Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. It appears we have the final episode of 'Sherlock' on our hands. No more episodes, ladies and gentlemen! It's finished! And I'm not pleased. This time round, Sherlock has one last case to solve. Moriarty is back, and he owes Sherlock a fall.
Moriarty has rearrived on the scene, and Sherlock isn't happy about it. Using only his phone, some chewing gum, a diamond and a fire extinguisher, he has broken into the Tower of London, a maximum security prison and the Bank of England. Lestrade brings Sherlock in to investigate.
It soon becomes clear that Moriarty is planning his revenge against Sherlock. After a meeting with the man himself, Sherlock's suspicions are confirmed. Moriarty is going to bring Sherlock to his knees, and his revenge is going to be sweet.
I am still recovering from the final episode of Sherlock. It was so deeply depressing for me that I sat in silence for a while after the thing had finished and had turned the screen off. It was that terribly horrible for me. Apparently Evil Mistress of Cliffhangers, whose evil knows no bounds, cried. That's really all you need to know. But it's not, which is why this review continues.
We have here a classic modern retelling of the final Sherlock Holmes story, 'The Final Problem' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. However, the general gist of the plot is the only thing that stands as a similarity between 'The Reichenbach Fall' and 'The Final Problem' (i.e. Sherlock see, Sherlock solve, Sherlock meet with Moriarty, etc.). Allow me to fill you in on the plot of 'The Fall'. (But no 'Final Problem'. That can be saved for later.)
Moriarty appears to have the key to every door - a string of code that can crack even the most sophisticated security systems and allow him access. This power is demonstrated when he opens up the Tower of London, a very rich bank and a prison with only his phone and some sort of app for it. Unlikely, but it appears to happen. Anyway, he gets caught in the act, apparently by design from Moriarty, is given a trial and escapes without so much as a slap on the hand. It seems that Moriarty is playing a very dangerous game with Sherlock. Holmes made Moriarty look foolish once - and now he feels like returning the favour. By 'favour', I mean 'let me kill you' sort of thing. In essence, not very nice stuff.
The plot is fantastic. The best written Sherlock episode ever, it even beats 'The Hounds of Baskerville'. Suspense of the best sort - the type where you can't tell what the outcome will be - soaks the very paper of the script. Multiple mini mysteries are good fun to watch and solve on the sofa, and can be puzzled over later too. In ten words or less, it's pretty much the best thing that Steve Thompson's ever written.
My reaction to this Sherlock episode was so much more extreme than any other. It really made me sad to see the last twenty minutes of it, knowing that this would be the last episode I'd see live on telly. It may in fact have been the most soul-destroying thing I have ever seen. Don't try and tell me otherwise. The reason for this? Simple. I'm a Sherlockian.
Being a follower of Sherlock Holmes and most of his incarnations means that you know half the lore. the most important thing to know in the Sherlock lore book that hasn't ever been published but stays in the back of my mind is this: The end. When you see that a TV series of Sherlock is being produced, you know what's coming for Holmes. Finally, on Sunday the 15th, that end caught up with us. And now I'm peeved.
Ah... I suppose I'll have to rate it now.
Based on the performance of the actors, brilliance of the plot and the ability of the writer to make me want to die on the spot from sheer misery at what I just watched, I'm rating this a 9.75/10. You know, being soul-destroying is the mark of a very, very well written story. Apart from in the case of 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas'. That final scene was unnecessary.
My congratulations to the author of this fantastic 'adaptation' of a work so filled with finality that you could bury it at the bottom of the ocean of television programmes an no-one would ever know of it past a legend of its pure sadistic-ness and finality. You have played a very good game here, and I applaud you for your fine skills.
The only bit I really didn't understand was the very, very end. I assumed at the time of viewing that it was a ghost that I was seeing. I now have reason to believe otherwise. Thompson, you are laughing your head of at all the softies out there who cry as they watch this, aren't you? Because you know the truth. And Steven Moffat leaked it.
Ladies and gentlemen, Sherlock isn't dead.
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