[Review] Sherlock: The Six Thatchers
Just finished watching it. Beware of Spoilers!
So, we start off with Sherlock's being pardoned... and being insufferable about it. Yes, Sherlock's behaviour in the first part was insufferable, even for me and that's saying something. And we get introduced to Lady Smallwood's secretary during the hearing. Interestingly, there's no real reference to TAB, just an oblique one to Sherlock's using drugs, but that could have just been about the drugs in HLV.
Then, life continues with random cases, and Mary having her baby, Rosamunde Mary... until another random case where Sherlock gets a hunch about the breaking of a bust of Maggie Thatcher. He's sure it somehow involves Moriarty, but after several other broken busts and a murder he surprises the perpetrator in flagrante delicto - and it turns out he's a former associate of Mary's who thinks she betrayed him and their team and left him specifically to be tortured in Georgia. Well, Mary's past was going to rear its ugly head, wasn't it? Especially with her associating with a reknowned detective and getting her picture into the public... should have thought of that.
Meanwhile, John and Mary's marriage is on the edge, be it a remnant of HLV and the revelation, be it the addition of a baby into the mix, be it that Sherlock apparently prefers Mary on his cases now... he's (at least) flirting with another woman (if not outright cheating, but that is left ambiguous). And honestly, that's the part of the episode with which I'm most struggling because it came out of the blue. So WTF??? "His moral compass going off a bit"??? I didn’t like John in HLV (or in TEH), but he’s fallen to new lows - especially mixing up grief, remorse (he was about to confess to Mary), and some kind of self-righteous anger over Sherlock’s vow. Might be that Sherlock provoked the secretary in the end, but let’s be honest, she was about to shoot anyway (and John didn’t know what Sherlock said to her, he arrived just after she fired). Just how’s Sherlock going to react when he learns that John was about to cheat (or was already cheating) on Mary? What about his vow then? Did John think about that??? And let's not mention that he, too, made a vow... Hope there's going to be a twist here. Is everything as it appears?
So, to save John and Rosie, Mary tries to go off the grid, but John and Sherlock (in the single bit of meaningful, but entirely off-screen, collaboration this episode) outwit her and have her come back to London where Sherlock's figuring out who betrayed the team back in Georgia - Lady Smallwood's secretary, of course (just as much as it never is twins, it almost always comes back to the secretaries, I guess). So, Sherlock shows off, the secretary isn't cowed but tries to shoot him - only to hit Mary who pushes Sherlock out of the bullet's way. Cue in a moving death scene which works astonishingly well. Save for the fact that John blames Sherlock for not fulfilling his vow (exactly how often does he have to fulfill the vow?), although he didn't witness Sherlock provoking the secretary but came in when Mary was already hit (see above). Greg and Mycroft and Sherlock form a picturesque triangle around John and his dying wife, with Sherlock's devastation written all over him (and a flashback to his mindpalace, Redbeard and two playing boys).
The episode ends with Mycroft calling Sherrinford (after finding a note on his fridge - where exactly is that fridge? In the basement? Because the walls in the room it was standing in seemed unfinished, and there were no other kitchen appliances within view), Sherlock going to Ella for advice in dealing with Mary's death and John's pushing him away, Sherlock asking Mrs Hudson to tell him when he gets too cocky, and Mary assigning Sherlock a posthumous task: Save John... and Go to Hell - which I interpret as having to go to hell to save John (from himself) after he closes himself off.
Really liked the second half, it was suspenseful (if a bit predictable, but then we already had that with TRF and it didn’t really prevent me from enjoying that), the exit was well done IMO with all the differing reactions, the setting, even the DVD at the end. Overall, a surprisingly straight-forward case/episode... which makes me suspicious because when ever has anything been straight-forward on Sherlock? I expect not everything is as it seems right now.
Mary’s role in this episode was a bit much… yes, it’s her exit, so it’s okay if she takes a more prominent role, but she was practically center stage for the last hour (even if, fortunately, Sherlock and John outwitted her). No real question about her morals, she was a bit shown as the queen of virtue which she wasn’t. Let's just remember: She shot Sherlock, she killed him... and still no one bats an eyelash.
Other observations:
* After running around like a Duracell-bunny, Sherlock settles a bit after finding the first bust... and even manages something like genuine condolences to the parents of the dead cardriver...
* So Mycroft knows about Mary’s part in the AGRA-team. Still doesn’t explain why he didn’t interfere when she shot his little brother.
* Liked the dog. Loved the rattle in Sherlock’s face. Best moment of the whole episode (as was Sherlock’s showing her off to Mycroft - proud, if strange, godfather, indeed).
* I think this episode quite put the hopes of Johnlock ever becoming canon to rest. As said before, I like Johnlock but I don’t think we’ll ever see it (and actually, I’m not sure I want to see it spelled out on TV).
* Oh, and Greg has a new girlfriend (who also asks Sherlock for help all the time) - and Sherlock has his opinions about the longevity of that relationship. But is she Anderson's replacement?
* BTW, Mycroft's fridge is empty - so much for stuffing his face all the time, Sherlock.
* So, is “love” going to be a theme in this season?
Have to watch it again, of course, but it's an auspicious beginning to this season, even if it's not perfect by far. 7/10
So, we start off with Sherlock's being pardoned... and being insufferable about it. Yes, Sherlock's behaviour in the first part was insufferable, even for me and that's saying something. And we get introduced to Lady Smallwood's secretary during the hearing. Interestingly, there's no real reference to TAB, just an oblique one to Sherlock's using drugs, but that could have just been about the drugs in HLV.
Then, life continues with random cases, and Mary having her baby, Rosamunde Mary... until another random case where Sherlock gets a hunch about the breaking of a bust of Maggie Thatcher. He's sure it somehow involves Moriarty, but after several other broken busts and a murder he surprises the perpetrator in flagrante delicto - and it turns out he's a former associate of Mary's who thinks she betrayed him and their team and left him specifically to be tortured in Georgia. Well, Mary's past was going to rear its ugly head, wasn't it? Especially with her associating with a reknowned detective and getting her picture into the public... should have thought of that.
Meanwhile, John and Mary's marriage is on the edge, be it a remnant of HLV and the revelation, be it the addition of a baby into the mix, be it that Sherlock apparently prefers Mary on his cases now... he's (at least) flirting with another woman (if not outright cheating, but that is left ambiguous). And honestly, that's the part of the episode with which I'm most struggling because it came out of the blue. So WTF??? "His moral compass going off a bit"??? I didn’t like John in HLV (or in TEH), but he’s fallen to new lows - especially mixing up grief, remorse (he was about to confess to Mary), and some kind of self-righteous anger over Sherlock’s vow. Might be that Sherlock provoked the secretary in the end, but let’s be honest, she was about to shoot anyway (and John didn’t know what Sherlock said to her, he arrived just after she fired). Just how’s Sherlock going to react when he learns that John was about to cheat (or was already cheating) on Mary? What about his vow then? Did John think about that??? And let's not mention that he, too, made a vow... Hope there's going to be a twist here. Is everything as it appears?
So, to save John and Rosie, Mary tries to go off the grid, but John and Sherlock (in the single bit of meaningful, but entirely off-screen, collaboration this episode) outwit her and have her come back to London where Sherlock's figuring out who betrayed the team back in Georgia - Lady Smallwood's secretary, of course (just as much as it never is twins, it almost always comes back to the secretaries, I guess). So, Sherlock shows off, the secretary isn't cowed but tries to shoot him - only to hit Mary who pushes Sherlock out of the bullet's way. Cue in a moving death scene which works astonishingly well. Save for the fact that John blames Sherlock for not fulfilling his vow (exactly how often does he have to fulfill the vow?), although he didn't witness Sherlock provoking the secretary but came in when Mary was already hit (see above). Greg and Mycroft and Sherlock form a picturesque triangle around John and his dying wife, with Sherlock's devastation written all over him (and a flashback to his mindpalace, Redbeard and two playing boys).
The episode ends with Mycroft calling Sherrinford (after finding a note on his fridge - where exactly is that fridge? In the basement? Because the walls in the room it was standing in seemed unfinished, and there were no other kitchen appliances within view), Sherlock going to Ella for advice in dealing with Mary's death and John's pushing him away, Sherlock asking Mrs Hudson to tell him when he gets too cocky, and Mary assigning Sherlock a posthumous task: Save John... and Go to Hell - which I interpret as having to go to hell to save John (from himself) after he closes himself off.
Really liked the second half, it was suspenseful (if a bit predictable, but then we already had that with TRF and it didn’t really prevent me from enjoying that), the exit was well done IMO with all the differing reactions, the setting, even the DVD at the end. Overall, a surprisingly straight-forward case/episode... which makes me suspicious because when ever has anything been straight-forward on Sherlock? I expect not everything is as it seems right now.
Mary’s role in this episode was a bit much… yes, it’s her exit, so it’s okay if she takes a more prominent role, but she was practically center stage for the last hour (even if, fortunately, Sherlock and John outwitted her). No real question about her morals, she was a bit shown as the queen of virtue which she wasn’t. Let's just remember: She shot Sherlock, she killed him... and still no one bats an eyelash.
Other observations:
* After running around like a Duracell-bunny, Sherlock settles a bit after finding the first bust... and even manages something like genuine condolences to the parents of the dead cardriver...
* So Mycroft knows about Mary’s part in the AGRA-team. Still doesn’t explain why he didn’t interfere when she shot his little brother.
* Liked the dog. Loved the rattle in Sherlock’s face. Best moment of the whole episode (as was Sherlock’s showing her off to Mycroft - proud, if strange, godfather, indeed).
* I think this episode quite put the hopes of Johnlock ever becoming canon to rest. As said before, I like Johnlock but I don’t think we’ll ever see it (and actually, I’m not sure I want to see it spelled out on TV).
* Oh, and Greg has a new girlfriend (who also asks Sherlock for help all the time) - and Sherlock has his opinions about the longevity of that relationship. But is she Anderson's replacement?
* BTW, Mycroft's fridge is empty - so much for stuffing his face all the time, Sherlock.
* So, is “love” going to be a theme in this season?
Have to watch it again, of course, but it's an auspicious beginning to this season, even if it's not perfect by far. 7/10