Sherlock S4E01: An AGRAvated Plotline Or An Abominable Bore?

Will Sherlock redeem itself after The Abominable Bride? An expected death or a lazy way to kill off people?

“Oh, Jim Moriarty sends his love.” (Image Courtesy: AXN)

The wait is over. The Cumberbabes are rejoicing as after a 2-year gap, a new season of Sherlock is released. Spoilers follow, so tread carefully. The story starts off in a very Sherlockian manner. Sherlock is warned of the impending game that Moriarty had set up to play posthumously. A puzzling death of a young man, who is supposed to be in the mountainous regions of Tibet, who calls up his father to wish him a happy birthday, yet is found dead a week later in London - with forensic evidence proving that he died while he was still on call with his father. However, that’s not the crux of the story. The real puzzle lies in a smashed bust of Margaret Thatcher found at the father’s house. And, that seems to be the game.

As Watson starts to live in blissful matrimony, with spy-turned-housewife Mary, Sherlock is starts to get even more restless about what Moriarty has in store for him after his cyber attack. This restlessness almost turns into an obsession for him to find any piece of the puzzle that Moriarty has constructed which how he missed what was right under his nose. He also seems to be distracted by Twitter and starts using hashtags, much to Mycroft’s annoyance, yet continues solving minor cases with Watson, and Mary, who is very pregnant. We start seeing a different kind of Watson however, once baby Rosemund comes along. Watson, whose name is synonymous with loyalty, suddenly seems to be nurturing a textual affair with a girl he met on the bus. I can only presume this plotline to develop in the coming episodes. Maybe that’s Moriarty’s game; after all, what is Sherlock without his Watson? But Sherlock’s changed a bit too. He seems to have softened a bit towards concepts like keeping promises and protecting family at all costs. He hasn’t lost his edge no, but he seems a bit more emotionally receptive. I wonder if Moriarty’s got anything to do with that too. Could his game be at such an intrinsic level?

The story then ties into Mary’s past as a spy. We’re given an insight into Mary’s previous life and a new threat waits for her in the boundless talent of Sacha Dhawan. Yep, the light-hearted Manmeet from Outsourced plays Ajay, one of the four teammates of an assassination squad, known as A.G.R.A, that Mary was a part of.

The show does need a strong feminine presence. Elementary, my dear Watson!

After a series of choppy transitions and a trip around the world, the trio end up in a London aquarium where Mary meets her untimely death. But, did she have to die so soon? She could have easily added to the show if she were given more episodes and there is quite the lack of a strong feminine presence on the show. Infact, in some places she is better than the mumbling Watson, given her super-secret-assasin-agent past. Even if she did have to die, honestly, I believe that Mary deserved a better death. A death that would actually make us feel something. A death like Moriarty (is he really dead though?) which shocked the viewers, or a death like Sherlock’s himself, even though it was fake. She deserves a dignified death. Not an emotionless one where she dives in front of the bullet stupidly to save Sherlock, who was probably wearing a bulletproof vest, ever since Moriarty’s message displayed on the screens.

And wait a second, why would Mary, whose ‘whole world’ is John anyway, step in front of a bullet meant for Sherlock? I guess somewhere they tried to be poetic in the fact that the man she once shot, is the same man she ultimately took a bullet for. Though they just tried to hurry up the death of a beloved character.

Even though the episode left a bit to be desired it wasn’t bad as such. Harmonising a haunting fable in the beginning to forewarn us of an impending death was beautifully done, only the the actual death, wasn’t so dramatic. Hopefully, someone will remember Irene Adler, and maybe even bring her back to fulfill the need of a strong female presence on the show. Molly or Mrs Hudson can hardly infiltrate the two man army. #BringBackIreneAdler