The fourth season of the BBC’s Sherlock has come and gone, and now fans are back to wondering whether Sherlock will ever return and, really, whether or not it should.
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With that question lingering over Sherlock as a series, ComicBook.com has decided to look back on what made Sherlock so good to begin with. We’re counting down the top five episodes of Sherlock ever.
If Sherlock doesn’t return for a fifth season, let this be an accounting of the best the series ever offered. If it does return, well we’ll just have to reconsider the list we’ve made.
Sherlock Season 4 got a mixed reception from fans. Can “The Six Thatchers,” “The Lying Detective,” or “The Final Problem” stand with the best of Sherlock? Read on to find out!
5. The Empty Hearse
The second season of Sherlock ended on quite a cliffhanger and “The Empty Hearse” explained it all in a uniquely “Sherlock” fashion.
After two years of being “dead,” Sherlock was retrieved from exile in order to help Mycroft deal with a terrorist threat to great for even the UK government to handle.
The reunion between Sherlock and John Watson, which also serves as an introduction to Mary Marston, is one of the most memorable scenes in all of Sherlock, as John attack Sherlock over and over.
4. The Reichenbach Fall
Sherlock’s rematch with his archnemesis, James Moriarty, recreated one of the best-known and most iconic moments from all of the Sherlock Holmes mythology, the death of Sherlock Holmes.
Like everything else in Sherlock, the moments was given a modern touch. Rather than taking place at a waterfall, the showdown between Moriarity and Sherlock was moved to the roof of a London hospital.
“The Reichenbach Fall” seemed to give us something we hadn’t seen from Sherlock before in a puzzle even the great detective couldn’t solve and Sherlock at his wits’ end. Of course, “The Empty Hearse” takes away from that a bit, but it is still one of the series’ most compelling scenes.
3. A Study In Pink
“A Study in Pink,” the very first episode of Sherlock, is the episode that mesmerized many viewers and turned them into instant and lifelong Sherlock fans.
The episode introduced us to Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as John Watson. The way the two bond despite seeming utterly incompatible becomes the backbone of the series moving forward, and the way it is represented by Watson’s limp is a nice touch.
There are many firsts in this episode, including the first time Sherlock “does the deduction thing.” It’s an episode worth revisiting.
2. The Great Game
Sherlock introduced most of the key characters from Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories within the first two episodes, so it felt like only a matter of time until Sherlock’s most challenging rival, James Moriarity, made his Sherlock debut.
Andrew Scott brought a unique performance to Sherlock‘s Moriarty, one that was an acquired taste for some but was definitely hard to forget.
Equally hard to forget was the poolside sniper showdown that remains one of the greatest scenes in Sherlock.
1. A Scandal In Belgravia
When discussing the Sherlock‘s most memorable moments, it is hard not to go to “A Scandal in Belgravia.”
“A Scandal in Belgravia” introduced another character from Arthur Conan Doyle’s original Sherlock Holmes stories, Irene Adler. Where Moriarty challenged Sherlock on a purely cerebral level, Adler managed to get under Sherlock’s skin a different way.
While Adler hasn’t appeared in Sherlock again, her existence is continually noted and had a huge impact on Sherlock Holmes’ development over the course of the series.
In addition to Adler herself, “A Scandal in Belgravia” also featured Sherlock in the nude and the “I Am Sher-Locked” cell phone puzzle that remains one of the series’ most iconic.
