There are all sorts of spinoffs dealing with Arthur Conan Doyle’s acclaimed characters, but one of the most popular is BBC’s “Sherlock.” Spanning over six years and a mere nine episodes, the third season closed in the first week in January in the U.K., while concluding on Sunday here in the U.S. The show, starring newly popular Benedict Cumberbatch (“Star Trek Into Darkness”) as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman (“The Hobbit”) as John Watson, relays varying cases in each episode—some written by Doyle, others by the showrunners. The season two finale, “The Reichenbach Fall,” was a captivating cliffhanger that left viewers on the edge of their seats … for two whole years.
In this season, Holmes has returned two years after his faked suicide only to find that the world has moved on without him. Watson has gotten engaged to Mary Morstan (Amanda Abbington, “After You’re Gone”), a woman with a concealed past, which is a complete and utter shock to Holmes. In the first episode entitled “The Empty Hearse,” the two must stop an impending terrorist attack; in “The Sign of Three,” Holmes and Watson revisit the memories of their stag night on the day of Watson’s wedding, in addition to stopping a murder at the ceremony; the series concludes with “His Last Vow,” where the duo face off against Charles Augustus Magnussen (Lars Mikkelsen, “Headhunter”), a man with just as many intellectual and psychopathic capabilities as Holmes himself. Sadly, this new season, and more specifically the season finale, vastly fails to live up to the first two seasons, with inefficient writing, a poorly structured plot arc and more unanswered questions than a season of “Lost.”
The first two episodes were definitely enjoyable for the “Sherlock” fan after two years living without the show. The third season had much more comedy than usual, which added to the enjoyment. The most hilarious scene is Watson’s stag night out with Holmes—the two get insanely drunk and are then forced to solve a crime. The dynamic between the two is very interesting and well portrayed by both actors, as they stumble about noticing clues and trying to remember their mantra: “The game is … something.”
The main problems of the third season do not lie with the actors though. Both Freeman and Cumberbatch are skilled at perfecting their characters and it shines through each performance on camera. The problem is with the writing. Steven Moffat, also the showrunner for the “Doctor Who” series, is so entrenched in the belief that complex writing guarantees better writing that the story has suffered. The main problems are evidenced in the episode “His Last Vow.”
Though the episodes are each an hour and a half, they often contain so many subplots and transgressions that it is easy to forget what the main plot arc is, such as in “The Sign of the Three.” The episode takes place at Watson’s wedding, but a series of flashbacks lead to Watson’s stag night and a previously unsolved case. The things all connect in the end, but in a poorly written mish-mash of coincidences. The series also closes on a completely implausible and improbable cliffhanger, which will leave viewers stewing for another few years. But besides the cliffhanger, “Sherlock” attempts to bring in a new villain in the final episode that receives no buildup compared to that of previous villain James Moriarty (Andrew Scott, “Saving Private Ryan”). Moriarty was intricately involved in the first two seasons, while Magnussen was introduced and defeated in only one episode. The character was rushed, his background and previous crimes glossed over in the interest of maintaining him to one episode. The show suffered because of these choices.
For those dedicated fans of “Sherlock,” the new season is definitely worth a watch, if only for the increased comedy and picture-perfect depictions of the famed detectives. Remaining questions abound about the future of the show—such as how Holmes faked his death and what Morstan’s actual background is, not to mention explaining the season’s impossible ending. Hopefully the series will hit television screens again sometime in 2016.
