The Lying Detective: Post-Episode Discussion Thread (SPOILERS)

Such a MASSIVE IMPROVEMENT on the mess that was last week. From the outset we understand and know what is happening and what we are meant to focus on, we know who the villain is and what the mystery is about. The narrative is simpler, purposeful and more linear, it has a definitive start and end point and has less over-complicated unnecessary and irrelevant events getting in the way of the main story.

This episode was literally a breath of fresh air, now that Mary is literally just a memory and everything has been reduced back down to the traditional Sherlock/Watson/Mrs Hudson/Molly Hooper dynamic it's like the mess last week never happened. The episode is definitely more unified and cohesive. But this is what I want Sherlock to be always. It can be funny and emotional and full of action yes. But I want to see how dark the show can go, how twisted the villains can get. Culverton's monologue at the hospital surrounded by children is one of the most tantalising and tense scenes I have ever seen on the show. Hearing him talking about murder so openly surrounded by children while popping the head of a barbie doll off as the rumbling music in the background slowly gets louder... It was perfect, incredible.

I did have a minor heart attack that brief second where Mary seemed to have been resurrected but I can deal with her being a figment of Jon's mind for a while. In fact I think largely the reason why this episode works so well is because Mary is now in the background, only observing and helping when she needs to.

One minor thing I didn't really like is how in some ways the character of Culverton and his story as a serial killer was sort of wasted and was really only used as a way to unite Jon and Sherlock back together again (as Mary said, the only way to save Jon is for Jon to save Sherlock. So Culverton was really just a case Sherlock targeted in order to reconcile and get closer to Jon once more). I mean when you reduce it down, however creepy and well developed Toby Jones' character was, he was nothing more than a serial killer that Sherlock used to make amends with Jon while also being able to catch Culverton out and get a confession along the way. Culverton's case was really just a way to bring the character's back together, his confession and his case being solved was just a secondary effect. Culverton's case and back story seemed to be a little rushed, his character open and closed quicker than I really wanted it to.

That being said, this episode was excellent. Toby Jones is such an excellent actor and he played the mind of a dark and twisted serial killer perfectly. What I really like about this story and this episode is how psychological the narrative is and how the story is layered to show us how fragile the human mind can be. We see the effects and repercussions of Sherlock's paranoid drug addled mind, dampening his senses and his genius capabilities, his addiction being a symptom of his guilt for Mary and his separation from Jon. We see Jon's frail mental state after losing Mary and becoming a single father, represented by Mary being a constant figment of his imagination, always looking over his shoulder. We see Culverton's twisted and unhinged mind. The episode also shows what happens when the line between what is true and what is false and what is reality and what is fantasy becomes blurred. When what we perceive to be reality is just an illusion.

I am so happy Jon and Sherlock are back together again. I nearly cried when they hugged and Jon was in tears. Although I complained about Culverton's case being not much more than a bridge to reunite Sherlock and Jon, it tied up everything from last episode seamlessly and was perfectly balanced in terms of character driven and mystery driven content. Where last week's episode failed the most was that it was dominated by character development. Character development is obviously important but last episode the character's drove the narrative forward more than the actual case did. Whereas it is completely different in this episode, until the very last few moments it is the mystery and the antagonist that drive the plot forward. And then at the end it is the character's themselves, their developing stories, their behaviours, their relationships that ultimately solve the case. That's the way it should be.

This episode gave us sufficient mystery solving that drove us all the way to what may have been Sherlocks end, and at that point gave us the character development we needed that inevitably solved the case.

As for the twist at the end, I'm still getting my head around it. I definitely didn't expect Sherrinford to even exist, let alone be behind both Jon's affair and Sherlock's figurative date night. Obviously Jon is not dead, and where the hell is Moriarty? I'm not sure if the message Sherrinford left for Sherlock is in reference to him missing his very distant sister or a reference to her connection with Moriarty himself but for god sake where is Moriarty? He needs to make an appearance next week.

Other than that, this episode of Sherlock is everything I wanted and everything I needed. The show has redeemed itself from last week and Sherlock is definitely back on track.

/r/Sherlock Thread