The Final Problem

This season started of disappointing, giving us an episode that would have been good on most TV shows, but not Sherlock. But they were able to pull it back with a fantastic second episode, one that felt more like the Sherlock we all know and love. And now the season finale has come out and a LOT of people are complaining. And I really don't see why. Maybe the show has gotten so big that people feel the need to criticize, maybe people are nitpicking like crazy, or maybe most people enjoyed it and what we're seeing is a loud minority. Either way it doesn't deserve half of the hate it's getting. This episode was full of brilliant dialogue, great twists and gripping tension. I was on the edge of my seat through parts and it's done through the fantastic writing, acting and directing we've come to expect from this show. And the way it builds on the characters we've known for years is the best part of it. Every episode of Sherlock is unique in it's own way, and this one focuses, more than any episode i think, on the morals and ideals of the characters. With great twists, emotion- and tension-filled moments, and the usual fantastic production, I give this episode a well deserved 10/10. If this is the lowest point that some are claiming it is, it's still better that 90% of the TV shows out there.

This was an episode that could have been an awesome movie (like shutter island)... The last 10-15 minutes were very confusing and a bit rushed. It would have about 30-40 more minutes to make a smooth ending if it were a movie, and although it had its roots based on the continuity, it was still apart from the normal story like Hounds of Baskerville... There were a few plot holes and many things were left unexplained, also the ending of the previous episode (which was great) was not utilized to its potential. I still think it was a very good episode in itself and would rate it somewhere between 8.5-9... But if it's the final episode of the show (as the talk is), then the rating will go down to about 8 for the unexplained things throughout the episode. This should not be the last.

After being thrilled by the first three seasons of Sherlock it was with dismay that I watched the 4th season slide ever deeper into a convoluted mess. I am actually quite surprised the actors actually agreed to make this crap. The story in "The Final Problem" is so bizarre I think Moffat must have been on the same drugs Holmes used in the previous episode. Totally unbelievable throughout, it tries to be way too clever for its own good and ends up being stupid, and worse it makes Sherlock look stupid.

If this is the way it is to be from now on I would say please don't bother with another season, not unless you get a new writer. I give it 5 only for the fine acting which was the only thing that made this bearable to the end.

"Because Sherlock Holmes is a great man. And I think one day - if we're very, very lucky, he might even be a good man." -Lestrade in 'A Study in Pink'

This is what this season was about - Sherlock becoming human again, the only thing that was missing from a truly epic story told over the span of four seasons. In this mind numbing psychological thriller, the brilliant acting and inspired direction is only surpassed by the emotional undertone that makes Sherlock find his humane touch - something that he had locked away somewhere within his psyche since his childhood. But that humane aspect of Sherlock's character, though not superficially apparent, always found expression in his love for Dr. Watson and Mary, more so than ever in this season of this epic series. Truly, as Mycroft explains - the man Sherlock is today, is a result of memories suppressed and modified and of deep seated psychological trauma.

Why then is he a sociopath and not a psychopathic villain like Moriarty or Culverton Smith? Because, he was always a good person deep down even though he did not know about it himself. The finale does a stunning job at giving us an insight into his past, and his troubled childhood, while at the same time giving us a glimpse of his genius intellect as in other episodes. It's a shame that some people are criticizing it for being overtly about psychological twists and less about solving crime. I ask them if they ever truly would have been satisfied with 'Sherlock' if there had been so many unanswered questions at the end of what could well be the last episode ever for the series. This was a story that needed to be told - and told it was, in the most magnificent and epic way possible - something that is well captured in the following quotes near the episode end:

Police Officer - "He's a great man sir."

Lestrade - "He's better than that. He's a good one."

As Mary put it aptly at the end - it's all about the legend, the stories and the adventures - a story that might well be the greatest detective story ever told!

"East wind is coming Sherlock" So enigmatic, sounds dangerous, very suspensul.

Long awaited Season 4 was an incredible let down After Eurus officially made an appearance it started to look like a show we know and love. Heartless irredeemable psycho playing her mind games, very good. And she should've stayed in that lane, but writers pulled reverse and...it's like nothing ever happened. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. I'm not even joking. S1 - we meet Moriarty and they escape death because of a phone call. S2 - the guy commits fake suicide. S3 - the guy actually kills someone. S4 - they play violin??

Seriously, the way they ended season 4 just showcased that it didn't really need to exist. Big bad villain(s) - completely unimportant, amounted to nothing. The only change is that Mary is dead and to this day I can't figure out why they decided to do kill her off.