Sherlock Season 3 Review

Note: This review contains major spoilers from season two, and minor spoilers from season three. If you plan to watch Sherlock at any point, do not read this review and just go watch the show; it is easily one of the best series currently on TV and a much watch. 

Sherlock was a series that I completely missed the first couple years it aired; it premiered back in 2010 and I didn't start watching until late 2012. After the first episode I was instantly hooked and quickly marathoned through each episode. After I finished I was left with a hole, deep in the pit of my stomach; I wanted to watch more of the show because it really is one of the most brilliant series on TV. It pained me knowing I would have to wait another year or so for new episodes, finally on New Year’s Day the long awaited season three finally aired and ended on the twelfth; and it was glorious. We ended season two with Sherlock facing off against Moriarty on the roof of a hospital, Moriarty is determined to absolutely destroy Sherlock and demands he kills himself or all of his friends will die. Sherlock calls his bluff and says that as long as he's alive Moriarty will lose and his friends will be safe, realizing the flaw in his plan Moriarty kills himself so the assassins he hired can't be called off and will only stop if Sherlock kills himself. Rushing to his aid, John Watson arrives at the hospital only to receive a call from Sherlock who uses the call as a suicide note. We then see Sherlock hurl himself off the roof of the hospital, by the time Watson gets to him it is too late. Everyone is devastated, especially Watson who leaves Baker Street and essentially cuts off all contact with his past friends and starts a new life. Two years later and everyone has seemed to move on, including Watson. He has a new job, a long term girlfriend, and has seemed to have finished grieving over the loss of his best friend. One night Watson has planned a very special evening, he takes his girlfriend Mary out for dinner and will ask her to be his wife. But right before he can ask the big question, they see a rather unexpected face; Sherlock Holmes is alive. It turns out with the help of his brother, Sherlock faked his death and has spent the last two years traveling the world and dismantling Moriarty's criminal network. While Sherlock expected Watson to be ecstatic about his return, in reality he is rather upset that he was led to believe that his best friend was dead for two years. While furious, he is curious about why he's back. Sherlock explains that he was contacted by his brother, a recently killed MI6 agent found intelligence of an oncoming terrorist attack of unimaginable proportions. Sherlock has been pulled back into the game to figure it out, and he needs Watson's help. While reluctant at first, he ultimately agrees to help; so after two long years, the team's back together. I know by this point it has been said to death but I can't overstate it, Sherlock is one of the best shows on TV. The show's creators Steven Moffat (the same man behind the revitalization of "Doctor Who") and Mark Gatiss (also one of the stars of Sheerlock) have done an amazing job with the series by brilliantly bringing the stories of Sherlock Holmes into the 21'st century. Sherlock is formatted differently than most shows; each season consists of three one and a half hour episodes. So it almost feels like you're watching a movie and not just a show. The directing, cinematography, visuals, and editing are also of a much higher caliber than anything you'll see on a show that isn't produced by HBO. One of the biggest draws to the show would have to be the top notch acting from the entire cast, especially from the stars. Martin Freeman does a fantastic job as John Watson, and brings a style that is really complimentary to Sherlock Holmes; but the man who steals the show every second he's on the screen is obviously Benedict Cumberbatch. Cumberbatch's performance as Sherlock is one of the greatest we've ever seen on TV, the guy just brings something special to the character and plays the role perfectly. One major improvement over the previous two seasons that I greatly appreciate is that the middle episode is much more interesting. In season's one and two, the middle episode wasn't overly intriguing and felt more like filler than anything else; but in this season you didn't get that feeling, it felt like an important episode. To be honest I only have one problem with the series, and that's in comparison with the American spin off "Elementary." In "Elementary," the characters are a lot more flushed out and you get to know them on a much more personal level. You hear a lot more about their backgrounds, their personal lives, and how they got to where they are know. In "Sherlock," you only get to the bare minimum about the characters past. For example, in "Elementary" you learn that Sherlock came from a very wealthy family where he and his brother were neglected by their father and Sherlock wasn't as loved equally by his mother. Realizing his gift, he spends much of his early career helping Scotland Yard but becomes a heroin addict after his girlfriend is killed. He is sent to a rehab clinic in America by his father who hires him a sober companion, once he finishes the program. His companion, Joan Watson, was a brilliant doctor that left her field after she lost a patient that she shouldn't have and decides to help former addicts since she herself had a loved one addicted to drugs. So she ultimately gets roped into Sherlock's work. That's one thing I love about "Elementary," there's a lot more to the characters and you learn why they do what they do. Even the minor characters have much more of a back story than we see in lots of shows. That's something I want to see from BBC's "Sherlock," it would be nice to know more about the characters background than what we've been getting. That aside, I love everything else about "Sherlock." The show is filled with twists and turns like few others, you can keep guessing but you'll never get it until they want you to. If you haven't already seen this "Sherlock," you need to fix that. The first big show of the year, I hope this is an indication of what's to come in 2014.