Sherlock Review: Series 3 Episode 1 "The Empty Hearse"

By: Mark Gatiss

**SPOILERS**
If you have not yet watched this episode, please go and do so before proceeding.


            Okay. So if by this point you have not yet seen the wildly-anticipated first episode of Sherlock's third series, then I'm going to assume that you either have no access to electricity or you just don't care. In either case, this post shouldn't affect you in any way, so let's go ahead and dive in - spoilers and all.

           Two years ago Sherlock Holmes fell to his apparent death from the top of St. Bart's hospital...leaving behind his beloved landlady, Mrs Hudson; his connection to the police, DI Greg Lestrade; and his only friend, John Watson. The Reichenbach Fall is an episode that can move even the hardest of hearts to tears and the twist at the ending sent the fandom into a fervor. Within hours various networking sites exploded with gifs, screenshots, and Reichenbach Theories. These theories basically took over the Sherlock fandom for the next two years and ranged from Sherlock chucking down Moriarty's corpse and drugging John with the Baskerville drug to Molly pulling a Friar Lawrence and drugging Sherlock into death-like oblivion, reviving him later after Mycroft had identified the body and had his 'What have I done?' moment. And right at the zenith of all this fervor is where this new series finds us, for as time went by the craziness and speculation only grew stronger.


Favorite Moments & Random Thoughts:

- When this episode opened I was a bit upset. I couldn't believe that they were going to address the whole Fall mystery right at the beginning. But about the time the bungee cord showed up, my fears were quickly placated and a smile slowly stole over my face, and I must confess whenever Sherlock gave Molly a big ol' kiss I practically spat my drink all over the screen. I have to agree with Lestrade's rather colorful rating of this theory...the Mission Impossible mask and Darren Brown would have suspended my disbelief just a little too much.

- Somehow Anderson has gone from humorously annoying chew toy to adorable madman within the space of one minisode. I don't understand.

- Some people have accused Gatiss of letting the fans do his work for him...they have complained that this episode contained WAY too much fanservice and winks to the fourth wall. Uh, with all due respect, I would like to disagree and argue that it would actually have been a worse choice to ignore all of the hiatus fervour. In case people haven't noticed, each episode of Sherlock tends to centre around a different genre. A Scandal in Belgravia was romance, The Blind Banker was straight-up crime drama, and The Empty Hearse is satire. We should view this episode as a loving tribute to the fanbase, gently mocking some of the more strange aspects of it.

- It's rather funny that Mycroft is just sitting in that chair with his feet propped up. Did Sherlock know he was there the whole time?

- I have to say that the reunion scene was everything I could ever have hoped for.  Having Sherlock interrupt John's proposal was just cruel, if hilarious, and I laughed while watching the scene where he goes about pick-pocketing various guests in order to put together the most ridiculous of disguises.

- The sad thing is, Sherlock honestly doesn't realise just how much he hurt John. He's been working for two years towards this reunion, anxiously awaiting the day when he can be reunited with his blogger, and so it honestly never occurs to him that John hasn't been doing the same. He is so excited to see John again that he completely forgets that John might not be so overjoyed to learn that Sherlock was lying. It is heartbreaking to see his face whenever John struggles to keep his composure and Sherlock immediately starts wildly back-pedalling, panicking and cracking awkward jokes because he doesn't know what else to do.

- He still deserved that punch, though.

- I think I am in love with Mary Morstan. No, really, I am. I have to admit I was nervous about the introduction of her character because all too often characters like Mary are introduced simply for the sake of being a love interest to remind us that the two lead characters aren't really gay. And, given the sheer amount of references to that age-old debate, I was honestly afraid that poor Mary would be reduced to being a beard. Shame on me for doubting the show that has presented us with two amazing female characters (Molly and Irene) and a couple of decent supporting cast members (Sarah, Sally, and Louis) not to mention the incredible Mrs. Hudson! Mary is everything I could have wished for and more.

- Oh...and to all of you who feared she would come between our two heroes, may I just present this adorable scene?

 

- That is what is so wonderful about Mary. She understands that John and Sherlock are pretty much a package deal and she supports her husband-to-be's relationship with his rather odd and socially awkward best friend. She is the one who pushes John into reconciling with Sherlock.

- And we got a hug for Sherlock at long last.

- The reunion with Mrs. Hudson bears mentioning for three reasons:

1. Because it is the first time in the episode that we hear Sherlock's iconic theme play full-force (because he's finally returned to home at Baker Street).
2. Because Mrs. Hudson is there in her flowered apron and purple rubber gloves, all set to brain the intruder with her soapy frying pan.
3. Because several key plot elements are introduced in this scene, via the radio broadcast. 

- Sherlock and Mycroft are playing Operation. I think I'll just let the utter absurdity of that statement just sink in for a moment...

- The old man who is a patient of John's and 'runs a little shop' is a direct reference to The Adventures of the Empty House where Holmes reintroduces himself to Watson, disguised as an aged bookshop keeper.

- How I Did It by Jack The Ripper...where have I heard something like that before?

- So John is on his way to reconcile with Sherlock and is kidnapped (drugged with a paralytic, actually) and eventually ends up inside of one of the Guy Fawkes bonfires (more foreshadowing) that have been hinted at throughout the episode.

- Sherlock diving into a bonfire to save John was a great moment. He just fought Moriarty's network for two whole years so that he could keep John safe and go back home. Naturally he's going to be beside himself whenever that goal he worked so hard towards is in danger of being snatched away. 

- Love Sherlock's parents!

- The whole Guy Fawkes plot was a bit of a weak rip-off from V for Vendetta but that doesn't really matter because, like A Study in Pink, the plot was simply a setting for the characters to act in. This was about reintroducing Sherlock and John and dealing with the issues that had sprouted from The Reichenbach Fall. Episodes like this you really have to look at what the end purpose was, rather than single elements or else you will miss the whole point and come away feeling annoyed.

- By the end of things Sherlock is absolutely desperate to fix things with John. You could even argue that he almost engineers the whole Tube car expedition just to give him a chance to have that talk with his blogger...but things got a bit out of hand. There's been a lot of squawking about the way Sherlock so callously tricks John, but I feel that there are three ways you can look at this:

1. He had honestly not known how to shut the bomb off until that moment and was just trying to save face.
2. He was totally clueless and thought that making this final joke would get him back into John's good graces (He learns from John, remember, and how does our good doctor diffuse awkward moments?)
3. He knew that there were things John needed to say (that they both needed to say) but because they are British males they just can't say them under normal circumstances, so he crafted a scenario where they could without looking like total pansies.

Or you could tell me that it was just Sherlock being an incredibly insensitive jerk and I'd probably believe you too. I'm honestly surprised that John didn't punch him again.

- The story Sherlock told Anderson is a lie. Some elements might be true (although we know that Sherlock keeps changing the story based on how badly those around him react) but it doesn't all line up with what we were shown in The Reichenbach Fall. I guess we'll probably never know.

- Anderson goes a bit loopy, leaving it ambiguous as to whether Sherlock was there and just messing with his favorite chew toy or our dear Forensic Scientist just hallucinated the whole deal. I will leave you to draw your own conclusions.

                  So what did I think? Personally I had a lot of fun with this episode. It gave us everything we wanted and more, all packaged up in a package of satire that acknowledged both the fanbase and the fact that Sherlock itself is a glorified fanfiction. They dealt with the emotional fallout and brought our characters back together. Mary is awesome, Mrs. Hudson is amazing, Molly is wonderful, Lestrade is perfect, Mycroft is cool, John is awesome, and Sherlock is...well...Sherlock. It was a love letter to the fans that tore out of the starting gates at full-tilt and never paused for breath even once, yet somehow managed to not feel rushed. I give The Empty Hearse a 5/5.

What did you think? Do you agree with my rating? If not - what would you say differently?