We were promised something entirely different, and that's what filled our television screens tonight. A fast-paced, highly complex thread of events that all culminate to one simple conclusion - Moriarty is most certainly dead, but he will strike again. This episode has Moffat's fingerprints all over it.
Firstly, the setup is great, paralleling itself with modern Sherlock to great lengths, almost playing out as a recap for us all to catch up on the story and reinforce our knowledge. But this soon changes into an entirely new case where the main feature is bride who's returned from the dead. Some parts of this are genuinely scary, especially scenes in the mansion where everything seems to make a sharp turn into the unimaginable. The final conclusion is that these murders were orchestrated by a group of women hell bent on making a stand for their rights. It's never clear whether this is the absolute finality of the case, despite solving all the possible alternatives for a ghostly bride - but it's great to see many of the familiar faces in their ranks.
This entire storyline, however, is concocted by none other than Sherlock himself, in his mind palace, soon after his phone call with Mycroft on the plane. Cleverly, the writers have decided to metaphorically allow Sherlock to determine whether or not Moriarty's death was elementary or not, concluding that an alternative is most definitely impossible. But, as shown, Moriarty will always live on in Sherlock's mind, constantly challenging him to verbal duels. Such as the one on side of the Reichenbach Fall - a nostalgic nod to Arthur Conan Doyle's original depiction.
What's most pleasurable about the episode is its concentration on character development and how Watson is perceived in Sherlock's mind. He understands the doctor's distress at times, and even goes to the point of confessing (albeit privately) that he believes John knows things that he does not. Nevertheless, it's also amusing to see him envision his brother in such a deplorable manner - having seen him in a previous episode trying to combat his weight on a running machine.
The only downfall of the episode, similar to Moffat's Last Christmas for Doctor Who, is that all we gain in progressive storytelling is the knowledge that Moriarty is dead, and that's pretty much the whole of it. But, I'm inclined to like this for its complex way of telling us so, by accessing Sherlock's mind palace and giving us a whole new (old-fashioned) adventure - even it is all considered null and void.
The final question is, however, what is real and what is not? Could Series 3 in its entirety have been a long game played inside Sherlock's mind. If so, Moffat has a lot to answer for.
Firstly, the setup is great, paralleling itself with modern Sherlock to great lengths, almost playing out as a recap for us all to catch up on the story and reinforce our knowledge. But this soon changes into an entirely new case where the main feature is bride who's returned from the dead. Some parts of this are genuinely scary, especially scenes in the mansion where everything seems to make a sharp turn into the unimaginable. The final conclusion is that these murders were orchestrated by a group of women hell bent on making a stand for their rights. It's never clear whether this is the absolute finality of the case, despite solving all the possible alternatives for a ghostly bride - but it's great to see many of the familiar faces in their ranks.
This entire storyline, however, is concocted by none other than Sherlock himself, in his mind palace, soon after his phone call with Mycroft on the plane. Cleverly, the writers have decided to metaphorically allow Sherlock to determine whether or not Moriarty's death was elementary or not, concluding that an alternative is most definitely impossible. But, as shown, Moriarty will always live on in Sherlock's mind, constantly challenging him to verbal duels. Such as the one on side of the Reichenbach Fall - a nostalgic nod to Arthur Conan Doyle's original depiction.
What's most pleasurable about the episode is its concentration on character development and how Watson is perceived in Sherlock's mind. He understands the doctor's distress at times, and even goes to the point of confessing (albeit privately) that he believes John knows things that he does not. Nevertheless, it's also amusing to see him envision his brother in such a deplorable manner - having seen him in a previous episode trying to combat his weight on a running machine.
The only downfall of the episode, similar to Moffat's Last Christmas for Doctor Who, is that all we gain in progressive storytelling is the knowledge that Moriarty is dead, and that's pretty much the whole of it. But, I'm inclined to like this for its complex way of telling us so, by accessing Sherlock's mind palace and giving us a whole new (old-fashioned) adventure - even it is all considered null and void.
The final question is, however, what is real and what is not? Could Series 3 in its entirety have been a long game played inside Sherlock's mind. If so, Moffat has a lot to answer for.