Our favourite detective is back on Indian screens on January 7, but he’s bringing with him a host of questions that fans have been desperately waiting to know the answers for over the last nearly three years.
But before we dive into those questions, here’s a short recap of what went down in Season 3.
After dealing with Sherlock’s return from the dead, John and Mary’s wedding, and the explosive final episode with new Holmes villain Charles Augustus Magnussen, Season 3 left us in shock at the apparent return of James Moriarty — “Did you miss me?”
The 2016 special, ‘The Abominable Bride,’ didn’t have many answers, instead giving us a taste of Sherlock and John in Victorian times. Based on ‘The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual’, the episode led to Sherlock concluding that Moriarty was “dead” but that he was also “back.” Thanks for clearing that one up, show runners!
Which brings us to:
The Final Problem
The last episode of Season 4 seems to refer to several things at once. It could even actually be the final problem for Sherlock, meaning that Season 4 might be the last in the series. It could also put to rest, once in for all, our doubts about whether Moriarty is alive or dead.
Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story ‘The Final Problem’ details the clash between Holmes and Moriarty, culminating in their deaths. Holmes is declared dead but his body is never actually found. Of course, Season 2’s ‘The Reichenbach Fall’ took its inspiration from it.
Is this episode based on that short story? We don’t know. BBC One’s website, not so surprisingly, has little to no information on it. However, the first episode’s description includes this: “Sherlock waits to see where Moriarty will make his posthumous move.”
A new Watson in the mix
How is Rosamund Watson going to change the dynamics between our crime-fighting, mystery-solving duo? The newest Watson is John and Mary’s daughter, and Sherlock’s god-daughter.
‘The Six Thatchers’, based on ‘The Adventure of the Six Napoleons’, is the first episode this Season. “The unofficial alternative title for episode one is ‘The Three Watsons,’ because the baby changes the dynamic,” said Mark Gatiss, the show’s co-creator to Associated Press. “But not in a cutesy way.”
The show description also hints at ties to Mary’s past as a spy-assassin?, and there is already speculation as to what will happen to her character. In Doyle’s world, Mary’s death is mentioned in passing. “I like the idea of her not being there forever,” said Amanda Abbington, who plays the character on Sherlock. “She wasn’t (there forever) in the books, so I don’t think she should be in this. It’s about Sherlock and John, and it should be about them. I don’t want her to become the third wheel.”
Who is Sherrinford Holmes and is he going to be played by Tom Hiddleston?
Back in July 2016, Gatiss tweeted a picture of himself, Ms. Abbington and Tom Hiddleston at the San Diego Comic Con, simply titled “#Blud”.
Urban Dictionary, however, tells us that blud is British slang for brother.
And then, another picture from the same event popped up.
Now, ‘Thatcher’ seems to allude to the first episode (??). ‘Smith’, on the other hand, can be a pointer to Culverton Smith - who BCC One calls the “most chilling enemy of Sherlock’s long career”.
That leaves us with Sherrinford. According to the New York Times, Sherrinford was the first choice of name for the detective for Doyle. But it is also speculated to be the name of the first Holmes brother.
Ever since the two tweets tied together, the fandom has been eagerly waiting for an announcement with Hiddleston’s name in it. Adding further fuel to the Holmes’ fire is a line of dialogue from ‘His Last Vow’. “I'm not given to outbursts of brotherly compassion. You know what happened to the other one.”
Tell us, indeed.
Sherlock airs on AXN India on January 7 at 8 pm.
