the slight oddness that was Mary's original appearance (knowing skip code for instance) just because she made the two main characters so happy only to have it turned upside down in the very next episode is startling. And then it gets worse because Mary shoots Sherlock and all the feelings and emotions came crashing down.

What happens next is, as I wrote in my notes, a surreal exercise in Sherlockian deduction. It's important to remember a few things: first, Sherlock is probably one of the smartest people on the planet. His brain works lightening fast so that what is actually several minuets on screen is only less than a second in his brain. Second, Sherlock's mind palace (super important foreshadowing is super important) is a magical place that is inhabited by various people. In the time it takes Sherlock to fall because of the gunshot wound, his mind palace has gone into overdrive trying to analyze which way to fall and which memory he needs to conjure up to remain calm in the face of shock. He is assisted in this endeavor by Molly, Anderson, and Mycroft. There is one more, but I'm going to save that for a moment. It's a very bizarre sequence and the first time I watched it, I was very put off by the almost overly indulgent artsy nature of it. There are bright white lights, disjointed camera angles, and the trademark fast/slow of Sherlock. But I think it's important to remember that this is taking place inside Sherlock's mind, an organ scientists still don't fully understand. We do learn that Red Beard was Sherlock's dog as a little boy, a dog that had to be put down. The lowest level of Sherlock's mind palace is a padded cell. One guess who is in that cell.

Did you guess Moriarty? A very deranged, crazed Moriarty but Moriarty nevertheless. So why is "Moriarty" (remember: this is Sherlock's sub conscience) chained to a wall in Sherlock's mind? Well, Moriarty has always represented what Sherlock COULD be. Like I said above, Sherlock and Moriarty are more equally matched than Sherlock and Magnussen. The world's greatest detective and the world's greatest criminal, and as Moriarty said, "we're made for each other, Sherlock." Moriarty represents what Sherlock is capable of if he didn't have the world's greatest heart. Despite Sherlock's constant claim that he's a high functioning sociopath, it's sometimes really hard to see. Sherlock likes to think that his brain is his greatest asset, but it's heart. Ever since meeting John, it has been his heart. Remember what Mycroft said in the second season: "my brother has the mind of a philosopher or a scientist. Yet he elects to be a detective. What do you think that says about his heart?" That doesn't mean that Sherlock doesn't long to lock away all his feelings and be as cold as he wishes he could be, though. And that's what Moriarty is. If Sherlock could lock up his love for John and his own sense of heroism, he'd be Moriarty. Easily. That part of Sherlock's mind screams to Moriarty, "you never felt pain!" But Sherlock does. You really only need to watch Benedict Cumberbatch's performance this episode to see how much pain Sherlock can feel.

But it is this crazed portion of Sherlock's brain that reminds him why he simply isn't allowed to die from this gunshot: John. All "Moriarty" has to say is that John will cry buckets and buckets and that if Sherlock dies (again) John will be in danger and Sherlock, so ready to give up and die, fights his way back up out of his mind palace. He won't leave John again. On John's wedding day, Sherlock stood in front of everyone and declared that no matter what, he'd always be there for John and Mary. Dying...that's so two years ago.

So. Who the bloody hell is Mary Watson? Even though he has been shot, Sherlock breaks out of the hospital determined to find the truth. He arranges a meeting between Mary and himself in which we learn that Mary Morston was a still born baby who died some 30 years ago. Mary, who is no longer hiding that she is some sort of super solider, tells Sherlock that she'll do whatever needs to be done to ensure that she doesn't loose John. But Sherlock, ever one step ahead, has made sure that John is listening to the whole conversation. John now knows that his wife is not who she says and is as far from the sweet funny Mary as one could get. But is Mary a villain? Not really. She's a woman in trouble. Magnussen obviously has something on her, her own file of secrets stashed away. Magnussen could upset Mary's new life and that's why she went after him. Knowing that there is much to talk about, Sherlock, John and Mary go back to Baker Street.

There is some timey wimey stuff here (this IS a Moffat episode after all) but I want to take this in linear order. Back at Baker Street, John is enraged. As he has every right to be. John can't figure out what he did to deserve this--of all the women in the world, why did he fall in love with a psychopath who used to kill people for a living? Let's talk about John Watson for a moment. John is NOT and never has been the average man some adaptations make him out to be. He is not as smart or deductive as Sherlock, but he's not the everyman. John is an addict of a different sort. But it's not drugs. It's danger. John Watson needs, craves, demands a life of danger. This is something he tries very hard to deny. What John wants and what he needs do not align. He wants the life in the suburbs with a doctor's wife and to live as everyone else. But that's not what he needs. What he needs is the thrill of the chase, the blood pounding in his ears, the constant imminent threat of death. As Sherlock says, "you're a doctor who went off to war, a married man who couldn't live in the suburbs for more than month before you went into a drug house of junkies and a man with a best friend who solves crimes as an alternative to getting high. Even our landlady was part of a drug cartel!" So of course, subconsciously, John was looking for a woman who is the exact same, she's another kind of fix. As John begins to cry and whispers to Sherlock, "but she wasn't supposed to be like this. Why is she like that?" Sherlock's answer is simply: "because you chose her." Think about all the previous girlfriends John has had over the past two seasons: dull, dull and dull. He can't keep them, not because--as he pretends--Sherlock constantly gets in the way, but because John's desire and need to live that dangerous life with Sherlock gets in the way. He will always choose Sherlock and the game not only because he loves his best friend but because he loves living on the edge.

So what to do with Mary? As Sherlock points out, now that they are back in Baker Street, Mary is one thing: a client. She will be made to sit in the client chair and tell her story. And then, and only then, will Sherlock Holmes and John Watson decide if they want her or not. She has broken the family and now she's either in or she's out. Sherlock sits in his chair, John in his. A team despite the fact that John is livid with his best friend for not automatically taking his side. Mary has a flash drive with her whole life story on it but Sherlock's deductions are right. She's a former spy and despite having a very convincing British accent, she's not. She has worked at times for one nation and freelance, murdering for money. At some point she made one enemy too many and had to go on the run, landing in London and adopting the name of Mary Morston. The entire affair is interrupted by Sherlock bleeding internally but before he passes out, he insists to John that Magnussen is the only thing that matters and that they can trust Mary: she could have killed him in Magnussen's office but she chose not to.

Timey-wimey time. We jump ahead a few months to Christmas at the Holmes's household. John and Mary haven't spoken in months but she has been brought along for Christmas dinner. John arrives and wants to talk to Mary and after months of thinking it through, he only has one thing to say, you past is your past. But your future is ours. John won't read her flash drive and throws it into the fire. He loves her too much to let her go. It was a very tear jerky moment with Mary crying, "you don't even know my name!" and John answering, "is Mary Watson good enough for you?" This lovely moment is interrupted by Sherlock having drugged everyone with punch so that he and John can get away to see Magnussen. So long as Magnussen has a file on Mary in his Appledore vault, Mary and John will never be safe and happy. And Sherlock needs them to be safe and happy. Sherlock made a deal with Magnussen the last time they met: Sherlock will bring him Mycroft's laptop which hold the secrets of the British government IF Magnussen hands over everything he has on Mary in the Appledore vault.

I want to take pause here and talk a little about Sherlock and Mycroft because their relationship is just as important as Sherlock and John's if wholly different. It's easy to view the Holmes brothers as adversaries. It's how they are presented on the surface: two egomaniacal geniuses constantly trying to get the better of the other. But, this is Sherlock. Nothing is ever what it seems. Everything is a facade. I want to break this analysis into two parts: how Sherlock views Mycroft and then, in a bit, how Mycroft views Sherlock. For Sherlock, Mycroft is a rubbish older brother. He has never done anything that older brothers are supposed to do. Mycroft never protected him, never loved him, always taunted him and made fun of him, insisting that Mycroft was the smarter of the two. In Sherlock's eyes, he and Mycroft are family in name only and they care for each other very little. So when Mycroft is given to sentimentality--"your loss would break my heart"--Sherlock has no idea what to do with it because Mycroft has never shown any sort of brotherly love. To Sherlock, Mycroft views him as a little annoying kid who trails after his older brother. Oh Sherlock. You really are quite dense, you know that? Bear all this in mind when I return to the Holmes brothers.

John follows Sherlock to Magnussesn's--a gun in John's coat pocket just in case--prepared to go along with the deal Sherlock struck if it means he and Mary can live their lives. And then the big reveal--showing Sherlock the Appledore vault. Remember when I said to keep the mind palace in--well--mind? Guess what doesn't REALLY exist? The Appledore Vault. The prized vault full of everyone's darkest secrets is Magnussen's mind palace that he can access anytime he wants but no one else can. This whole venture has been nothing more than playing off people's pressure points. What does Magnussen want? He's a business man. He wants to sell papers and revel in the knowledge that he can control anyone. He has now successfully set up Sherlock and John as traitors to the state. Mycroft, the drugs in his tea having worn off, tracks down his laptop and goes after his brother realizing that Sherlock is about to sell state secrets--at least that is how it looks. It's all leverage. Magnussen wants to own them all. He used Mary to get to John which gets to Sherlock which gets to Mycroft. They are all part of his collection now. Instead of saving John and Mary, Sherlock has fallen into a trap that will take John away from Mary forever.

And this is where we must remember Sherlock's final vow at the wedding. No matter what it takes, he will always be there for John and Mary. No matter what he has to sacrifice, he will ensure that they get their happy ending. With Mycroft descending en masse to arrest John and Sherlock, Sherlock does the only thing he can: destroy the Appledore vaults. While Magnussen taunts the pair about Sherlocks' heroism, Sherlock grabs the gun from John's jacket and says maybe one of the best lines of the entire series: "Do you research! I'm not a hero. I'm a high functioning sociopath! MERRY CHRISTMAS!" and blows Magnussen's head off. And it will cost him everything but the true heroism is that sacrifice. Now that he has committed murder, Sherlock will be taken into custody and John will be free to go back to Mary. Sherlock has to protect them. Recall the very first episode of the series where Detective Sally Donovan tells John, "someday they'll be a body and it will be Sherlock Holmes standing over it. He gets off on this." This is the first time (and probably only time) Sherlock has committed murder but it wasn't in the name of boredom but of love. His unending love for John. Character development. It's a beautiful thing.

Mycroft, watching from a helicopter is just as lost as his brother. So how does Mycroft view Sherlock? Yes, as a child, but not in a condescending way. This is his baby brother and he loves him. Wholly and completely. What is Mycroft's pressure point? As Magnussen points out, "his junkie detective brother." Think about all the interactions we've seen from Mycroft over the years. The first time we meet him, it isn't in an adversarial role. Yes, it's odd and a little creepy but it's Mycroft trying to get John to spy on Sherlock because Mycroft is concerned for his brother. Anytime Sherlock is in danger, Mycroft drops his busy life and comes running. He even took a morning off under the pretense of discussing the terror alert only to be sucked into playing "Operation." When John got married, Mycroft seemed almost delighted that he would have his little brother back in his life again. The pretense Mycroft puts on about thinking himself superior to Sherlock and having little in the way of sentiment toward his baby brother is--you guessed it--a facade. And thus, when it comes time to punish Sherlock for his crimes, Mycroft ensures that his brother is not sent to jail but exiled out of London. It may hurt, but this is how he will protect his little brother.

And so now it's off to Eastern Europe for Sherlock with a job from MI-6, something that is predicted to kill him, but something I think Mycroft secretly believes Sherlock can survive. The goodbye between John and Sherlock isn't as emotional as fans would want it to be. There was no declaration of love for the two, no JohnLock hug. But JohnLock hugs are rare creatures that one only sees once in a blue moon. Instead, it's more lighthearted and jokey. John isn't alone anymore. Not this time. He has Mary and a child, and John will miss his best friend--of course he will--but Sherlock isn't leaving him devastated and alone like last time. And so Sherlock hops on a plane and flies off into the great blue yonder. The end. Show over. It was fun.

Oh wait. What's that? There is another scene?! Only four minutes into his exile and Sherlock Holmes is recalled to London because guess who is alive?? Yup. Moriarty. Let the game begin once more. It's on.

Please don't make me wait two years, BBC.




Miscellaneous Notes on His Final Vow

--Well this was a long one. But it was maybe one of the best hours of Sherlock I've seen. This whole season has been nothing but perfection. Normally in Sherlock, there is one episode that resonates with me less than the others. Not this season. Everything was pitch perfect. Awards for everyone--especially Martin Freeman. His portrayal of John Watson has been magnificent to watch.

--The look on Sherlock's face when he makes his decision to save John and kill Magnuseen (the image above) was just heartbreaking. It's a silent goodbye.

--Some quotes:
"Don't appall me, brother mine, when I'm high."
"Your loss would break my heart" (this one made me just cry and cry)
"Why would I bring a gun to your parents for Christmas dinner?" "So it's in your coat, then?" "Yes."
"Give Mary my love. Tell her she's safe."

--The face flicking scene was super awkward but I think it was supposed to be. In that moment, you're a lot like Sherlock who has to stand in the background watching your best friend be humiliated and know that there is nothing you can do about it.  I wonder how many takes that took.

--William Sherlock Scott Holmes. My god. Even his full name is sexy as hell. 

--Molly broke off her engagement to Tom. (yay!) And YAY for Molly being the one to literally try and slap sense into Sherlock about drugs.

--Random trivia but Sherlock's parents are played by Benedict Cumberbatch's real parents. And Mary is played by Martin Freeman's real life wife.

--According to rumors there will be two more seasons of Sherlock. Praise the lord.

--Is there another Holmes brother? Mycroft made a very passing reference to it. Betcha it comes up in S4 or S5. 

--How did Moriarty survive blowing his head off? Your guess is as good as mine.

In Which I Review Sherlock (3x2)

I'll say this for Sherlock: the writers sure do know how to break a fandom. After this week's episode, "The Sign of Three" I have to wonder if the writers secretly sit on Tumblr and read fanfic at AO3 and that's how they come up with their scripts. The episode was, essentially, a love letter to the internet culture fandom and to the JohnLock shippers, of whom there are many. MANY. It's the wedding day of John and Mary and Sherlock is tasked with his most important and difficult task yet: delivering the best man speech at John's ceremony. He can fight criminals and solve murders and outsmart everyone else in the room, but ask him to speak in public about his only friend and Sherlock becomes a socially awkward stutterer incapable of forming a single thought. And of course, he somehow manages to insult everyone. But under the exterior is a man who, I think, has a very big heart. Especially when it comes to his best friend. 

I want to start this review with some negatives. If you're not a die hard fangirl/boy of the show, meaning you have no idea what JohnLock is and you've never ventured into the wilds that is Tumblr, then this episode probably felt disjointed and unfocused. I'm having a hard time deciding if this was a good Sherlock episode when compared to others. When it comes to a typical episode, there are certain things you expect: an intricately woven crime plot, Sherlock being unbearable, John being compassionate, and a sense of awe at everything that happens. If that is the grading rubric, then this episode only met a few criteria. For one, the crime plot of someone trying to murder John's former commanding officer, Major Sholto, was almost too bizarre and intricate to follow properly. It involved several unsolved mysteries, a lot of flashbacks, and sweeping scenes of Benedict Cumberbatch making Sherlock almost manic in his final attempts to solve the crime (while delivering a best man speech). For the second episode in a row, the main crime drama takes a back seat to the relationship of John and Sherlock. If you think about the series opener 2 years ago, "A Study in Pink," and compare it to season three so far, I think it's fair to say that the actual mysteries that Doyle wrote aren't as tight in the modern adaption anymore. I saw a lot of jokes yesterday on Tumblr and Twitter that this episode was written by the fans. And I think, knowing realistically that it was penned by real writers, that joke might have some merit to it. But does that make the episode good or bad? It's a tough call. As a die hard fangirl who ships JohnLock (in a non-romantic soul mate kind of way) I was thrilled to the point of tears and ecstasy. But the television lover who enjoyed Sherlock first and foremost for the plot was confused and underwhelmed.

However, a fangirl I am and because of that, most of this review will be me gushing over how much Sherlock loves John. Let's talk about Sherlock himself for a second. He is, as he tells us frequently, a high functioning sociopath. He is cold and calculating and could probably figure out a way to murder you and get away with it. He toys with people and with words. Prior to meeting John, he literally had no concept of affection for others. Other humans bother him because they are all so very stupid. He has no issue tearing down people to their face--pointing out their flaws--because it never occurs to him that he is being rude or hurtful. Sherlock cannot conceive of being someone's best friend because he doesn't understand what friendship even means. So when John asks Sherlock to be his best man because he is one of the two people John loves most in this world (cue freak out #1), Sherlock literally doesn't understand. It simply does not compute in his brain that anyone could have any sort of affection for him because he has no affection for anyone in return. The best mans speech, which comprises most of the episode itself, is a series of flashbacks to John and Sherlock solving cases and being together in the weeks and months leading up the wedding. The first one finds John sitting in Sherlock's kitchen at 221B Baker Street trying very hard to ask Sherlock to be his best man. This flashback is maybe one of the most touching moments on the show (and the fact that the internet is still standing is a miracle because I'm fairly certain that we broke Tumblr last night). Once Sherlock finally realizes what John is asking he goes catatonic for the longest time while his super human brain tries to process that someone could love him. When he finally snaps out of it, his only question is "you mean I'm your best friend?" John smiles slightly and says, "Course. Yes of course you are. You're my best friend."

In the present day, back at the wedding, as Sherlock is telling this part of the story, John gets emotional and asks Mary to hold him back if he tries to hug Sherlock to which Mary replies, "absolutely not." Oh, I like her. I like her a lot. Sherlock is finally able to articulate his feelings to John in that moment and (cue freak out #2) says: "So if I didn't understand I was being asked to be best man, it is because I never expected to be anyone's best friend. Certainly not the best friend of the bravest, kindest, and wisest human being I have ever had the good fortune of knowing. Today you are sitting between the woman you love and the man you saved. In short, the two people who love you most in the all the world." And then IT happened. THEY HUGGED. John gets up and they hug. And the fandom DIED. I'm not kidding. My Twitter was full of nothing but loud screaming and internet-speak freakout. For myself, I went running downstairs to my mom to announce that they had hugged, something that failed to impress her as she has never seen the show. Three years the Sherlockians been waiting for a JohnLock hug. Why is it such a big deal? Because of who Sherlock is. He is not one who demonstrates affection. It doesn't jive with him. The one time he was really at a loss for words was when Irene Adler tried to seduce him by being stark naked. When Lestrade hugged Sherlock in last weeks episode, he groaned and tried to fight it off. Sherlock and Mycroft have never even shook hands so far as I can remember. And there is John, his soul mate, wrapping his arms around him in an effort to show love--plain and simple agape. And the best part: Sherlock accepts and gives it back.

A lot of this episode dealt with how life may or may not change for John and Sherlock once John and Mary are hitched. It's a thing that does happen: couple gets married, couple does couple things with other couples and the BFF of yesteryear is forgotten. Sherlock, having been alone his whole life, is suddenly faced with the real possibility that he may loose the only person who has ever meant anything to him and is terrified, to the point of looking up how to fold origami swans on YouTube. And this is why I think I love Mary so much. She doesn't want to break up JohnLock. In fact, I think she sorta loves Sherlock as an awkward older brother. Mary begins to send them both out on cases, claiming that she is doing it for the other. She tells Sherlock to get John out of the house because he is a nightmare with wedding planning, and she tells John to get Sherlock out of the house to prove that nothing between them will change. We learn a bit more about Mary this episode. Her family is gone but we don't know how but I suspect it has something to do with out big bad, Magnussen. During the "telegraph readings" (British people have cute traditions), Mary gets one from CAM--Charles Augustus Magnussen--and she looks terrified for just the briefest second. How do they know each other? Did Magnussen kill her family? I really need Mary to not be evil. It would break both John and Sherlock's heart because Sherlock has really taken a shine to her.

The second part of the non-crime related flashback is John's stag night which Sherlock has carefully planned so that they get pleasantly buzzed but not drunk. Yeah, that didn't work. They end up totally wasted, lying on Baker Street's steps talking about Sherlock's reputation before moving on to play drinking games. Drunk Sherlock is my new favorite thing. There were so many great quotes and moments from this flashback that I simply can't do them justice here. And of course, at that moment, a client comes and wants their help with a case. So drunk John and Sherlock run off to her apartment to investigate a ghost but are far too drunk to solve anything. Sherlock's brain, which normally analyzes everything, can only spew dribble like "sleeeeeeeeeep" and calling a chair a "sitty down thing." They end up in jail much to Lestrade's delight. Back in the present day wedding, as Sherlock is telling this story, he gets emotional one more time and tells everyone that "this man saved my life so many times and in so many ways." (freak out #3) The best man's speech is interrupted by the crime drama catching up to the present day action and once more Sherlock and John work together to catch a killer. It wasn't the best crime plot they've ever done and mostly I just wanted to get back to JohnLock.


The final moments, once the perpetrator is arrested, finds Sherlock playing his violin for Mary and John as they share their first waltz as a married couple before giving them one more moment: he tells Mary that she is pregnant. It's a shocking moment for John and Mary but once they recover, John and Sherlock are ecstatic for each other. Sherlock tells them that they are already fantastic parents and they'll "hardly need me around when you have a real baby" to which many smiles are given. Sherlock doesn't make vows normally so he gives his first and last vow here: "no matter what it takes, I will always be there for all three of you." (freak out #4) Uncle Sherlock already loves this baby. The one thing that does worry me was Mary's reaction. She seemed both happy but scared, not totally out of the ordinary but with next week being the season finale and Magnaussen taking center stage, I'm worried for Mary and her baby. And to add fuel to this fire, the final episode of the season is called "His Last Vow." Interpret what you will, but I think next week is going to be a roller coaster for all involved. Sherlock leaves the wedding early, as Mary and John celebrate. What does that mean? It's hard to know. On the one hand, Sherlock isn't a party person. He isn't comfortable around others. But at the same time, on the other hand, it might signal that despite promises, things do change. Life will be different for JohnLock.

Miscellaneous Notes on The Sign Of Three

--A random smattering of excellent quotes:
--"They're right. You're a psychopath." "A high functioning sociopath. With your telephone number."
"I learned it on YouTube..."
"Two people changed my life. Mary and---"
"NURSE?!"
"Am I the current King of England?"
"Am I a pretty lady?"
"The game is...something." "On?" "Yeah. That."
"He's clueing for looks."
"John Watson, you keep me right."
"You're not a puzzle solver. You're a drama queen."
"I love dancing."

--Sherlock did a little ballerina dance. And perfectly too.

--The main crime was just too complicated for me to get into properly. A dead guard, a mayfly man, and a disgraced major in the army. It might take one or two more watches to really get it.

--I feel really bad for Molly. Despite being engaged to Tom, she is clearly still in love with Sherlock. Now SherLolly is a romantic ship I can get behind.

--Random appearance of "the woman" Irene Adler. Naked, of course.

--One more episode. How is that possible? Will it return? No one is really sure. It's one of the BBC's highest rated shows but Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are becoming Hollywood elite. Would they stick around? Hard to say.