The Six Thatchers S04E01
* * 1/2
I wish that Sherlock never rose to the level of Pop Culture Phenomenon. The first 2 Seasons were pitched perfectly, with scripts that were pretty brilliant in terms of the mystery, the characters and the way the two would feed into each other. After the entertaining but overly-clever diversion The Abominable Bride, Sherlock returns to reality, but it's not the show it once was. The relationship between Holmes and Watson is way off and Sherlock's skill is as supernatural as Cumberbatch's other famous character, Doctor Strange. Too much of the cleverness is reverse engineered or swept under the rug with a smug "I'm Sherlock Holmes," and I'm thinking "No really, how the hell would you know that?!?"
The show still has its charms, mainly the work by Cumberbatch which is too assured for the small screen. I wish they would stop with all the Jame Bond globetrotting and get back to solving a case in London. Steven Moffat will have a hand in the next two episodes, but the end of this one buries the original successful elements under yet another layer of over-plotting and too many character-smashing events. I don't see how the show can ever get its groove back.
p.s. Unrelated to this episode, I did some thinking about my unwavering attitude towards treating each episode like a movies and have decided to remove all but "A Scandal in Belgravia" from my list of Essentials.