Sherlock season 3 is one of two things: either a complete
disaster or a pinnacle in Sherlock’s emotional history.
Some people might find it to be a disaster because instead
of focusing on the iconic ‘Sherlock Holmes’ ;his continuous battle to find the
answer, solve the puzzle, prove himself right, test his intelligence and be a genius,
it focuses on the relationships between Sherlock Holmes, John Watson and Mary
Morstan. Some might fall in love with it because it grounds Sherlock in the
real world with real feelings and relationships. This season shows the human
side of the otherwise extraordinarily intelligent, emotionally unavailable and
inhumane Sherlock Holmes.
THE
EMPTY HEARSE
In Season 3 Episode 1; “the empty hearse”, the terrorist
attack takes a back seat in contrast to the revival of Sherlock and John’s
relationship and becomes important only when John’s life is put in danger.
Looking beyond the mystery this episode gives Sherlock
Holmes an unconventional depth. After 2 years in exile, away from the people he
cared about, he finally realized their worth and stopped taking them for
granted. He missed John, Mrs Hudson, Lestrade, Mycroft, Molly, Baker Street and
London. The way he tries to surprise John, the way he says sorry and expects
everything to be okay and the way he imagines John commenting even when he wasn’t
there shows the emotional innocence of Sherlock for he never really grew up in that
sense and the precise reason why he needed these people in his life. They were
his moral compass and without them he was incomplete. He missed his life. He
missed, as John put it, being Sherlock Holmes. This realization after 2 years
of parting defines the rest of his actions and the rest of the season. But Sherlock is still Sherlock because he makes John forgive him at bomb point(I feel for the poor guy).
THE
SIGNS OF THREE
Season 3 Episode 2; “the signs of three” focuses
primarily on John and Mary’s wedding and how it affects Sherlock. Yes there is
an attempt to fit in a good mystery in and around the wedding but the fact
remains that that mystery takes the backseat and is made to adjust according to
the wedding making it unlikely, less believable and lacking of the extraordinary
feeling of a Sherlock mystery.
However, in connection to the first episode, Sherlock’s
actions are now driven by the realization of how important John is as his moral
compass and as a part of his life. For him writing the best man’s speech is the
matter of life and death now! That is how much John Watson means to Sherlock. As
far as the mystery goes, while is it adjusted around the wedding, the direction
is pretty clever and keeps the episode interesting till the end. This episode
again gives Sherlock further depth in terms of human emotions for he now faces
emotions like fear, nervousness, insecurity, loneliness etc. At the end, when
he declares the signs of three i.e. a kid, he refers to himself as a kid showing
that he feels like one too as he is now facing a whole new way of life and is overwhelmed
as he is finally letting emotions take over.
THE
LAST VOW
Season 3 Episode 3; “the last vow” lacks of a mystery
completely! While Charles Augustus Magnussen could have been a great villain,
he isn’t written well enough. Firstly, Sherlock makes mind palaces believable
but Magnussen’s mind palace is just infinite and unbelievable. Secondly, the
only bad thing that Magnussen does throughout the episode is blackmail Lady Smallwood
and showcase extreme authority and arrogance. Thus, in contrast to the classist
villain ever, Jim Moriarty, Magnussen just fails to meet the expectations or mesmerize
or impress. Thirdly, Magnussen outsmarts Sherlock and instead of using his
intelligence Sherlock shoots Mangnussen in the head, indirectly accepting his
defeat and the fact that Magnussen was smarter than Sherlock. Wait a minute,
how can the same Sherlock who almost took a pill that could kill him for the
sole purpose of proving that he is right, kill someone who outsmarts him? Lastly,
the worst thing Magnussen did was put John in a bonfire but he never really
meant to kill him, all he ever did was threaten. Shelock, on the other hand, KILLS
him! Who is the real villain again? Honestly, I don’t know how someone who was
so impressed by Magnussen, despite the fact that he peed in his living room,
kill him in the end in a fit of rage? What changed? What made Sherlock hate
Magnussen so much? This only Steven Moffat and God know… Now let’s come to Mary
Morstan, in the empty hearse Sherlock read Mary and deduced a million things
about her and in the last vow all those things turn out to be lies! Again proving
that Sherlock was wrong, since when did that start happening? 
While this episode lacks a
mystery, it is full of twists
and turns which will keep you holding your breathe right till the very
end. This
episode again adds a layer to Sherlock emotionally. It shows that
Sherlock does
everything to the extreme. If he is to be intelligent he will go all the
way to
being the most intelligent man alive, he would probably die trying to
have the
last word, similarly if he is to love and protect John and Mary he will
go all
the way, he would even disregard his intelligence and kill to protect
those
dear to him. By killing Magnussen, he upholds his only vow of being
there for John and Mary and protecting them as he says after killing
Magnussen that now Mary will be safe. Didn't you all tear up at this?
However through all this we still see Sherlock's emotional immaturity
which keeps him true to the Sherlock of Season 1 and 2. This episode
shows that Sherlock is finally facing his fears like the loss of his dog
Redbeard and maturing emotionally. While Sherlock's humanity is
showing, his curiosity for knowledge is still burning as he deceives
Janine to get to Magnussen. So breathe people, Sherlock isn't dying, he
is just growing up. This season of Sherlock focuses on human error, love and comic relief. In my opinion, this season of Sherlock is a disaster on the surface but if you look a layer deeper, it is still beauty. This season of Sherlock might have a lot of flaws but it is perfect on so many levels.
Lastly,
no matter how absurd it is that Moriarty is coming back from the dead, he is
the best and the classiest villain ever and I would die to see him again.
Looking forward to season 4.
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