The Empty Hearse

My favorite episode so far. It's badly bashed online because it really has its flaws. The main argument is that this episode is more of a parody to Sherlock than it is new Sherlock story. The fact is that this episode does not bring new complicated crime and Sherlock's genius solution, and to a certain extent I can understand the disappointment of those who waited two years for this episode. But I, who waited for it just a few minutes, really cannot recall last time I had so much fun. It may be bad from the crime/mystery genre point of view, but it's not written in the stone that every episode must follow that pattern. It's premium entertainment and I am thrilled.

9/10

However, I have one objection. It is not a big deal and most of the audience won't even notice it, because it is obvious only to former Yugoslavian audience and Russians, but it needlessly undermines the quality of this awesome show. I will quote Bosnian guy who presented this issue par excellence:

"Besides Serbs always being the bad guys, torturing someone when they have nothing else to do, how come they wear Russian parade uniforms and talk their Serbian like a parrot with Aerosinusitis, which is hardly intelligible. I know that Mycroft had few hours to learn Serbian, but the other Serbian guy speaks his mother tongue like a text-to-speech software. It seems that using google translate instead of human keeps production costs low... just as the quality of it."

2 years. 2 years. But by god it was worth it, with everything from moustaches to Mycroft fitting together like cogs in the most perfect piece of machinery. this is the type of television that makes the world stop for 85 minutes for one evening and let yourself be taken away by the stunning acting of Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. the best part has to be the flawless cinematography, every millisecond was so perfectly from the iconic "words around the head" to the posters in some window that flashes for a second. My one regret about the episode, is I watched it so now when i see it again i know what is going happen. please watch this, it will be the best thing you do the week and will hook you to the screen for 85 minutes of perfection.

Self-referential and alarmingly smug, this first episode shows all the signs of brand trashing. I loved the first two seasons and thought they represented the very best contemporary entertainment television. I called it smart entertainment for smart people. Sadly, smart is the one thing that this latest episode is not. It played out like an old, well-worn joke told by someone who doesn't quite understand what made the original so funny. The two leads are still a delight to watch but this time around they're working with tired material. Conan Doyle would have sympathized. I'm going back to my Hustle reruns. More fun and, worryingly, more intellectual stimulation.

With the last seasons being such a great spectacle to witness, the expectations were held high by all – would the new season's starter be able to repeat the success of the last season starter? Well, it definitely matched up to it in a way, but was always to be a slightly different episode, as the main events of the episode were be the explanation of how Sherlock's still alive, rather than planting a new villain story and also offer a deep mystery to solve in the first episode. All this would not fit into 90 minutes, would the editors provide maximum attention and detail to everything, it's going to be too intense and too much mystery would make the episode a little too twisty would not provide enough integrity - it would be all around the place. So the balance had to be found between all of these aspects and boy, wasn't that balance found! All of it was wrapped up into a perfect sequence of events that rolled open in front of our eyes and none of the sequences dominated the others... too much... and hence created an episode with excellent integrity. The acting and especially the visuals were always to be spot on, there is no other option with Sherlock. I can't compare it to Scandal in Belgravia and say its better, since they are not really comparable, as in Scandal of Belgravia, the directors needed about 5 minutes to close all the loose ends from the previous season and start another great mystery. This one needed a lot more of it and yet still made a great episode. 9.5 out of 10.

2 years is a pretty long time to wait for something so excellent.Being a big fan of the source material,I've followed this show from the beginning and this episode lived up to our expectations..the wait was worth it!We finally got an explanation to the riddle which had been bugging our minds so long.

Is there something better than Sherlock and Moriarty about to make out, and Sherlock's parents, and Sherlock's scarf, and Sherlock kissing Molly, and John repeatedly attacking Sherlock, and Anderson's first name?I think not. This was by far one of the best episode of this show and provided a full dose of spectacular performances by Benedict and Freeman with a script full of amazing wit,whizz and humour.Also the way Sherlock explains the fall is stunning and it opened with a breathtaking sequence. And hats off to the creators for such an excellent episode. It deserves a 10/10.