Sherlock S4 (2017) Review

 

Sherlock S4 (2017)

Sherlock S4 once again follows Holmes and Watson as they try to figure out the truth behind Moriarty’s return and the appearance of a sister Sherlock never knew he had.

Season 4 of Sherlock is by far the darkest season in the show’s nearly decade long run. The season tackles a lot of tough subject matter, such as Sherlock’s drug abuse, the death of John’s wife Mary (not long after becoming a mother), as well as the revelation that Sherlock and Mycroft have an evil, psychopath of a sister named Eurus, who takes the form of several characters throughout the season. 

Gone is the sarcastic wittiness and fun cases of previous seasons, and in is an extremely dark and rather depressing 3 episode arc that sees our characters at their very lowest. And while Moriarty does make his long awaited return, he is still dead and only shows up again through flashbacks and pre-recorded messages. Much of the season slowly builds to the revelation that Eurus is alive & real, but I loved getting backstory on the Holmes children and their motivations, getting a particularly nice focus on Eurus. Coming off the tail end of the Christmas special, we saw this string of episodes borrow a lot from that movie, carrying a much darker tone and feel, as well as a lack of the fast-talking, deductive exposition dumps which made the show so interesting before.

We also get a litany of new and returning cast members including Mark Gatiss, Amanda Abbington, Toby Jones, Martin Freeman, and Benedict Cumberbatch. But the real star of this season was really Sian Brooke, who played Eurus, as well as John’s therapist, a client of Sherlock’s, and even a woman who John cheats on Mary with. She easily transitioned from role to role, always seeming different and more calculated as she went along, finally capsulating in the deeply disturbed Eurus. Cumberbatch also really gets to test his limits here, showing just how deep he can get in the head of a high functioning sociopath such as Sherlock.

If season 4 is the final season, they wrapped it up fittingly with a dark story and heart-pounding familial connection for Holmes & Watson.

7.7/10