

That Martin Freeman’s livid, choked silence could still be heard through Benedict Cumberbatch’s Peter Sellers-style buffoonery is testament to his talent. The Watson/Holmes reunion was the second hurdle the episode had to jump, one it cleared with a surprising cocktail of silliness and grief.



Some fun with deductions and a brittle brotherly exchange later and Sherlock was on his way back to Baker Street to track down an underground terrorist cell and “drop by” his old mucker, John Watson.
#REVIEW SHERLOCK THE EMPTY HEARSE CODE#
Indeed, we were forty-five minutes in before wheels started turning on the central tube train intrigue.īefore all that, Sherlock was revealed to us topless, bearded, in a horrible wig and crucifixion pose (the ‘Lazarus’ code name used later on not the only nod to his Christ-like powers of resurrection). Mark Gatiss, this episode’s writer, calls it “a very plausible solution”, and we’ll have to take him at his word.Īfter that switcheroo opening got us up to speed, the lengthy but enjoyable homecoming parade began. Whether or not you share Anderson’s fan-pre-empting disappointment at the revelation, it’s as good as we’re going to get. Was the videotape confession a definitive answer to how Sherlock faked his death? (Come back tomorrow for more thoughts on that). As well as relieving the geological pressure weighing on a single plot point in a single episode of television, the rollicking fake-outs were also a canny way to keep us all paying attention until we were given the real story.
