Directed by Nick Hurran
Moriarty: "Did you miss me?"
Well, if there's one way to upstage a promising new villain like Charles Augustus Magnussen, it's probably by making sure that the former big nemesis re-emerged only seconds after the new guy was rather quickly dispatched with in such a passionless manner. I hate to admit it but despite a rather sublime performance by Lars Mikkelson, something about CAM was lacking for me as a baddie.
Sure, he was pretty creepy in parts (pissing in a fireplace, licking Smallwood's face and flicking Watson's face, etc) but aside from the not remotely subtle homage to media tycoons like Rupert Murdoch and being partially responsible for Mary revealing her true identity, I kind of felt like he was something of a wasted villain as well.
He gloated a few times about being the second most powerful man in Britain outside of Mycroft but another thing that lacked about CAM was that unlike Moriarty, I don't think he was as well integrated in the series. Back in Series 1, Moriarty's presence was definitely felt before Sherlock and Watson encountered him at the swimming pool. The same cannot really be said about CAM and his rather swift death was another way of highlighting that of course.
On the plus side, this episode did manage to reveal some more information about Mary, cause a tiny bit of a rift within her marriage to Watson (she shot Sherlock, naughty girl!) but at the same, both her and the unborn baby made it out of the episode alive. I'm glad because there were so many fans assuming she'd be a goner in this one and it did look like it too. Thankfully though, she's staying and it's a good thing because Mary has undoubtedly been the best thing about this whole series now.
As for Moriarty - is he really back from the dead or is there something else going on here? I love seeing Andrew Scott as much as the next person but it's going to take some explaining to justify having Moriarty back in the mix for the next series. It could work well in the show's favour but it also blow up in it's face. It's moments like these that kind of make me resent having to wait two years for the next batch of episodes.
- Was anyone shocked that Molly called off her engagement to Tom? Nope, didn't think so.
- Clever way of adding Agra into Mary's storyline this week as well. She worked for the CIA, didn't she? At least in this version of events.
- The gang (Sherlock, Watson, Mary, Mycroft, Billy) spending Christmas with Sherlock and Mycroft's parents was a hoot. It seems that Mummy Holmes is the genius in that family.
- I did love Sherlock's nicknames in this episode - "Shezza" and "Sherl" and Janine and Sherlock using each other was kind of amusing as well.
- Not enough screen time for Lestrade and Mrs Hudson in this one but I did like learning more about the latter's former antics though.
- Trust Moriarty to announce his return in a very public manner. The boy's a right show off.
Overall, while I do think the previous story was the best one we've had this series, His Last Vow was a great way of ending the series and making sure that you'd want to tune in for the next series. I really do hope Moffat and company know what they're doing with Moriarty though, assuming he's back for real. Oh and can we have Irene again too?
Rating: 8 out of 10
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