It’s hard to believe that in the space of less than two weeks, the third season Sherlock has come and gone. I mean, all that waiting, for just three episodes? It’s absurd. That said, the standard of the episodes is what matters, not the amount, right? Right. So with the near-perfect 1-2 punch of ‘The Empty Hearse’ and ‘The Sign of Three’, can Mark Gatiss and Stephen Moffat go for the knock-out with ‘The Last Vow’ and give us something to tide us over however long it takes for season 4 to happen? There’s certainly some questions to be answered, about both Watson and Holmes – and some serious standards to live up to. So, does it do the show justice and give us a good send off? Well, read on. Answering now would eliminate the point of the review. Duh.
The first thing to note about this episode is that it is decidedly darker in tone than the previous two. The opening sees John Watson going into a drug den, alone, to retrieve a neighbours son. He finds Sherlock in said drug den while he’s at it, too. Things are a little bit different from what we’ve seen thus far, and it definitely feels it. Of course, the chemistry on screen is as on point between Freeman and Cumberbatch as ever, but the axis has shifted slightly. Sherlock has been working independently of Watson for a month as of us seeing them, and the separation has had it’s effects on both of them. John is hungry for danger, willing to throw himself into a squat filled with junkies at a moments notice, and Sherlock is, well, a drug addict, though he maintains it’s ‘for a case’. As I say, it’s darker, but it provides us with good character development, and a touch of fore-shadowing. One of Sherlock’s biggest strengths as a show is that it’s characters are constantly developing, and not in a contrived manner. They are living their lives, and they are changing and fluctuating as anyone would, but much like anyone would, they are also chained to certain aspects of their character they cannot get away from.
Sherlock and John need each other because John needs danger and Sherlock needs someone to care about or else he ends up selling his furniture for heroine (bringing in this aspect of Sherlock’s personality is a brave move on their part, I might add, bold stuff). It’s really quite touching, but also grim and a touch unsettling.
Once our dynamic duo are reunited, we are introduced to what they are up against. Charles Augustus Magnussen, a business mogul who owns an archive that contains information on everyone of any importance. Sherlock has been enlisted to help alleviate Charles of some important documents he has on a British politician. In doing this, he is also going up against his brother Mycroft Holmes, and the episode takes off from there.
I actually can’t mention any other plot points because from here on in, Holmes and his dear Watson literally take on anyone of great importance to them in one of the most riveting 90 minutes of television I’ve ever seen. Everything is thrown at them, and thus us, as the viewers, in superbly paced fashion as the episode goes through unpredictable turn after unpredictable turn.
People like to rag on Stephen Moffat a lot these days, I don’t really know why, I choose not to humour them, but they seem to enjoy it.
This is one instance where he is one step ahead of the viewer in all the right ways. His pacing is quick, but focused, and so very, very clever and thought out. His grip on the characters and who they are, and how they would act in certain situations is startling, and his grasp on story-telling is proven nowhere better than here because he manages to distort, twist and push and pull at the threads of plot, but still keep it cohesive, and still keep it to a point that when it finishes, you’re just sitting there thinking ‘whoa… WAIT, WHAT!?’.
I think the most remarkable part of ‘The Last Vow’, however, is the fact that coming into the last act, I started imagining myself in the cinema watching the episode, and it really worked. The whole presentation had this elevated feeling that it was more than just a tv show, that it was a blockbuster film. And why shouldn’t it? I mean, Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are off making the biggest movies in Hollywood in between making Sherlock, so why shouldn’t it feel like a film?
Well, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t, but it’s so impressive to see a show really excel beyond itself like that. Not like Doctor Who’s 50 anniversary (which was absolutely momentous, don’t get me wrong) which was put on the big screen for greater celebratory effect – this is a show that has naturally evolved to the point where it almost SHOULD be on the big screen. The performances and overall production have become so tight that the television feels like it should be the after-thought, the second chance viewing.
To answer my previous question: Does this episode do the show justice and give us a good send-off? The answer is yes. 100% yes. Not only that, but I would argue that what we have just seen is one of the best seasons of a television series yet made. Beginning to end, this has been a tour de force in building anticipation and answering it. The character development has been on point, with Amanda Abbington in a STUNNING turn as Mary Morstan being the absolute highlight (though Martin Freeman in this last episode gave her a run for her money), the story-telling riveting, and the overall presentation just, well, elementary. This is as good as television gets if you’re into your entertainment a touch quirky, and a bit outlandish. The wait for season 4 is going to be a long one, no matter how long it takes.
