so sherlock is over, and these are my thoughts on the finale in order of appearance:
since when the show is a horror movie and why was there a fucking clown.
the motion sensor was activated after the drone had landed and mycroft obviously knew enough about those explosives to realise that’s how they work, so why the hell did they wait for that to happen instead of immediately running away? oh wait. the drama.
they actually put that horrible cgi explosion from the trailer into the episode… why. later, in the very end, i will be reminded of it while watching sherlock and john run in slow mo.
why couldn’t mycroft, an important government figure and a relative of eurus, officially check up on her instead of the whole dress up game? and then he obviously shows us that he can fire or order around anyone in that prison which makes their shenanigans even less relevant. it’s really sad to see non-existent problems beings “solved” just to use screen time and mindlessly entertain the viewers. detective stories are supposed to be reasonable.
okay, i’m sorry but i’m not buying that “enslaving” bullshit. i want to know how she does it, because all we were given is some pieces of weird bullshit that wouldn’t faze anyone in their right mind. it reminds me of the cabbie from the pilot episode that supposedly talked his victims into killing themselves. but in the end we learned that he just threatened them with a fake gun. ah those good old times when the show had its wits and integrity still intact…
they sure like to deliberately make sherlock obtuse. i just don’t buy him missing that there’s no glass when he’s close to it and there’s still no reflexion. and shouldn’t the music sound muffled too or did the fiddle had its own voice modulator installed? interesting.
i know moriarty being alive would make no sense, but the show is guilty of occasionally doing that already, and he’s such a believably smart and psychotic character that’s interesting to watch that i would have gladly used my suspension of disbelief card.
i thought the girl on the plane was an idiot because she kept giving useless answers to important questions, but the reveal in the end explained it. 1-0, touche. then again, surely eurus would be imagining herself as the young version of herself and the sole reason they used another child actor is to keep the mystery up, which is a pretty cheap trick. 1-1.
now the real idiot (or more like a dumb plot device) here is undoubtedly molly. she fucking knows what sherlock does and in what kind of situations he sometime ends up being, and he obviously sounded nervous and agitated from the get go and eventually resorted to fucking begging, so why the hell couldn’t she trust him and just say what he asked her to? oh i know why. the drama. again. also her making sherlock “confess” his love for her she knows he doesn’t have literally came out of nowhere and had fanservice written all over it. and that conversation was so unrealistic and forced for the sake of plot progression it honestly made me cringe. god i wish they were more subtle with molly and her sad love for sherlock and all the irene adler mentions before it instead of jamming them into the storyline and reinforcing their awkward attempts to bring to life sherlock’s absent libido. they even made him destroy that coffin in a melodramatic fit, which was ridiculous because compared to the other experiments the molly incident surely warranted that kind of emotional outburst the least, no one had died after all. but wait, some fans are gonna love using that as proof for sherlock’s romantic feelings for molly, so that’s why it happened.
mycroft goading sherlock into killing him was painfully obvious, considering he’s the one who has been quite vocal about his brother not being a pragmatic automaton but a quite emotionally driven creature, and that he would never kill john, regardless of his intellectual capabilities.
so the lesson here is that you should pay more attention to your little sisters?..
you can’t just switch psychopathy on and off. but of course eurus was able to. in once instance she’s a cold blooded murderer that doesn’t understand the difference between killing someone innocent and someone guilty, in general she has a spontaneous child murder on her record, but oh no, the episode is almost over and we can’t possibly kill john watson (like we couldn't blow up molly or shoot mycroft, but had no problem axing mary, a character that no one gave two shits about, dead or alive, or moriarty, who had basically been the best character; good job on fucking up twice), the fans would rage, so let’s make our villain a crying scared little girl that longs for brotherly love and make her suddenly change her evil ways, so we could wrap this shit up and move on.
and why did they put her back in the place she can easily break out from? what even has changed? can’t she make the staff into her bitches again just by talking to them (eternal eyeroll) like she did before? yeah she’s not mad at sherlock anymore (because he gives her attention now! how cute), but she’s still a mentally disturbed person and the cage must get boring when you have a fiddle as your only source of entertainment.
so yeah, i basically wrote a fucking essay or more like a hateful ode to the show, but i don’t actually hate it, i still adore first two seasons, tolerate the third and i have been relatively entertained by the last one, this episode included, even if i undoubtedly think the show hasn't been clever for a long time and it's finale was less a detective and more a weird left-field saw tribute without everything that actually makes saw enjoyable. i'm writing this as a former fan that for the last few years has been mostly disappointed by the show they once loved, that’s all. i’m also bored and writing this kept my mind busy. that makes this otherwise useless “review” worth it, i guess.
That was absolutely amazing, from beginning to end. Crazy, strange, exciting but absolutely brilliant. The most intense hour and a half of my life. I can't barely feel my legs right now. It was the best psychological episode so far. I got Saw vibes. Sawlock. I was waiting for Moriarty's video saying "Hullo, Sherlock. I want to play a game" in that Irish accent.
Why does it have to be clowns? Poor Mycroft! In the first five minutes, he was in every scene of every horror movie ever made. This episode taught me that security is not Mycroft's strong suit. That and that I want his umbrella sword gun. The ultimate combo weapon.
This episode was beautifully shot. That first scene was magnificent and so was Moriarty's great flashback entrance. Gotta love the guy. And Mycroft, he was amazing today. And Mrs Hudson gets more badass every week. She's a fucking legend. "Would you like some tea?" Mycroft nods. "The kettle's over there". she's a boss. I could hear the microphone hitting the floor.
Every time Andrew Scott is on screen I'm mesmerized. I can't keep my eyes off the screen. His Moriarty is just so perfect. I get goosebumps every time he's on screen and that nervous giggle. Jim Moriarty and that red screen are going to haunt me forever. But I don't care, it's Moriarty. I really missed Andrew. And Queen, Oh my God! I'm hyperventilating again. That's the villain I love.
I worked out that Redbeard wasn't a dog, but I thought he might have been a fourth sibling after the "why does everyone stop at three" hint last week. And the symbolism. Redbeard being Sherlock's first Watson was lovely. I'm horrified by the fact that he died alone in that well. I love how Watson's limb and cane in season 1 was connected to the pirates.
Sherlock a pirate. Who would've thunk it? Now I want Ben to in Pirates of the Caribbean: The vengeance of Redbeard.
Hats off to Moffat and Gatiss for making such a delight for my eyes. Hope I'll be here in 3+ years. Until then, the game's still on!
The lying detective was one of the best episodes of the show. This one started to build on it, and kept it going during most of the episode, it was going to be even better, Eurus' character was amazing, and then... that ending. That was complete fucking bullshit. Way to ruin a superb episode and an even greater character. The character was so hyped, she was the ultimate adversary and villain and then what ? She's just a little girl crying on the inside because her brother had another friend, bouh bouh bouh. Come on ! That was sooooo bad !
And to top it off, after that, the Mary video at the end of the episode, that was puke inducing.
The episode starts great though, with the haunted house play at Mycroft's. Not sure it was really necessary, but really well done and fun.
Then some family stories. The little girl is perfectly creepy. Which one is pain ? One of the greatest lines of the show. Also even if you don't lock up a child because a dog goes missing. But what about another child ? She should have been taken care of before burning the house.
The grenade scene was maybe a little too much but yeah, ok. Mrs Hudson listening to Iron Maiden was a nice touch.
Then they get to Sherrinford. The deception was fun, but 100% useless as Mycroft seems to have the authority to do whatver he pleases there anyway. Why would they bother doing that ? But again, fun enough.
The Moriarty scene was splendid, he was just perfect! The recorded tick tock video not so much though.
And then come Eurus. First Sherlock not noticing there is no glass ?? I don't buy it. But anyway, great performance, but pretty incoherent too, like they didn't bother to finish the character and her story. She goes through all this games and it seems as if she's experimenting, trying to see how normal human works and if her brother works he same. Like she really doesn't understand. But if she's that great at manipulating/enslaving people she must already have a great understanding of what makes the tick. She also would have had a lot of time to experiment on the guards if she was in total control of the prison.
She also started that not too long ago because she was changed after Moriarty's visit. But then how did she become so dangerous ? Sure she's a whole other level of intelligence, but that's not enough. If she was locked up as a child, she would have been missing access to books, news, internet, etc. As smart as she was she would have been missing basic knowledge about almost everything.
Not a big fan of the Molly bit, that was here for drama, and then totally occulted.
It's obvious from the very beginning that the girl on the plane thing is not happening at the same time or for real. It just doen't work. But the way they solve that, argh...
The song as clue was really really difficult. No wonder nobody found it. However if it worked perfectly in this situation, it would not have when they were children. And also did not give any indication whatsoever of where he would be.
Rant incoming.
Wtf was this last season? I'm honestly both enraged and disappointed at the immense budget they clearly had (don't get me wrong, the CGI, sets and overall visual quality was amazing) and still managed to f it up.
It starts out okay - and then they pull the whole "catch a bullet for you" BS. It was incredibly dumb for a show that's all about smart people. (It's been proven several times that no one has the response time to actually "catch a bullet", and even if you did, why not just kick the victim out of the way?).
The "text-cheating" plot-line was just as weird - it seemed weirdly out of character for John and it served little purpose, other than to put a scene in where Sherlock comforts John (Cumberbatch's performance is AMAZING here, and I feel so sad that it's wasted on a horrible script).
I initially excused the trippiness of the second episode, since I thought the director is trying to make us experience how Sherlock feels while high on drugs. But after a while it became disorientating and frustrating, and perhaps like the director was having too much fun with the special effects and forgot that he's supposed to interact with the audience.
Also Sherlock legit almost dies. Like he just straight up goes on a suicide mission and the fact that John comes to save him was a miracle. He would have DIED. It thought he was smart.
I feel like this also doesn't add up since he admits that Mary dying to save him places value on his life - and then he just marches into a serial killer's den like a goof and admits to not "being able to remember any of the backup-plans".
??
Also Mary WTF? Her message that she left was so horribly manipulative and also... kind of dumb? Like it was pointless.
Can I just say how much I hated the idea that Sherlock can predict the future like some friggen psychic?? what even?
There comes a point where suspension of disbelief just collapses into a heap of "why" and confused facial expressions.
Making the character of Sherlock basically omnipotent does nothing for the show other than to dehumanize him - something I thought the show was slowing working against - as he literally said "Maybe we are all just human" in the same episode.
Well clearly you aren't, Sherlock. You're a friggen ORACLE.
A lot of this season just felt like smoke and mirrors and no actual crime solving. As a fan of the original books, I feel like the books are a lot about Sherlock's incredible ability to deduce information from seemingly obscure information- and revealing to the audience that it's actually pretty simple (at least, in his mind). This concept is almost completely lost in this season, as a bunch of borderline supernatural crap happens for no good reason other than "it looks cool".
And then the last episode...
God it was terrible. Since when is this show a horror? It was just basically a weird series of people being forced into horribly traumatic situations and the reason being "lol psychopath goes brrrrr".
The mind control thing was some stupid shit. It's not explained, and is basically in the realm of supernatural mumbo jumbo. Except they act like it makes sense.
Also I love the characters but really- I'm just some dweeb and even I was able to conclude that there was no plane from the very beginning.
Can you imagine the weeks of preparation that Eurus had to do lol - like she had to get a guy to buy TV screens, set up the networks, build a little set full of childhood photos to put Sherlock in after transporting him across the ocean, bewitch?? someone into carefully lowering John into a well, setting up a water pump system to fill up the well, go do coffin shopping etc etc.
It's honestly hilarious.
My last complaint would be the absolute diminishment of Moriarty as a character. We are basically told that he was just a good lap dog for Eurus - all his actions had no meaning previously - it felt like a weird form of red-conning.
Which is sad. If you're going to make him this incredible mastermind, why not just stick with it? The audience already knows this villain, why attempt to introduce a "new, bigger, even better " super villain?
Without the needed realism and limits of the human mind in place, this season just became a laughable series of "oh hey hey you know what would be cool? what if we added even more bullshit to this?"
I just wanna start this by saying that I think the show runners OVERESTIMATE the Holmes siblings’ abilities... It almost felt like they were the Maximoff siblings and THEY ARE NOT. First of all Sherlock and Watson jumping out the building like that??? And surviving without a scratch. Then Sherlock jumping off a helicopter into a boat in the middle of a storm?? I never took Sherlock as an athletic man and I figured drugs had taken a toll on his body but okay, BUT THEN they made Enola to be a WITCH!!! I mean it made sense that she was running the prison and the game but not like that, controlling all the guards and warren?? I would get she controlling her therapist or just the warren but you can’t control people like that, to the point there was no glass on her cell and she had secret play rooms?? And then she could leave the island at her convenience, like Mycroft never checked the flight/ship logs or that there was unauthorized activity going on?? But you know what, I’m not gonna try to find the logic to certain stuff, I’m just gonna enjoy it, but yeah they give the Holmes siblings too much credit.
Also I just wanna say Moriarty is the best villain I’ve ever seen in a show! He’s like a rockstar, I love so much his chaotic energy and I’m glad he was back for the finale, HOWEVER I never understood his motivation, especially why he picked a fight with Sherlock, I thought Enola recruited him but they were just allies, so I guess maybe that’s better explained in other Sherlock media.
And I was 100% sure that Sherlock died for real and that was going to be the ending so I’m pleasantly surprised that actually there isn’t an ending, and the Baker Street boys continue solving cases! What better ending than no ending? Even tho I feel like the ending wasn’t as excellent as the rest of the show cause Enola was supposed to be the biggest villain ever and it was all fixed with a hug, but maybe in a few years we can get a few extra episodes.
Overall this was an amazing show, I think one of the best I’ve seen! My only complaint is that I wanted more!! It was great watching them solve cases (sherlock solved them and watson blogged them) Imagine if every season had 6 episodes instead of just 3, there would be world peace! And the sherlock fans that watched this as it aired are the strongest and bravest people ever, I can’t imagine waiting 7 years so watch the finale or wait 2 years between seasons.
Review by Lucas MeloVIP 8BlockedParent2017-01-17T10:09:03Z
I agree with a lot of the criticism this episode received: it was unorthodox (not having a proper case/deductions and happening mostly in an island), the ending felt very rushed/convenient, plus Eurus being almost a supernatural being and yet another recording of Mary (though I get they were playing on the "miss me" and Moriarty).
However, other than that, I was really impressed and moved by this episode. I was just speaking with a friend the other day about favourite TV episodes and moments and we concluded that sometimes there are scenes that work in a certain way, a combination of the story, the acting, the music, it simply creates pure art. I immediately think of shows like Breaking Bad, Lost, Person of Interest, where some things just click and you are immersed in what you're seeing. This, to me, is Sherlock breaking that coffin when he reaches his breaking point, it is Moriarty's flashback entrance, it is Sherlock having to shoot someone and Mycroft getting ready to die... and probably my favourite here: Sherlock playing the violin with his sister, Eurus.
Most people don't consider that Eurus actually had a mental illness since she was born and did the things that she did because of it, her brain doesn't work like most of ours. That plane was her mind palace, which is chaos compared to what we've seen before, and she is so clever that what Sherlock said in the previous episode (doing things without knowing because he couldn't keep up with his brain at the time) seems to be a constant truth to Eurus, who is both preparing this cruel evil plan and suffering at the same time. It did feel like a bit of a stretch when she was simply in her room, but the more I think about it, the more sense it makes.
As for the backstory that was explained, I was pretty satisfied. It was already sad when we thought Redbeard was a dog, but it being Sherlock's best friend made it so dark that it explains better why he would have been traumatized and forgot all about this time of his life. Combined with the fact that it was the first riddle, the first "case" investigated by Sherlock that went unsolved, it explains a lot about his attitude regarding running around being a detective. And of course his best friend now, Watson (even regarded as family in this episode) was down the well. (Throwing the chain at him was lazy, I have to admit - it would have been better if the water had stopped falling and then we saw the police)
As for Moriarty, I never expected him to be alive. For a while I thought "the final problem" would be a posthumous case he prepared from beyond the grave, but this episode shows us that it was all Eurus. I don't appreciate baiting the audience like that (in particular with that intro, "I'm Moriarty, welcome to the final problem") but it was good to see him being Moriarty in that flashback entrance scene and I personally liked the presence he had in this episode, with his face haunting Sherlock, Watson and Mycroft on top of the already crazy situation they were involved in.
All in all, this might just be one of the best TV episodes I've seen. Perhaps it would have fit in better if we didn't have this "series finale" feeling and continuation was assured, because the jump to the final montage was rather quick... but I just really enjoyed it. I don't believe this is the end, though we might have to wait longer than usual for the east wind to come our direction again.