A two year cliff-hanger; a collection of wild speculations
and theories; a highly emotionally-charged reunion – Sherlock is back!
In many ways the new storylines that were introduced in The Empty Hearse play second-fiddle to
the old ones that people tune in to see resolved. With two years standing in
between the iconic detective’s fall, fans of the show will undoubtedly have collated
numerous amounts of theories and ideas as to how Sherlock was able to fake his
death. Luckily for those fans the writing for Sherlock is as sharp as it has ever been, and some of the most
elaborate (even far-fetched) ideas were able to make their way into the show
itself.
The writers were clearly aware that no matter what they did,
there will always be detractors, and so they threw in a couple of intricate
fake-outs which openly address that notion before the eventual big reveal. And
even at the point when the big reveal came there were still elements of
scepticism thrown in for good measure. The titular ‘Empty Hearse’ was revealed
to be a fan club/discussion group, in which the methods for Sherlock’s fake
death were scrutinised (in almost farcical detail). This episode – more than
any other in the series thus far – was filled with fan-service. Not only were
the theories and responses integrated into the narrative, but there was also an
open questioning of Watson’s sexuality as well as an ‘almost-kiss’ between
Sherlock and Moriarty. Clearly someone must have asked for that, and so it was
delivered!
The episode also delivered a very uneasy reunion between
Sherlock and Watson, the arc for which was the main focal point of the episode.
There was no way that things could go straight back to being normal again
between the two friends, especially since Watson had grieved and moved on.
Sherlock didn’t help matters either with his timing, intercepting Watson’s
attempted marriage proposal to Mary, played by Martin Freeman’s real-life
partner Amanda Abbington. Something that was nice to see in that scene was the
effort that Sherlock made to surprise his friend (a sign that he really does
care, despite his distant nature) and some excellent comic moments emerged as a
result. Watson didn’t see the funny side, however, and took out his frustration
both verbally and physically.
As the episode unfolded though, it became clear that they
are both equally dependant on the other. There was some highly complex trickery
going on, through which Sherlock managed to gain Watson’s forgiveness, albeit begrudgingly
(and dishonestly). There will always be bickering between the two, but that is
the dynamic they’ve had since the start so why change it now?
The big problem with the episode is that it is such a
tangled web of fake-outs and double-bluffs; it became highly difficult to
follow at times. I was primarily focussed on finding out the answer to ‘how did
he do it?’ as I’m sure many other people were as well. But the actual case
itself got me wondering whether it was real, or just a grand ruse orchestrated
by Sherlock to gain Watson’s forgiveness. After all, the reveal that there was
an off-switch on the bomb (!) played out just after the demonstration of
Sherlock and Mycroft’s capabilities. What was real and what was not?
I think that this episode in particular requires a second
viewing, due to the sheer amount of information to take in. It may be more
comprehensible at the end of the series to re-watch it a third time, as more
information about Sherlock’s new rival will be revealed.
Overall I was pleased with it, as I believe the episode rose
to the challenge that the series had set for itself. The writers are ready for
a wide spectrum of reactions from their audience, and this episode acknowledges
them wholeheartedly.
No comments:
Post a Comment