Sherlock New Year’s Day Special Sherlock New Year’s Day Special
BY DARIAN SABLON   On January 1, 2016, the New Year was granted a gift, and that gift was the Sherlock New Year’s Day... Sherlock New Year’s Day Special

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BY DARIAN SABLON

 

On January 1, 2016, the New Year was granted a gift, and that gift was the Sherlock New Year’s Day special, which was very well done with twists and turns that keep the viewer constantly guessing and engaged.

 

The Sherlock New Year’s Day Special starts at an unconventional point in time, around 100 years in the past, in 1896. The special saw Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Dr. John Watson (Martin Freeman) suit up for the mysterious case of the “Abominable Bride,” the ghost of a seemingly dead bride coming back to kill husbands who were unfair to their wives. This set in motion one of the most perplexing cases that Holmes and Watson had ever encountered.

 

Non-Spoiler Review: Overall, the episode felt very well written and thought out, unlike many other detective crime shows that just throw things together and sparkle a little bit of Christmas and New Years and call it a Christmas Special. The cast was also phenomenal, with special recognition for Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman for their amazing performance as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson respectively. Also special mention towards another actor who will be named in the spoiler section of the review. The mystery of the “Abominable Bride” was also very well written, reaching a very satisfying ending. Although towards the middle of the special there’s a hidden twist, it felt appropriate although perhaps a bit contrived. Overall the show was very well done and a great precursor to Season 4 of Sherlock.

 

Spoiler Review: As stated in the Non-Spoiler part of the review, the cast was great among them being Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman and of course the astounding Andrew Scott, reprising his role as Moriarty. Now, during the the middle of the special it turns out that everything that was happening before the 1896 setting, the Victorian era suits and whatnot, was all in Sherlock’s head back in the 21st Century, as he tries to solve the mystery of how present day Moriarty could have shot himself in the head and survived. So in order to solve the mystery, Sherlock decides to mentally insert himself into a similar situation based on a case with similar circumstances. Going back to the Victorian setting, Victorian Sherlock is trying to solve the case of the “Abominable Bride” and resorting to drugs in order to try to “stimulate” his mind in order to solve the case. This is where some of the best acting of the entire special occurs. Sherlock wakes up again from his dream with his friends around him, angry that he resorted to drugs in order to stimulate his mind, intensifying the relationship with Sherlock and John, who is mad at the steps Sherlock took just to solve this mystery.

 

From this point on it feels a bit like Inception, we go back and forth between Victorian Sherlock and Modern Day Sherlock, until we reach the point where it seems that Victorian Sherlock has solved the mystery. It turns out that the “Abominable Bride” is not a ghost, but a society of women who have been mistreated by the patriarchal  society they live in and have decided to take matters into their own hands, scaring their husbands to treat them nicer and respect their rights as human beings. This is where it goes back to Modern Day Sherlock, who seems to be stuck on how Moriarty could have survived. We immediately go back to Victorian Sherlock, but not in London but instead next to the Reichenbach Falls, a waterfall fall in Switzerland. This is where Victorian Sherlock fights Victorian Moriarty, the fight to the finish, to see who is the victor between good and evil. As Victorian Sherlock seems to be losing, out of nowhere appears Victorian Watson and after a good “well it’s two against one, you’re cooked,” Watson pushes Victorian Moriarty into the falls. This is where the second plot twist comes, the modern day Sherlock we were seeing throughout the episode was also dreamed up by the original modern day Sherlock, trying to figure out how Moriarty could have survived, coming to the conclusion, that Moriarty was not alone, but was part of a group. The prospect that Sherlock will go head to head will an actual organization who have the same wits as him is an amazing possibility that will offer terrific opportunities in the future for Sherlock.

 

The Sherlock New Year’s Day Special was an overall success that managed to keep the audience engaged and always wondering what would happen next, as well as offering interesting options for the future of Sherlock