The Sherlock Episode That Ruined The Show Forever

The first two seasons of the BBC’s Sherlock were a huge success with critics and viewers, but one episode completely ruined the show, and though it tried to recover, it never did. As one of the most popular and beloved literary characters, Sherlock Holmes has been adapted to all types of media for decades. Many Sherlock Holmes adaptations have given a modern twist to the Great Detective, and one of the most successful modern versions has been the BBC’s Sherlock, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the title detective and Martin Freeman as John Watson.

Sherlock saw the detective and the doctor meeting and becoming friends and partners, though it wasn’t easy for John to adjust to Sherlock’s unique lifestyle and personality. The strong bond between Sherlock and John was the core of the series, which made the series’ most shocking episode even more tragic. Sherlock brought to life many of the detective’s most popular cases from Arthur Conan Doyle’s books, including “The Final Problem”, in which Sherlock seemingly died – and while this was one of the best episodes of Sherlock, it made way for the series’ worst that ruined the show forever.

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Sherlock adapted the detective’s classic stories across four seasons, which ultimately varied in quality, with one season being notably strongest.

Sherlock Season 3, Episode 1 Didn’t Explain How Sherlock Survived

“The Empty Hearse” didn’t live up to expectation

Since the pilot episode of Sherlock, Moriarty’s presence was teased, and the series slowly built up to his big introduction in season 1’s finale, “The Great Game”. Moriarty (Andrew Scott) became the primary villain in Sherlock season 2, and in the season finale, he pushed the Great Detective to his limit. In “The Reichenbach Fall”, Moriarty went to lengths to “burn” Sherlock, destroy his reputation, and leave him with no way out of a “final problem”. Realizing that Sherlock wasn’t going to fall into his trap, Moriarty killed himself on the rooftop of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, pushing Sherlock to do the same.

In order to save his friends, Sherlock called John to say goodbye and jumped off the roof of the hospital as John watched from a distance. John and the audience then saw Sherlock’s body surrounded by blood, and the episode ended with John visiting his friend’s grave with Mrs. Hudson… while Sherlock observed them from afar, out of their sight. Just like in Doyle’s “The Final Problem”, Sherlock’s “death” wasn’t definitive, and season 3 was expected to explain how Sherlock survived the fall and faked his death in such a believable way that his best friend ended up going back to therapy to cope with it.

Unfortunately, Sherlock season 3 didn’t give an actual explanation of how Sherlock survived the Reichenbach Fall. To everyone’s surprise, Philip Anderson (Jonathan Aris), who never liked Sherlock, was the one who spent days trying to figure out how Sherlock faked his death, even before his survival was confirmed. The closest Sherlock gave to an explanation of how the detective survived the Reichenbach Fall was that Sherlock and Mycroft had a plan for every one of the 13 possible outcomes of the meeting with Moriarty, so all Sherlock had to do was text Mycroft the right code.

The members of Holmes’ Homeless Network then rolled out an inflatable mattress, posed as bystanders, and Sherlock hid a squad ball under his arm to stop his pulse. However, the veracity of this is debated, as Sherlock told all this to Anderson and suddenly disappeared when Anderson realized the flaws in the plan.

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“The Empty Hearse” Also Made Fun Of Sherlock Fan Theories

“The Reichenbach Fall” made way for several creative fan theories

There was a gap of over a year between Sherlock’s season 2 finale and the first episode of season 3, enough time for fans to come up with their own theories on how Sherlock faked his death. Fans got very creative with how the detective could have survived the fall and how he could return in season 3, and Sherlock creators Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat were aware of the phenomenon season 2’s finale caused. Sherlock made fun of fan theories in “The Empty Hearse” not only through Anderson’s obsession with finding out how Sherlock faked his death, but through the presence of a fan club (led by Anderson) as well.

At a club meeting, the members shared their different theories, and one of them presented one that ended with Moriarty and Sherlock kissing, which was often seen in fan fiction. Instead of using all those fan theories as inspiration for the real explanation of Sherlock’s survival, the series made fun of them and didn’t even give a real and satisfying answer.

Sherlock Season 3, Episode 1 Was When The Show Became Too Meta

Sherlock crossed a line it shouldn’t have in season 3

With “The Empty Hearse” acknowledging fan theories and making fun of them, Sherlock crossed a line it shouldn’t by becoming too meta. Sherlock didn’t look back after this and continued to be too meta in subsequent seasons, tainting the show’s legacy as its quality declined dramatically. Seasons 3 and 4 of Sherlock were too self-aware and incorporated fan speculation and theories, though in ways that made no sense in the universe of the show and felt disrespectful to the audience. “The Empty Hearse” marked the beginning of Sherlock’s decline, but it’s hard to say if it could have been avoided with an actual explanation of how Sherlock survived the fall.

Sherlock

In this incarnation of Sherlock from creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman assume the roles of Sherlock and Watson as they establish their partnership and begin solving strange mysteries throughout the U.K. and beyond. Set in a more 2010’s modern setting, Sherlock’s eccentric and complex nature is accentuated as he solves seemingly supernatural crimes with unparalleled intellect while struggling to connect with others on a human level. Meanwhile, Watson blogs the stories summarizing their cases while building a strained but caring friendship with his new partner.

Release Date

August 8, 2010

Cast

Martin Freeman , Benedict Cumberbatch , Rupert Graves

Seasons

4