The Great Game

As an avid Sherlock Holmes fan, I was excited about the proposed Sherlock 2010, but also wary. Holmes interpretations over the years have varied tremendously, and I've always been disappointed by any which lose the essence of the character...his brilliance, arrogance and indifference to the trivial which his mental gifts impose on him. I personally feel that this script-writing, combined with Cumberbatch's astute delivery do the job with aplomb.

My favourite Holmes actor has always been Jeremy Brett and Cumberbatch is the only other who has come close in terms of capturing Sherlock's sheer aloofness and 'quick-wittedness'.

This particular episode is a complex one, which requires some concentration but the rewards make it well worth it. Enjoy!

With the season finale "The Great Game", Sherlock returns to the successful formula of its pilot and makes use of Paul McGuigan as a director, one of the two series creators as a writer, Rupert Graves and Mark Gatiss as supporting actors, and a villain worthy of receiving Sherlock Holmes' attention – and guess what? It works perfectly.

Reintroducing the world's only consulting detective as he interrogates a British murderer in a Belarusian prison and gets more irritated by the man's incorrect grammar and manner of speaking than his actual crime, "The Great Game" starts superbly already and offers one of the best pieces of writing to be found in it: "I'll get hung for this." – "No, not at all. Hanged, yes." What follows doesn't disappoint either and both the development of Sherlock and John's relationship and the crimes they try to solve are a delight to watch. Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman show exceptional acting talent in their characters' snide repartee and their actually taking quite a liking to each other. However, there is someone dwarfing them: Andrew Scott as Jim Moriarty. Although, when Sherlock's arch enemy makes his first appearance in one of the series's all-time best moments, he's just office romance Jim. The Irishman later returns for an even greater scene in the history of Sherlock and gives an unequalled performance that I'd be perfectly fine with if it were the only one I'd ever see again for the rest of my life.

And even if, as Scott stated himself, this swimming pool scene I was alluding to in the previous paragraph was rushedly written by Mark Gatiss, the result is brimming with witty writing and one of the best ideas the Sherlock creator have had for relocating the classic story into modern times. As has been established, he and Steven Moffat practice such re-writing of the Arthur Conan Doyle story on other occasions as well, and for "The Great Game", the two have come up with some jewels – "I'd be lost without my blogger" instead of "I'd be lost without my Boswell" or Holmes' network of homeless persons instead of the Baker Street Irregulars, to name a few.

The main plot underlying such little references is just as good, merging multiple entertaining cases into a bigger picture that culminates into what I'd venture to judge as a perfect final showdown. Yet all of the 90 minutes of running time are outstanding filmmaking, amusing and suspenseful, well-written and well-directed. One minor drawback of "The Great Game" are its scores of supporting characters, often but rudimentally evolved ones that echo the likes of less original television crime programmes.

This spectacular final episode of Sherlock's first season makes amends for its offering no more than three feature-length episodes and manifests the series as true high-quality entertainment. And though it truly is a finely crafted one, it's not that much the cliffhanger at the end that has your excitement for the second season go sky high, but what the series has accomplished overall.

My detective scribblings: • Una Stubbs is such a lovely little cast member – her facial expressions when being ignored by Sherlock, John, and Lestrade are just wonderful acting and make you want to cuddle her, don't they? • The thought of a woman just sitting in a car in the car park wearing a bombing vest is actually quite a spine-chilling thought if you contemplate it. • Character information: John's lying and Sherlock's astronomy knowledge are about on the same, abysmally low level. • "She was going places. " – "Not anymore." I was somehow expecting Sherlock to put on a pair of sunglasses and transform into Horatio Caine after that statement. • You could argue that the planetarium fight scene John and Sherlock vs the Golem is plainly ridiculous, but I'm a big fan of it anyway: the cinematography, editing, and astronomy trivia heard in the background make it an ingeniously crafted scene and a lot of fun to watch, in my opinion. • "Meretricious." – "And a happy new year." Lestrade has just earned himself an award. • Making his hostage John say "gottle o' gear" makes Moriarty all the greater and really had me bursting into laughter. • Exceptional editing by Charlie Phillips in this episode, I personally loved the transition between Sherlock and John at the train tracks and the two walking to Joe Harrison's flat. • Best line of dialogue: "Stop inflicting your opinions on the world." – What a classy way to insult someone.

The height of brilliance is how I'd describe The Great Game, it's a deeply complex and multi layered story, that on the surface is quite hard to follow, partly because the show is so energetic and pacey, that it moves from one conundrum to another. It all seems to make sense in the end during the first proper encounter between Holmes and Moriarty.

It's eighty minutes of tantalising, gripping non stop energy, and ten minutes of the best TV viewing of all time, Cumberbatch and Freeman are excellent, both so impressive in their roles, but the magic comes from the full introduction of Andrew Scott, his characterisation of the normally sober Moriarty must rank as one of the best performances of all time. Scott is breathtakingly good in the role, drowning in charisma and personality, he played the definitive Moriarty, talk about elevating the show. That showdown scene was simply perfect.

I loved it. 10/10

Sherlock Holmes is bored - there are no intriguing murder cases to solve. Then a nearby flat is blown up and Holmes starts to think something may be afoot. His brother Mycroft visits and tries to get him to solve a suspected murder case involving an MI6 officer and find the top secret missile plans he had. Holmes is not that interested. The bomb case gets more intriguing, and deadly, when Holmes is contacted by a would-be victim of the bomber. Unless Holmes solves a certain case within 12 hours, the bomb attached to the person will be detonated. Time is of the essence.

Great, intriguing story. Tension-filled, with the tension and pacing tightly controlled to great effect. Great sense of mystery, but with a time limit, making it even more interesting.

Some good humorous moments too.

Best of all, we get to meet Holmes' arch-nemesis for the first time...

A very interesting ending of the season. We are finally getting to the real Sherlock Holmes! The real game will start now!

I was really stunned about Andrew Scott, he did a very good job in this episode!