One of the things that drew me to the show initially was that the writers seemed to have thought of everything in the first two seasons. I didn't feel the need to question any part of those stories, the characters' behavior, or any other aspect. The characters were developed with continuity, the stories didn't have any loose ends, and there was a fluidity and balance between the plot and the special effects used. These two new episodes are not as good in quality. I found some of Sherlock's behavior odd - rather at odds compared to where the previous two seasons left us. The ratio of plot to special effects is different. There's less wittiness but more chemistry between characters. I had to watch and re-watch the first two seasons a few times to catch everything in them, similar to Arrested Development and jokes. This season requires less attention. Elementary has nothing to do with it - I think the writers just had less time to work on the show and consequently released something of lower quality. Mind you, lower quality doesn't mean bad quality - it's still an excellent show, but it is definitely different.
Completely agree ... again. This reminds me of Dexter. Seasons 1-4 were great, but 5-8 was watered down to the point of it being an average show. I did notice these are completely new producers, so I am not sure if that played a difference. I don't have high hopes for episode 3, so hopefully season 4 will return back to season 1 and 2 quality.
The first two episodes are pretty decent. They don't live up to some of the others, but are right there with the Baskerville and Museum episodes I think. Either way, it's still better than most things on TV and I'm glad the show is back. It does stink that it's only three episodes. I do hope the third is the best of this season.
Hopefully. I hope they show the real death-fake and how important Molly was (as you mentioned). Another oddity of this season: we don't have any information on the man that tried to burn Watson.
I think this was intentional character building from the writers. Pretty sure there is going to be some collateral damage in Episode 3.
Last episode of season 3 just aired. And boy oh boy. Spoiler This episode had me on tenterhooks. It was so nice to see Molly slap Sherlock THRICE! The stuff about Mary, Magnussen (who actually sent Mary a telegram that Sherlock read out!) I went back and rewatched it and yes, Mary did look shocked when Sherlock read Magnussen's telegram. And Moriaty making an appearance in Sherlock's deepest, darkest place, the insane asylum of his mind palace. Wow. Just everything about this episode was just wow. I had anticipated that Magnussen's palace wasn't real though, it was absurd that a man with such power and carefulness would print all of his things out and have to physically go to remind himself of facts. Wasn't expecting Sherlock to kill him outright though.
F that! Severely spoiled; don't click unless you want to be disappointed before watching. Spoiler I really enjoyed it, but man was it almost totally predictable. Muddled thoughts: - Of course there's no documents. Didn't understand why Sherlock kept underestimating Magnussen - that is certainly uncharacteristic of him, I mean checking his glasses? And even then not anticipating no hard evidence in the vault? I bet that's something we are supposed to pick up on. It'll be part of their wrap up next year. - Everyone in this is show is a high functioning sociopath or psychopath. what? acceptable I guess, since they all have very abnormal lives - Drama that was not needed. Of course Sherlock's not dying. Bah. Even the plane turning around from the 6 month Europe assignment/inevitable death sentence was crap. I posted on page 9 in this thread that the true/new Moriarty would remain a story line. They didn't resolve Sherlock's fake death - clearly they were going to return to the whole Moriarty thing especially because he went down so quickly. - Still, setting it up for Sherlock to just kill Magnussen and planting the idea of that possibility by reminding us of Moriarty in the strait jacket in the mind palace? Odd. The things I didn't see coming: Magnussen's personal assistant and Mary Morsten. To be fair, it was tough to realize why Sherlock was dating this girl after so many other uncharacteristic moments through the series (uncharacteristic compared to series 1 and 2 that is). What I liked: 1) The first episode of the series was totally uncharacteristic of the previous 2 series; while I thought it was an anomaly in the production and it shook my faith in the show, it turns out to have been a conscious effort! The point of this season is to show the darker side of all of them including John. I like the overall mind game they're playing with us. I'm satisfied with season 3. 2) still good acting, interesting story 3) keeping up the connections to previous episodes: the telegram as brantonli24 said above 4) Having said all that and as good as the episodes were, I still don't feel the need to go back and watch this series 5+ times like I have the previous seasons. Maybe I've just gotten a lot of practice at reading the episodes and figuring out what dialogue/tidbits I need to remember through the episode.
This was a much better episode than the previous two. The previous two felt boring with too much filler. I don't feel like I missed very many details on the previous episodes compared to this one. I will agree it was a bit predictive.
A little predictive, but still a great episode. Geez, I love this show! Now the ridiculous wait until the next season.
so they never mentioned how sherlock faked his death. kinda rude. maybe they are waiting to he reacquaints himself with Moriarty.
This season was awesome. You guys are saying predictive but they are doing major throwbacks to the original stories. The first seasons had basically new stories with variations on the old names, this season had incredible versions of the original stories in current times. Spoiler To people saying it was predictable that the records weren't in the safe, the entire point was Charles Augustus Magnussen replaced Moriarty as Sherlock himself said Charles Augustus Magnussen was the most dangerous person they had yet encountered. Sherlock had to sacrifice himself to defeat (kill) him. Then the show ended Just like Doyle did after The Final Problem. But just like Doyle, Sherlock was instantly brought back like nothing ever happened because the story must go on.
I thought the whole season was great. Episode 1 was really good. It got me back in the mindset of watching this show. Episode 2 is my favorite of this season, right now. I thought it was great to see Sherlock go through all of those emotions. It's a side we never really see. From being completely shaken during the speech, to being utterly confused when he realized what was going on, to being truly happy about the Sign of Three. I thought it was fantastic. Episode 3 was great as well. About 2/3 through the episode, I did have a feeling it was going to end that way, but I'm fine with that. It's not really about being unpredictable to me. I just enjoy the ride.
what's up with the "watch to the end of the credits?" does that scene have anything to do with Sherlock, or is that a preview of a different BBC show?
Probably this episode was the most similar to the earlier seasons, but some parts did feel predictable. I will have to rewatch with subtitles, because most dialogue almost dials down to mumbling the wittier it gets. And way too much mind palace this season.
Spoiler the sequence after Sherlock got shot was breathtaking. Some of the best TV/Film packed into that part.
Spoiler I'd be inclined to agree except that I disagree with the whole falling backwards part. If a bullet is lodged inside you, I don't think falling forward would cause it to fall out. Secondly, falling on the back of your head could cause concussive damage or and internal bleeding in the skull. The man is falling into a delirium, or so we're supposed to believe. By all accounts he could have just as easily banged his head against the wall falling backwards while going into shock and passing out. I know TV/Cinema didn't play it out that way but for a show that went into that much depth over which way is the best way to fall, it seemed more dangerous to me falling backwards than forward. By all account he could have cupped his hand over his wound and fell forward instead. The downside is the the camera work for the next scene when Watson finds him wouldn't have looked as good. The camera angle for the following scene when Watson goes to inspect his best friend's wound while on his back instead of his stomach is my reason for him falling backwards. It had nothing to do with the bullet in his chest and more to do with making a good scene.. Secondly, his whole ruse with his girlfriend seemed too one sided considering she could have just as well played him. I mean, the episodes with Irene Adler, Sherlock was playing Irene while at the same time Irene was playing him. All his "girlfriend" got was some Sherlock D in her V. His "girlfriend" could have just as well been an informant for Magnussen and it surprised me the writer's didn't at least go that route for a little bit. Even so much as having Sherlock let himself get played by his "girlfriend" in order to get more information on Magnussen. Granted, she's no Irene Adler, but that's all the more reason why Sherlock's miscalculations seemed so off compared to earlier episodes. By all accounts, we're to assume Sherlock is a hetero leaning asexual from earlier seasons but for the sake of a case that didn't have nearly the complexity of Moriarty, he's willing to give up his virginity? More power to him since virginity is overrated but still, it seemed very un-Sherlock of him to go that route, much less have a kick for opiates. Also, I laughed at Magnussen adding opiates as a weakness of Sherlock's. Opiates are everyone's weakness if you become a regular user. Duh. Still a very good and entertaining series. One of my favorites on TV right now but this season was definitely the weakest of the bunch. What I did like from the whole mind palace thing of Sherlock's when he got shot was the Moriarty bit. Moriarty's dialogue about pain could very well be used to carry over how he somehow survived a bullet to the head and will be the main antagonist again for season 4. I could also see Mycroft using his power to make it seem like Moriarty is alive for the sake of saving his brother, which is also another option the writers could consider for season 4.
Spoiler I think the point Molly made about the gravity working in their favor was enough for me. I doubt he would've been able to pressure the wound well enough if he had fallen foward, and obviously theres no perfect scenario once you've been shot haha. Obviously had to suspend your disbelief there for a bit, personally I found the whole 'not reacting to getting stabbed' issue in ep2 just a bit too far of a jump for me. I WANTED TO BELIEVE. Yeah I really struggled to process that part. John's reaction I think typified every viewer, just couldnt come to terms with it, I'm 70% sure that Moriety is still alive, esp given Mycrofts seemingly genuine reaction to the news he was back. Just sucks the massive breaks between series. Hopefully the Hobbit ends soon haha
