Sherlock finally returned from the grave and to our screens in the roller coaster première episode. Read our full recap of series 3, episode 1 “The Empty Hearse.” This post contains spoilers.

We open with the answer to the question everyone has been asking for two years: How did Sherlock fake his death in series 2, episode 3 “The Reichenbach Fall”? Using a bungee, famous illusionist Derren Brown, and a strange mask of Moriarty’s corpse – all before he jumps through a window and makes fangirls squeal by kissing Molly Hooper. Well, that’s what guilt-ridden Philip Anderson thinks anyway – until Lestrade (Rupert Graves) dismisses it with a chirpy expletive. The two police officers catch a glimpse of the news, with several journalists announcing that Benedict Cumberbatch’s super sleuth has been “cleared of all charges” in the Richard Brook case.

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We then quickly check in with a mourning John Watson, eventually joined by girlfriend Mary Morstan (Mr. Selfridge star and Martin Freeman’s real life partner, Amanda Abbington), but before we have a chance to get over THAT moustache, we’re whisked away again. To Serbia, of all places.

Here, Sherlock (sporting his own strange facial hair) is captured by a throng of soldiers and interrogated. He rids himself of his main captor with a trademark deduction and the warning of a cheating wife, before his other interrogator is revealed as… Mycroft Holmes! Mark Gatiss’s character informs his littler brother of an underground terrorist network operating in London, before ordering him “Back to Baker Street, Sherlock Holmes.” And all of that before the titles!

After we’ve had a chance to catch our breath, we see two scenes running concurrently. In the first, John returns to Baker Street for the first time in two years. Meanwhile, Sherlock is treated to a much-needed haircut as he catches up with Mycroft. The older Holmes explains how he infiltrated the Serbian base and learnt their language in two hours, while Watson has some explaining of his own to do. He hasn’t spoken to Mrs. Hudson in a long time (the grief just got too much for him, he tells her in a touching scene). As John tells his former landlady he is about to propose to his girlfriend, Watson becomes the subject of a confidential file Sherlock receives. The two plots meet at a fancy restaurant, where the great detective disguises himself as French waiter to surprise his former best friend as he gets ready to pop the question.

When John eventually realizes who his overzealous server is, we’re subjected to a taut exchange as tensions rise. Sherlock breaks the last straw with a hilarious moustache quip, resulting in some physical aggravation from 221B’s former tenant. We jump to a more modest eatery as (between punches), Sherlock tries to enlist John’s help on his latest case. But John’s thoughts are with the Reichenbach stunt: “I don’t care how you did it, I want to know why.” Things end sourly as John tells Sherlock not to bother contacting him, but Mary promises she’ll talk him round.

After revealing himself to Lestrade and Mrs. Hudson, the consulting detective is pushed by Mycroft to enlist Molly Hooper in the vacant companion position, and the two get to work on the mysterious terrorist cell (via a few humorous cases of a more trivial nature). John (sans moustache, at last!) is meanwhile stuck at work, dealing with increasingly awkward ailments. Hooper and Holmes investigate a mysterious corpse, and eventually uncover the even more enigmatic How I Did It by Jack The Ripper. But the duo have no time to dwell on that bombshell, as they track a knitted hat back to a train obsessive with a mystery of his own – a vanishing man on the London Underground. A man Sherlock recognises, no less. We get a spark of romance as Holmes invites Molly out to fish and chips to thank her for her part in his disappearing act, but she’s found someone else.

Sherlock returns to Baker Street, where he is apprehended by a frantic Mary: John has gone missing on his way to reconcile with his previous flatmate, and his lady in waiting has been receiving mysterious text messages. Now we’re treated to Morstan and Holmes, as the duo crack the message’s code and track John down while on a thrilling motorbike chase. The messages continue with a countdown, leading John’s best friend and girlfriend to a bonfire display where he is about to be burnt alive as an unknowing crowd looks on. Thankfully, Sherlock pulls him out just in time – but why was John targeted? The plot thickens.

We’re taken by surprise as everyone’s favourite sociopath is treated to a visit from his comparatively dim-witted parents (a brilliant cameo from Benedict Cumberbatch’s mother and father)! John interrupts, and is slightly taken aback by the senior Holmes’ ordinariness. The former friends have a stilted reconciliation, and Sherlock eventually links the vanishing man on the Tube (revealed to be Lord Moran, in a cheeky nod to Arthur Conan Doyle’s comeback story and this episode’s namesake “The Empty House”) to Mycroft’s “underground network.” Upon remembering it’s the 5th of November, the sleuth unravels a V for Vendetta-style terror plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament. At long last we’re treated to the detective double act we’ve all been waiting for (sorry, Molly and Mary!) as Holmes and Watson uncover a secret underground train station, and the impending scene of the crime…

The Baker Street Boys break into the tube network, and eventually uncover a missing train carriage – decked out in explosives! Sherlock racks his brains for a way to disarm the bomb, but eventually admits defeat when the timer starts ticking – Lord Moran has triggered the explosive! In what’s perhaps the worst time for some therapy, John forgives Sherlock for his deception and they brace themselves for detonation. We finally reach the long-awaited and frequently teased solution we’ve all been waiting for, as Sherlock explains to Anderson how he pulled off his Reichenbach Fall.

So, how did he do it? Well, it turns out Sherlock’s plan was far more long term than we anticipated, as he was working with Mycroft Holmes in dismantling Moriarty’s criminal network in the earlier stages of series 2. He allowed his arch nemesis to walk free from the crown jewel theft, and watched as his reputation was destroyed in the national press. By the time he got to St. Bart’s, the cogs were already whirring. The homeless network posed as doctors, bikers, and onlookers while a team erected a huge air bag to cushion the detectives fall.

After he landed, the bag was moved around the ambulance station and packed away, while a corpse (originally an employee of Moriarty, used to scare the kidnapped boarding school children and plant the seeds of doubt in Anderson) baring an uncanny resemblance to Sherlock was thrown from a window by Molly. When John was knocked down by the cyclist, Holmes replaced the corpse and was decorated in blood to deceive his friend. The final part of the plan was one that many fans guessed: a squash ball was placed under his armpit to temporarily cut off his pulse.

Or at least, that’s what he tells Anderson. After the forensics expert confesses he’s “a bit disappointed,” he reveals that he wrote the enigmatic Jack the Ripper tome to try and tempt Sherlock out of hiding. Just as he repents for wasting Sherlock’s time during a crucial case, Phillip realizes he’s the last person Holmes would tell how he faked his death. This solution is neat, as though it provides a plausible explanation to the series 2 cliffhanger, it still allows fans to make up their own minds about how the stunt was pulled off.

Post revelation, we return to the underground train carriage, where Sherlock shows John he switched the bomb off before his best friend forgave him. “Should have seen your face!” He chuckles as they depart. After Lord Moran is arrested, the whole gang get back together for Sherlock’s homecoming party (after the younger Holmes brother rejects Mycroft’s plea for help in watching Les Miserables with their parents). Molly introduces the boys, Mary, Mrs. Hudson and Lestrade to her boyfriend – who bares more than a passing resemblance to the great detective. It seems she isn’t over the high-functioning sociopath after all.

“Time to go and be Sherlock Holmes” is the last line of the dialogue, as the deerstalker is donned and the boys face the press. But before the episode ends, we see several sinister shots of clowns and a magician’s hat. Someone is watching the bonfire rescue with great interest, and we get the impression this malevolent figure will be wreaking havoc as the series goes on…

Next time

Phew! So, there you have it: ‘The Empty Hearse’. We hope our recap helped you to get your head around the twists and turns of the adventure, as series 3, episode 2 “The Sign of Three” is just days away! Check out the trailer below.

As Sherlock prepares himself to give the best man’s speech at John and Mary’s wedding, a murder mystery unfolds when the show returns this Sunday on BBC One in the UK.

What did you think of ‘The Empty Hearse’?