Sherlock: Three Questions for Season 4’s Final Episode
By Lacy Baugher
After the big twists in “The Lying Detective,” it feels like anything could happen in Sherlock’s Season 4 finale. But we’ve got some specific questions we’d like to see answered.
The second episode of Sherlock Season 4 dropped several bombshells on everyone. Sherlock risked his life to help his best friend heal after the death of his wife, we learned of the existence of another Holmes sibling, and someone actually asked Mycroft out. (Maybe?) Yet, despite the many plot twists revealed in “The Lying Detective,” there’s still plenty we don’t know.
Starting with pretty much anything at all about the plot of Season 4 finale “The Final Problem”. The (way too brief) episode trailer is heavy on cinematic shots and light on story details. But here are the three big questions we have as we look toward the season’s conclusion.
Is John Okay?
“The Lying Detective” ended on a rather massive cliffhanger. After John (finally) admitted that Mary’s death wasn’t Sherlock’s fault, the two hugged things out (!!!) and it seemed as though things might finally get back on track for them both. Except that the is Sherlock and no one is allowed to be happy, at all, ever, and certainly not at the same time. John ends the episode getting shot by his therapist, who revealed herself as Sherlock’s secret sister, Euros. (Yeah, that happened.) Or, at least, we think he got shot. We actually don’t know.
Euros seems crazy enough that she might have shot the wall instead of John. And yes, every Sherlock fan is secretly hoping for the show to do an adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Adventure of the Three Garridebs” at some point. (That’s the one where Waton Gets Shot and Holmes Hardcore Freaks Out.) But given that John looks pretty okay in the trailer for “The Final Problem”, it’s hard to know what is most likely to happen to him here.
What’s the Deal with Euros?
Sherlock has hinted for some time that there’s some sort of mysterious third Holmes sibling out there. “The Lying Detective” confirmed this, but with a twist. The secret Holmes brother turned out to be a secret Holmes sister. This is a nice narrative call-back to that time we all thought John’s sister Harriet was a brother named Harry back in “A Study in Pink”, but other than that we don’t really know what it means. Euros certainly seems unbalanced. Anyone who disguises herself as that many different people to infiltrate the lives of Sherlock and John would have to be.
But what is her ultimate motive? “The Lying Detective” offered several hints that Euros could be connected to Moriarty, could even be the person responsible for the Moriarty video prank that brought Sherlock back to London. But why? Surely she must have some motivation beyond being mad at her brothers? Or is all this stemming from the fact that their parents didn’t love her best?
Additionally, there’s the issue about the fact that Sherlock spent an entire night hanging out with his sister and didn’t recognize her. Was he just that high? Was Euros’ disguise of a frumpy dress and a cane just that good? Or is it possible that Sherlock doesn’t even know he has a sister at all?
Is This Sherlock’s Swan Song?
Could “The Final Problem” signal the end of Sherlock as a series? Probably not, as we’ve posited a number of times. But there is an impending sense of…something happening this season. Finality, perhaps? It feels as though Season 4, more than any previous run, is building to some kind of conclusion. Some sort of larger meaning than the episodes that have come previously. Is that the same thing as an ending? Maybe. Maybe not. Part of that will likely depend on whatever happens during the finale. But it certainly feels as though Sherlock – both series and character – won’t be the same afterward.
Given all the things that the series’ cast and producers have been saying in interviews, it does seem likely that Sherlock is about to go on a very long break. This could mean the insertion of several years between now and any sort of Season 5. Or it could mean there will be more one-off specials in our future, rather than full seasons. It might mean nothing at all. Like many of Sherlock’s mysteries, the entire situation seems very confusing, and we probably won’t know anything until they tell us. But “The Final Problem” could mark the end of an era in more ways than one.
Next: Sherlock Recap: The Lying Detective
Sherlock’s Season 4 finale airs Sunday on PBS.