Liam Hoofe with a theory on the Moriarty mystery in Sherlock…
The Russian playwright Anton Chekhov once gave some simple advice about the construction of a narrative: if it is not essential, then do not put it there in the first place. This idea has become known as Chekhov’s Gun – simply put, if you place a gun in the first act, make sure you fire it in the second.
Sherlock is a show that revels in this idea I believe. Nothing in the show is inconsequential and it is under that assumption that I have drawn up my theory considering the Moriarty mystery that was left behind for us at the end of Sherlock Sries 3.
Now the show give us little clarity on the situation at the end of last year’s often ambiguous episode ‘The Abominable Bride’ but like every other Sherlock fan on the planet I have think I may have solved the problem, and fortunately for me I have a platform on which I can publish my opinion and likely be proven wrong publicly on January 1st.
Cast your minds back, if you will, to the episode at the very end of Series 2, where we last saw Moriarty alive. Prior to the confrontation between Sherlock and his great nemesis on the roof of the hospital Jim had set about ruining Holmes’ life. One of the ways he did this was by having children be scared of the detective; the children cowered at the site of Sherlock and the detective had no idea why or how this had happened. This event was never truly explained to us and is, in my opinion, the first of the aforementioned guns being loaded.
Upon returning from the dead at the start of Series 3, Sherlock explained to Watson that the one person Moriarty didn’t anticipate helping him was Molly. A foolish mistake for such a genius to make you’d think, and one his successor would be keen to avoid perhaps? Step forward Tom, the seemingly docile new boyfriend of Molly’s. A man who has wormed his way into Molly’s life, and in turn, into Sherlock’s, so much so that he even got to attend Watson’s wedding.
The one on-going joke about Tom is how much he resembles Sherlock, something that on first though looks like a throw away gag, but what if it was him who scared those children back in Series 2? It would make sense that he would opt to get close to Molly after Moriarty had seemingly ignored her, and it gives him very up close access to Sherlock. Once again I refer back to Chekhov and his gun, nothing in this narrative is coincidental and I believe the character here plays a bigger purpose than we might realise.
The final clue, for me was in ‘The Abominable Bride.’ Upon waking from his drug induced dream Sherlock confirmed that Moriarty was dead, and that he had, like Ricoletti, the titular bride in the episode, laid plans for others to follow after his death. The others that are being talked about, in my opinion, are going to be led by Tom.
Now, there are likely massive holes in my theory that I have missed (I’ve not had time to fully revisit the last episode), and I’m sure you will make me well aware of those in the comments section below, but this is an idea I have entertained for some time, and believe that it is one of the only logical solutions for the show to give us.
Moriarty must be dead, and I don’t conceivably see there being any tomfoolery (pun intended) concerning a twin, or the like. The pieces are all in place for my theory to be correct, let’s just wait and see what happens on January 1st.
Liam Hoofe
What do you think of Liam’s theory? Is he just another rambling Sherlock fan, or could he actually be onto something? Let him know on Twitter- @liamhoofe
Originally published December 29, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
