The Final Problem (Spoiler Free)

A few months ago, in an earlier post, I wrote that South Park was possibly my favourite television show of all time. I retract that statement. The BBC’s “Sherlock” is the single greatest television show I have ever watched. Beyond the quality of the show, here are two reasons showing how much I am in awe of this show:-

1. In just 6 episodes, it has enthralled me like no other. 6 episodes. Imagine the quality of each episode.

2. In an earlier post, I wrote about how The Hobbit was my most anticipated thing of 2012. Let’s just say, given that both Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman will be involved in The Hobbit which would therefore make them unavailable to film the next (third) series of Sherlock, well, fuck The Hobbit. That’s right. Fuck The Hobbit. Bring the third series back.

Yup, I would much rather watch the next instalment of “Sherlock” than The Hobbit. And The Dark Knight Rises. And all of that stuff.

The third episode of the second series, aptly named, “The Final Problem” is the greatest television episode I have ever seen in my entire life for any show. Ever. See, the first series of Sherlock was to establish Holmes as a reasoning machine. Essentially, to establish his overwhelming intelligence. As I mentioned in my review of A Scandal in Belgravia, this second series was to show Holmes’ humanity. In A Scandal in Belgravia, we got to see Holmes’ interaction with different women. In The Hounds of Baskerville, we got to see Holmes questioning doubts over his own senses. In A Final Problem, we get to see a further different side to Holmes – his head versus his heart, his belief in his intelligence versus his humanity.

And it was done gloriously. I genuinely felt true suspense and thrill over the entirety of the episode. For 90 minutes, I was on the edge of my seat. At the micro level, I could not tell what was coming next nor could I even guess, at the macro level, how the entire story would unfold. And to cap it all off, the episode moved me emotionally. I think I felt whatever I was supposed to feel (or whatever the writers wanted me to feel) while watching the episode. Intrigue, bafflement, awe, sympathy, anguish, pure wtf-ness. Everything.



While I think Mad Men has some of the most powerful scenes on television, this episode of Sherlock had some scenes to rival the very best of Mad Men. Here are some scenes that stand out to me:-

1. Holmes’ and Moriarty’s discussion at 221b Baker Street. I haven’t felt this tense at anything since maybe July 2010.

2. Holmes’ and Molly’s exchange in the lab when Holmes was running experiments.

3. This exchange between Holmes and Watson and the look on Holmes’ face after:-

Holmes: Alone is what I have. Alone protects me.
Watson: No, friends protect people.

4. Holmes’ and Watson’s phone call.

5. The ending scene.

And the acting, my goodness. Absolute brilliance. From Benedict Cumberbatch portraying the many different emotions of Holmes while still being super logical to Martin Freeman’s pantheon-ic portrayal of the quintessential indispensible side kick, the whole cast is top notch. Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch are to Sherlock what Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan were to the Chicago Bulls. They are equally indispensible even though Cumberbatch (Jordan) were the alpha superstars. Take away Martin Freeman from the show and it loses a massively substantial amount of its value.



And there’s Andrew Scott as Moriarty. While I don’t think this interpretation of Moriarty is faithful to the one in the book, I still think Andrew Scott’s Moriarty is fantastic. He’s like a cross between Heath Ledger’s Joker and Anthony Hopkin’s Hannibal Lecter. But with a touch of the dramatic to go along with it. I was both terrified and in awe of this Moriarty at the same time. Terrified in the sense of how devastating his plans were and in awe in the sense of how bloody brilliant they were.



But in any case, even if the acting wasn’t top notch, the plot and the story line will keep you hooked. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a show that was this intellectual and this suspenseful at the same time.

If we go by how much later the second series was released after the first one, we will have to wait 1.5 years before the third series comes out. And that’s even without commitments by Cumberbatch and Freeman to a project as large as The Hobbit. I’m not sure if I can wait that long. This show is too brilliant. And seriously, if you haven’t yet watched it, you’re really missing out. Let me put it this way. This is not a mere plea in the sense of, “Omg, this show is awesome, you totally have to watch it.” This is me telling you that if you don’t watch this show, you’re missing a TV series masterpiece for the ages.

Fuck the Hobbit.