'Sherlock' Season Four Review

Hello, fellow moviegoers!
   Today, I’m not talking about a movie, though, but rather television. In particular, I wanted to talk about season four of the hit BBC show Sherlock. For those of you who don’t know, Sherlock stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Andrew Scott, and Amanda Abbington. The show is a modern telling of Sherlock Holmes and many of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic stories. Personally, I loved the first two seasons and thought the third was pretty good. So how does this fourth one hold up?

​   I enjoyed season four of Sherlock, but it’s probably my least favorite so far. Frequently, it is the fun, witty show that made audiences fall in love with it in the first place, but at other points, it can be a little boring. However, I don’t think this has any overall negative effects on the show. All of the issues (except for one) that I have with this season are easily fixed, and if they ever make a fifth, it could easily be much better.
   One thing stood out to me a lot when watching this season, particularly in the first episode. That is, at times it feels like the show’s immense popularity has gone to their heads. The first half-hour of the first episode feels like they not-so-subtly saying “Hey, you remember that show you love? Well, here it is! Isn’t that exciting?! Look! He’s even solving cases and everything! You know you missed this.” It almost became cheesy at some points, and it was really distracting. It’s almost as if they were so committed to making their audience enjoy it, that they forgot to actually make a good show. That issue becomes less apparent as the episode goes on, but it definitely started the season off on the wrong foot.
    The best episode this season was definitely the second one. The first episode was okay, and I’ll come back to the finale, but the second episode really reminded me of why I love this show. Although, it wasn’t a forced reminder like in episode one; it reminded me by just telling a good story and letting the show breathe and be what it is. It felt much more natural, and it was certainly much more entertaining than the first episode. I don’t think episode two will go down as one of the best or most memorable Sherlock episodes, but it was definitely the best of this decent season.
   The next paragraph of this review will have spoilers from the previous seasons of Sherlock, and this one. I’m assuming most of the people who are reading this watched this season but just in case. If you don’t want any spoilers, just skip over this next paragraph.

SPOILER ALERT
   As I mentioned above, there is one issue that I have with this show that I’m not sure can be fixed. That is the lack of Moriarty. Andrew Scott as Jim Moriarty was arguably the best thing about the first two seasons of Sherlock. Then they killed him off. He was missing in season three and, as a result, it wasn’t as good. When they teased his return in season four, I have to admit, I was excited. I knew it would be a little annoying that they brought him back from the dead in the first place, but he was such a great character that I didn’t care very much. Then they didn’t. He’s still dead. This season has a bigger Moriarty-shaped hole in it than the last one, even though he is in the third episode. I think to bring him back in flashbacks and prerecorded messages actually made the problem worse than it was. I got really excited when it looked like they were bringing him back, then it said “Five Years Ago”, and I was really let down.

   Overall, season four of Sherlock was still decently enjoyable, but it’s not nearly as great as the show has been in the past. Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman were as great as ever, and the second episode was great, this season just fails to match the level of its predecessors. I still thought it was pretty good, but I can’t help but be a little disappointed. At times, it feels like the show’s fame has gone to its head, and it doesn’t feel like the same show as it was. If you’re Sherlock fan, I would still recommend watching this season, but if you’ve never seen it, this won’t be the season to make you love it.

7/10

​   So what did you think of season four of Sherlock? Do you prefer Benedict Cumberbatch’s or Robert Downey Jr’s take on the character? Let me know by commenting on this post! Also, if you enjoyed this review, share it on Facebook and Twitter! It really helps! Don’t forget, I post every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, so check back then for more reviews and miscellaneous movie thoughts!
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