Sherlock: The Empty Hearse (3x01)

I can't review this episode, really. I mean I'm not going to sit down and write out the plot. The plot can be said in a few measly sentences: Sherlock comes back from the dead, John is confused and angry, and a terrorist threat sends Sherlock and John to an underground train car where Sherlock flips the off switch on a giant bomb. Meanwhile, we get a lot of different stories as to how Sherlock might have faked his death, and no real straight answer.

Let's start by talking about that second thing. All of the theories about Sherlock's survival were amazing. The way they pulled that off - God, it was brilliant. More than anything I've seen on television in a long while, this episode felt like a love letter to the fans. I mean, they worked in everything. The body double, the biker that hit John, the ball under the arm, Molly knowing the truth, the placement of John so he couldn't see what was going on, the idea that Moriarty's body replaced Sherlock's... these were all theories I've seen floating around for the past two years, and here we have them all coming to light on screen in front of us. Rather than being disappointed by the lack of definite answers, I was delighted by the way they did it. It was pretty much the only way to leave nobody disappointed by a lame solution. I do hope we'll find out the truth eventually, but I've actually realized that it's not needed. Like John said, I'm more interested in why Sherlock never told John he was planning all of this, or why he didn't come forward sooner, at the very least. Those are the questions I'd love answers to in the future.

As for the main plot, it was probably the weakest part of the episode. Not in a bad way, oddly. I think it was a very smart move to let the case be a rather simple one. The characters were what was important here. We got to focus on all the crazy theories about Sherlock, and we got to focus on all of these character's reactions and relationships. It was smart of them to throw Moran's name into the mix, even if his role was greatly diminished from that which he has in ACD's original stories. I think by far the most intriguing part of the plot was the kidnapping John thing. Who was that? And at the end, we see the guy watching the video of it? Wow, that's interesting. So much more interesting than a vague plot about terrorism and parliament, which was so phoned in that they didn't even bother putting in any twists. Sherlock and John show up, Sherlock stops the bomb, the end. But like I said, I don't mean that in a bad way.

What I've decided to do with this review is break it down by character and just talk about all of the awesome going on here. I mean, literally every named character on screen was pulling some pretty heavy weight and doing some fantastic stuff. Let's start with...

Anderson - Wow, talk about character development... the idea that Anderson could be such an interesting and deep character never would have occurred to me after watching the first two series, but I've seen guilt do some pretty intense stuff to people, and it makes all sorts of sense that Sherlock's death would change him greatly. The episode's title being "The Empty Hearse" was of course a nod to "The Empty House," which was ACD's story in which Sherlock returned from the dead. In this version, the title comes from the group Anderson formed, where he and a group of like-minded individuals come up with theories about Sherlock's disappearance. Now, Moffat has a bad reputation when it comes to treating fandom culture with respect, but Gatiss, who wrote this particular installment, did a lovely thing here. He took Anderson, a character traditionally disliked by fandom, and turned him in to a character with a lot of depth and complexity; more than that, he showed how important fandom culture can be, and how relevant it can be to real life. I know that this group of people aren't fans of BBC Sherlock. I know they're people living within a universe where Sherlock Holmes actually exists. But the parallels to fan culture were very apparent, and I think they were executed very well here. The scene where Sherlock explains everything to Anderson was one of my favorites in the episode. Anderson's breakdown was both comedic but also very difficult to watch. I look forward to seeing more of him in the next two episodes. I hope he isn't relegated to comic relief and really gets a chance to grow.

Lestrade - Lestrade looked damn near in tears at the beginning of the episode as he and Anderson listened to the reporters talking about Sherlock. He didn't have a lot to do in this episode, but when he was on screen he was excellent. I loved the hug, of course, how could I not? I also loved that Sherlock got Greg's name wrong but that it didn't really matter. It was adorable to see Lestrade included with the others when they all sat down for tea at 221B. I hope we get to see Lestrade grow a bit this season. I'd love to see him take a very active role in solving a case, without Sherlock just giving him the answers. I also think it would be great to develop his personal relationships with Sherlock and John even more.

Mrs. Hudson - Passive-aggressive Mrs. Hudson is my new favorite thing. When she and John get together and she berates him for not calling... ugh it sort of broke my heart a little bit. I also loved the over-dramatic scream at Sherlock's reappearance, because I thought it toed the line between being too campy and being just right. My favorite Mrs. Hudson moment, however, was definitely in the scene with Sherlock and Mycroft. The two of them share a joke at her expense, but she is not at all fazed at being in a room with these geniuses. In fact, she rather puts them in an awkward sort of spot when she remarks that both of them are secretly thrilled to be back with the other. She's rather insightful, even if she can be a bit oblivious at times too. Her still thinking John and Sherlock were a couple was a bit silly. That was one of the only moments in the episode where I felt like they were trying a bit too hard to tie back in some old jokes. I could have done without that. But regardless, Mrs. Hudson was a much needed presence in this episode, and I enjoyed her a lot.

Molly - Okay, first of all, the thing everyone's talking about... that kiss. Dayum. I mean, I know it was only in a hypothetical scenario, but that was hot. The little hair ruffle and then he just freakin' kisses her. Damn. Anyways... obviously Molly's character actually had quite a bit to do in this episode. Sherlock uses her as a replacement for John, which is all sorts of sad, but we can see in Sherlock's behavior that these past few years really have changed him. He tries to be polite to Molly, and he tries to treat her as her own person. He even tells her to be herself instead of trying to be John. There were a lot of lovely moments in this part of the episode. At one point Sherlock shoots some factoid casually to Molly, who responds with "hmm?" Sherlock doesn't criticize, but you can tell he's disappointed that he's not talking to John. And Molly can see it too. At the end of their time together, Molly thanks Sherlock for the day, but they both know they can't do this again. Sherlock kisses Molly on the cheek and tells her, quite sincerely, that she deserves happiness. This line that everyone was freaking out about in the trailer, where Sherlock says "the person he thought didn't matter to me was the one person who mattered the most," or something like that, was actually about Molly. Sherlock tells Molly exactly what she needed to hear after all this time, and it was a very satisfying moment. Then of course we get the reveal of Tom, Molly's husband-to-be, who looks like a younger version of Sherlock. This was hilarious, I must admit. I do have the slight worry that they'll play him off as either a joke or as a villain, and I would really love for Molly to actually find happiness. But that's not fair to this episode - I'll reserve judgment on Tom for a later date. Thus far, I thought the moment when he and Sherlock came face to face was hilarious.

Mycroft - By far the strongest parts of this episode were the scenes with Mycroft Holmes in them. And when I talk about an episode as strong as this one was, saying that Mycroft was the best part is really saying quite a lot. I could not get over how much I was enjoying Mycroft in these scenes. I've always loved his character in the past, as he was always something of an enemy of Sherlock's but at the same time clearly cared deeply for his brother. First of all, no matter how they talked about it later, I'm convinced that Mycroft went to extraordinary efforts to bring Sherlock back home, and he only did so because his brother matters a lot to him. When Sherlock accuses Mycroft of enjoying watching his brother being tortured, all I kept thinking was that it was an obvious cover. These two boys are probably relieved to be on the same team, no matter what they might say. The scene at 221B where the Holmes boys play Operation and then play at deductions was such a solid, entertaining, and surprisingly emotionally poignant scene. I loved Sherlock's line "I used to think I was an idiot." It gave me all sorts of ideas about what these two must have been like growing up. I love that it's an acknowledged fact between Sherlock and Mycroft that Mycroft is indeed the smarter of the two. That was sort of surprising but it also felt very real. But there are certain things that Mycroft just can't get. When they play at deductions, he misses the hat wearer's isolation, which Sherlock picks up on because he understands the social world a bit better. Or at least that's what you would think, until later Sherlock returns the hat to its owner, who then mentions having a girlfriend. I loved this moment because it was entirely a throwaway - Mycroft wasn't even mentioned in the scene - but you can see based on Sherlock's face that he's annoyed that he was wrong. But anyways... the "I'm not lonely, Sherlock" moment was maybe my number one favorite part of the episode. Sherlock's response to Mycroft's statement? "How would you know?" The whole business about having friends and interacting with "ordinary" people is really what separates the two Holmes brothers. Despite the fact that Mycroft has perhaps a more conventional attitude outwardly, Sherlock is the one who branches out and finds himself a community of loyal and kind friends. Mycroft is the isolated one. I hope that we get to explore this more.

Mary - Yay Gatiss! Yay Moffat for whatever part you had in writing Mary's character! Yesss! I loved her. I was worried, as I know a lot of people were, as to how this character was going to be written. Was she going to be an obstacle to Sherlock and John's bromance? That would have been a very stupid direction to go with the character, because Sherlock and John's relationship is quite obviously the foundation for the show. Instead, they did pretty much the opposite. John is furious at Sherlock for not telling him he was alive, and Mary is actually the one who encourages John to see Sherlock again. I love the scene where John is shaving the stupid mustache and Mary is just sitting in the bed in her pajamas asking John when he's going to see Sherlock again. It was like she was shipping the two boys for a moment there, and it was glorious. One of my favorite Mary moments was when Sherlock was explaining things to John in the diner, and when Mycroft's name comes up Mary says "he would have needed a confidant." Sherlock nods to show his approval of her deduction, but when John shoots her a glare she just says "sorry." I liked that she didn't agree with John's reaction to Sherlock's reappearance, but that she also understood and supported it. I loved the moment when we got to see Sherlock's conclusions about her - a lot of words were flashing on the screen, including the very tantalizing "liar," which could mean so many things. What I loved about this is that even though Sherlock instantly knew all sorts of things about Mary, he still looked confused by her easy acceptance of him and by her offer to talk to John on his behalf. The instant camaraderie between Sherlock and Mary is the smartest thing this show could have done with her character. They both care about and love John, and that was never clearer than when they shared the screen during the bonfire scene, of which I will discuss more in a bit. The last Mary moment I want to talk about comes at the very end, when she casually asks Sherlock if he'll be coming to the wedding. He says no, that weddings aren't really his thing, and the two of them share a smile. I really enjoy their budding friendship, and I can't wait for the two of them to gang up on John in the future.

John - A+ acting, Mr. Freeman. A+. John Watson's character had to pull a lot of emotional weight in this episode, and Freeman, despite my doubts about him as a person, is a fantastic actor who pulled off all of these moments excellently. His scene with Mrs. Hudson struck just the right tone. He was clearly still grieving and it was really difficult for him to be in a place surrounded by so many memories of Sherlock. And then the scene in the restaurant, where Sherlock suddenly returns. As I was watching the buildup of this scene, I was a bit skeptical. Really? A drawn on mustache and an accent? This seems too silly to be the great reunion scene we've all been waiting two years for. And then John saw Sherlock. Honestly, his reaction was so intense it was hard for me to watch. He was basically gasping for breath. He couldn't talk properly. He kept making pained sounds in the back of his throat. It was a very understated performance in some ways. I loved the way that Sherlock's face just fell as he realized how much pain John was in. His attempt at a hilarious reappearance was not taken kindly, and he immediately knew it.

As the story continues, John does of course forgive Sherlock, as we would all expect. After the initial scenes with Sherlock, wherein he attacks him in anger on three separate occasions, we see that John has a hard time ignoring his best friend's return from the dead - as he goes to work, he actually thinks one of his patients is Sherlock in disguise. This was another one of those rare moments in the episode that didn't work for me. It was just a bit too wacky and a bit too out of the tone. Freeman's acting was funny, but I got pulled out of the moment. Then there's the scene in the train car. I'm going to talk about this more when I discuss Sherlock, but again the acting was great. When John thought he was really going to die, he managed to give Sherlock one last gift - the gift of his forgiveness. I also liked his reaction once he realized that it was all a trick. There was a certain camaraderie expressed here - like, John was obviously furious at Sherlock, but he also makes Sherlock promise to never tell anyone, and Sherlock says he won't, and it was like they were sharing a joke between the two of them like in the old days. I had some issues with the train car scene, which I will address in a moment, but I also think it was the cementing scene that got John and Sherlock back to being friends again. The very last scene with John was also very telling... I loved the conversation wherein John tells Sherlock that he talked to his grave, and asked him "to stop being dead." Sherlock's response is "I heard you." To me, that is the sweetest thing. And then they both go out there together to face the reporters, and they are once more Sherlock Holmes and his blogger John Watson.

Sherlock - Okay, Mr. Holmes. Saved you for last. First of all, Sherlock Holmes has changed in the last two years. Like, quite a bit. I'm very happy about it. Sherlock Holmes needed to change. He needed to develop, because if he had been the same stone cold bastard as he has been in the past two series, there would be no growth for the show. I would have kept coming back to watch more, because I'm a die-hard fan. But in terms of objective quality, the show would suffer from repetitiveness. Now, we have a slightly more expressive, slightly more relaxed Sherlock Holmes, who is still just as cruel on occasion, just as ignorant about human nature, but also more obviously trying to understand, and more obviously attempting to make things right between him and his friends.

As I've already mentioned when talking about Mycroft, Sherlock's scenes with his brother were golden. When he talks about making friends, and how he wondered if Mycroft had made a friend since he'd been away for two years, I started wondering how much truth there is to that - despite their animosity, Sherlock is one of the only people Mycroft can really connect to at all. I also adored the conversation about Les Mis that Sherlock and Mycroft had on the phone. That was hilarious.

In relation to Mary, I just loved all the hints of future friendships between the two of them, as I already mentioned. As I also already mentioned, his hug with Lestrade was adorable, as was his kind treatment of Molly. I think his behavior around these characters is proof that he does understand - or wants to understand humanity a little better. He indulges Lestrade's hugs, gives Molly a day solving crimes with him as a thank you, and even allows Anderson to sob out his apologies through a very awkward hug. But then there's John.

I honestly think that Sherlock just expected to jump right back into John's life like nothing had happened, and when that didn't work out, it really took him for a loop. I loved the scene in the restaurant because we saw Sherlock being so silly and outrageous and then realizing quite quickly that he'd made a mistake. I loved the moment in the cafe where he starts to explain how he faked his death, and then when John tells him he's being an idiot he just says "what?" and looks so genuinely confused. He wants things to be right with John and he doesn't know how to make it so. I think Sherlock genuinely believed for a while that John wasn't going to forgive him, and he was going to have to go on with his life without John by his side. Think about it - he tells Mrs. Hudson that John made his position quite clear ("ffff - cough"), and he tells Lestrade that John is out of the picture. He even tries out a new sidekick in Molly. While working with Molly, he hears John's voice in his head, which highlights the fact that John is important to him, and that he's going to have a very difficult time moving on and working without him. All of this is why I think that John's near-death in this episode is so important...

The bonfire scene is getting its own freakin' paragraph, okay? It was amazing. So first of all, Mary is awesome, because she went to Sherlock when she knew John was in trouble. She figured out the code all on her own, which was cool because it proved that she's quite smart, but the smartest thing she did was go straight to Sherlock, since she acknowledges that he's smarter than she is, and that he is her best chance to save John. The riding on the motorcycle thing was really hot, and I just couldn't stop squealing over these two working as a team. The texts that kept coming in were really menacing. I'm excited about this new villain. Going straight after John makes me think that whatever this guy wants, it's a lot more straightforward and greedy than Moriarty's maniacal obsession with Sherlock. This guy is toying with Sherlock, but he's not messing around like Moriarty was. He goes straight for the kill, and that makes me very excited to see what will happen next.

But anyway... we've got these texts coming in, and we keep cutting to clips of John caught in the pile of wood, and then the torch, the tension is building... and then Sherlock Holmes says, his voice low and terrified - "Oh my God!" And then we've got him running through the crowd, shouting "Move! Move! John!" And he's actually freakin' diving into a giant burning structure and pulling John out of it. And then there's genuine face cupping, and Sherlock is saying "John," over and over, panic lacing every word. Does this sound like a fanfiction to anybody else? Seriously, I kept rewinding it to watch the scene over and over again. And beyond just the amazingness and bromance of it all, I think this scene was really important for Sherlock as a character. See, it's not like we all didn't know that John was important to Sherlock before this. That's one of the things this show is about, after all. There's plenty of evidence in the first two series to show that Sherlock cares deeply for John. But, if you think about it, in all of those other instances John was not only important to Sherlock personally - he was also useful to him. I'm not saying that Sherlock was using John and that's it, but that was certainly an element to their relationship. John was helpful to him. John was an ego boost, he was friendly, he was useful to Sherlock because he wanted to stick around and be Sherlock's friend, and Sherlock needed that. But here... well, as I mentioned before, Sherlock seemed convinced that John might not forgive him. And yet even though their partnership was effectively over, and even though Sherlock had no reason to believe John would ever be a part of his life again, he still dove into a burning pile of wood to save him, and he did it because he cares for John and couldn't bear the thought of him being dead. It was a beautiful thing.

This theme of Sherlock caring for John is continued in the next scene, where we get to meet the Holmes parents, played by Cumberbatch's real-life mother and father. When John walks in the door, Sherlock seems so pleased and surprised to see him, which I think again highlights the fact that he didn't expect John's forgiveness. Sherlock ushers his parents quickly out of the room, and then John and Sherlock talk about the case. Firstly, though, John discovers that Sherlock's parents also knew he wasn't dead. Sherlock here gives his most sincere apology of the episode, and we see that he is truly chagrined by the pain he's caused his friend. And then... it's off to the missing train car to stop the terrorists from blowing up parliament! Just like old times again, the two of them get themselves into a crazy situation. It's the details that really made this part for me - in particular, there's this moment where Sherlock sweeps out of 221B to continue solving the case, and John just sits there for a moment, and then says "oh, right," and jumps up to follow. Sherlock didn't even wait for him, feeling comfortable that John would be by his side. There's this sort of tension in the moment, as we see John relearning how to be Sherlock Holmes' partner.

And then we've got the train scene. I've got to say, there was really only one major weakness in the entire episode for me, and it came in this scene. So, the train car is a giant bomb, and Sherlock pretends not to be able to defuse it. He apologizes to John and begs for his forgiveness, and John tearfully complies. Just as John thinks he's about to die, he hears Sherlock laughing, and we then learn that Sherlock did in fact find the off switch on the bomb, and he was merely tricking John in order to get forgiveness from him. Cumberbatch actually over-acted his fake panic a bit, which feels very odd to type, considering his ordinarily superb subtlety. And after the earlier growth of Sherlock's character and his sincere apologies to John, this type of duplicity seemed rather cruel. Now, I don't think the fact that the freak-out was fake in any way negates the sentiment of what Sherlock was saying. Yes, he was hamming it up a bit, but I think he really did mean it when he apologized, and that he really was relieved when John forgave him. That being said... the part that really bothered me was that he had indeed called the police. Why would he hide that from John? What was the purpose of that? If I were John in that scenario, I'd feel a bit more pissed off. After an entire episode where we see Sherlock learn that he's behaved badly and try to make amends, this last trick seemed out of place, in that it involved him participating in such a large deception once more.

This is also why I hope that the scenario Sherlock shared with crazy Anderson isn't the real answer of how he survived. If that's so, it rather belittles most of what we see in The Reichenbach Fall. I'm cool with Sherlock being ten steps ahead of Moriarty, but what I'm less cool with is the idea that Sherlock was lying to John for such an extended period of time. Also, think about the scene on the roof in The Reichenbach Fall. Sherlock looks really panicked about Moriarty's death, and he's totally alone for that moment. Also, how could he have known when John was going to show up in the taxi anyway, in order to arrange where he was standing? I won't go into all of that with you... regardless, I don't think what Sherlock told Anderson was the full story, mostly because of the part where Mycroft was in on it the whole time. The idea that even him talking to Moriarty and letting some details slip was part of the plan really doesn't work for me. It diminishes everything that happens in the last episode of Series Two. None of Sherlock's panic or fear or frustration is genuine if we go with this interpretation. I simply don't think it's true. Wow. Sorry. I promised myself I wasn't going to get into all my crazy theories.

Whew. Not sure if this is my longest review to date, but it's probably close. In closing, my reaction to this episode was overwhelmingly positive. Of course I had problems with it, but it would have been nigh impossible not to. When you wait for something for two years, it's really hard for that thing to live up to the hype. Sherlock managed to do so.

8.5/10