The BBC’sSherlockended eight years ago, and looking back, some key changes to seasons 3 and 4 could have saved the show. Sherlock Holmes continues to be one of the most popular and beloved literary characters, and adapting the character and his cases to other media is almost always guarded to succeed.
Among the most recent and successful adaptations of the Great Detective is the BBC’sSherlock, which brought the characters to modern-day London. Created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss,Sherlockadapted and mixed some of the stories from the books and adapted them to modern technology, social issues, and more.
Sherlockpremiered on BBC One in 2010 and had a strong start with its first two seasons – however, the show peaked too soon with season 2’s finale.Sherlock’s quality decreased dramatically in its final two seasons, but if there was a chance to rewrite them, there are some things that should have happened to save the show.
Sherlock Season 3 Should Have Opened With How Holmes Faked His Death
Sherlock Never Solved Its Biggest Mystery
Season 2 ofSherlockended with “The Reichenbach Fall”, which saw the final confrontation between Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Moriarty (Andrew Scott). In it, after Moriarty did everything he could to destroy Sherlock’s image, they met on the roof of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. There,Moriarty pushed for Sherlock to kill himself, or he would kill his loved ones.
However, Sherlock realized that there was a way out as long as Moriarty was alive… so the latter shot himself in front of Sherlock.This left Sherlock no other choice than to kill himself too, so he jumped off the roofand made sure John (Martin Freeman) was watching.
Just like in the books, Sherlock faked his death, and so the big question before season 3 arrived was how he did it.
The episode ended with John visiting Sherlock’s grave, only for the show to reveal that Holmes was alive. Just like in the books, Sherlock faked his death, and so the big question before season 3 arrived was how he did it. This unleashed several fan theories, most of them quite impressive, onhow Sherlock faked his death.
However,Sherlockmade its worst decisionfor its season 3 premiere episode. Instead of a respectful nod to all those fan theories and a proper and official explanation of how Holmes faked his death,the show made fun of its audience and their theories. To top it off,Sherlockrefused to give an official explanation, thus never solving its biggest mystery.
Sherlockseason 3 should have started with the real explanationof how Holmes faked his death and then shown his inevitably chaotic reunion with John. IfSherlocktruly wanted to add a nod to its loyal audience, the official explanation could have been based on one or more fan theories, instead of making fun of them and still not solving anything.
Sherlock Season 3 Should Have Made Mary An Ally Without A Secret Past
Sherlock Changed Mary Morstan For The Worse
The first episode ofSherlockseason 3 was chaotic in the worst way: it not only made fun of the show’s fans, avoided explaining how Sherlock faked his death, and saw the messy reunion of Holmes and John, but it also introduced Mary Morstan (Amanda Abbington). During Sherlock’s time away,John met Mary, and they got married in season 3’s second episode.
Mary was revealed to be a former secret agent, and her past came after her in season 4’s first episode.
Unfortunately,Sherlockchanged Maryand gave her a dark, secret past that negatively impacted her marriage and John’s relationship with Sherlock. In season 3’s finale, Mary was revealed to be a former secret agent, and her past came after her in season 4’s first episode. By the time Mary died, her marriage was already crumbling, and not even the birth of her daughter could save it.
Mary and John’s relationship was already weird and felt rushed, and giving her a turbulent past only made it weirder and less believable.Mary should have been an ally and a supportive figure for John and Sherlock, just like she was in the books, and given space for John and Sherlock to reconnect and get back to solving cases together.
Sherlock Season 3 Should Have Established A New Villain
Without Moriarty, Sherlock Was Lost
Although every episode dealt with a different villain, Moriarty’s presence had been teased sinceSherlock’s first episode. As mentioned above, Moriarty’s time inSherlockended with his suicide in season 2’s finale, butSherlockdidn’t establish a new villain.
Post-Moriarty,Sherlockintroduced three notable villains from the books: Moran (Colonel Sebastian Moran in the books), Charles Augustus Magnussen, and Culverton Smith. All of them, but especially Moran, had the potential to become the next big villain inSherlock– unfortunately,the show only used them as one-episode villains. This left the audience with three painfully underdeveloped villains who didn’t return and ultimately became forgettable.
Sherlock Seasons 3 & 4 Should Have Left Moriarty In The Past
There Was No Need To Keep Teasing Moriarty After His Death
Speaking ofSherlock’s lack of a proper villain in its final seasons, instead of investing more in Moran, Magnussen, or Culverton, the show opted not to let go of Moriarty. There was no way Moriarty could be alive after shooting himself – Sherlock saw him die, and so did the audience.
Moriarty kept appearing inSherlockseasons 3 and 4, either in flashbacks, alternative scenarios (like the possible explanations for Holmes’ fake death), or in Holmes’ mind palace, where he haunted the detective about his past trauma. In season 3’s finale, Moriarty was teased to be alive, but this (thankfully) wasn’t true.
Instead of wasting time and space in adding Moriarty to the story at any given chance, the team behindSherlockshould have focused on one villain and developed it.
These teases and random appearances ultimately served no purpose, other than bringing a popular character back that everyone knew was dead. Instead of wasting time and space in adding Moriarty to the story at any given chance, the team behindSherlockshould have focused on one villain and developed it to be the second big bad guy of the show.
“The Abominable Bride” Could Have Happened Differently
Or Not Happened At All
BetweenSherlockseasons 3 and 4, the show released a special (and longer) episode titled “The Abominable Bride.” The episode started with Holmes and John in the 19th century, finally giving the audience the Victorian version of these characters – unfortunately, this wasn’t the real setting.The Victorian setting was actually within Sherlock’s drug-induced mind palace.
With all the above changes, there would have been no need for “The Abominable Bride” to happen.
However, the episode kept revealing it was all like a multi-layered dream within Sherlock’s mind palace, and in the present and the real world, he was on a plane. With all the above changes, there would have been no need for “The Abominable Bride” to happen, but if the writers insisted on doing it, it could have been done differently.
Before “The Abominable Bride”, fans had expressed their interest in seeing Cumberbatch’s Sherlock and Freeman’s Watson in an accurate Victorian setting. The special episode, then, could have been exactly that: a classic Sherlock Holmes story in a time-accurate setting and place, and with no ties to the show.
Sherlock Season 4 Should Have Killed Mary Off-Screen
The first episode ofSherlockseason 4 went deeper into Mary’s past, bringing back an enemy who tried to kill Sherlock. Mary, in a moment of heroism and redemption, jumped to take the bullet and died in John’s arms. However,Mary left a series of video messages for John and Sherlock, so it wasn’t the last time the audience saw her.
Mary’s death inSherlockshould have happened off-screen and been unrelated to Holmes and Watson, so it wouldn’t cause further trouble and distance between them.
Mary also died in the books, but it’s unknown when and how, as she was suddenly referred to as having died.Mary’s death inSherlockshould have happened off-screen and been unrelated to Holmes and Watson, so it wouldn’t cause further trouble and distance between them.If she had been an ally, her death would have brought them together even more.
This would also have saved the audience from the unnecessary and cringeworthy video messages, which felt out of place, were not believable, and were too cheesy for a show likeSherlock. Basically, everything about Mary Morstan was handled terribly inSherlock.
Sherlock Season 4 Should Have Never Introduced Eurus Holmes
Sherlock’s Biggest Mistake Was Eurus Holmes
Sherlockseasons 3 and 4 did many things wrong, but even if all of the above couldn’t be rewritten and fixed,there’s one thing I would really like to change: Eurus Holmes(Sian Brooke). At the end of the second episode of season 4, the secret third Holmes sibling, Eurus, was revealed to have been hiding in plain sight the whole time.
Even worse, Eurus was too close to Sherlock and John, but mostly the latter, as she had been posing as his therapist. This made Eurus the big villain ofSherlock’s final episode, which was by far the show’s most disastrous episode.
Eurus wasthe most intelligent Holmes sibling, but she was also a criminal mastermind. Eurus arranged to kidnap Sherlock, John, and Mycroft (Mark Gatiss) and subjected them to different tests. In the end, Sherlock was able to break Eurus and save everyone.
HadSherlockproperly established a new villain in season 3, Eurus Holmes would never have happened.
Eurus’ plan was too messy and unbelievable, as was her presence in general, as prior to the final two episodes, she had never been mentioned or teased. HadSherlockproperly established a new villain in season 3, Eurus Holmes would never have happened (yes, I’m shutting down all possibility of her being that villain because a third sibling was unnecessary).
Without Eurus,Sherlockcould have had a much better final episodethat gave Holmes and John a well-written, suspenseful case, a compelling villain, and a story that wouldn’t disrespect any of the show’s main characters. Nothing can be done now to fixSherlock’s final seasons, but one can still dream.
