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“It’s got flaps. Earflaps. It’s an ear hat, John!”
(Spoilers, dear reader, are afoot!)
ASDJHFKJFDFHDKF!!! …was my initial reaction to the series finale of Sherlock. Possibly not the most customary (or dignified) way to begin a review, but then Sherlock has been no ordinary series. Not even the combined forces of Thorpe Park, Alton Towers and Chessington could match the emotional rollercoaster that was The Reichenbach Fall, in which we saw Sherlock Holmes – gasp – DIE. Kind of.
This episode finally sees Moriarty act on his promise to “burn the heart” out of Sherlock Holmes by first destroying the detective’s reputation, and then threatening his friends and allies. On top of this, the consulting criminal aims to break into the Bank of England, Pentonville Prison and the Tower of London. That’s a long to-do list. Does writer Steve Thompson manage to fit all this into ninety minutes? Yes. He does. But it’s a tight fit.
In a busy episode that’s more flustered than Mrs Hudson in a drugs raid, we witness the return of some old characters – namely THE HAT, and Donovan and Anderson (BOOO). The snappy one-liners are scarce in this script, but there’s no time for banter as the episode swings between almost pantomime moments and tense testosterone-fuelled face-offs. Is it now becoming the norm for macho confrontations to take place over a china tea set? We can only hope.
Previous episodes have been woefully short of Moriarty ever since he was introduced in The Great Game. But The Reichenbach Fall is brimming with Moriarty. Moriarty in a suit. Moriarty in a baseball cap. Moriarty in the Crown Jewels. Andrew Scott’s spot-on portrayal (right down to the reptilian head shaking) brings so much more to Sherlock’s happy-go-evil nemesis than a mere bit of beard-stroking, and the manic style of his exit – though unexpected – does his character justice. There’s even part of me that wonders if Series Three will be as good without him…
If possible, this series has been an improvement on the last, largely due to the growing relationships between characters. There are several heart-wrenching moments in this episode – such as that beautifully awkward scene between Sherlock and Molly in the lab – and these provide the much-needed breathing spaces. Character overload does become a problem at times. I loved Katherine Parkinson’s appearance, but her character seems a little hastily written, along with that VERY NORTHERN police superintendent who yells a bit, then gets punched in the face. If you’re not a Londoner, you’re probably evil. Sorry.
But to more serious matters – can anything be more tragic than Sherlock’s broken, bloodied body on the ground, with all his lovely lovely hair messed up? Oh, and John. Poor poor John. Hasn’t the poor man had enough?! And when you’re shouting such things at the television, that’s when you know how deep an impression the characters have made on you.
The death of Sherlock Holmes in ACD’s The Final Problem provoked so much demand for Holmes’ revival that the character had to be resurrected. Had Sherlock not been seen alive and well in the final scenes of this episode, you can bet that we would have seen exactly the same reaction plastered all over Twitter. It’s a fitting tribute indeed.
Now what the heck am I going to do with my life until Series Three?
Trailer: BBC
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