I am Sherlocked: The Rheichenbach Fall

And so, we come to it. The cliff-hanger to end all cliff-hangers.

Sort of, anyway.

Series two, episode three of Sherlock paralysed the internet, and begun two years of speculation, theorising and dreaming.

I only started watching Sherlock 18 months into the two year hiatus, and I was spared the worst of the waiting, but I still remember the fascination of it. An unsolved problem.

However, while so many people wondered “how” Sherlock managed to fall off a building and live, I was more interested in the “why” of it. Either way, this is the episode that set it all up.

For this review, I will watch the episode again. I will ask, as I have been in the previous episodes, whether this story was worth the hype, and whether it is an enjoyable thing to watch again.

And so, we begin. The final problem.

Wait, it isn’t called “The Final Problem”? It’s called “The Reichenbach Fall”??? Why on Earth….

Well, anyway. It’s an adaptation of “The Final Problem”, the story in which John Watson is introduced to Moriarty. In fact, the two never meet. The short story, intended by Conan Doyle to be the final Holmes tale, revolves around Watson and Holmes fleeing to Europe together, in an attempt to avoid the dangers of a London where Moriarty’s empire is going into it’s death throes. Everything we learn about Moriarty, therefore, is second-hand, told by Holmes to Watson, and then recorded for us, the reader. This leaves Moriarty wrapped in a veil of mystery that helped him to become such a key literary figure.

Sherlock… doesn’t really go that route.

We begin with Watson in therapy. Apparently it’s been 18 months since he last spoke to his therapist. She prompts him to admit that he has returned because Sherlock died.

Also, I love the dramatic rain in the background. Because you can’t have a dramatic therapy scene without heavy rainfall.

Anyway, as soon as John says that Sherlock is dead, the titles begin. This is all the intro we get, apparently.

I would say that the reveal that Sherlock is going to die is a spoiler, but… the episode if titled “Reichenbach”. That word is literally synonymous with Holmes’ faked death at this point.

But apparently, the episode wants to give it another meaning, because next thing we see is the painting of the Reichenbach falls by Turner. Sherlock is being congratulated for returning the painting to its owner. So, um…

I am confused already. This episode is about THE REICHENBACH FALL. What is the purpose of introducing this painting? Why is it relevant to…. Anything? I think that Moriarty later says that this is a defining case for Sherlock, but we all know that he was already fairly famous.

Anyway, Sherlock is handed a gift box, immediately knows that it contains cuff links, and complains that he doesn’t need cuff links. Firstly, it seems off to me that Sherlock would attend a function like this at all, let alone accept a gift for his work.

But it’s OK, because it’s setting up a series of short scenes where the same thing happens, where Sherlock poses for the press beside each of his successes, is handed a gift and then complains about its lack of use for him.

There are a few nice hints at original stories in these, but also…

Right, so in the original stories, Holmes has an interesting character arc when it comes to fame and public opinion. In his early stories, he craves the limelight, he wants to become well renowned, he is grieved by the way that the police always seem to claim the victory. Over time, however, his perspective changes. The personal achievement becomes enough for him. He even asks Watson not to publish any more stories until after his retirement, and allows the police detectives to take the credit for his work.

This is really one of the most interesting character changes that Holmes goes through. It shows a deep, personal change in priorities. This is also an arc that Sherlock completely ignores. In fact, at first Sherlock is shown to shun the limelight, he hides his face from the press just a couple of episodes ago. Now, though, he is there for press statements, posing for photographs… Now, I wouldn’t mind if they wanted to put in an arc for Sherlock that ran differently to that in the original stories.

In this instance, however, Sherlock’s changed attitude towards the press seems to be solely to allow the plot of this episode to makes sense. It doesn’t represent any fundamental change to Sherlock’s personality, and it comes out of nowhere.

Oh, also it lets us see Donovan and Anderson again. I… can’t actually remember when those two last appeared. Definitely not in this season, I don’t think? But they are needed for this episode, so, look, here they are!

Back at 221b, Sherlock is sulking because he doesn’t like being called a “boffin” by the press. I really can’t imagine the original Holmes being so upset about this. Meanwhile, John is upset because he is described as a “confirmed bachelor”. Because of this, he goes off on a tirade about how the publicity is all bad, and will make it harder for Sherlock to be a detective. Which completely tallies with him happily posing beside Sherlock for photos multiple times….

Sherlock responds to this by saying that “it will pass”. And yet he was upset about being called “boffin” just a moment ago? He is upset by his association with the deer-stalker hat?

John warns him that the press will turn on him at some point. Sherlock doesn’t understand why John would be upset about the things that the press say.

Sherlock. Who, do I need to say it again, JUST complained that he was called a boffin?????

John tells Sherlock to stay out of the news, to find a “little case”. And we cut to Jim Moriarty breaking into the tower of London.

This scene is… hilarious. OK, I said it. It’s just awesome. I just wish it would stop cutting away to Sherlock looking down a microscope and John making bad jokes about the hung manakin in the flat.

What is it with Sherlock and microscopes? He’s meant to be a chemist! Microscopes are predominantly associated with biology (and yes, I know there are some uses in chemistry and there are definitely cross-overs between the two, but Holmes is meant to spend his free time mixing up chemicals, inventing “The Sherlock Holmes blood test” among other things. Nothing to do with microscopes. Also, most of the time we never find out what he’s looking at. It’s just the standard thing that he does when the writers want to make a “Sherlock is too busy to check on his phone” joke).

Anyway, to his credit Sherlock is, apparently, also solving historical cold cases. Finally, they show him doing something Holmes would actually do!

But genuinely, Moriarty breaking into the tower is much more exciting.

If you ignore, for a moment, the fact that the government is very aware of Moriarty, and presumably would have some level of surveillance of him that might notice when he approaches a building full of very precious materials.

But I will ignore that, because THIS IS EPIC.

So, Moriarty puts in his earphones, looks at the crown jewels, and the security guards are distracted by the pressing need to drink tea that every British person has. (Apart from me, I’m more of a coffee person).

We cut to the Bank of England, and Pentonville Prison. The stage is set.

Moriarty presses an… app? On his phone, and the Tower’s security system is activated. A guard approaches Moriarty, asks him to leave, and… Moriarty… gasses him? With an inhaler???

As a lifelong asthmatic, I love the weaponization of one of the medications that I carry around with me every day. As a medic, I… what drug is he delivering here? Most inhaled anaesthetics require a significantly higher dose than that to knock someone out (and more time to work), and there’s never a mention of him killing someone, so I don’t think it would be a poison….

But this scene is too epic for me to care. I will critique it more when it finishes.

The security guards panic, we see them get onto the phone. Donovan goes to Lestrade, tells him that this is a break-in that he WANTS to deal with. Moriarty scrolls on his app to the bank sign. And the bank is cracked. The vault just…. Opens. Tea is spilt.

Moriarty is happily drawing on some glass. Honestly, this piece of acting is superb, the timing, the music, the way that he is so casual, so calm while being LITERALLY locked inside the tower of London and everything is falling to pieces around him.

Next target? Pentonville prison. More tea is spilt. I am loving the metaphor of spilt tea being the falling-apart of British society. Moriarty uses chewing gum and a diamond to create a weak spot to crack the bullet-proof glass with a fire extinguisher. He literally WALTZES up to the glass, smashes it. The abject joy on his face is… priceless. Fantastic.

A moment later, the police (AKA the audience) arrive, and find Moriarty enthroned, bedecked in the crown jewels. He delivers his line,

“No rush”, calm as can be.

Urgh, this scene is so good. It is impossible to watch without a smile coming to your face.

But there are problems with it.

Let’s start with the biggest. All through this segment, we are given the idea that this is Moriarty using a piece of software to hack into these “unbreakable” places. Lestrade says it aloud, we see Moriarty using his phone to trigger everything, and we are even gifted a image of us zooming through a storm of code to each target of the attack. Everything says “THIS IS A COMPUTER HACK”. Later, however, it transpires that Moriarty actually used a combination of bribes and blackmail to organise each of these things.

Now, the intention here is to set the audience up for “the twist” that there is no master key that will unlock every door. The problem is, EVERYTHING about this scene is meant to set up the audience’s belief that the code is real. Not just the events, not just what the characters say, but even the editing! Now, the reason why this irritates me is that, when you write a twist, the author must lure the audience into a position where they come to a conclusion by themselves. Then, they can spring the truth, which must be an alternative explanation of the same set of facts. If it goes well, the audience should be able to watch again, and this time see the evidence from the new angle. The golden rule of writing a twist, therefore, is never to directly lie to the audience.

The way in which this is edited, where we see Moriarty click a button on his phone, then a storm of code leading us to the target of the attack… I mean, it seems to make it clear that Moriarty is using a piece of code, an “app” in his phone to open each of these places.

Now, what we are meant to believe is that he is actually contacting the various people involved in each of these crimes and telling them that it’s time to go. Yet, even in retrospect, that is not what we see him do, and it’s not what we see people do! With the eye of faith, you could imagine that the guards at the Tower turn the cameras off, but we never see how the prison and bank raids are actually carried out.

OK, now onto the plan itself. Moriarty wants the world to think that he has a key code that will unlock any door. Digitally speaking, I mean. In order to advertise this fact, he simultaneously breaks into three incredibly secure buildings, allowing himself to be captured inside one along with the message “Get Sherlock”. This is how he sets his price, anyone who wants the key needs to bring him Sherlock.

Problem one. The message. “Get Sherlock”. Now, if I was a criminal looking to erase my criminal record, say, if I saw that message I wouldn’t know what Moriarty actually wanted me to do. Am I meant to kill Sherlock Holmes? (Presuming I even know who Sherlock is?) Am I meant to bring Sherlock to Moriarty?

Problem two. Moriarty writes this message on the glass inside the crown jewel room in the tower of London, then promptly shatters his message. The only record of it, therefore, would be on the security cameras. Which he… turned off? Or at least, he stopped them from recording correctly. Even if this message is on that footage, there is no way that it would be released to the general public, and so only people who worked in the police, or criminals already capable of hacking into the police database, would be able to see it.

OK. Next stage of the plan. Moriarty allows himself to be captured. He stands trial, but blackmails the jurors into acquitting him, despite all the evidence.

Problem three. We are meant to presume that Moriarty uses the key code to find out who the jurors are, and then again to access their hotel rooms. In retrospect, knowing that the codes don’t exist, this meant that Moriarty would have to find people who could be bribed or blackmailed into revealing very sensitive information about the jurors, and more people who could actually give him access to each of their families and hotel rooms. At this point, we must be up to a doze or so people who have been bribed or blackmailed into helping Moriarty with his plan. The chances of none of them reporting the bribe/blackmail get smaller with each new person he has to involve.

Problem four. The British justice system is set up in such a way that, if it seems clear that a trial has been fixed, that will be investigated. If something like this is suspected, than the jury can actually be dismissed, and either a new jury, or a trial by a single judge be set up instead.

OK, so after Moriarty has been totally let off after fixing the jury, he plans to switch to his alter ego of Richard Brook, using more bribery and forged documents to give himself his new identity. (Or, interesting alternative, to pick up an identity that he left behind… though this is less likely). He even goes to the length of acting on a children’s TV show, befriending a journalist… all so that he can publicly announce that he (Richard Brook) was an actor all the time, hired by Sherlock to play Moriarty. He will also commit several crimes, dropping hints all over the place that these were actually staged by Sherlock, so that Sherlock could claim the glory of solving the puzzles. In order to do these things he will (you guessed it) blackmail and bribe dozens more people, find a Sherlock look-alike who is willing to kidnap and poison some children, and create a realistic seeming paper trail for his life as Richard Brook.

Problem five. The government knows who Moriarty is. They have on at least one previous occasion, detained him.  Mycroft has involved himself in investigating Moriarty. There is a lot of evidence that Moriarty is a criminal, and I find it really, really hard to believe that the police wouldn’t AT LEAST bring him in for questioning. Especially given that time last season when Moriarty was implicated in the deaths of dozens of people. Even if they assume that he is telling the truth, that Sherlock was the one who actually committed those crimes, Moriarty is at least guilty of being an accessory to murder, and potentially many other crimes (including perjury, for lying under oath in that trial).

Problem six. How… on Earth… did Moriarty… get himself…. A job…. On a children’s TV show…??? And (and really, this is the bigger issue) how did the government and Mycroft not know about it?

Problem seven. How could anyone believe that Sherlock committed every crime that he was ever involved in solving? As a reminder, that includes the “Study in Pink” murders (where a real murderer was found dead at the scene), “the blind banker” thefts and murders (where the killer had to have scaled the outside of a skyscraper), all of the crimes in “The great game”, including the hiring of an assassin to KILL somebody, the gathering of many, many explosive vests, the… weird happenings of “A scandal in Belgravia”, and the murder of Henry Knight’s father from “The Hounds of Baskerville”. Yes, that’s right, the people who believe that Sherlock committed ALL of those crimes must have accepted the fact that he started young! Young enough that he was setting up his first crimes to solve decades ago!  Oh, and there are also numerous examples of Sherlock proving his investigative ability. Exhibit A, the stupid boomerang death in s2e1. That wasn’t a murderer, Sherlock was never even close to the murder scene, and yet Sherlock solves it. There’s other exonerating evidence as well, for example the fact that the unfortunate blind victim of Moriarty’s in S1E3 heard Moriarty’s voice, but doesn’t recognise Sherlock’s voice as the same as Moriarty’s. As she starts to describe the voice, she is blown up. At this point, Sherlock is in the same room as several police officers, who don’t notice him making any movement or in any way triggering that explosion.

Problem eight. I’m tired.

Problem nine. Moriarty wants everyone (especially Sherlock) to believe that he has a key that he can use to open any digital lock. He also wants to get the message across that, if people want to get the key, Sherlock is the price. He states this in the Tower of London, and then hints at it again during his trial. The problem is, this would inevitable make the whole underworld come after Moriarty and/or Sherlock to try and get hold of that key. Now, I know that Moriarty basically goes into this prepared to burn his entire criminal Empire, and his own life in the process, but still! He draws a massive target over his own head.

OK. We will stop with this list for now. We’re only ten minutes into this episode. Let’s move on.

John tells Sherlock the news. Moriarty has been arrested. But seemingly, before he gets into the police car, he sends a text message inviting Sherlock to “come and play”. I’m not really sure why Moriarty texts, given that Sherlock is definitely going to be invited onto this case anyway.

Anyway, we see the tale unfold through spinning newspapers. A nice touch this, keeping the “media can be your friend or your foe” theme going throughout the episode.  Sherlock is invited to testify in the trial. 

Interesting point here, as Moriarty is led to the courtroom, he is shown to be wearing a diamond tie-pin. Maybe a reference to the presents Sherlock was given or solving his earlier cases, and disparaged? A tie pin and diamond cuff-links?

Apparently Sherlock has been well briefed by the prosecution, advised not to be a smart-ass on the stand. Sherlock clearly has no intention of being anything less than his normal self.

Moriarty is in the dock. Everything is about to kick off. Then we get a…  moment between Moriarty and one of the female police officers guarding him. She is leaning behind him (for some reason) and he whispers to her, asking her to put her hand in his pocket. She, unquestioningly, complies, and pulls out a pack of gum. Then he sticks out his tongue, asking her to put a piece of gum into his mouth.

I’ve felt this moment incredibly uncomfortable since the first time I watched it. The combination of the closeness of the female officer and Moriarty, the fact that so much focus is put on her reaching into his pocket, the way he sticks out his tongue… it all seems a bit demeaning. And when every other police officer shown in this scene is male, it is interesting that this one, the one having the awkward, overly close contact with Moriarty is female.

The thing is, this moment is, at least, euphemistic. At worst, its normalising sexual harassment. I suppose that the creative team wanted this to be an awkward moment, but they could have made it awkward without making it… seem like sexual harassment.

Also, the fact that the two (male) guards stood behind Moriarty don’t even flinch as their colleague is asked to do this is disturbing. If I was asked to put my hand into a guy’s pocket, then feed them something all while being uncomfortably close to them, I would hope that any colleague or friend of mind nearby would help me to extricate myself from that situation.

Actually, if someone asked me to do that, especially in that close environment, I would just… not do it. In fact, I’m pretty sure basically any police officer would refuse to feed a suspect, much less an unknown substance that the suspect provided.

It’s a moment that didn’t have to be there. A similar (but less creepy) emotion could have been elicited in many other ways.

Anyway, we cut to Sherlock in the bathroom. A woman has snuck up on him. Oh look, it’s Jen from the IT crowd! Hello Jen!

She is dressed up as a Sherlock fan. Apparently she is basically stalking him, and she asks him to sign her shirt. Why does it sometimes feel like this show is designed to mock its fans? Oh, and of course it has to be a sexual thing.

Anyway, Sherlock quickly deduces that she is actually a journalist. A journalist who has deliberately left signs (like a smudge of ink in her wrist) to test how good Sherlock actually is.

Given that later she turns out to be part of the “Sherlock isn’t actually clever, he just sets up crimes so that he can show off as he solves them” thing, this is…. Weird. Given that he demonstrates his deductive skills in front of her, even identifying the fact that she has faked some of those signs. It’s a fairly impressive display, she admits it. Which would seem to directly conflict with her joining the anti-Sherlock brigade.

Anyway, she (of course) asks of Sherlock is in a relationship with John. Sherlock refuses to answer. The journalist, Kitty Riley, offers to interview Sherlock, to be on his side when everything goes wrong. Again, this would seem to conflict with her later position of “I have been studying and have already written an article about the truth behind Jim Moriarty”. It’s quite a change in direction for her, in a relatively short period of time.

Anyway, Sherlock tells her that she repels him. Then we catch up with Sherlock in the court room.

Sherlock is trying to describe what a consulting criminal is. This is, I admit, a compelling scene. Sherlock staring straight into Jim’s eyes, Jim nodding slightly in approval at his description. The most irritating thing is Sherlock constantly interrupting the prosecuting council, anticipating her questions.

The matter of how long they’ve spent in each other’s company comes up. This is a bad point for the prosecution, something that, if they’d briefed properly, they’d briefed properly, they’d know to avoid. Also, rather than pointing out that Sherlock has spent a lot of time solving crimes Moriarty has been involved with, that Sherlock has closely studied Moriarty’s criminal organisation, and that they have spoken indirectly through other sources on multiple occasions, Sherlock simply states that they have spent a few minutes together, and that Moriarty spent most of that time trying to kill him.

Well anyway, Sherlock then feels the need to show off his skills to prove that five minutes is plenty of time for him to get to know someone. By deducing things about the jury.

Given that the jury are meant to be quasi-anonymous, this is…. Seriously, Sherlock should know better. Despite what this show is trying to make us believe, this CANNOT be his first time in a courtroom.

Wait, hang on a minute…. Thinking back through it, very few of Sherlock’s cases actually make it to trial. The only ones that come to mind are the short cases from the S1E3, Mrs Wenceslas, and maybe Connie Prince’s murderer?

Well, go on then, as it’s the last episode of the series...here’s a list of the fates of every criminal features in an episode so far.

Series 1:

A study in Pink: Cabbie- Murdered by John Watson

The Blind Banker: M- murdered by Moriarty for failing, The Spider- murdered by John Watson

The Great Game:

·         Carl Power’s murderer: Moriarty

·         Janus Cars death-faking gang: Arrested

·         Connie Prince’s murderer: Arrested

·         The Golem: fate unknown/escaped

·         Mrs Wenceslas: arrested for forgery

·         Stealer of the Bruce-Partington plans: arrested for murder

A Scandal in Belgravia: Irene Adler-rescued from death by Sherlock, on the run

The Hounds of Baskerville: Frankland- exploded, the Hound- murdered by Watson and Lestrade

 

I mean… in short, going up against Sherlock is dangerous, especially if John happens to have a gun with him at the time.

But still. Sherlock should know how to behave in a court.

But clearly he doesn’t, and he ends up being held in a cell for contempt of court.

Sherlock is bailed, and discusses the case with John. He predicts that Jim isn’t going to mount any defence.

And he doesn’t.

We get a moment of Sherlock correctly predicting exactly what the judge will say. Interestingly, this shows that Sherlock DOES know how courts work, and proves that he was basically deliberately being an idiot earlier.

The judge tells the jury that they must find Moriarty guilty.

6 minutes later, the jury find Moriarty not guilty.

As I mentioned earlier, this reeks of jury tampering, and in any even vaguely realistic scenario this would result in a retrial.

Not here though.

John calls Sherlock to warn him that Jim is on the streets, and will be coming after him. Sherlock puts the kettle on, and starts playing violin. On the plus side, Cumberbatch is slightly better at fake-playing now.

Moriarty lets himself in, and they have tea together. This is it. The recreation of one of the biggest moments in literature. The meeting of two giants.

Moriarty carves up an apple. The letters IOU.

This, coupled with other repetitions throughout the episode, made loads of people theorise about the true meaning of IOU.

Turns out there isn’t one, but… hey.

And so Moriarty and Sherlock have tea, Moriarty tells Sherlock how he threatened the jury, Sherlock asks Jim what his plans are.

Jim taunts Sherlock, asking him “what’s the final problem?” over and over again.

Again, we never really find out. “I did tell you, but did you listen?” he says.

Jim taps on his leg. This turns out to be… unimportant later.

Sherlock proves to Jim that he understands why he broke into the Tower and the other places. Why he allowed himself to go on trial. To advertise the existence of the key.

Sherlock asks Moriarty what everything is for. Why does he want to get the biggest countries and criminals in the word bidding for a key that could allow him to take all of the world’s money in one swoop?

Moriarty says it’s all linking back to the Final Problem.

Then the editing gets weird. Moriarty is whistling at the same time as talking, which creates a strange effect. It makes what is real and what isn’t unclear, which is… not good, for a detective show?

Moriarty references “the fall”. Sherlock insists that he doesn’t like riddles.

“I owe you a fall” Moriarty says, and then he leaves.

OK, so why does this scene annoy me?

First, the hints that never go anywhere. Everyone was buzzing about them. IOU, “The final problem”. The tapping. The apple. The references to fairy tales. Moriarty tells Sherlock to solve “The Final Problem”, but then gives him nothing to go off. Again, this is a detective show. If it’s a good one, the audience should be able to solve “The Final Problem” alongside Sherlock. We should be looking for clues everywhere, every action should have significance (or at least be confirmed as a red herring). During the two year hiatus after the cliff-hanger ending of this episode, fans poured over this scene, trying to work out what “IOU” meant, trying to work out what “The Final Problem” really was, because none of the answers we got in this episode satisfied us. We didn’t feel like we understood what the answers were, and we definitely didn’t feel like there was enough information to follow the lines of reasoning to any conclusions about them.

Second, the editing is weird. Enough said.

Third… we need to talk about Moriarty.

Moriarty is a great literary figure, as I think I mentioned before. One of the reasons that he is so great is that we see so little of him. We know just a few things. He is a professor, held in high renown by general society. He is a genius, and has an intellect to rival that of Holmes. His interests in criminality are primarily in gaining wealth and power. He and Holmes only ever have two conversations with each other. In the first, he warns Holmes off. He tells him that he cannot abide having Holmes interfere, and threatens to kill him if he does not take a step backwards. Holmes responds by saying that he would happily accept the ending of his own life, if it meant that Moriarty fell with him. At their second meeting, beside the Reichenbach falls, Moriarty allows Holmes a moment to write a note of farewell to Watson, before they walk together to the cliff, and finally resort to fighting hand-to-hand to settle their differences. Watson never sees more than a glimpse of Moriarty.

In fact, the theme of anonymity is key to understanding Moriarty. It is remarked that few outside his academic circle would ever have heard of him, despite the wide and deep web that he wove through the world. Those that did know Professor Moriarty would never have believed that he was a criminal.

All of this means that, when Holmes and Moriarty, who have been dancing around each other for months by that time, meet face to face, the meeting is truly something to behold. The two men are both set on the destruction of the other, neither will allow their plan to fail. It is a battle between giants, and the occasion upon which we, the reader, learn the most about this master villain, who will bring Holmes closer to death than any other.

In Sherlock… OK, so apart from the irritations I have already mentioned, this meeting is fine. Sherlock and Moriarty sit down and have tea, it’s a magical moment. But it is so, so lessened by what has already happened. Sherlock has already met Jim. John has already met Jim. Mycroft and Molly have already met Jim. And that’s nothing to what the audience has seen! We have seen Moriarty blowing a raspberry and a text he sends to Mycroft. We’ve seen Moriarty publicly tried.

So it’s really inevitable that, when this scene comes, it misses the mark. Moriarty is a Machiavellian mystery man, a respectable public face that hides a criminal empire, an intriguing, fascinating figure.

This version of Moriarty has been so overused that he has lost his mystery. And therefore, this moment loses its importance.

Two months pass. Mycroft fancies a chat with John, so hacks a card machine. As you do. And then he brings John to the Diogenes club. The famous silent club, which doesn’t have any actual signs, door staff or similar to let John know that silence is the name of the game.

Mycroft is worried about Sherlock.

As usual.

He is worried because a big expose is to be released, with information coming from someone called “Brook”. And because some assassins have moved into Baker Street.

Of course, the British government’s duty, upon identifying an international assassin is NOT to arrest them, but instead just to warn the people who live on the same street not to invite them over for coffee.

Seriously, does Mycroft ever do anything useful?

He also, of course, refuses to talk to his brother himself, because of “old score, resentments”. I don’t know why they make Sherlock and Mycroft have an awful relationship in this adaptation. In the original, there is a great amount of respect and love between the brothers, and they always will reach out to the other if the situation demands. I LOVE the unnecessary angst between these two characters.

Not.

Anyway, apparently Mycroft is worried that Sherlock won’t accept his help with anything. In a few minutes, Sherlock will actually come running to him to help fake his death, but… um….I suppose they’ll have totally made up by then.

John arrives home, and finds and envelope on the doorstep. Like anyone who has just been told about the assassins around their home would, he opens it immediately. It’s full of breadcrumbs. Which John doesn’t mention to anyone.

Lestrade and Donovan have come to ask for Sherlock’s help in a kidnapping case. The kid’s Dad has asked for Sherlock specifically.

Sherlock turns up on the scene, screams into the face of the crying house mistress (to… save time???????? Seriously, sometimes I think that this version of Sherlock really is the baddie!), then storms into the crime scene.

Sherlock finds another envelope, this one containing Grimm’s fairy tales. Except he doesn’t know that it’s important, because John didn’t tell him about the first one.

Anyway, Sherlock discovers that the missing boy left a message in linseed oil, which shows up in uv light.

Unfortunately, this little boy, despite having the presence of mind to use linseed to leave an invisible message, fails to include anything useful in this invisible message. Therefore….. it’s all pointless. Apart from the unintentional footprints in linseed.

Which tell us a lot about the kidnapper, including shoe size, height, gait etc. (Remember when I said that there was a lot of evidence that Sherlock wasn’t involved in this kidnapping? Now, I can’t help but wonder if anyone ever actually checked to see if Sherlock’s shoe size, shoe type, sole pattern etc. actually matched with the footprints here? That would be a fairly easy way to exonerate him. But anyway.)

Also, apparently, there is information transferred from the shoe to the floor in every step, so Sherlock scrapes up a piece of floor.

That… isn’t how it works. But OK

Sherlock also theorises that the kidnapper just walked in during the bustle of the last day of term. Then we cut to a clip of a lone male walking into the school. Presumably this is our kidnapper.

Except… not to be pedantic, but isn’t the kidnapper meant to be the guy who looks almost identical to Sherlock? It’s just the man shown in the video… doesn’t. At all.

No time to dwell on that though, we need to get back to this show’s favourite pastime- showing Sherlock misusing Molly.

Molly is about to go for her lunch break. A lunch date, actually. Presumably she’s moving on.

But then Sherlock shows up, physically turns her around, and marches her back to the lab, telling her that she is going to have lunch with him.

He then needles her about Moriarty being her ex-boyfriend. Which is a kind and loving thing to do to a friend who was mis-lead by a master criminal.

So, instead of going to have lunch with her date, Molly is pressed to work on with Sherlock.

Actually, this isn’t even remotely her job, it’s possibly illegal (and certainly damaging to any future trial), and… the work that they have for her is CARRYING MASSIVE STACKS OF FILES AROUND?

At one point she tests to see if a substance is basic or acidic. After adding a chemical to it that makes it fiz, indicating a chemical change within the substance, making the acid/base ration information… less useful?

Anyway, my new resolution is to stop trying to understand TV science, because it never makes sense.

Oh, and Sherlock is using his favourite diagnostic tool, a microscope again. Why?

WHY???

Wait, he’s actually looking at some micro-organisms! How exciting, and actual use for a microscope! Now, what lil’ bugs are these? Are they diatoms? Bacteria?

While we wait for Sherlock to come up with an answer, he mutters “I owe you” under his breath. Clearly he’s thinking it through too. The fact that he’s still repeating it makes everyone thing that IT WILL BE IMPORTANT.

Oh, and Sherlock get’s another opportunity to slap Molly down. “Please don’t make conversation. It’s not your area”. But turns out, as usual, Molly is right. She’s noticed that Sherlock is tense. Sad. When John isn’t watching. She thinks there’s something wrong with him. She’s noticed when no-one else has. Because “she doesn’t count”. Because Sherlock doesn’t see her as a person. When she offers her support, he asks “what could I need from you?”

At least this time, when Molly prompts him, he actually thanks her. Reluctantly.

Anyway, John is looking through the crime scene photos, and realises that MAYBE he should have told Sherlock about the mysterious letter left on their doorstep.

Sherlock finally puts it together. “Hansel and Gretel”.

“All fairy-tales need a villain”.

And he realises that the substances he pulled from the… from the footprints… on the wooden floor…. Contain chocolate ingredients.

Or, if any shoes (or even any wet shoes) leave a deposit of everything that they have been walking through behind with every footstep, maybe some of the kids had a midnight feast involving chocolate.

This science is… not science.

Wait, the scene is ending.

What… what about those micro-organisms? The ones Sherlock was looking at under the microscope?

For once… for once he used a piece of scientific equipment correctly, and…. And…..

I am sad now.

Apparently, Lestrade was sent a fax with a message- the children are dying.

Sherlock uses his mind palace/mental map of London to find his disused chocolate factory.

And the homeless network. Not for any real reason, just to remind us that they exist, and we need to know about them.

The police raid the disused factories, and eventually find a pile of chocolates beside an extinguished candle.

I can’t help but wonder why, given how easy it was to break into this half-collapsed factory, the children didn’t just… leave? Especially as we’ve already been told that at least one of them is resourceful and reads spy novels.

Anyway, Sherlock notices that the children have been eating mercury laced chocolate. But, for now at least, they’re alive.

Back at the police station, Lestrade gives Sherlock and John permission to go and interview a traumatised 7 year old.

That’s… normal.

As soon as the girl sees Sherlock, she starts screaming.

Sherlock is too busy staring out of the window to hear Lestrade and John talking.

IOU, written on the windows of the office opposite.

Donovan calls after Sherlock as he leaves, telling him that she thinks Sherlock’s work is unbelievable.

Literally unbelievable. She is 100% correct, by the way. Sherlock’s “science” is nonsense.

Donovan is looking at all the evidence laid out before her when Lestrade walks past. She reveals her concerns about him.

Sherlock is in the taxi home when the cabbie starts to play a video. A video of Moriarty telling a bedtime story. Incredibly creepy. Laying out the idea that the police might turn against Sherlock.

Exactly what Donovan is doing in that moment.

Anyway, the video of Jim ends with him saying that the police turning against Sherlock isn’t “The Final Problem”.

Sherlock jumps out of the cab. Turns out Moriarty was the driver.

As Sherlock stands in the street, one of his new neighbours comes and drags him out of the way of a car. As they stand beside each other, shaking hands, the neighbour/assassin is shot.

Sherlock realises that the assassins are there to keep him alive, not to kill him. He looks at the wifi availability on his laptop, and… concludes that there is “a surveillance web” closing in on them.

I’m… not sure that’s how that works, but anyway.

He drags Hudson upstairs, and asks her about the dusting (I thought she wasn’t their housekeeper?)

Sherlock is looking for disturbed dust, a sign of a planted bug. He finds one behind a book. (How it could see the room from behind the book, I don’t know).

Anyway, Lestrade has turned up. He wants to take Sherlock to the station for questioning. He came to that decision… very quickly.

Sherlock refuses. He tells Lestrade that Moriarty planted the doubt in his head, and that he won’t allow Moriarty to have a photo of Sherlock being arrested. He thinks that Moriarty’s game is to ruin his reputation, but guesses that they won’t have enough to bring him in unwillingly.

But he also knows that Lestrade will be going off to decide to get a warrant.

John also has a moment’s doubt. A child screaming at the sigh of an adult man is… suspicious. But he assures Sherlock that he has no doubts. Because no-one could be so irritating all the time.

Lestrade goes to his boss. Who, somehow, doesn’t know that Lestrade has been consulting with Sherlock. Obviously he hasn’t been to any of the press briefings. Or read any newspapers.

Anyway, Lestrade goes off to arrest Sherlock. But he also texts ahead to warn Sherlock that they’re coming. At the worst moment, another envelope from Jim arrives. This one contains a burned gingerbread man.

The police arrive. Lestrade clearly feels guilty, but Donovan taunts John, tells him that she saw this coming.

Then Lestrade’s boss arrives. Says that Sherlock must be weird. John punches him, and ends up being arrested too.

And Sherlock stages a daring escape for the pair of them. Obviously, they’re handcuffed together.

Oh, and somehow, Sherlock has a gun.

So much for caring what goes in the newspapers.

Sherlock “takes John hostage”, and the two go off to live a fugitive life together.

As they tun off together, John complains about the fact that “people will talk” about them holding hands. Because this is a perfect time for more queer baiting.

John suggests going to Mycroft. This is a great idea. Sherlock refuses, because “it’s not a good time for a reconciliation”. This is very, very stupid.

Sherlock jumps in front of a bus to lure out one of the assassins. This is a much better idea. Clearly. Somehow it works. And then another assassin is murdered in front of them.

I think that we should pause to acknowledge that Sherlock knew that, by talking to that assassin he was likely signing his death warrant. And yet he did it anyway. Your hero, ladies and gentlemen.

But he does find out that the magic data key has been hidden in Sherlock’s flat. Apparently.

The pair have apparently escaped the police well enough to be able to read a newspaper. John points out the upcoming expose, and Sherlock decides to pay the author a visit.

By creepily breaking into her house and hiding in the dark, because that’s…. great. Anyway, they (somehow) get the handcuffs off.

They interrogate the reporter, who is Richard Brook?

Before she can say anything…. He turns up. And by Richard Brook, I, of course, mean Jim Moriarty.

And he reacts as if he is terrified of Sherlock.

Kitty, the reporter, reveals the whole plot. Rich Brook. An actor, hired by Sherlock to play the villain.  

Remember earlier, when John insists that he trusts Sherlock absolutely?

Um… yeah. Apparently not.

Kitty shows John the “conclusive proof” that Sherlock is a fake. Kitty insists that Sherlock faked every crime, that Sherlock paid Rich to take the rap, and paid to “rig the jury” at the trial. Sherlock just stands there and listens.

Rich Brook has, apparently, sold his story. And while Kitty turns her back, Jim drops the act for a moment, to smile at Sherlock.

Richard Brook has, of course, been a popular TV actor. (Surprising how no-one recognised him during the trial then, right?)

Sherlock is getting angry. Jim runs, and Kitty echoes Sherlock’s earlier words, “You repel me”. This was another phrase that I thought might be part of the “final problem”. But apparently not.

Sherlock realises that the only thing left for Moriarty to do, having destroyed his reputation, having made his life seem like a lie… is to kill him. So he leaves John, and goes to Molly.

He creeps into her lab, and…. Once again, starts saying nice things to Molly to get her to help him. Why does he only complement her, or even acknowledge her when she can do something that will help him?

Anyway, Molly, of course, helps Sherlock. He admits that he’s not OK, that he thinks he’s dying. He even tests her, checking that she would help him even it was revealed that he was less than he had always seemed to be. She is unflinchingly loyal. It would be sweet, if it didn’t seem so manipulative.

John, meanwhile, has gone to find Mycroft. He confronts him about the fact that Mycroft fed Jim Moriarty information about Sherlock. Mycroft admits that he had Jim in prison, and told him about Sherlock in exchange for…. Vital information. About stuff. We never find out what stuff, obviously.

Mycroft also admits that he has been watching Moriarty. Not closely enough to see him set all of this up. Not close enough to REALISE THAT HE WAS ACTING IN A KIDS TV SHOW. Not close enough to catch him actually doing anything that would allow them to arrest him, or to stop him from rigging a jury when they actually had him in police custody.

Mycroft also admits to basically torturing Moriarty for weeks.

Thing is, if Moriarty was in custody, if they were already breaking the rules enough to torture him, why… why did they EVER release him? I mean, obviously torture is a terrible, horrific thing to do to someone. So is imprisoning someone indefinitely without trial. But if you’re prepared to do one… is the other such a leap? Why did Mycroft release Jim?????? Especially after knowing that he has just given Moriarty loads and loads of information about his dear brother??????????????

Basically. Mycroft is awful. Awful at being a brother. Awful at being “in the government”. Awful at “playing the game”. Awful at obeying the Geneva convention. Awful at… well, everything.

I don’t think I’ve really spoken about the character of Mycroft before. Well, short version, the person called “Mycroft” in this version is… not Mycroft Holmes. Not as I know him. Mycroft Holmes is a genius, but also, to an extent, exhausted by life. He hates being out and about, he likes to use his (very powerful) mind from the comfort of a cosy office. Personally, I have always thought that Mycroft Holmes potentially has an underlying health problem that explains his lack of energy. Whether or not that’s true, the fact is that he limits himself to cerebral activities, he plans, he decides, he processes information. He is almost like a living computer. Rather than going out and finding information to input into his brain, as Sherlock does, Mycroft prefers to let information come to him.

This has made him invaluable to most of the British Government. His focus is not on solving crimes, but rather on holding the whole world together. He is, fundamentally, a force for good.

As for his relationship with Sherlock, the two are close, there is clearly love and mutual admiration there, but he also largely allows Sherlock to get on with his life. I actually love the way that they talk when they are together, I think it shows a real history and friendship between them, even if they live very different lives when we see them.

Sherlock’s Mycroft is so different in every way from the original Mycroft that he isn’t really the same character at all. Rather than being a positive force, he is profoundly sinister. He is an unelected official, a genius, who has the power to find out anyone’s secrets, who has the power to capture, torture and hold another human captive indefinitely.

As for his relationship with Sherlock, the two have little mutual affection, and seemingly no mutual respect. Rather than working together, they spend most of their time quarrelling among themselves. Sherlock even refuses to go to Mycroft when his life is in danger.

Oh, and when Mycroft does appear to work with Sherlock, he invariably takes the role of the “Deus Ex Machina”. Sherlock needs to go into a top secret science lab? Mycroft can fix it. Sherlock needs to fake his own death, requiring massive amounts of equipment and man-power? Mycroft.

In short, Mycroft is possibly the single character most hard done by in this adaptation.

Anyway, Mycroft apologises, John leaves. Sherlock is playing with a bouncy ball in the lab. This is a hint that ACTUALLY does go somewhere. Well done Sherlock!

Sherlock tells John that everything revolves around the “key”. Apparently, Moriarty used it to create a new identity for himself. (As it turns out, there is no key, and we actually never find out how Moriarty did create that new Richard Brook life for himself). If Sherlock can find the key, then he can remove Richard Brook, expose the truth and exonerate himself.

I’ve always found it slightly disappointing that Sherlock becomes so fixated on the key. Watching it back, I’m looking for an indication that Sherlock had already guessed that the key doesn’t exist, but… there isn’t one.

Sherlock Holmes is meant to be open minded. Sherlock is anything but in this episode. Not only does he fall for Moriarty’s trap, but he also never even acknowledges that he knows that it is a trap. It’s just… Look, half the time, Sherlock seems to be the biggest brain around. But as soon as Moriarty comes along, he just… makes mistakes. Uncharacteristic mistakes. And we never get a scene where he sits down and wonders whether he is doing exactly what Moriarty wants him to. He just comes to a conclusion, and sticks with it. We see it with the Bruce-Partington plans (the way that Sherlock assumes that Moriarty is after them), and we see it again with this magic key.

Anyway, Sherlock has just remembered the tapping. He thinks that this is some kind of code. He thinks that he has possession of the magic key.

Yes, I will keep calling it “the magic key”. It makes me think of children’s books, which somehow have a more cohesive and sensible plot than this episode.

Now, what Sherlock does next is… interesting. He invites Moriarty to the roof of the hospital.

An important question, and one that haunted many people for two years is… why? He thinks he has the code. He thinks he has solved the “final problem”. He could, at this point, log into any computer and see if the code worked. If it did, he could send it to Mycroft, or he could go through himself and delete Kitty Riley’s article, delete Richard Brook and unveil Moriarty’s plan.

If it didn’t, he would suddenly have a whole world of options open to him. The only other way in which Moriarty could have accomplished everything during this episode is with a whole lot of bribery or blackmail. He could quickly identify likely targets, and find someone who, under threat of the whole British government coming down on their heads, would reveal the truth.

 

But what does Sherlock actually do?

He invites Moriarty over to “play”. Now, I know that, at this point, Sherlock has planned the whole “escape from the roof” thing. He probably already plans to fake his own death.

But he also knowingly goes to a high place with a multiple murderer, who he knows will come armed. Even if he wants to fake his death, he is really putting himself in danger.

So, what would be a better plan? First, check the code. If it didn’t work, he would know that Moriarty must have faked its existence all along. As I mentioned above, from there, there is a clear path to exonerating himself, and proving Moriarty’s criminality. Once he had set that up, he could invite Moriarty to, say the swimming pool where they met previously. He could fill the balcony with his own snipers this time, creating a trap for Moriarty.

Look, the only reason for Sherlock to invite Moriarty over is because he wants to catch him in a trap. Moriarty must know this. Sherlock must know that Moriarty must know that.

And yet… they both show up. They both take remarkably few precautions. I think that both of them must be assuming that the other is planning to die at that meeting, but… why? Why is Moriarty willing to die at that moment? Why is Sherlock? We don’t see any build-up at all. We don’t even get the famous line where Holmes assures Moriarty that he is prepared to die to see Moriarty fall.

 

Anyway, Sherlock sends the text. He lets Moriarty know that he has the key. He continues to play with the little squash ball, and John gets a call. A call saying that Mrs Hudson has been shot.

A fake call.

A… really obviously fake call, because Sherlock tells John that, despite the fact that Hudson is supposedly dying, Sherlock won’t go to see her.

In the original, Watson is also called away from Holmes. He receives a letter saying that a woman at their hotel has fallen sick, so there is a sensible reason for him to go and Holmes not to. In this version, John should definitely smell a rat when Sherlock outright refuses to go, and in fact doesn’t even ask any details.

This could all have been avoided if the fake call had, for example, been about John’s sister, or one of John’s ex-girlfriends.

Or, you know, Mycroft could just have called John and asked to meet him somewhere. John would definitely have gone, in the hope that Mycroft was ready to help them. And John quickly realises that the call is a fake anyway, so it shouldn’t have made any difference.

But what the writers wanted to do here is to give John a reason to shout at Sherlock just before they separate for what John will think is the last time.

Jim arrives, and Sherlock heads to the roof.

It… seems to be bright daylight again. I’m pretty sure it was night a minute ago, yes?

But who cares, because we’ve finally got there. That scene.

Before we go any further, let’s explore the characters goals here. Moriarty wants to burn Sherlock. He’s already made him go on the run, he’s made sure that Sherlock knows that his reputation will be destroyed.

But why, exactly, does Moriarty want to “burn” Sherlock? Yes, he’s got in Moriarty’s way once or twice. But in reality, it seems that Jim has simple become obsessed with Sherlock. He’s fascinated by the idea that someone out there is as clever as him.

Interestingly, he also seems to have a relationship with Mycroft, who, canonically, is cleverer than Sherlock. But he doesn’t count, for some reason.

Now, all that Jim wants in the world is not to be bored. When he is underwhelmed by Sherlock’s performance, he decides that there is nothing left in the world to interest him, and he is prepared to die.  This always…. Confused me. Moriarty was clearly doing very well before he even knew Sherlock, he was building his criminal empire, he was causing chaos…

Wait a moment. I think I’ve just cracked it. I think I’ve just understood Jim Moriarty, as portrayed in Sherlock.

Jim is not Professor James Moriarty. He’s the Joker. His need to cause chaos is paramount, far more important than his own life and liberty. He has sat back and allowed Sherlock to rise to fame and prominence, he has given the people a hero to look up to, a feeling that they are safe and protected, and then he has torn that hero down. And once he has performed this final act of chaos… he is happy to hand himself over. Death or capture, it doesn’t matter to him, as long as the Batman… sorry, Sherlock, falls further than he does.

And maybe that’s a ridiculous explanation of what Jim actually wants. But truly, that’s the only way that this makes sense to me. The thing is, Moriarty, as we met him in series one, has a strong sense of self-preservation. He uses go-betweens to stay away from the front lines. He makes sure that people know not to even mention his name. He kills a woman, just because she heard his voice. He warns Sherlock to stay out of his way, not to meddle in his business, clearly showing that his life and business matter to him.

In this episode, that character trait has completely vanished. Moriarty no longer cares about preserving his own life and freedom. He no longer cares about building his criminal network. He only cares about burning Sherlock.

Basically, he has gone from being an evil genius to a mad genius in the space of a few episodes. I’m trying to think of any way to explain or excuse this, but… I think it comes down to bad writing. The only factor that comes close is that Moriarty spent months imprisoned by Mycroft. It’s possible that he lost his sanity during this time, exposed to torture etc… but that doesn’t really make sense, because it’s clear he was already obsessed with Sherlock at this point. He trades away his secrets in exchange for information on Sherlock, after all. He also allowed himself to be captured in the first place. I do not for one moment believe that he would have been in that cell if he didn’t want to be.

Just to briefly clarify, when I say that Moriarty has become a “mad” genius, I’m not really referring to a specific diagnosis. Although I say that Moriarty is like the Joker, he doesn’t appear to be manic in the same way that the Joker is. Really, I’m using the phrase “mad genius” more to describe the popular character trope rather than an actual state of mind. Think is, “mad genius” roles normally occur in children’s stories, or comic book films where the lines of reality are blurred. It really doesn’t fit in well with the realism of Sherlock.

 

So, anyway, enough about Jim Joker. What does Sherlock want to achieve on the rooftop? Well, firstly we have to remember that he is going into this believing that he is the only person, besides Moriarty, who has access to the magic key. I think this is why he is convinced that he will die. Moriarty, apparently, plans to sell the magic key. Sherlock “owning” a copy will immediately devalue his sale, and ruin his fun. It also put Sherlock in a position of massive power (as far as Sherlock is concerned). Sherlock also knows that Moriarty has promised to “burn” him, and the inevitable conclusion of that is Sherlock’s death. So he goes to the roof expecting that Moriarty will not want to let him leave alive.

Sherlock, obviously, is not keen to die, and so he has his plan to survive. When Moriarty tells him that he must die, he will choose to fall from the roof. He will allow everyone, including John, to believe that he is dead, leaving him unhindered in destroying the rest of Moriarty’s criminal organisation.

There is an implication to this, however. One that only becomes clear when you know how Sherlock survives his fall.

Sherlock knew, and planned, for Moriarty to die on that rooftop as well. How do I know this? Well, Sherlock survives by (SPOILERS) falling on a giant inflatable cushion. If Moriarty was still alive at the time of his fall, he would see that he had been tricked. The whole ruse would have been for nothing.

So Sherlock intended for Moriarty to die. More than that, as he went onto the roof unarmed, he planned to make Moriarty kill himself. This is the only logical explanation of all the facts. He made Moriarty think that he, Sherlock, wasn’t anything special. He made Moriarty believe that the genius that he had been fantasising about, had allowed himself to become obsessed over, had never existed in the form that he had desired. He guessed that this would make Moriarty depressed enough to kill himself.

This seems… really cold. Especially as he has other options. He could have had Mycroft arrest Moriarty, remember. He could have chosen to invite Moriarty to a different place, to set a different trap.

Remember, though, Sherlock isn’t a good person. He was happy to let that assassin die earlier, just as long as he got a few pieces of information out of him first. He tortured a dying man in the very first episode. He covered up for John committing several murders. He tried to drug his friend. He manipulates Molly. He misuses Mrs Hudson. He sends Irene away, knowing that he is signing her death warrant.

Sherlock is not a good person. Sherlock is an affront to the original character of Sherlock Holmes.

He is going to trick Moriarty into killing himself so that he can convincingly fake his own death (something that he could accomplish in many, much easier and less homicidal ways).

And look, if you can see this in a different way, if there even is an alternative way of looking at this, please comment. I wish I could see this moment a different way.

But there we go.

So, we have “Stayin’ alive” playing in the background, Sherlock and Moriarty are on the rooftop, things are kicking off.

“Stayin’ alive. So boring, isn’t it?” Jim asks. Sherlock has been another distraction for him, one in a long, long chain. And now he has beaten Sherlock, he doesn’t feel that there is anything left to do. The Joker has conquered Batman, and now he’s crying at his funeral.

Listening to what Jim is saying, this clearly sounds like a man who is desparate. A man who is on the edge.

Sherlock knows exactly what to do, exactly what buttons to press to push him over.

“Rich Brook in German is Reichenbach” Sherlock reveals. “The case that made my name”. Except… was it really? Because you were hitting the front pages of newspapers long before then.

As for Reichenbach meaning “Rich Brook”… I mean, yes if you use “Rich” in the sense of having a lot of money, rather than the name. I always found that kind of tenuous.

Anyway. Sherlock taps the rhythm. The thing he thinks is the key.

Unless… unless he already knows that it isn’t. Unless he’s already guessed that it was all a lie, and is only pretending that he hasn’t to increase the odds of Moriarty killing himself.

So is Sherlock a fool, or a cold hearted killer?

Or… both.

Moriarty screams at Sherlock, he’s so disappointed. The tapping was just a piece of Bach. The idea of a magic key is, of course, ridiculous. Jim reveals that everything was accomplished through bribery, of course.

He complements Sherlock on the choice of tall building. “A good place to do it”. Sherlock asks “What?” Then realises. His suicide.

Moriarty says something about Grimm fairytales. Another throwaway line that hints to an underlying theme, another thing that everyone thought MUST be a clue…

Also, Sherlock is leaning right over the edge of the building at this moment, Moriarty beside him. The cushion isn’t in place, so if Jim had just…. Pushed him then…..

Anyway, let’s cut to John, who gets home and realises that Hudson is fine. That everything was a lie. He immediately realises that Sherlock must be in danger.

Sherlock, meanwhile, is busy pointing out that he can now easily reveal Jim’s fraud, as I mentioned earlier there must be dozens of people involved, one of them would crack etc.

He then dangles Moriarty off the edge of the building.

“You’re insane” he taunts.

“You’re just getting that now?” Jim returns.

Jim might be, but Professor James Moriarty isn’t. Therefore, Jim is not a good representation of Professor James Moriarty.

Anyway, Jim threatens to murder “All your friends” if Sherlock doesn’t kill himself.

Sherlock, wisely, gets him to go through the list, gets him to confirm that there are only three gunmen. Which tells him that Molly, according to Jim, anyway, isn’t a friend. Odd, as he used Molly to contact Sherlock in the last series, and therefore clearly knows that they have a… relationship.

Sherlock needed to know that Molly wasn’t being watched.

Sherlock is leading Jim on, making him think that he will do it. It almost seems that he is accepting it, his role in Jim’s story.

Sherlock asks for a moment. Jim agrees. For some reason.

In the original, when Sherlock asks for his moment to write the letter, he is granted it because James Moriarty, like Holmes himself, is a gentleman, and giving him that time is a gentlemanly thing to do. Jim, like Sherlock, is not a gentleman, so there’s no reason for him to give Sherlock that moment.

Anyway, instead of thinking deep thoughts, or writing a note, Sherlock laughs. He turns to Moriarty, and says the words that he knows will pull the trigger on Jim’s loaded gun.

For a moment, Sherlock let’s Jim think that he has outsmarted him, that he has found a way out.

But then Sherlock reveals the predictable truth. He caught onto the trap that Jim set him, “unless I call them off”. He proves to Jim that he is not on his level, despite his claims that they are the same.

He lets Jim know that he thinks that he can force Jim to call off the shooters. You can see the disappointment on Jim’s face. “You’re ordinary” he says. Sherlock continues to spout his rhetoric, acting his part perfectly, claiming not to be an angel, claiming not to be “one of them”.

“No. You’re not” Jim finally agrees. Then he smile condescendingly. “You’re me” he says. They shake hands. Jim thanks Sherlock. I think he’s thanking him for making the choice easy for him. For leaving only one solution to his problem on the table.

“As long as I’m alive you’ve got a way out” he says.

If Sherlock hadn’t realised that Jim was thinking of killing himself, he would in that moment. And if he had wanted to stop him… he could have. He could have restrained him. He could have knocked him out. He could have done a hundred different things.

He does nothing, while Jim Moriarty puts a gun in his mouth and shoots himself.

Sherlock looks… shocked. For a moment. I think maybe startled, more than shocked. He puts his hand to his head, he breathes quickly. Now, this could be staged. Remember, someone is watching everything that happens, making sure that he does jump. (I mean, not closely enough to see the giant air cushion, but even so). It could be that the reality of what he has just done, and what he is about to do hit him. It could be that I am wrong, that he truly did not anticipate Jim killing himself.

I think that the most likely thing is that he, for a moment, feels guilt. Because once Moriarty kills himself, there is no other way off that roof, other than to fake his death.

John arrives, and Sherlock calls him.

And so we get the… moment. The most… the moment that I most wanted explained. The moment that never was explained.

The note.

Sherlock, his voice shaky, directs John to the right spot. And he tells John that everything is true. He tells John that he invented Moriarty, that he faked the crimes.

“Why are you saying this?” John asks. I have the same question.

Moriarty didn’t force him to do this. Moriarty has already “burned” Sherlock.

Sherlock chooses to tell John to go and spread the word, Sherlock is a fake, despite the fact that he must realise that he cannot convince John that this is true.

Sherlock is actually, genuinely crying as he tells John to keep his eyes fixed on him.

Knowing that the fall we are about to see is faked, we know that these are crocodile tears. He tells John that this is his note. He bids him farewell. Then he hangs up.

In the original “note”, a letter left behind when Holmes walks up the cliff to the edge of the Reichenbach fall, Holmes is kind, he is loving. He gives Watson comfort, he tells him that he goes onwards aware that his death may come, but that he is prepared to accept this if it means that he can rid the world of Moriarty. He acknowledges the grief and pain that his death will cause his friend, and almost apologises for it. He ends by calling Watson his “dear fellow”.

The purpose of the note is clear. He wants to use this chance to lessen the hurt to those around him. He wants those who must believe him dead to know that he cares for them. He wants to make this note a positive thing.

In Sherlock… The “note” contains little affection at all. In fact, Sherlock says that their entire relationship has been built on lies, confesses that he is a master criminal. It’s cold. It, like everything else that Sherlock does, is carefully calculated.

But why… why does Sherlock try to convince John that he was a fake?

I wish I had an answer. But I don’t. As far as I know, there isn’t one. In a few years time, it all comes out anyway, the evidence that Sherlock was genuine is released. So clearly Sherlock’s aims, if he had any, were more short-term than that.

The only reason that I can think of is that… that he just wanted to keep John talking. He wanted to keep John in that spot while the “magic trick” was worked around him.

And if that is the case… if that is the reason… it is possibly the coldest thing that Sherlock ever does.

He allows his friend to believe, for years, that Sherlock lied to him. Either he lied by pretending to be a genius, or he lied and pretended not to be at the moment of his death.

Sherlock just… allows that.

And if anyone knows of a better reason, please, please tell me.

Anyway. Sherlock falls. We (the audience) see a body hitting the ground.

This is another occasion where, I think, editing is used to misdirect the audience. The way that this is edited strongly suggests that the body hitting the ground is Sherlock. Now, having seen the “solution”, this choice is exposed as one clearly designed to trick the audience. At this moment, the moment in which we see a body hit the ground, no body hits the ground at all. That piece of land is occupied by a giant air cushion. A substitute body IS used in a minute, and so it’s possible that we’re being shown this body being dropped into position, but the positioning of the substitute Sherlock body does not happen until the air cushion has been cleared away.

As I mentioned earlier, in a detective show, when you’re trying to solve a puzzle, you can only go off what you see. And if you are shown a body hitting the ground underneath the spot where Sherlock jumped after watching Sherlock fall, you have to assume that a body hits that piece of ground moments after Sherlock jumps.

But that, according to the explanation we were given, is not what happened.

Anyway, John is dazed. He runs around the side of the building, and sees the body lying on the ground. A bike hits him, there’s a moment of down time. Then he gets up, and sees people clustered around the body of Sherlock. He runs over. The group of people, supposedly, is mostly made up of hospital staff.

Loads of people have pointed out how unrealistic it is that, moments after someone falls, there’s people wearing scrubs and stethoscopes all around him. They are, based on my experiences anyway, quite correct.

John feels Sherlock’s radial pulse, which Sherlock has temporarily supressed using a squash ball under his armpit. Good thing, then, that John didn’t feel the other arm, or any of Sherlock’s other pulses.

As a general rule, by the way, taking a radial (wrist) pulse is not a good way of telling if someone is alive or dead. The carotid pulse is better, but in the heat of the moment it can actually be very hard to find any pulse at all. As a doctor, and a doctor specialising in trauma, John should be making sure that a cABC approach is used, and the first step thing that he would probably do is immobilise Sherlock’s head, do a jaw thrust and check to see if he was breathing.

I mean, I could let John off for not doing… any of that, but I really think that he should have noticed (at least in retrospect) that every other “healthcare professional” there was also ignoring their training.

Sherlock is turned over (again, forgetting that the cervical spine is… a thing that can be fractured), and… wow. This make-up never fails to stun me. They make Cumberbatch look so pale, so lifeless. The blood is positioned in such a way that it hints at underlying cranial trauma. It’s... great. Almost too great, given that this make-up is meant to have been slapped in in just a few seconds.

Then they…. Pick Sherlock up, dump him on a stretcher and wheel him away. I can’t tell you how uncomfortable this makes me. This is NOT what you do. Not. NOT.

The manual handling technique… is so….

Urgh.

OK, I can get through this. We’re nearly there.

The snipers put down their guns. On who’s authority, we never find out. Mycroft sits in his club, looking sadly though the newspaper. Then (and this is actually quite clever), he does the hand thing. The thing Sherlock does, where he rests his head on his hands. Nice call-back.

 We see John, sat alone in 221b. Then back to the counsellor. She encourages him to say the things that he wanted to say to Sherlock. He can’t.

Hudson and John go to the grave together. She is trying to convince him to come back to the flat, but he doesn’t feel that he can.

They talk together about how Sherlock has made them both so angry, and Hudson goes off, crying. She leaves John by the tombstone to… say his thing.

John has this sweet speech. He basically says that he doesn’t believe Sherlock’s dying statement. He doesn’t believe that Sherlock was a fake. He explains that Sherlock made him feel less alone. And then he turns and asks… he asks Sherlock not to be dead.

And suddenly, I’m nearly tearing up with him. Because despite everything, despite the horrendous realisations that have struck me while writing this review… I realise that this is why Sherlock works.

Because of the way John awkwardly reaches forward to touch the tombstone. Because of the delivery of those lines. Because… because when he turns to walk away, he almost marches, like he’s regressing to his years as a soldier. Because of what that suggests.

Because there are moments where it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter that John’s character has been so under-developed. It doesn’t matter that the plot makes no sense. It doesn’t matter that Sherlock has basically proved himself to be the villain in his own story.

Sometimes excellent acting is enough to make us accept a story. And between them, Cumberbatch and Freeman have made this story so incredibly touching. Heart-breaking, almost.

As we watch John leave, as see Sherlock stood there, watching him.

And…. That feeling I had a moment ago, that emotional involvement, it all vanishes into a blaze of anger. Because Sherlock being there, watching John mourning at his tomb, makes NO SENSE. NONE AT ALL.

And it really invalidates the whole moment.

One of the things that makes the Reichenbach so special is that it was written to truly be the end. Everyone genuinely expected that that was the death of Holmes, including Conan Doyle!

With this adaptation though, I think everyone knew that Sherlock would survive. So the authors had to do something different. They had to come up with a compelling reason for Sherlock to die, and to (as far as John and the other characters knew) stay dead.

I don’t think that they delivered.

At the end of this episode, at the end of this review, I am left with a trail of breadcrumbs that should have led somewhere and… didn’t. Here’s a list of just a few:

1.       The endless repetition of “IOU”

2.       We still don’t know what the “Final Problem” actually was. Was it Moriarty’s boredom? Was it Sherlock’s interference with Moriarty’s Empire?

3.       How (and this is looking ahead to the next episode a bit) is Sherlock eventually exonerated, and why did it take years for his name to be cleared?

4.       What was with the whole fairy-tale thing?

5.       Did Jim Moriarty genuinely get a job on TV doing children’s stories?

6.       Who called off the assassins, and why did they see Sherlock fall, but not the giant inflatable cushion he landed on?

7.       WHY DID SHERLOCK TELL JOHN THAT HE WAS A FAKE???

8.       What did Sherlock ACTUALLY know when he went onto that rooftop?

9.       What did those assassins do after Sherlock’s “death”? Presumably they still thought the magic key was real?

10.   What is the actual set-up of Moriarty’s criminal network? As we’re meant to believe that Sherlock spends the next couple of years dismantling it, might be nice to know…

 

Well, let’s leave it there for today. If you have got to the end of this, well done! Fun fact, this review is now well over 13,000 words long. The original Sherlock Holmes story “The Final Problem” is 7,223 words long.

This is an episode that fans spent hours and hours pouring over. I would guess that that rooftop scene is one of the most re-watched pieces of television in history.

And, all these years later, even having seen the official “explanation”, I still don’t understand it. Maybe I’m just an idiot, but I don’t feel satisfied by the solution that we were given. I feel like the audience was baited. We were made to feel that there was a bigger story at work here, a secret problem hidden inside the episode. But, apparently, it never existed.

I’ll talk more about the “solution” next time. For now, thank you for reading. I’ll see you next time.