The Lying Detective

I'm thinking of going back to the very first episodes of this show to look at it again. I mean, it can't always have been the way it has become, can it? My memory tells me that the first episodes were sharper, more interesting in the construction, and more satisfying in the delivery; but maybe I am being nostalgic. As it is, the last few episodes of Sherlock are hit and miss; sometimes infuriatingly superficial, and other times entertaining in its flamboyant and quite fun. More and more though it is doing it all at the same time, constantly.

The Lying Detective was a great example as it offered so much that is interesting, or 'event' television, or just fun (and it is fun to watch actors chew the scenery), but at the same time it is hard to shake off the constant feeling that it is all just busy nonsense of no consequence. I found this one quite tiresome. The mystery had an interesting construction, however it was built off so much convenience that it really cut its own legs off – and the '3 weeks ago' thing only covered it the first few times they relied on that joke. The sheer energy and professionalism of the production helps it a great deal – indeed it is so well put together in the technique, the performances, and the technical, that one assumes it must be good, because it certainly looks and sounds like it should be good.

I found myself thinking that even as I sat there left detached from the whole thing. The humor is overly smug; frequent moments of excess (in all forms) are overpowering and lose impact – making the whole thing seem silly more than clever or fun. The mystery holds no intrigue because everything is just explained away as Sherlock being miles ahead of everyone, and the very high quality cast (including Jones) is generally wasted in the middle of it all – they enjoy the energy, but there is little of substance to get into for long.

Most of the people were pretty much disappointed by last week's episode and were convinced that 2nd season was the last good season of the show. No promise of goodness was shown in the last episode and it presented itself as wastage of time as they only have 3 episodes per season. But after this episode, it seems that the previous episode was just a clever move to tease the audience as the writers knew that they'd be able to more than make up for it. This epitomizes the Sherlock we all love and wait for. CGI was incredible: the slow motion shots were well placed to represent the scenario appropriately. It was fun to see Sherlock as Quicksilver(I have a feeling that John Smith was somewhere involved in all this). Really, a fabulous use of technology. The acting also was unparalleled. Everybody expects a few deductions here and there, but this episode showed the emotional connect between John and Sherlock. Toby Jones did a good job being despicable. Desperately waiting for the last episode, more because of its name.

This is probably my favorite Sherlock episode, it had a Hannibal Season 2 feel with all the visuals and "what is going on" vibe, we can't really fully understand what is happening but guess until the show reveals it and is amazing.

I have to admit I'm not a Sherlock fan, I love the show productions and the actor are great but the story/writing most of the time felt weird and force, this time might not be that different but definitely took the show to a new place.

I found the previous episode kind of regular but now I realize it was necessary to set everything on the table and this one take full exploits of those elements.

This has to be one of my favorite episodes of the show's run, it truly was 89 minutes of full of suspension and tension, with me on the edge of my seat. "The Lying Detective" had award worthy performances, stellar writing, and was just brilliantly shot. I want to keep this spoiler free so I won't go into any details, but with this episode showing us the aftermath of Mary Watson's death (which happened in the previous episode) I can only say this, they executed it perfectly and brought us an episode to remember. "The Lying Detective" is a great example of why brilliant storytelling and writing is so important for an episode of television, the director created an episode I could easily say is a masterpiece in its genre, both for the show but also as an standalone episode of television.

Sherlock goes up against the powerful and seemingly unassailable Culverton Smith - a man with a very dark secret indeed.

Having Culverton Smith be inspired by infamous serial killer H. H. Holmes (who was an avid reader of the Sherlock Holmes stories) and Jimmy Savile who are the most prolific child rapist in English history. Culverton Smith has to be one of the best antagonists and it's mostly because of the performance done by Toby Jones, he was terrifying and just fantastic. Every scene he was in, you couldn't stop sitting on the edge of your seat, such a powerful performance made that happen. Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman were also terrific, bringing award worthy performances like I wrote before. I also want to say Mark Gatiss were actually quite great as Mycroft, having more to do in this episode, he have felt more like a main character ever since the season finale of the previous season. He does a great job as Mycroft and it's easy to get the impression that these two characters are siblings, as you see it through the acting but especially the writing. Spectacular writing for this episode, also brilliantly edited!

Weren't for the first episode of the 2nd season, I would suggest this for the best one of the series. It's a tie. This is an amazing episode, definitely a lot better than the previous one. Moffat portrays both Sherlock's and John's demons and inner wars in a brilliant way. This is what I expect from Sherlock. To be astonished and surprised at the last moment, when you think that everything is over and suddenly everything is explained in such a magnificent way that you can only ask for more, while you clear your mind from every other thought and simply focus on the screen to enjoy those specific mind- blowing scenes. Toby Jones's performance was also extraordinary, he was the perfect villain for this episode. The tension in his scenes with Sherlock was huge and Jones's expressions were perfectly portraying Smith's lunacy. This episode even managed to fully counter my disappointment of the series not being the detective-focused series that it once was. It was a brilliant add to Sherlock's myth and I can only hope for the final one to even surpass it!! 10/10