The Definitive Ranking of Every Sherlock Episode (So Far)
By Lacy Baugher
Sherlock, John and the case of the angsty staring is another title they should have considered for “The Empty Hearse. (Photo: Courtesy of (C)Robert Viglasky/Hartswood Films 2013 for MASTERPIECE)
7. The Empty Hearse (Season 3, Episode 1)
Expectations are a difficult thing to manage. Especially for a show like Sherlock. It’s wildly popular, but it only releases new content roughly every two years. Fans have tons of time to set their expectations for its return impossibly high. The frenzy surrounding the Season 2 finale, particularly the question of how Sherlock managed to fake his own death, was massive. There’s almost no way that a single television episode could have made everyone happy, ever, and you can’t fault “The Empty Hearse” for not being all things to all fans.
That said, the Season 3 premiere’s story doesn’t do itself any favors. The mystery of Sherlock’s “death” is never officially solved. We see multiple theories on how he did it. The BBC built the entire season’s ad campaign around the question, but viewers never find out the truth. Sherlock’s decision to play the great detective’s return primarily for laughs is an odd one and after the emotional gut punch we all shared watching John’s grief in “The Reichenbach Fall”, it all feels a bit like a fever dream. Shouldn’t someone tell him the truth at some point, after all that? And the series’ sudden inclusion of several overt nods to its own ballooning online fandom feels alternately silly and cruel.
The episode isn’t a total bust, though. Even when faced with ridiculous material such as being trapped in an abandoned tube car wired with explosives, the strength of Sherlock and John’s relationship saves the day. Forcing the two to hash out their troubles under the threat of impending death has its uncomfortable moments, but the real emotion between the two is strong enough to carry the day. (Unfortunately, you can basically ignore most of the rest of the episode.)