Well, on the whole I very much enjoyed tonight's episode. I've not been so keen on the last two. The first episde garnered a lot of criticism for the way in which it treated Irene Adler. Criticism which, I think, was justified. Moffat has never been that great when it comes to writing female characters, but to turn her from a women who gets the best of Sherlock into a character who not only relies on Moriarty to help her best him, but on Sherlock to save her life, was a pretty poor move. The insistence that Holmes and Watson aren't a couple also really annoyed me. Firstly - really, who cares if they are or not? And secondly, who (other than cast and crew, apparently) cares if fans are writing slash about them online. Surely a gay, or hinted-at-being-gay, couple on TV should not be an issue. The more I get the 'they're not gay, really, they're not, they're just very good friends' thing rammed down my throat the more slash I want to write about the pair of them.
Episode two was better. I liked the way The Hound of the Baskervilles was updated, even if it was difficult to get the original story out of my head while watching it. Of course, there were yet more attempts to deny a relationship between the two. Which annoyed me even more. And the CGI dog at the end was a bit pants. But the story was good and the acting was better.
And tonight? Well, tonight's was very nearly flawless. Yes, there was, for the third episode in a row, Watson wondering what the tabloids meant when they called him a 'confirmed batchelor' and close friend of Sherlock, the clear insinuation being that they mean he's gay and he and Holmes are together, and that is NOT OKAY. But this was followed, not too long afterwards, by the pair holding hands while running down the street. Really, Moffat? There was also a nod to fandom (one that won't be wholly appreciated I'm sure) in which a crazy fan accosts Sherlock in the men's toilets and asks him to sign her shirt. It's ok though, she's not really a fan just a journalist trying to get a story. We're not commenting on Sherlock fans with that at all, just a little joke.
That out the way though, this is a cracking story. There are lots of comments about the nature of the press which, if you've been following the hacking scandals and the Leveson enquiry in the press, is a very interesting commentary. It was also a well told story, which the style that we've come to expect from this series (though thankfully not as overdone as the 'mind palace' from last week.
Sherlock's suicide was well done, and though I have a couple of theories about how he managed to get away with it, I'm not entirely sure which one is right yet. What would have made the ending stronger though (especially as Sherlock has been confirmed for a third season) is ending it with Watson talking to Sherlock's grave, rather than panning to a very much alive Sherlock watching him from afar.
And with that written down before I forgot what I wanted to say, I'm off to bed.
