By
Stephen Thompson
It’s
John and Mary’s wedding day and Sherlock is prepping for his speech as the best
man. Not an easy thing to do the best
man speech especially for a high functioning sociopath like Sherlock Holmes. What Sherlock does is actually tell a tale
about one of the cases they were on and unfortunately did not solve as a point
in how good of a person Watson is as he was able to save the murder
victim. All during the speech he goes
over another case which has been occupying his mind as it ties in with a funny
story on how Sherlock and Watson got drunk during the stag night and then
proceeded to take on the case in their inebriated state. As Holmes recalls the case he has an epiphany
and realizes that The Mayfly Man is actually targeting someone at John and
Mary’s wedding and that the first case he talked about and the Mayfly man case
are actually connected. So the game is
afoot at the wedding of John Watson and who thought this cherished occasion
would be a normal one.
After
episode one it was good to see Sherlock getting back to being normal
somewhat. By that I mean there is a
mystery to solve and unfortunately it ties in to Watson’s wedding. This part I really liked was seeing the two cases
come together and be part of an attempted murder of Watson’s friend Major James
Sholto who was Watson’s commanding officer in Afghanistan. I really liked how Sherlock came to the
conclusion of this problem using all the women who had dated a ghost as it
seemed and used process of elimination and especially when the answer was staring
him in the face when the nurse used Watson’s middle name. I found this sequence to be really clever and
also the way the murderer tried to kill his victims. This is where the show really gels and keeps
on our toes and we try to guess the unexpected and the reveal for the most part
is pretty satisfying and has us going “Wow I never would have guessed that.”
That is what I like about the show and I am glad this story had that aspect
which was missing from The Empty Hearse.
I
prefer Sherlock to be the way it was the first two series keeping to the cases
and not being soap opera-ish. When I saw
it was going to be the wedding episode I kind of cringed and was expecting it
to be well stupid and way over the top with Sherlock over analyzing the guests and
stuff like that. I do like it when shows
take a chance and try something different as long as it is not all the
time. So The Sign of Three was just that
a story that was out of the norm and for the most part I was pretty much
entertained. I really liked the comedy
element in this story. It was pretty
funny and it was not in your face funny.
Just the reaction Sherlock gives John when asked about being the best
man and the way he tells it in his best man speech is pretty hilarious along
with the beginning of the speech.
What
was also pretty amusing was seeing Holmes and Watson drunk. Seeing them playing the deduction game and
Holmes had his name on his forehead trying to guess who the rude person is in
itself was pretty funny but not as funny as seeing them trying to solve a case
drunk. Like I said the funny bits were
not over the top and were not jammed down your throat at all and in a sense it
was good to see this side of the two friends.
I just hope we don’t have to see much more of this and that we can get
back to basics with solving crimes. But
for this one episode it was good to see something different.
Benedict
Cumberbatch was excellent in this story.
In fact this might have been one of his best performances. You just have to watch the scene when Watson
asks him to be the best man. Just
standing there and being in a trance was just priceless and well the whole best
man speech was a good performance also. I
was really impressed with his whole performance at the wedding and how he went all
Matt Smith acting with the arms flaying all over the place and twirling
around. That was like the Holmes of old
and Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman were both superb being drunk and
playing the deduction game. If anything
else The Sign of Three will be remembered for being funny. I really like Amanda Abbington as Mary. She
brings a different angle to the show that is in a way refreshing and seems to
be meshing in nicely until she is disposed of. Well it is no big secret what
will happen to Mary if you read the Doyle stories of Sherlock Holmes which is a
shame as I think she is working out well and even sadder when Sherlock deduces
she is pregnant hence the three in the title refers to the three Watsons.
So
The Sign of Three sort of based but not really on the Sign of Four, even though
the little person with the blow dart has a cameo, was a pretty entertaining
story but I think it is time to go back to basics and feature more of the
mystery and solving crime and all that.
Grade
B +
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