SHERLOCK Season 4 Episode 3: "The Final Problem" Recap

The series finale, The Final Problem, puts heart above brains and it works. Its not the perfect episode but it is one of my best episode as it puts our beloved sociopath through hell, shreds him apart and then puts him to the test.

So spoliers, if you have not seen the episode yet.

Welcome to the final problem.

Those fans still wishing that every single episode of Sherlock involved a stranger knocking on the door of 221b and recruiting Holmes and Watson to solve a case might well have found this fourth (and final?) series frustrating.

But what's easy to miss is that our dynamic duo are still very much solving mysteries: it's just that these mysteries no longer arrive from outsiders, but are deeply ingrained in the central characters' own backstories.

For me that brings another dynamic edge, to the already complex detective. It feels fitting that in his last bow (for now, at least) Sherlock must face his own dark mirror image.
Even more so than Moriarty, Eurus (Sian Brooke) is Sherlock gone wrong – all cold, hard logic and no feeling, her emergence highlights her brother's humanity and just how emotional he can be.

While Brooke delivers a hypnotically dead-eyed turn, 'The Final Problem' features Cumberbatch's most humane performance yet, as Sherlock learns to use his biggest asset to win out – not his mind, but his heart.

A child prodigy with an intellect greater than Isaac Newton's, the young Eurus was also seriously disturbed and obsessed with her younger brother to such an extent that she murdered his best friend – plot twist!

Mycroft (Mark Gatiss) would later lock Eurus away in the prison island of Sherrinford to keep Sherlock safe, but her supreme powers of manipulation still allowed her to collaborate with Moriarty on everything, before he died.

A side note: Moriarty's return – to the strains of Queen's 'I Want to Break Free' – is so outrageously over-the-top that you can't help but love it. It's a neat trick, too, inserting a flashback into the episode in such a manner that we're briefly fooled into thinking he's actually back from the dead.

Mark Gatiss might've rejected comparisons between The Six Thacthers and the super-spy antics of James Bond – quite rightly – but once Sherlock, John (Martin Freeman) and Mycroft take the trip to Sherrinford, 'The Final Problem' starts to absolutely reek of agent 007's adventures.

A supervillain with a phenomenal brain, an army of soldiers and a top-secret HQ? This is unquestionably Gatiss and co-writer Steven Moffat having their cake and eating it by telling a Sherlock Holmes story that also indulges their Bond fandom. To tell you the truth, I loved every bit of this detective being Bond. Tell me in comments who want to see our Dr. Strange as 007.
But once it becomes clear that Eurus has assumed control – the lunatic quite literally running the asylum – this breathless adventure transforms again, taking inspiration from another, very different film franchise...

It's Sherlock does Saw as we get to the meat of the episode: an absolutely superb second act that goes to some seriously dark places, as our heroes – reduced to rats in a maze – are set a series of harrowing challenges.

Art Malik delivers a hugely sympathetic performance as the tragic governor of Sherrinford, but it's the desperately cruel manipulation of Molly (Louise Brealey) that takes the biggest emotional toll.

Cumberbatch and Brealey are both wonderful in this stand-out sequence – weaving an emotional pay-off to their relationship into a pulse-pounding, race-against-time narrative, it's quite remarkable that the scene was a last minute addition.

But after all the pulse-racing, heart-pounding sequences, the climax of the series, of the episode fell flat for me. Don't get me wrong whole episode was superb, gut-wrenching scenes but Eurus is arguably the most clever and calculating adversary that Sherlock's ever faced. She's tortured him, John, their friends and family. She's murdered dozens of innocent people. And all it takes to stop her is a hug?

The whole thing's so swift and simple that, as Eurus is whisked back to Sherrinford, you find yourself waiting for one last twist... but it never arrives. It's a resolution which highlights that, for all its good qualities (and there are many), 'The Final Problem' is a story oddly without consequences.

With this quite possibly being the show's final episode, it's understandable that Moffat and Gatiss wanted to end on an uplifting note – Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, the Baker Street boys, out solving mysteries... forever. But after everything that's happened, they're required to hit the reset button to deliver that jolly final tag. I loved the whole montage of them rebuilding the whole Baker Street, kind-of showing the reset they need.

I loved the idea that Sherlock can never be more intelligent than Mycroft or Eurus, but him having emotional context, makes him a stronger person who will always prevail.

The way, they left things, there can be a season 5 but the cast and crew have said if they do it, it would be not for another 2 years.

Tell me what you loved in the episode.

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Sherlock Episode 2 Season 4 : "THE LYING DETECTIVE" Recap and Unsolved Mysteries

Before I speak anything about the episode, I just want to thank Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat for this wonderful adaptation of the world's most famous detective. Now coming back to the episode, great pacing, beautifully shot and so many twists and turns, it felt like roller-coaster ride. A lot of credit for this also goes to the direction.

So careful for spoilers, if you haven't seen the episode yet.

This was proper Sherlock- a dark story drawing real-life parallels and of course, Mrs Hudson is speeding in a sports car. As i said before the episode was amazingly shot specially the scenes where John Watson is hallucinating his dead wife, Mary. The episode had a perfect dark villain, a beloved public figure- Culverton Smith, a business man and philanthropist who uses his power and fame to commit monstrous crimes. He is very well described by Sherlock,"the most dangerous and despicable human being I have ever encountered". Smith regularly confesses to his crimes, deriving pleasure from doing so, but after he divulges his sins he wipes the memories of his confidants, administering them with a drug that causes some sort of amnesia. This was the only part of the episode that felt hammy to me, a bit of sci-fi trickery that doesn’t make sense if you think about it too much. 

 At the start of the episode, we see Smith’s daughter try to scrawl what she can remember of the confession before her father takes the paper from her hands.

Somehow, she retrieves it and brings it to Sherlock, who, following Mary’s death, is in the midst of a bout of extreme drug abuse, his powers of observation partly blinkered. Perhaps because he is feeling analytically rusty, Sherlock suddenly seems able to feel pity. He takes Faith, who he believes to be suicidal, out for chips and agrees to tackle her case (although he also has a bit of fun telling Mycroft, who is tracking him via drone, to “fuck off”, by spelling out the letters in the walking route they take).

Mycroft doesn’t have too much else to do here, except get hit on by Lady Smallwood and make more references to Sherrinford, his no-longer-very-secret sibling.

Meanwhile, a grief-stricken John is receiving therapy and being visited by Mary. John spends an awful lot of time grief-stricken, doesn’t he? Remember the hissy fit he pulled when he thought Sherlock had died? Well this time, he is refusing to talk to Sherlock and has closed himself off emotionally, unable even to look after his daughter. It’s down to Mrs Hudson to kidnap Sherlock in the boot of her sports car, bring him to John’s therapist’s house, and force the game to become afoot. Sherlock shows John that he predicted everything about his own kidnapping two weeks earlier as a means of demonstrating his sound mind and the urgency with which they need to deal with Smith, who Sherlock has since worked out is one of the most grotesque serial killers ever to walk this earth.

There’s a lot of back and forth over what are Sherlock’s genius deductions and what is heroin-addled nonsense. When Faith turns up, he realizes she is an entirely different woman from the one who turned up at Baker Street and doubts are cast over his theory. But eventually Sherlock, beaten by his own addiction, ends up in a bed at Smith’s hospital. It turns out that Smith had the ward built especially so he can creep into patients’ rooms and murder them. Sherlock knew that was his fate, and tells Smith he doesn’t want to die but knows he must let himself be killed. There are particularly sinister scenes while Smith is drugging and strangling Sherlock, demanding that Sherlock keep looking him in the eye as he dies.

Back at Baker Street, John has discovered Mary’s message to Sherlock from last week’s episode. Seen for the first time in full, we learn that Mary demanded Sherlock to “go to hell”, to allow himself to be in such danger that John would be forced to save him (hence the heroin addiction and willingness to be murdered by Smith). With this, Watson races to the hospital, of course saving Sherlock in the nick of time.

‘Oh he’s making a funny face, I think I’ll put a hole in it'

But the fun barely stops there. In a lengthy epilogue, we learn Irene Adler is still alive and still sexting with Sherlock, especially on his birthday. John admits his infidelity to his hallucination of Mary, something his imagined version of his wife immediately forgives him for (what are the chances). Then, in the final twist, it seems John’s therapist knows slightly more than she should about Sherlock’s secret sibling. John calls her out on it, and the reveal begins: she is Sherlock’s secret sister Euros and, in various disguises, was also the woman John met on the bus, and the “Faith” that first met Sherlock, providing him with the note that began the whole case. She says that she was given Faith’s original note, which Smith stole as soon as it was written, “by a mutual friend”. So does that mean Smith was involved in the plot from the start, or just that they are in some kind of criminal mastermind club? And could that mutual friend be Moriarty?

Also, are we to assume that Sherrinford is somehow Euros? “Didn’t it ever occur to you that Sherlock’s secret brother could be a secret sister?” as she puts it. 

I personally loved this episode because not only it was stand out 90-minutes movie itself but it also sets up the final episode of this season with stakes so high. Assuming that Euros is as smart as her brothers, this will be war of wits that you don't want to miss.

Mysteries unsolved

• 1. When Sherlock first meets “Smith’s daughter”, he makes deductions that she has been in a very small kitchen with no visitors, hiding the paper in a book to avoid it being discovered by her lover. Perhaps the small room was actually a cell, and the lover some kind of prison guard.

• 2. Euros explains to John her name means “the east wind”. We know from His Last Vow that Mycroft used to tell Sherlock a story about “the east wind coming to get him”. It used to terrify him. But perhaps Mycroft used the story to make Sherlock forget about the real east wind, and what she did to him.

• 3. There’s something odd going on with Lady Smallwood. Previously she’s been “Elizabeth Smallwood” but on the card she left for Mycroft she was “Alicia Smallwood”.

• 4. I’ve often thought there was more to Miss Me, Moriarty’s oft-repeated posthumous coda. Perhaps now realizing it’s an acrostic: Mycroft, Irene (Adler), Sherlock, Sherrinford, Moriarty, Euros.

5. Mycroft has been keeping in regular contact with Sherrinford, so either Sherrinford is a code name, or they are in cahoots, working together to do Moriarty’s bidding. Or is there actually a fourth Holmes still to be discovered? As Sherlock says here, people always give up looking after three.

Comment below what you think of this episode.

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Who is the REAL James Moriarty?

Sherlock is one of those TV series that hints through out the episode providing hints about the main mystery of the episode. If one sees carefully enough one finds such subtle hints through out the episodes, which show-runners put to wink at the audience from behind the camera. The main mystery of the season 4 of this epic series is: Is Moriarty dead or alive?

I have basically 2 theories:

1. Moriarty set things in motion from beyond the grave. 

I am not saying he is working from the afterlife simply, that there was a fail-safe implemented that upon his death, wait X amount of years, then release the prerecorded footage. For what gain? It is unclear but most likely a diversion from some other plan or to simply toy with Sherlock at a time when he is most vulnerable. *Note* if this theory is to be believed then Moriarty really is dead.

2. Andrew Scott is not Moriarty. 

This theory is my favorite. This is a theory that I wouldn't put past the show runners, Moffat or Gatiss to use simply to mess with our heads... again. Well many of you might think that this is not the case, and that Andrew Scott was the real Moriarty. I m not saying that this is the case but it is one of the many possibilities.

We all remember Richard Brook?​

In Series 2 Episode 3 it appears as though Jim Moriarty is not who he says he is. He is Richard Brook; an actor who is well known for his kids TV Shows... Employed by someone else to carry out their dirty work. Later on we realize this is not true.

But what if he was employed by someone? 

What if he was desperate? 

What if he had a terminal illness like the cabbie that was hired by "Moriarty" in Series 1 Episode 1?

Is it possible the real Moriarty exploited this weakness like he exploits and manipulates others? That he took a not well known actor and used him as a front and as a scapegoat? 

The front for Moriarty may be dead... But the real Moriarty is still out there.

Of course this leaves a lot of unanswered questions:

Surely people would recognize Richard Brook when he went on trial in the Old Bailey under the guise of Moriarty... But that's the art of acting,concealing who you are and hiding in plain sight. People see what they want to see. They may have thought, "that guy looks a bit like that TV actor... What's his name again?"

The recovery of the Reichenbach Falls. An "Art Masterpiece". Recovered by Sherlock Holmes in the case that made his name.

This is why Moriarty named his alter ego Richard Brook, right?  
Not necessarily. Notice that we’re never given the story of the theft of this painting – we don’t know who stole it, why it was stolen, or how Sherlock recovered it.

Yes there are other problems with this theory but don't forget how easy it would be for the writers to fill in plot holes in Series Four if they have already laid the groundwork as they have successfully been able to do in Doctor Who.

Then there begs the question, "Who else could it be?" 

I have few characters in mind who can be the real Moriarty and the possible explanations:

Janine Hawkins

Janine appears in Series 3 Episode Two as a friend of Mary's. Mary who turned out to be an Ex-Spy. Notice she has the same Dublin accent as Andrew Scott. 

Could Moffat and Gatiss bend canon to allow for Moriarty to have a sister who is the real mastermind? Or is it simply a happy coincidence.

*Note* Janine also worked for Magnussen a blackmailer who specialized in finding peoples weak spots and playing them. 

The Third Brother

The third brother who was mysteriously hinted at, at the end of Series 3 Episode 3. Yet again could Moffat and Gatiss bend canon to have not only a third brother but one who was cast out at a young age and turned on his siblings. Bear in mind that Moriarty is more or less Sherlock's alter ego, proven (on many occasions) to match Sherlock's intellect.

Sherlock’s Mother

I know this might sound crazy and most bizarre yet, this one is what the show-runners have given plenty of hints.

1. Moriarty is a Professor of Mathematics

Moriarty is a Professor of Mathematics in the original Conan Doyle stories - something that has not been carried over onto Sherlock with Andrew Scott's Jim Moriarty. However, in His Last Vow, we learn that Sherlock's mother is a genius mathematician. This is the first parallel you can draw between Moriarty and Mrs. Holmes.

2. Moriarty and Mrs. Holmes have both written books that sound awfully similar

As seen in His Last Vow, Mrs. Holmes wrote a book called The Dynamics of Combustion. In the original stories, Moriarty was the one to author a book called The Dynamics of an Asteroid. This subtle little clue might just go a long way in the show.

Here's an excerpt from Sherlock's episode His Last Vow:
Mrs. Holmes wrote a book titled The Dynamics of Combustion by M. L. Holmes (so it must have been written after her marriage). Sherlock's father says of her, "Complete flake, my wife, but happens to be a genius" and also "unbelievably hot." She refers to the book as "that silly old thing".

3. Steven Moffat's interview about Moriarty's return

Steven Moffat in his interviews repeats these lines - "Moriarty is back! I'm not saying that Moriarty is alive". He also keeps mentioning the huge hint in The Last Vow that apparently everyone missed. These subtle hints have gone unnoticed because those who've read the original novels don't obsess over the show.

4. Moriarty knows everything there is to know about Sherlock

Mrs. Holmes has been around Mycroft and Sherlock for a long enough time to easily outsmart them. She is a really smart lady who definitely knows Sherlock very well. This is easily a trait of Moriarty. Plus she gave birth to Mycroft and Sherlock so she definitely knows her way around her smart kids.

5. Moriarty is not just a person but an identity

Moriarty is not an individual. Moriarty is an identity. Moriarty would never come out into the open to confront Sherlock Holmes. Andrew Scott's character is definitely not Moriarty but someone who pretends to be. Using him as diversion, Mrs Holmes has successfully stayed under the radar.

6. Sherlock's mother being Moriarty is the perfect con

Nobody expects Mrs. Holmes to be Moriarty. This revelation has the potential to break the internet. The idea of Mrs. Holmes as Moriarty is so bizarre that even if someone were to make this assumption, he'd be termed as a crazy guy. This makes it the perfect con. 

You tell me what you think about these theories. Are these valid? or can there be something else? We will find out in season 4. For my review of Sherlock season 4 episode 1 The Six Thatchers.

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SHERLOCK Season 4 Episode 1: The Six Thatchers Review

What a way to kick off 2017! Benedict Cumberbatch, Dr. Strange, is back and wow! what an episode it was full of mysteries and easter eggs starting from all the short stories and films.
Spoilers if you have not seen the episode yet.

Look who is back!

It seems everything is lost between Sherlock and Watson. As at the end of the episode, they were at odds. We have the Grim Specter of death, Moriarty and the poem which they keep on repeating through out the episode, Things You Can't Outrun. Signifying you cannot outrun death and past. Although Sherlock wrote a bit different version in his childhood in which the merchant goes to a different town and tricks death. That's the basic idea of this new season. Will Sherlock be able to change the story, so to speak and defeat Moriarty one final time even after his death?

I do not think they are trying to assert that Moriarty is still alive as Sherlock is pretty certain that he is dead but he had set on a "game" for Sherlock before he died. Sherlock is convinced that Moriarty has left him this game knowing that he may die on that rooftop. This is the over-arching story-line of the season which is touched lightly during the episode as in the beginning, the end and whenever that poem is recited.

This episode is lightly based on the classic Holmes short story, "The Adventures of the Six Napoleons". The plot of the episode is also loosely based on the short story as the names of the victims are same in the show and the story. The main difference is that the TV show weaved in Mary's back story in the mystery. In the classic story, the black pearl, mentioned in the episode, is hidden in one of the busts but here the character, AJ was looking for A.G.R.A. pen-drive. Sherlock thought AJ was looking for the black pearl that is why he was going on destroying these busts. In my humble opinion, since the black pearl mystery is not solved yet, it might be connected to the bigger Moriarty's game. As is the case in Sherlock small loose ends meet up in the big final episode.
The WTF reveal that the receptionist was behind the betrayal can be seen as a symbolic representation as she was really upset about the life she chose not to lead. The whole metaphor as we can see in the end of the episode is that John Watson is slowly becoming like this old lady and Sherlock has to protect him as he promised Mary to protect John Watson.

The poem plays a big symbolic representation about the things you can not outrun, for example, Mary was haunted by the ghost of her past which resulted in her death. In grief of her death, Watson blames Sherlock for not keeping his vow and letting Mary die, which he made on their wedding day. Mary's death has other significance as it puts Sherlock in therapy like Watson was way back in season 1.

Lets talk about Watson and his WTF affair in this episode. In my opinion, the affair was just to show that Watson was also not on a moral high ground. Like Mary and Sherlock, he has also secrets. I think the rift between Sherlock and Watson, they showed in the end will be actually done with as the season progresses.

Toby Jones

What about Toby Jones? He is supposed to be the big bad of the season yet we have not seen him in this episode in any form. He would be certainly in the second episode, "The Lying Detective". The show runners have not yet revealed who is playing. It will be interesting to see how he connects to the Moriarty plot and how he pushes Sherlock to his limits. Toby Jones is an amazing actor and it will be awesome to see him with Benedict Cumberbatch.

It was a great episode. One can see what took so long to come up with the plot. Hope you guys enjoyed it, follow for content like this. Comment below how you feel about this episode.

Top Quotes from the episode:

Sherlock: If you ever think I'm becoming full of myself, overconfident or cocky, would you just say the word "Norberry" to me, would you?
Mrs Hudson: Norberry?
Sherlock: Just that. I'd be very grateful.

Mycroft: Looks very fully functioning.
Sherlock: Is that the best you can do?
Mycroft: Sorry, I've never been very good with them.
Sherlock: Babies?
Mycroft: Humans.

Sherlock: You two, take a bus.
Lestrade: Why?
Sherlock: Because I need to concentrate and I don't want to hit you.

Sherlock: I always know when the game is on, you know why? 
Smallwood: Why?
Sherlock: Because I love it.

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