Sherlock 2016 Special: "The Abominable Bride"

There were several questions that arose in the lead up to the anticipated but shrouded in secrecy debut of Sherlock's "The Abominable Bride," the series' first new adventure since 2014's "His Last Vow." For instance, would the episode's Victorian era setting be reasonably explained or would we just have to accept it as whimsy? Would this episode be a one off or act as a bridge connecting the season that preceded it and the one that's set to begin filming later this year? More specifically, would it feature or shed a little light on the ongoing plot involving the possible return of Andrew Scott's Jim Morarity, who appeared to blow a hole through the back of his head at the end of Season 2 but whose return was teased at the end of Season 3? By the end of "The Abominable Bride," which was 90 minutes of pure indulgence on the writers' part, we're able to answer these questions fairly easily, but as usual, there was much more going on than what appeared at first glance.

What was eventually revealed to be an Inception-like story within a story within a story, the special opened in the 19th century, with a reimagining of Sherlock and Watson's first meeting before jumping ahead to where the men currently are in their relationship, meaning Sherlock was still solving unsolvable cases while Watson continued to write about them (this time for the Strand, a.k.a. the magazine in which Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories originally appeared), unintentionally neglecting his new wife in favor of aiding Sherlock. It isn't hard to imagine a version of this story in which the series abandoned logic and the events that came before and fully embraced its new era, but luckily for us the series' bones remained in tact when it jumped backward through time and only a few things shifted to accommodate the jump, like Molly Hooper dressing as a man in order to have the same job in the 1800s as she had in the 21st century (something Watson picked up on but Sherlock did not because although he's hyper observant with details, he's not able to pick up on the humanity of it all).

When it initially appeared the only explanation we'd be given for the Victorian setting was the word "alternatively" appearing on the screen prior to the opening scene, it was more than a little concerning, to say the least. Fortunately, the episode's central mystery featuring a woman who'd killed herself and later appeared to have returned from the grave to murder her husband and a slew of other men, was eventually revealed to be nothing more than a dramatization of an old case from the 1800s that Sherlock conjured within his mind palace as a means of dissecting the potential ways in which it was possible that Moriarty had somehow survived his own gunshot wound to the head. Once it was clear that everything we were seeing was the result of a drug trip and actually taking place inside Sherlock's mind palace while he was still on the plane we saw in the Season 3 finale, "The Abominable Bride" took on a new light and I was able to fully appreciate it as an episode of Sherlock and not an hour-and-a-half of the writers' indulging in their own desire to see a more traditional version of the Sherlock character until Season 4 is released.

One of the things that originally made Sherlock so appealing was its updated and modern setting, and although it was enchanting to see Benedict Cumberbatch don the more traditional Holmes imagery for the better part of the episode, knowing that there was a reasonable explanation (reasonable for Sherlock, anyway) for the special's time jump gave the entire 90 minutes some credibility that it wouldn't have had if the episode ended up as the stand-alone special it was touted as. Although the series still functions as a procedural, with Sherlock investigating a new case per episode, it has also had an overarching narrative since Season 2, and by drawing parallels between the Emilia Ricoletti case and Moriarty's supposed resurrection after his death in "The Reichenbach Fall," the special episode fell right into place as the bridge that would connect Seasons 3 and 4.

It also confirmed that Moriarty was truly dead, which relieved some of the pressure that's been building since 2014. Sherlock revels in its "gotcha!" moments and its striking ability to make hairpin turns, but bringing Moriarty back from the dead after already having had to concoct a ridiculously complex scheme to resurrect Sherlock last season would have been asking too much for a series that already pushes the limits of credibility. Having confirmation that Sherlock's archenemy really did die that day on the roof kept the series from leaning too far into the realm of disbelief, but the setting within Sherlock's mind palace also provided a stage to bring the character back without having to really resurrect him. Your mileage will likely vary, but as a fan of Andrew Scott's interpretation of the character, I was delighted by this "return" and found that he again delivered Moriarty's special brand of creep with aplomb. It was the show's way of indulging in its fantasies while still remaining grounded in reality, but the drug-induced trip inside Sherlock's brain also allowed the series to once more pay homage to The Final Problem and the events within that saw Sherlock and Moriarty fight beside the waterfall. Instead of both men plunging to their deaths, however, in the version of the story that existed within Sherlock's mind palace, Watson, who also exists there, arrived to help defeat Moriarty's ghost.

Moriarty, whether alive or dead, represents Sherlock's failures and even in Sherlock's mind palace, a place of his own design, his ghost nearly defeated our titular hero. Part of Sherlock's downfall in Season 2 was that he became obsessed with proving that Moriarty was more than mortal, that he was an unnaturally skilled criminal mastermind with incredible power rather than the truth: that he was just a man. Sherlock's inability to accept that someone could not just exist on his same level, but possibly defeat him, makes him his own worst enemy, and the problem wasn't resolved when Moriarty put a bullet in his brain, as it reared its ugly head again in the shape of Magnussen in Season 3. Convinced Magnussen possessed a physical vault beneath his house that contained tangible evidence that Sherlock could use to prove his guilt in a string of blackmail incidents, he failed yet again when it was revealed Magnussen had his own mind palace, one stronger and deeper than Sherlock's ever was.

This is twice now that Sherlock has faced off against his foes and technically won, but lost himself in the process. Forced to disappear for years after Season 2, he was then exiled to Eastern Europe on a suicide mission in Season 3 after killing Magnussen. Moriarty's potential return, which nearly undid him here, also saved him by halting that trip and bringing him back to London. But the confirmation that Moriarty is dead does little to quell any fears we should have because it's possible the character is even stronger, even more dangerous in death. So long as Moriarty was alive, he was mortal and could be killed, but you cannot kill an idea, or the ghost of an idea. The longer it's allowed to permeate, the more powerful it becomes as it seeps into the pores of society like a ghost story that's passed on from one person to another until it ultimately takes on a life of its own.

Sherlock may have sort of solved the case of the Abominable Bride when Mary led him to an old church and a meeting of a secret society of women who used the name and imagery of the dead Emilia Ricoletti to take down the men who'd wronged them and oppressed them, but it was once again blown up by Moriarty. And his legacy has the potential to do plenty more damage, despite the fact the ghost in Sherlock's mind has been quieted for now. As Sherlock said, the man may not be alive, but he is back and we have no idea what's to come and who and what we're up against. But as we saw in his mind palace, so long as Sherlock has Watson by his side—and make no mistake, he's always there—he's strong enough to defeat whatever's coming. But only if Sherlock allows him to help.

While most of "The Abominable Bride" revolved around Moriarty's haunting of Sherlock and how he viewed the ghost of the man who nearly defeated him, it was also a look into how Sherlock views himself and those around him. Within his mind palace, we could see that to Sherlock he has become the version of himself that exists in Watson's stories, a man who's clever but detached, a man who has no time or desire for human connections beyond the ones he's already got with Mycroft, Mary, and Watson. In the episode's best scene, set during a stake out, mind palace Watson attempted to probe Sherlock the way the real man would, asking what or who made him into a man without emotions, without human impulses. Sherlock insisted that no one made him, that he had created himself, before once again referencing Redbeard. It hinted that a deeper dive into Sherlock's history and psyche is potentially coming in Season 4, and there's no doubt that Sherlock is at its best when it's peeling back the layers of its hero to explore the complicated human within. It's why, despite however confusing "The Abominable Bride" was at times, it was also a necessary story that had to be told before we could move forward.

I flip-flopped a lot during the 90-minute special, but in the end I think it proved that there is still life left in Sherlock, and that the chemistry between the show's two leading men is still there. It acted as an extended epilogue of the prior season, but it could have just as easily been the first episode of Season 4. By airing it as a special between seasons, it allowed the writers to confirm what co-creator Steven Moffat has already said—that Moriarty is truly dead—while also setting the stage for what's to come. With only three episodes per season, every minute counts, and having this extra installment to answer lingering questions before presenting new ones was a good use of the show's time. We had to explore and confront the remnants of Moriarty that lived on in Sherlock because to leave them unchecked would have left him open to further manipulation, would have made it easy for him to fall prey to his own worst enemy for a third time. But although the voice in Sherlock's head that shouted out his insecurities and doubts has been muffled, a specter of Moriarty now hangs over London, and it doesn't matter if what's happening is the culmination of a longterm plan that Moriarty put into place before his death or the work of someone who's picked up where he left off, it's going to be every bit as dangerous, and it's probably going to be just as thrilling to watch.

Do we really have to wait until 2017 for Season 4?





JOHN WATSON'S BLOG

– The "alternatively" explanation was the most Moffat thing that's ever happened, right? I'm so glad there was a reasonable explanation for the Victorian setting, because that half-assed hand wave was not going to cut it. Even if the drug-induced trip to the mind palace was a little crazy, it at least wasn't "this is a thing that maybe could happen."

– Between this episode and Doctor Who's focus on stories and memories this season, Moffat sure is obsessed with being a storyteller these days. I can't say that I mind the overlapping themes because I've enjoyed the finished products, just wanted to point it out.

– Were you bothered by how on-the-nose a lot of this episode was? I was shocked when they hauled out the "Elementary, my dear Watson" line for a number of reasons, but to be honest, I didn't mind how much the writers relied on source material or our expectations for Sherlock Holmes. It could have felt lazy, but to me it came off as the writers paying respect. (Okay, except maybe the elementary line. I'm torn on that one.)

– Seeing the way Sherlock viewed his brother in his mind palace, as an overweight man who would eat himself to death just to win a bet against Sherlock, was quite interesting. In fact, seeing how Sherlock viewed everyone in his life was quite interesting. The appearance of minor people in Sherlock's life also popping in to play different versions of themselves in the Emilia Ricolleti case was a nice way to show just how many people he's touched, however positively or negatively their connection was.

– I know I should address the women and their movements against oppression in this episode, but the subject deserves more attention than I can give it here in this review. I don't want to say it feels like a direct response to claims that Moffat is a misogynist, but it does sort of feel like it was constructed to combat said claims. That's all I'll say about it for now, but if I find the time, I may try to dive a bit deeper into it later.



