By BRENDAN TENAN
Staff Writer
It’s hard to believe it’s already been two long years since Series 2 of the BBC’s Sherlock aired its shocking finale, with titular hero Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) jumping off the top of a building and committing suicide, only to reappear very much alive at his own funeral in the final moments. As the air date for the premiere of Series 3 drew closer and closer, fans around the world churned out more and more theories about how the great detective could have survived the fall.
Rather than try to create a piece of exposition that would explain how Sherlock is still alive, which some fans would possibly accept but many would likely not be satisfied with, the show’s co-creators, Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, decided to have a bit of fun with the premiere episode, “The Empty Hearse.” Moffat and Gatiss came up with three distinct theories and had different characters explain these possibilities throughout the episode.
Each theory was plausible to some degree, but they all contained various flaws that make the stories unlikely, if not completely ludicrous. The one version that seemed to carry the most weight was the one Holmes himself told former Scotland Yard Inspector Philip Anderson (Jonathan Aris), yet even that one has enough improbable events and scenarios taking place to make the audience doubt its truth.
In the end, it was wise of Moffat and Gatiss to not give a definitive answer, and instead leave it up to the viewers’ imaginations. Sherlock is a show that has a very loyal, passionate fan base around the world. Any definitive solution explaining how Holmes survived jumping off of a building would likely have been unsatisfactory for an audience that has patiently waited two years for its favorite consulting detective to make his grand return.
Nevertheless, the great detective did indeed make his return to the popular BBC series, which airs in America as part of PBS’s Masterpiece Mystery series. The show picks up two years after that fateful jump and begins by taking a look at the lives of Holmes’s closest friends as they continue to adjust to him being gone. Dr. John Watson (Martin Freeman), Sherlock’s closest friend and chronicler of their adventures, is the most affected by this for many reasons, doing his best to move on, but finding himself unable to. Meanwhile, Sherlock’s landlady Mrs. Hudson (Una Stubbs), morgue worker Molly Hooper (Louise Brealey), D.I. Greg Lestrade (Rupert Graves), and Anderson are all still coping and experiencing one or more of the stages associated with grief.
One of the aspects of the show that has made Sherlock so popular with fans is the decision made by Moffat and Gatiss to adapt the original stories of Sherlock Holmes that were written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle over one hundred years ago. Besides placing the stories in a contemporary setting, they will also often alter the actions of the characters to make them more in line with a modern day Brit rather than the more reserved, stoic characters from the Victorian era readers often associate with the stories of Sherlock Holmes. A great example of this comes in “The Empty Hearse,” when Sherlock dramatically reveals to John that he’s very much alive.
In the original story, Conan Doyle depicted Watson fainting from the shock of seeing his old friend after believing he had been dead for many years. When Watson recovered, he was quite happy to have Sherlock Holmes back at Baker Street. In the show, Moffat and Gatiss have Watson fly into a rage over Sherlock’s deception and betrayal of their trust in one another. As a result, John assaults Holmes on three different occasions, seemingly intent on killing a man who’s just come back from the dead. Holmes and Watson eventually work things out, although they never completely resolve John’s feelings of betrayal, and the two reunite to once again take on London’s most singular cases.
Several new dynamics are also introduced in this series. The most notable is the presence of John’s wife, Mary. Mary is a character that Conan Doyle frequently alluded to, but rarely made present in his stories. As a result, many readers have long questioned whether the character was supportive of Watson’s adventures with Sherlock, or whether she resented Holmes for constantly taking him on cases and away from his family. It was refreshing to see this character take such a prominent part in the third series and add another level of depth and complexity to the already rich and complex characters Freeman and Cumberbatch have brought to life. It was equally refreshing to see the natural chemistry between John and Mary (played by Freeman’s real-life partner, Amanda Abbington), as well as the interesting dynamic between Mary and Sherlock.
Another notable new dynamic was the introduction of a new villain for Sherlock. With his arch-nemesis, Jim Moriarty (Andrew Scott) now dead, Sherlock must now contend with a new villain who is quite different from Moriarty but no less dangerous or formidable. The man is Charles Augustus Magnussen, played with a great deal of danger and slime by Lars Mikkelsen, a man Sherlock describes as “the Napoleon of blackmail.” Magnussen, based on the character Charles Augustus Milverton from Conan Doyle’s stories, specializes in learning people’s weaknesses, or “pressure points.” He keeps files on every person of interest to him and uses their pressure points to blackmail them, either through monetary payments or to persuade an individual to grant a specific favor for him. Sherlock is asked to confront and defeat Magnussen after he attempts to blackmail a member of the British Parliament.
There are several entertaining and funny moments throughout the series, particularly in the second episode, which features John and Mary’s wedding, as well as the events leading up to it. Cumberbatch has received great acclaim for his portrayal of Holmes as a brilliant, but cold, calculated, and arrogant “high functioning sociopath.” These less-than- charming character traits of Sherlock’s are hilariously on display when he must give the best man’s speech at John and Mary’s wedding. The flashbacks to John’s stag party feature several clever and humorous techniques to depict how intoxicated John and Sherlock were. Meanwhile, Moffat and Gatiss’ production team once again do a fantastic job showing the audience the thought processes that rapidly run through Sherlock’s mind, allowing him to make his brilliant and celebrated deductions.
Finally, Moffat and Gatiss have established a certain expectation level within their fans for a surprise twist at the end of each series. Series 1 ended with the revelation of Moriarty’s true identity and a standoff between Sherlock, Watson, and Moriarty. Series 2 ended with Sherlock’s apparent suicide, only for the great detective to appear in the distance at his funeral. Series 3 is no exception and though I won’t reveal it here, the cliffhanger leading into series 4 is definitely Moffat and Gatiss’ best yet. Hopefully, viewers won’t have to wait too long for answers to all the questions it raises.
All three episodes of the third series of Sherlock can be streamed for free at PBS’s Masterpiece webpage until March 4.
