It feels like it was just yesterday the third series of “Sherlock” was beginning, and, well, it really wasn’t that long ago. It was 13 days ago, but here we are at the end, closing with last night’s “His Last Vow” episode, playing of Sherlock’s last words during “The Sign of Three.” How did the series end? What do I think could be next? Let’s find out below, as I share five thoughts on this episode.
WHATEVER YOU DO, IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THE EPISODE YET DO NOT READ THIS! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
1. Well that was a hell of a thing
For pretty much the entirety of this episode, I was stone silent. I watch this show with my wife, and when most shows I watch with my wife air, I talk about it and make comments and check my phone and yada yad yada. This one? Not so much. Why?
Enough happened in this one episode to fill an entire season of lesser shows. Not only that, but it was utterly brilliant and completely spellbinding, finding Sherlock and Watson after news magnate Charles Augustus Magnussen. If it was just Magnussen, it would have been a hell of a thing, but the twists that work in throughout – what’s going on with Mary, Claire de la Lune, Magnussen’s final fate, “Did you miss me?” and many others – are show stoppers.
Hell, by itself, like Watson, “Sherly” having a live-in girlfriend at the beginning was enough to throw me off the trace of what this episode was really going to be all about.
But it brought me back in, and ended up being maybe the finest episode of “Sherlock” yet.
2. His Last Vow
At the end of the second episode this season, Sherlock vowed to protect the Watson family, and this entire episode was all about that promise. Whether it meant doing his part to bring them back together once Mary’s secret was revealed or actually killing Magnussen at the end when he realized that there was no protecting them from him, Sherlock’s dedication to his vow was equal to his previous dedication for ignoring all tact and social niceties.
Both Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance and Steven Moffat’s writing in this episode were incalculably superb, creating a new level to Sherlock that as a character that we’d scratched the surface on before, which was his utter faith and loyalty. Even when he’s ignoring those around him, there is more going on, and in this episode he proved it in devastating fashion.
Speaking of which, everything about Sherlock’s fight against death – from Molly and Anderson walking him through how to survive the trauma of his gun shot in his mind palace to Moriarty’s accidental motivation by hanging the John carrot in front of him – was just brilliant. It was the most engaging usage of the very unique visual demonstrations of the way Sherlock’s mind works yet, and it proved perhaps even more valuable in that we hadn’t seen much of it this season.
When the episode came to a close, Sherlock was destined for death undercover in Eastern Europe, until he was brought back one last time…for England.
3. Villains United
Lars Mikkelson as Magnussen was the most disgusting and horrible villain I’ve seen in some time. The thing about Moriarty was he always managed to be charming throughout, but Magnussen? He was depraved, and he was all about lording over people and destroying them because it suited him. Mikkelson’s completely controlled, completely depraved performance added so much weight to this episode, as it was building like a swelling orchestra throughout to the moment where he really, truly won.
Until he didn’t.
Given that one of the first acts he committed in this episode was to reveal how much he owned Lady Smallwood by straight up licking her, and one of the last was to do the same in the act of flicking Watson in the face, he wasn’t just an incontrovertible villain, he was a dick of epic, sadistic proportions. By the time Sherlock – completely backed into a corner and seeing no solutions (there really weren’t any) – kills him with Watson’s gun, our sadness over Sherlock’s final move was tempered by the happiness of Magnussen being gone even in a fictional sense. Bravura work by Mikkelson, and naturally, he was upstaged by the clown price of London.
Continued below4. Mary
I’m going to be totally honest: Mary previously being an assassin, and someone who shoots Sherlock during his and Watson’s foray into Magnussen’s loft, was completely unexpected. Nearly everything in this episode was, but that twist – which truly was hinted at through this series – was shockingly good, and casting Amanda Abbington as Watson proved all the more valuable here. She really seems to care for Watson – because she does in the show in reality and because she actually is the partner of Martin Freeman – and that investment in him makes us care about her, which makes it so much more devastating when she in theory turns on Sherlock.
Everything about her role here is hard not to be spellbound by, as they masterfully work her into the Magnussen plot and fit her seemingly malicious, horrific act in as a desperate attempt to save her relationship.
Many shows struggle when relationships are foisted into their narrative, but Sherlock? Unbelievably got stronger with the addition of Mary, on the strength of Abbington’s performance.
5. “Did you miss me?”
There are so many things I’d like to talk about. Molly’s relationship ending, Janine, Sherlock’s “protege”, Mycroft’s punch infused reveal, you name it. This really was a loaded episode.
But instead, it’s all about where to next, and, shockingly, that road goes through Moriarty.
Many shows would be accused of jumping the shark with the potential non-death death of Jim Moriarty, who seemingly shot himself in the head in “The Reichenbach Fall” just like Sherlock seemingly plummeted to his own doom, but at the end of this episode, Moriarty seemingly returns in the form of a meme that takes over the whole of London.
Now, does this mean it’s actually Moriarty? No. This could easily be a cleverly placed red herring by Moffat and Gatiss. But for me, it is the return, and it means that the wait until series four is going to be all the more painful. What do you think? Do you think Moriarty is back, or is it a clever ruse by someone else? What does this mean for Sherlock, who previously was going off on a work release program of sorts that almost certainly worked have marked his demise? What does this mean for the Watson family, especially now that there is a huge bit of leverage on the way in the form of John and Mary’s baby?
I have no idea what the answer to those questions are, but I truly can’t wait to find out. Bravo to Cumberbatch, Freeman, Abbington, Moffat, Gatiss and everyone else. The game is on.
