Tom Beasley reviews the bizarre, inventive return of Sherlock to television screens, with The Abominable Bride. There are, of course, SPOILERS AHEAD…
Well, Sherlock is definitely back. Whatever your thoughts on ‘The Abominable Bride’, it would certainly be wrong to accuse co-creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss of phoning it in. The episode, which passed by in a flurry of fast-paced writing and kinetic direction, didn’t always work, but entertained enough when it did that the flaws soon disappeared into the background. This was joyous television with a playful sense of humour, whether it made total sense or not.
The plot, for as much as there was one, catapulted Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) and John Watson (Martin Freeman) back into the Victorian setting of Arthur Conan Doyle’s original Holmes novels. Holmes was tasked with solving his toughest case to date, with a bride apparently returning as a vengeful ghost after her own suicide to murder a string of men beginning with her husband. This setting, however, would prove to simply be an extension of Holmes’ mind palace, to which he had retreated after taking a cocktail of drugs on the jet he was left upon at the end of the third season. The layers of his fantasy allowed Holmes to reunite with Moriarty (Andrew Scott) to uncover how the criminal mastermind survived blowing his own brains out.
‘The Abominable Bride’ certainly wasn’t a suitable entry point for Sherlock newbies. It invited the audience to strap themselves in tightly and try to hold on for as long as possible. By the time the Victorian reality collapsed into an Inception-esque cavalcade of dreams within dreams, it was a case of simply allowing the ride to rattle onwards. Fortunately for all involved, there were 90 minutes of tremendous entertainment lurking in amongst the criss-crossing machinations of the narrative.
All involved with ‘The Abominable Bride’ clearly had an absolute ball in embracing the Victorian roots of the Sherlock Holmes story. Catchphrases and sly literary nods were fired off with reckless abandon, with Cumberbatch in particular revelling in finally being allowed to don the deerstalker, smoke the pipe and be the Holmes that everyone knows and loves. There were also some scene-stealing moments for Una Stubbs as landlady Mrs Hudson, slyly digging at Watson’s habit for portraying her as a near mute housemaid in his accounts of Holmes cases.
The eventual complete reality breakdown yielded rich rewards in providing an opportunity for Andrew Scott to return to the fold as Moriarty. Scott’s post-Sherlock oeuvre has been defined by the maniacal brilliance of his turn as the chief antagonist of the show and he did much of his best work here. His verbal sparring with Cumberbatch has never been better, particularly with him residing on the intellectual high ground for most of his screentime. His final showdown with Cumberbatch, and ultimately Freeman, atop the Reichenbach Falls was a real highlight and a moment of Sherlock/Watson chemistry that will almost certainly launch hundreds more fanfics.
It’s not all good news, though. There was a certain lack of direction to the story as it meandered down numerous dead ends and Amanda Abbington was given very little to do as Mary. It would have been nice to see something in the way of a more concrete “a-ha!” moment given the deliberately unsatisfying reveal of the feminist “cult” within Sherlock’s mind palace. That revelation, which is being kicked around on social media, seemed to be tossed away as absurd nonsense by the script. It was presented as a lurid Gothic flourish of Sherlock’s imagination and deserves further unpicking before it is added as further proof to the case of Moffat’s sexist writing.
These are minor quibbles given the consistent entertainment ‘The Abominable Bride’ provided. It maintained a quick-witted, breakneck pace throughout that most shows would be completely incapable of keeping up and showcased the best talents of both the performers and the writing team. It did a cracking job as a frivolous festive special, whilst also laying the groundwork for a fourth series that has a January 2017 airdate in its sights.
Sherlock is a show that is at its best when it refuses to plant its feet on the ground and instead gives itself creative freedom. Anything goes in the mind palace.
Tom Beasley – Follow me on Twitter for movies, wrestling and jokes about David Cameron.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=R7AFmg2LsJs
Originally published January 2, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
