T E L E V I S I O N / Sherlock 303 His Last Vow Review

Who would have thought that twelve days would make such a difference?

Less than two weeks and BBC Sherlock is out of my life once again. Whether it's for another torturous two years or for just a year, the episodes have come and gone as episodes do and I'm still in awe and excited for series 4 to come! And just like every other televised series, it's critical to pay attention to the finale, where everything gets wrapped up, moved on and teased for next time. In a way, the finale is the pilot for the next series. It asks you while you're watching the credits roll, how badly do you want to see what comes next? So, let's look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of Sherlock's finale, "His Last Vow."

The Good 

The overall arc of the entire series from one on has presented what I consider to be beautiful evolution and development of its characters that I have seen so far. Sherlock in the first two series have made critical decisions out of logic. Series one, he took the flash drive in order to learn and find out more about Moriarty, a man who fascinates him and challenges him. Psychologically, intrigued, he risks his life--of course, it does not appear that way to him. The end of series two, he makes the decision to jump not only to protect John and Mrs. Hudson, but from what we learn in the beginning of the third series, to infiltrate the elaborate web that Moriarty has created. This too is methodical, even to the point where he plans his own escape with the aid of Mycroft. However, just as this series presented a more engaging and humanistic Sherlock, his final decision in the finale, to kill Magnussen was not how to logic, it wasn't even something he properly planned beforehand. "His Last Vow" as the title suggests is Sherlock's vow and promise he made in "Sign of Three" to always protect John and Mary. A promise is, though, not rational at all. It's essentially driven by emotion. Sherlock killed Magnussen, not out of reason but out of compassion and emotion. Obviously, John's influence on the detective's life is poignant in that now Sherlock is acting irrationally and that's a particularly large milestone.

Of course, the biggest reveal in the finale is the truth about Mary and the secrets of her life before. However, the best part of this was the dynamic between Mary and John, specifically the one where they actually talk about what she had given to him. Not only does John throw away the flash drive filled with Mary's past, but he tells her its his privilege to address the future with her. I'm aware of Moffat's inability to write scenes that involve women very well, but this moment, I could carve it into my gravestone. John's love for Mary overcomes his desire to know her past, especially one she is trying to run away from. Not only is this done out of love but his understanding. The first series basically outlined John's own desire and acceptance of coming to terms with his own past of fighting in the war and all the trauma that has caused. Now, he passes on that same lesson to his relationship and future with Mary and that speaks wonders.

The Bad 

So with all those good things said, the show itself did have a few problems. One predominant issue that was highlighted in this episode was one that was brought from the very beginning of the series: time. We are not shown John's deterioration and later revival with Mary within the span of the two years that Sherlock has been gone. I understand that showing two years worth of scenes is not possible, but it could have been snapshots, short but strategic flashbacks to show how far John has come. Similarly, we're told in this episode that it has been both a month since the wedding and a month since John has spoken to Mary. None of this has the emotional impact that its supposed to stir. Sherlock's gone mysteriously for a month and yet he still remains at Baker Street from what we know with Janine. And yet, John never drops by? Never sees him? And in that month span, he deteriorates again? Just telling the audience this doesn't give the necessary depth that it implies. The writers also tell us that it has been a month of silence between John and Mary. However, a lot of things are not addressed with this seemingly small comment. Does John move back in with Sherlock? Does John stay with Mary? Obviously a yes to one or the other offers more problems that seems to be resolved so calmly in that brief scene. At least throw a scene of John storming out or something? A scene that offers more of John's anger because the one at 221B sure didn't.

Continuing with this show and don't tell problem: the finale shows Sherlock in the hospital. Though it was rather pleasant to see the hard work that Star Trek did on Benedict's body, there wasn't anything besides that. We don't see Mary with John in the hospital room, Sherlock's evasion to answering the police's questioning who shot him, etc. It was wrapped up to simply with such a dramatic series of hallucinations before it. Naturally, there was a lot of drama leading to his flat line but none to balance it out with equal drama with Sherlock's recovery. It could have been better to see or hear Sherlock analyzing Mary while she was there with the text of Sherlock's thoughts. It would have been more effective with the necessary tension.

The Ugly 

Unlike Moriarty, Magnussen was introduced to us as this big, bad villain who is capable of manipulating people through blackmail. I honestly thought CAM was supposed to be a master criminal. However, all we got was a very feared man who used his photographic memory to his advantage. Besides knowing Mary's secret, Magnussen was a poorly fleshed out character, perhaps it would have been better if we saw him over the span of the three episodes rather than tease it in the first episode and then dedicate the finale to him. Though he was considerably well written as a slimy and creepy character (F A C E  L I C K I N G), he was over-hyped as the villain.

THAT ENDING! Though I was screaming at the return of Moriarty, it made me question whether it was really him. If it really was, the equal resurrection of such a character nulls the fall of the second series. All the surprise and the impact of Moriarty so casually accepting death as if it was nothing than breathing becomes dulled if he does return. Hopefully, knowing that his reappearance was computer generated as well as the voice offers a greater hope of Moriarty's main lieutenant, trying to shake the world awake. Because if not, series 4 will be a great and terrible disappointment from the get-go.

With all this said, I am still excited for the series to return and see where it heads and maybe, I'll be proven wrong.





What did you think of the finale and the series' return? Agree or disagree with me?