![]() The only hint about the strange cult is a reference to one of Conan Doyle’s stories ( involving five orange pips). To the show’s credit, this plot twist is sort of foreshadowed earlier in the episode but it is initially just presented as the makers of the show taking a modern view of gender politics in the 19th century. Not only that, the culprits of the ghostly murders are bizarrely revealed to be a cult-like group of militant feminists who hang out in an abandoned church. Then it’s revealed that that was a cocaine-induced hallucination by the 19th century version of Sherlock. The entire first half of the episode is revealed to be nothing more than a drug-induced hallucination that 21st century Sherlock had on his flight back to England after the events of series three. I’m not joking here.Ībout halfway in, the episode flashes back between the modern day and the 19th century at random. Holmes has a mystery and he sets about solving it in his usual logical way and then… it all goes to crap. The episode starts out well enough, with gaslit streets, gothic fog-shrouded nights, ominous old buildings, excellent direction, references to the original stories, sardonic dialogue and all of the other things that make Sherlock Holmes so great. Don’t get me wrong, I really like the modern BBC version of Sherlock Holmes – but I also really love the classic stories too. I had hoped that this special episode of Sherlock would be similar to this adaptation. The first televised adaptation of Sherlock Holmes I saw, after I first discovered the great detective about a decade ago, was the old ITV series starring Jeremy Brett. “ Finally“, I thought “ An episode of ‘Sherlock’ that actually looks like Sherlock Holmes!” When I first heard that “Sherlock” was going to return on New Years’ day in an episode set in the 19th century, I was ecstatic. I had really high expectations of it too. One of the first things that I will say is that I was, quite frankly, disappointed by this episode. Months later, Emelia’s ghost has threatened a man called Eustace Carmichael, and his wife has enlisted Sherlock’s help. The episode focuses around Sherlock trying to solve a series of murders that apparently were committed by the ghost of Emelia Ricoletti, a woman who went on a shooting spree in London before shooting herself – then returning from the grave to kill her husband. We then get to see Sherlock and Watson meeting for the first time again, but in the 19th century rather than the 21st. “The Abominable Bride” begins with a re-cap of the first three series of “Sherlock”, before suggesting what may have happened in an alternate timeline instead. Although I should warn you that this review will contain MAJOR PLOT SPOILERS. Well, I’ve just finished watching the New Year’s Day special episode of “Sherlock” and I thought that I’d quickly share some of my thoughts on it.
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