![]() It’s just a pity that all the challenges that Eurus sets forth for Sherlock to solve really don’t matter in the end – it’s all just leading up to the final reveal. ![]() Sian Brooke does a remarkable job of playing the unhinged psychopath that is Eurus Holmes, and Benedict Cumberbatch does a brilliant job of displaying Sherlock’s harried emotions and frantic intellect at war. The rest of the episode is a game set by Eurus to shake Sherlock to his very core, as he is forced to watch the deaths of innocent people, to say an “I love you” that he had never realized before was true, and to choose between the lives of John and Mycroft. Like the sirens in the Odyssey, she uses the violin music to draw Sherlock closer to the glass, until finally he discovers, in the best visual reveal of the episode, the truth – that there is no glass. Eurus uses music differently – like her Greek name, she is similar to another creature in Greek mythology: a siren.Įurus is shown to be able to control people – at first entranced by her intelligence and then held hostage by her psychological manipulations, they perform her bidding, whether that’s allowing her in and out of Sherrinford whenever she pleases, sexual trysts, and even murder. The violin music has always been used to show Sherlock’s emotions – when he composed a haunting melody when mourning for Irene Adler, and when he composed a beautiful waltz for John and Mary’s wedding. It turns out Eurus plays, too – in fact, she taught him to play – and she plays as she stands with her back to him, locked away behind glass. I had missed the use of Sherlock’s violin in the show, as it’s always been a key part of his character and adds so much to the soundtrack. Sherlock meeting Eurus is a beautifully done scene. Now it’s off on our journey to Sherrinford – not the Holmes brother we were expecting, but the island prison where Eurus is kept locked away. It’s a bizarre moment, and would come across as silly in a lesser production, but great directing on Ben Caron’s part makes the whole interplay in the dark house very creepy, and the reveal quite humorous. But then the lights turn on – it’s Sherlock and John, who have hired these actors, and set this whole funhouse up, because they want answers. Mycroft draws his sword from inside his cane (yes! I knew Mark Gatiss always wanted Mycroft to have gadgets inside his umbrella/cane, and he finally got his wish!), and produces a gun from inside that. He comes face to face with a faceless doll and a clown that stalks him, grinning. A voice whispering from above rattles him, sending him out into the dark hallway. The film suddenly cuts to home videos of a younger (and overweight) Mycroft, a young Sherlock, and a little girl standing with them. While well done, it’s not a surprise, considering the emotional growth Sherlock has shown up to this point, and I think that’s one of the (few) points where “The Final Problem” falls short.Īfter the opening teaser, we enter in on Mycroft watching a film in, apparently, his private theater. Season 3 and, more effectively, Season 4 showed Sherlock becoming more human it reaches its culmination in this episode, where Sherlock is forced to face the childhood memories that traumatized him and made him the isolated and supposedly heartless man he used to be. And, of course, Sherlock’s heart won in the end – though Irene Adler was meant to die, Sherlock saved her, with no other motivation other than sentiment. While I did really enjoy this episode, I think the problem lies in that it’s essentially a retread of “A Scandal in Belgravia.” Arguably the show’s best episode, it, too, shows a woman using Sherlock’s emotions to manipulate him and drive his intellect to the sharpest – and most destructive – it’s ever been. ![]() In reality, it’s Sherlock’s intellect versus his heart. For the longest time, we thought it was Jim Moriarty versus Sherlock Holmes and who could ultimately outwit the other. ![]() I think the answer to that can be found in defining the Final Problem. ![]() Here we are at last: the Final Problem, and (how I hate these words) quite possibly the last episode of SHERLOCK ever. So, did it live up to expectations? Was it everything we wanted from a Sherlock finale? ![]()
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