I'm not sure why this season was bumped to the right (episode 1 clearly due out in November, while 3 was meant to be at least near Christmas Day), but when the season finally arrived I was looking forward to it just like millions of others – those others ranging from casual viewers through to people who had spent the previous 2 years analyzing frame by frame looking for clues. Anyway, as we knew, the first episode sees Sherlock return and this episode is a lot of fun – although perhaps not so much for the die-hard fans, since a lot of the fun seems to be an their expense. This is a odd decision for the show, but it mostly worked as I found it funny and quite knowing. The first episode also does a good job of getting the Sherlock/Holmes relationship back and also sets up a new villain.
The second episode is quite fun but frustrates by telling us about lots of cool incidents that we are then not allowed to see; when the mystery does come it is rushed and unconvincing. The third episode is the final one and comes too quickly and too soon – I am not sure why the BBC chose to show all 3 episodes in a period of 12 days, but it was a poor decision to rush them out. The third episode starts well, with a man who seems to be a perfect foil for Sherlock, but it adds too much on top, gets rid of the villain way too easily and immediately cancels out any dramatic impact of this by removing the consequences with a twist which, although intriguing, is really just very low-level feeding/baiting of fans. The thing is though, that all of the episodes work for what they are – light entertainment – and while I think it is really at risk of losing itself, the show is ultimately a Sunday night piece of light entertainment screened in a slot used for "softer" dramas and fuzzy period pieces to ease the viewer out of the weekend.
So, that said, I am not looking for detailed and precise cases and depth, which is good because the show this season doesn't deliver them; even things that work when delivered don't really stand up when you think back on them. What does work though is that the delivery is slick and entertaining enough to cover up for such things and as a package it works. It does walk a very fine line though and this season is really close to feeling too smug and pleased with itself in a way that pushes viewers away. It just about avoids any real problems with this because mostly it works and doesn't go too far over the line, but it is something to be concerned about moving into the next season – that confidence doesn't become cockiness. The other issue I have is related to that oft-used quote from HG Wells – "If anything is possible, then nothing is interesting". The narratives here lack weight and as such they engage a lot less because, just like the Simpsons will all be back to normal again next week, so it is starting to be the case here. There are plenty of examples but the biggest is the murder of Magnussen by Sherlock (for this is what it is). For some reason it is decided he should not be jailed for this but rather exiled – an exile which lasts about 4 minutes before putting a line through all of the previous 90 minutes and dropping a big Moriarty in our laps in the hope that we will not notice, or will not care if we do. It can only do this so many times we find ourselves in Doctor Who territory where no death matters, no twist has an impact outside of the initial narrative value and before we know it we'll have someone dying and resurrecting every week like Rory. Hopefully it will not go so far, but I was really surprised by how lacking in sharp edges this season was.
Delivery and production values remain very high and this does help. Cumberbatch and Freeman are very good and generally the material is there for them. I wasn't sure about Abbington at the start of the season and ended it even less sure. Supporting roles are generally good although it was disappointing not to have Graves and Gatiss used more and for people like Mikkelsen to spend longer being built up than actually being on screen. Use of locations and cinematography is very good and it does give the show a very high quality feel, which fits with the generally slick and entertaining material.
I'll brace myself for my Private Message box to fill with hateful messages because I said critical things here, but I should say that generally I did enjoy the season as light entertainment because it was slick, funny and generally engaging. It is very close to being overly pleased with itself though and the total lack of consequences and impact means that I started not to care as much because I knew the writers would just hit the reset button no matter what happens. Hopefully the strengths of the show can be continued into the next season but left unchecked the weaknesses and problems could start to overwhelm them, which would be a real shame.
The second episode is quite fun but frustrates by telling us about lots of cool incidents that we are then not allowed to see; when the mystery does come it is rushed and unconvincing. The third episode is the final one and comes too quickly and too soon – I am not sure why the BBC chose to show all 3 episodes in a period of 12 days, but it was a poor decision to rush them out. The third episode starts well, with a man who seems to be a perfect foil for Sherlock, but it adds too much on top, gets rid of the villain way too easily and immediately cancels out any dramatic impact of this by removing the consequences with a twist which, although intriguing, is really just very low-level feeding/baiting of fans. The thing is though, that all of the episodes work for what they are – light entertainment – and while I think it is really at risk of losing itself, the show is ultimately a Sunday night piece of light entertainment screened in a slot used for "softer" dramas and fuzzy period pieces to ease the viewer out of the weekend.
So, that said, I am not looking for detailed and precise cases and depth, which is good because the show this season doesn't deliver them; even things that work when delivered don't really stand up when you think back on them. What does work though is that the delivery is slick and entertaining enough to cover up for such things and as a package it works. It does walk a very fine line though and this season is really close to feeling too smug and pleased with itself in a way that pushes viewers away. It just about avoids any real problems with this because mostly it works and doesn't go too far over the line, but it is something to be concerned about moving into the next season – that confidence doesn't become cockiness. The other issue I have is related to that oft-used quote from HG Wells – "If anything is possible, then nothing is interesting". The narratives here lack weight and as such they engage a lot less because, just like the Simpsons will all be back to normal again next week, so it is starting to be the case here. There are plenty of examples but the biggest is the murder of Magnussen by Sherlock (for this is what it is). For some reason it is decided he should not be jailed for this but rather exiled – an exile which lasts about 4 minutes before putting a line through all of the previous 90 minutes and dropping a big Moriarty in our laps in the hope that we will not notice, or will not care if we do. It can only do this so many times we find ourselves in Doctor Who territory where no death matters, no twist has an impact outside of the initial narrative value and before we know it we'll have someone dying and resurrecting every week like Rory. Hopefully it will not go so far, but I was really surprised by how lacking in sharp edges this season was.
Delivery and production values remain very high and this does help. Cumberbatch and Freeman are very good and generally the material is there for them. I wasn't sure about Abbington at the start of the season and ended it even less sure. Supporting roles are generally good although it was disappointing not to have Graves and Gatiss used more and for people like Mikkelsen to spend longer being built up than actually being on screen. Use of locations and cinematography is very good and it does give the show a very high quality feel, which fits with the generally slick and entertaining material.
I'll brace myself for my Private Message box to fill with hateful messages because I said critical things here, but I should say that generally I did enjoy the season as light entertainment because it was slick, funny and generally engaging. It is very close to being overly pleased with itself though and the total lack of consequences and impact means that I started not to care as much because I knew the writers would just hit the reset button no matter what happens. Hopefully the strengths of the show can be continued into the next season but left unchecked the weaknesses and problems could start to overwhelm them, which would be a real shame.