 Disc 1: The Six Thatchers (88 minutes [1:28]) Disc 1: The Lying Detective (89 minutes [1:29]) Disc 2: The Final Problem (89 minutes [1:29]) A contemporary take on the classic Arthur Conan Doyle stories, Sherlock is a thrilling, funny, fast-paced series set in present-day London. Benedict Cumberbatch as the new Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as his loyal friend, Doctor John Watson. The iconic details from Conan Doyle's original remain. Three thrilling, scary and action-packed adventures, Sherlock and John navigate cryptic clues and lethal killers to get at the truth. Storyline: In this modernized version of the Conan Doyle characters, using his detective plots, Sherlock Holmes lives in early 21st century London and acts more cocky towards Scotland Yard's detective inspector Lestrade because he's actually less confident. Doctor Watson is now a fairly young veteran of the Afghan war, less adoring and more active. Written by KGF Vissers Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Michael Reuben, January 30, 2017 (Spoiler warning: This review assumes familiarity with the three prior seasons of Sherlock, as well as the Christmas special subtitled "The Abominable Bride". Newcomers take heed.) After a three-year wait for Season Four of Sherlock—the longest gap to date between seasons of the BBC's international hit—fan anticipation had built so high that some degree of letdown was almost inevitable. It didn't help that the 2015 Christmas special entitled Sherlock: The Abominable Bride teased a solution to the cliffhanger that concluded Season Three, only to retreat back into secrecy at the end, relying on a narrative trick that left many viewers feeling cheated. Similar tricks are deployed throughout Season Four by writer/producers Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, but deeper problems stem from story decisions made in Season Three, when Sherlock's creators chose to give John Watson's new wife, Mary, her own sinister back story. They thereby expanded Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's perfectly matched duo into a lopsided trio, upsetting Sherlock's narrative balance going forward. What role could the former assassin-for-hire play in the further adventures of Sherlock and Watson, especially after Sherlock committed a public murder to protect her? Much of Season Four is devoted to restoring the balance of Sherlock's world, and to the writers' credit, they do not take the lazy route of simply whisking Mary offstage into domestic bliss with the new baby whose arrival was announced at the conclusion of "The Sign of Three" (Season Three, episode 2). Their approach is more daring and creative, and it provides actress Amanda Abbington with some of her best scenes to date, but the result too often buries the core of Sherlock's detective story under dense layers of overlapping subplots. By the time Season Four reached its third and final episode, ratings had dropped to the lowest in Sherlock's history. I suspect, however, that the season will rise in fans' estimation upon subsequent viewings, especially of the first two episodes, which are so packed with incident and nuance that they richly repay further attention. The season's final episode remains a disappointment, for reasons discussed below. Each of the three episodes of Sherlock's Season Four has its own story, but more than in any prior season, they also serve as chapters in a continuing narrative, fueled (at least in part) by the mysterious reappearance of the late Jim Moriarty (Andrew Scott) at the conclusion of Season Three. The phrase with which the deceased criminal mastermind announced his posthumous return—"Miss me?"—recurs through the season, with Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch) always on the alert for signs of whatever evil scheme Moriarty managed to set in motion before his death. Meanwhile, there are additional cases to solve. Episode 1, "The Six Thatchers", begins with a case brought to Holmes and Watson (Martin Freeman) by a baffled Inspector Lestrade (Rupert Graves). It involves a body discovered in a burned-out auto, but in the course of solving it, Holmes becomes intrigued by a missing plaster bust of the late Margaret Thatcher, which he quickly discovers to be part of a pattern of Thatcher busts that are being smashed all over London. The trail eventually leads to a mystery man named Ajay (Sacha Dhawan). With more of Mary's shadowy past coming to light, the timing couldn't be more inconvenient, as she has just given birth to a daughter, whom she and John have named Rosie. As usual, Mycroft Holmes (Gatiss) skulks superciliously about the edges of the story, as does Lady Smallwood (Lindsay Duncan), the senior intelligence official who was being blackmailed in "His Last Vow" (Season Three, episode 3). Episode 2, "The Lying Detective", finds Sherlock once again descending into serious drug abuse. ("I've seen healthier people on the slab", says morgue attendant Molly Hooper (Louise Brealey)). It is in this state that the famous detective becomes convinced that a wealthy entrepreneur, philanthropist and celebrity by the name of Culverton Smith (Toby Jones) is an arch-criminal. Sherlock's conviction results from a consultation with Smith's daughter, Faith (Gina Bramhill), who believes her father confessed a terrible secret to her before erasing her memory with drugs—but she can't be sure. Indeed, her visit to Sherlock may not even be real, because he is so deep into his addiction that he may have hallucinated the entire meeting. The episode is filled with confusion and miscues, and it's a credit to Toby Jones's performance as Culverton Smith that he manages to break through the multi-stranded narrative with a memorably disturbing portrayal. Fans of Sherlock's landlady, Mrs. Hudson (Una Stubbs), can look forward to her scenes in "The Lying Detective", which reveal new facets of 221B Baker Street's cheerful owner. The last scene of "The Lying Detective" serves as a bridge to the season finale, appropriately titled "The Final Problem", which cannot be discussed without at least minor spoilers; so stop reading now if you haven't seen the episode. "The Final Problem" centers on a third Holmes sibling, at whose existence Mycroft darkly hinted in "His Last Vow" and whom Sherlock does not remember. The youngest Holmes has been confined since childhood to a maximum-security "black site" named Sherrinford, but Sherlock comes to believe that the facility is no longer secure, necessitating a visit to the remote island location and a confrontation with Sherlock's buried past—which is precisely where "The Final Problem" encounters its own problem, one that Gatiss and Moffat have not been able to solve. Having already devoted an entire episode, "The Abominable Bride", to rooting around in the depths of its lead character's psyche, the series seems to be repeating itself by almost immediately resuming that quest. It doesn't help that Gatiss and Moffat reuse a key narrative strategy from "Bride", which is to get viewers invested in an elaborately realized scenario, only to abruptly reveal that everything you've been seeing is just a figment of a character's imagination. "The Final Problem" is also burdened with an underwhelming villain who cannot help but be a letdown from prior adversaries. While the youngest Holmes may be brilliant, amoral and cruel, the elaborate machinations displayed in "The Final Problem" are not the work of a criminal mastermind bent on wealth, power and world domination. They're little more than sibling rivalry taken to a homicidal extreme, which is why the case concludes on an unsteady note that feels less like a resolution than an evasion. Multiple endings are required to tie up loose ends before Sherlock and Watson can be left to sally forth into an uncertain future. As of this writing, it is unclear whether Sherlock will continue, but I hope it does, because "The Final Problem" does not come close to supplying a satisfactory conclusion to a series that has become a pop culture phenomenon. However much time may be needed to find openings in the increasingly busy schedules of its two stars, Sherlock needs to get back to the kind of investigations and adversaries that first won the show its fan base. As for Season Four, the Blu-ray treatment is first-rate and recommended, even if the season itself isn't Sherlock's best. IMDb Rating (12/04/16): 9.2/10 from 527,046 users IMDb Rating (07/10/16): 8.2/10 from 253,050 users Top 250: #154
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