REPEAT: SPOILER ALERT!

Stop applying logic and reasoning, indulge in a willing suspension of disbelief, put away your thinking hat and the final episode of Sherlock Series Four, The Final Problem, is a nerve-wracking, tense and thrilling ride, that digs deep into our favourite detective’s past. The opening sequence with its spooky, childish whispers, bleeding portraits and grotesque clown makes you wonder if you are watching a horror show instead of Sherlock. But before you can make up your mind you find out it is all a great big ruse used by Sherlock and John to get the truth about Eurus Holmes (played by Sian Brooke) out of Mycroft. Not a promising start and not the first time in the episode that an elaborate plot is created to get to a simple point. Mycroft is a tough nut to crack but he does reveal the truth about the third Holmes sibling — she was “incandescent, an era defining genius beyond Newton” who was incapable of empathy, tortured Sherlock and burned down their old home in Musgrave, before being incarcerated in Sherrinford, the Arkham Asylum of Sherlock’s world. And she, as we are told, is the sole reason for what Sherlock is today, even though he has managed to bury his memory of her. 

MY NAME IS HOLMES, SHERLOCK HOLMES

Many fans complained that The Six Thatchers made James Bond out of Sherlock Holmes; well, The Final Problem is going to make them weep tears of frustration because it is truly 007 material, right from jumping out of windows to escape a blast in the 221B flat, going undercover to infiltrate a secret facility, racing against a clock to save people and a supervillain who is capable of unimaginable powers including mind control. And just like a 007 movie, it is an exhilarating ride.

Sherlock, Mycroft and John hijack a schooner and outfox security personnel to get into Sherrinford, an almost inaccessible and impenetrable island, to visit Eurus, though why Mycroft needed a disguise to get into a facility he has anyway access to is beyond me (willing suspension of disbelief, remember?). Sherlock makes his way to Eurus’s cell to find out how she got out of a maximum security prison and we find out Sherlock is not so great a detective after all because he doesn’t notice that the glass separating the cell doesn’t even exist (again, don’t look for logic). 

What follows is a mad crime-solving spree manipulated by Eurus, who has taken control of the asylum and just wants to see her brother play. And there are lives at stake — five to be precise. Sian Brooke turns in a chilling performance of what could happen when a Holmes goes rogue and throws into sharp contrast the humanity of Sherlock, which seemed absent even till the third season. 

THE BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH SHOW

If The Lying Detective gave Martin Freeman the chance to show off his acting chops, here it is Benedict Cumberbatch who outshines everyone else, including a series-best performance by Mark Gatiss as Mycroft. 

The expression on Sherlock’s face when he has to make Molly Hooper say the words “I love you” to him to save her life knowing the pain he was causing her (we could hear our hearts crack for Molly, oh what a scene!). And when he has to choose between his brother and John is worth every nonsensical moment of the show. But the most heartbreaking moment was when he realises the truth about Redbeard, the dog he thought he owned as a child. And Benedict hasn’t looked this gorgeous as Sherlock for a while.

Mycroft, who starts out as the douchebag he is, redeems himself by trying to do once again what he has been doing since the beginning, saving Sherlock and John, and Mark Gatiss makes him shine.

ONE FINAL HURRAH

One of the best moments of the episode was Jim Moriarty stepping off a helicopter on Sherrinford and turning out his diva best to Queen’s I Want to Break Free. You want to believe he is back but it is just a cleverly posed flashback to his connection with Eurus. And it is a glorious couple of minutes, one that makes you want to bring Moriarty back from the grave. Andrew Scott was gone from the show too soon, and nothing has been able to fill that void, apart from him. But even if the show does come back we know that it won’t be possible to bring Moriarty back again.
Talking about the fate of the show, it seems like 

the creators are taking their ‘last bow’ with the episode. Forget about the East Wind conundrum, it seems all Eurus needed was a hug from Sherlock to stop her evil ways (willing suspension... you know how that goes), it was the final act of putting a blast-ravaged 221B back to how it looked exactly when the show started, smiley face and bullet holes included, going back to what they were did best — solving crimes, together — and the “PS” message from Mary Watson that spelled out who they were — the Baker Street boys who were meant for each other (no, there were no romantic declarations). 
If nothing else, that last shot of Sherlock and John running out of the Rathbone Place seems like a final doffing of the hat to the iconic detective. But, the optimist in me hopes that it is an indication that the Baker Street boys are back in business and more at peace with who they are, moving into the territory of the two men sitting beside the fireplace we’ve read about in the books and as portrayed by Basil Rathbone. 

After all, as show creator Mark Gatiss told t2 last week, Sherlock Holmes came back after Arthur Conan Doyle wrote The Final Problem.

Episode 3 Sherlock Season 4 will air on AXN India on January 21 at 8pm