Sherlock Season 4 Recap: “The Final Problem”

Sherlock’s Season 4 finale arrives with a second take on the famous Moriarty/Sherlock showdown story that the series has done with “The Final Problem.”

Is it a bad sign when a show, based on a series of short stories, is already recycling one it’s already done? The Sherlock Holmes canon is comprised of no less than 60 short stories, while Sherlock’s modernization is only reaching number 12 with this episode. Even taking into account that some episodes make passing reference to several adventures in the canon, they’ve still got over half the series left to draw from. (The Jeremy Brett series, by comparison, hit 41 episodes covering 2/3rds of the canon over the ten year run on ITV.) And yet here we are with our second episode based on Doyle’s most famous tale “The Final Problem”, the first being Season 2’s finale, entitled “The Reichenbach Fall.”

"Mrs. Hudson: “Would you like a cup of tea?”Mycroft: “Yes please.”Mrs. Hudson: “The kettle’s over there.”"

Of course, the show used up Moriarty, and too quickly. If the show ended after Season 2, it might have been better for the show. But it did not. And they found themselves with the Greatest Detective and no foil. Last season they filled it with Mary. This season, they’ve gone with the mythical “third” Holmes child, known as Sherrinford in the canon, but turned into “Eurus” here and feminized. (Sherrinford becomes the name of the island they sent her to as a child when she turned into a dog killing psychopath, and attempting to kill family.)

Image via BBC

What then transpired was one of the most bizarre episodes of television I’ve sat through in the last year. One part psychological horror film that never quite had the balls to go all the way, one part self indulgent trifle, and one part metaphor for hell, the entire souffle spent a good portion of the story threatening to collapse under its own weight. I think it’s a testament to the acting abilities of Cumberbatch and Freeman that it did not — lesser actors would have suffocated or drowned.

"David: “This is insane. This is unnecessary.”"

Some aspects were finally explained away without ever truly being explained. Eurus was apparently tipped from mostly comatose to insanity about five years ago, when she was given Moriarty as a Christmas present—it is suggested, though never confirmed, that perhaps she had sex with him. At least whatever they had was enough that he recorded about a dozen or so video clips, including the “Miss Me” one from the end of Season 3. It was good of Andrew Scott to make a quick cameo, but one got the overall sense that it was like bringing back the band for one last hurrah when the members have moved on.

Image via BBC

From the opening of the episode, the show seemed to be plotting for Mycroft to be the next major figure to kick the bucket. In the first scene, one expected Eurus to take him down at any moment. Then once he, Sherlock and Watson headed out into the maze of nonsense games, it seemed inevitable that Sherlock would have to choose which one to spare, and in brains versus heart, Watson, being heart, would win. Perhaps since Gatiss is one half of the writing team, he couldn’t quite go through with killing himself off? Or perhaps it was determined as too predictable an outcome? (And yet, that didn’t stop them from killing off Mary in the first episode. Nor did it stop them from having that emotionally horrific scene with Molly in this one.)

"Moriarty: “People leave their bodies to science. I think cannibals would be so much more grateful.”"

In the end though, much like the Christmas episode, it was all nonsense. Sherlock is trying to save some child on a plane, but there is no child on a plane, just some mumbo jumbo about how Eurus is lost and can’t figure out how to get home. There is no dog Redbeard that Eurus killed—it was another little boy, Sherlock’s best friend, who she drowned in a well out of jealousy. Watson is now drowning in a well, and Eurus can make it all up to Sherlock by not letting him drown too. The Musgrave Ritual is name-checked though there’s very little connection between the dopey East Wind song Eurus goes about singing and the far more interesting puzzle that mystery held. Lights flash red, then blue. People scream and thrash and destroy coffins. It is a lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Image via BBC

What exactly Moffat was trying to attempt here, as far as one can tell, is some sort of “brain versus heart” game, but there was no moral, no ending. Baker Street was blown up, Baker Street was put back together. Mrs Hudson makes tea, Inspector Lestrade calls Sherlock a good man, and life seems to go on. Mary is recalled once more from her grave to make another DVD recording, romanticizing the relationship between Sherlock and Watson and how we love these stories, and it could be a perfectly fine place to end the series forever, or it could easily be the place to start all over again. And I’m sure it all sounded great on paper. But mostly, on screen, it seemed by the end to have devolved into a downright worthless, onanistic mess.

Next: Sherlock Season 4 Recap: The Lying Detective

But with the ratings as high as they are, and Moffat unwinding himself from Doctor Who later this year, it’s hard to fathom that this will really be the end. And fans will continue to tune in every two years when a new series does turn up. Because sometimes you get beautiful moments in the mess. The problem is, as the messes get bigger and harder to take, how long until the show finally collapses completely under its own weight? Let’s hope Moffat and Gatiss realize their bloat is showing and end it now, before we find out.