Sherlock - The Final Problem

There's no crime for Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Dr. Watson (Martin Freeman) to solve in the Fourth Series finale. Instead the detective, his trusted partner, and brother Mycroft (Mark Gatiss) are pitted against the Holmes boys' sister Eurus (Sian Brooke) who has managed to take control of her isolated prison and turn it into a house of riddles for her brothers. The episode also offers a return (of sorts) of Jim Moriarty (Andrew Scott). It's interesting television to be sure, but its also noticeably the furthest the show has strayed from Sir Arthur Conan Doyles' original stories and characters.

While the stakes seem high at times, such as when Eurus attempts to get her captive playthings to kill each other, there's never any real suspense that Sherlock, Mycroft, or John are ever in any real danger. The structure of the episode is also strange, resolving itself in the Holmes' family plot as Eurus relocates her captives when they refuse to play her game correctly. The inter-cut plotline of crashing airplane and Sherlock's lost memories are eventually wrapped-up as well, but for a finale it strays so far from the basics of the show that it feels more like an interlude than a true final chapter.