Last episode finished with one of the greatest cliffhanger reveals in the shows history.
How did the season 4 finale follow through on that?
Strangely, to say the least.
Credit: Laurence Cendrowicz/Hartswood Films for MASTERPIECE
She makes her way to the stewardess station, but every adult she passes is unconscious.
From there, we go to Mycroft watching an old movie in his personal basement theater.
Anyway, Mycrofts viewing session is interrupted by a message saying Im Back spliced into the film.
Then someone calls his name, and the lights start flickering.
For someone who is ostensibly the key to the British government, Mycroft rolls with pretty light security.
The prospect of Euros return terrifies him, and hes convinced she couldnt have gotten out.
They tell Mycroft to take his case to 221B Baker Street.
And so the next morning finds the three of them together again at the Baker Street flat.
Hes also uncomfortable revealing family matters with John present, but Sherlock insists that John stay.
She had dark tendencies, however.
She stole Redbeard, Sherlocks beloved dog, and wouldnt say where he was.
That cuts to a fishing boat in the middle of stormy weather.
No, Sherlock responds, the pirate.
He and Watson arent fooling around with that pirate bit, either.
When the islands governor sends men to investigate, they find Watson standing alongside a bearded fisherman.
He asks her what happened to Redbeard, and she asks him to touch the glass between them.
When he does, their hands touch… theres no glass at all.
And, indeed, he summons armed guards to restrain Watson and Mycroft.
In return, Euros promised to tell Moriarty the secret of Redbeard.
She introduces the first by revealing the governors wife bound and gagged behind her.
Mycroft doesnt have the constitution to actually kill someone, so looks like its up to John.
The governor tries to make it easy for him.
She kills the wife, too.
Sounds like somebodys been watching a little too muchNo Country for Old Menlately.
Euros lets Sherlock, Watson, and Mycroft out of their cell and into a new room.
After briefly reconnecting them with the girl on the plane, she proposes another challenge.
This one is much more of a traditional case.
Given pictures of the men and the murder weapon itself, Sherlock needs to figure it out.
Name the culprit, and shell send him to a watery grave.
Its an experiment: What difference does a knowledge of context and consequences make to solving a crime?
She then drops Alex as well.
What difference does it make?
Killing the innocent and the guilty feels the same to her.
The third challenge is the strangest one yet.
The boys are sent to a new room, and this one has a coffin in the center.
She makes Sherlock say it first, which he does after much internal consternation.
She just did that to screw with Sherlocks emotions.
Hes so mad he destroys the coffin with his bare hands.
The next task is even more intense, as Euros demands that Sherlock kill either Mycroft or Watson.
Mycrofts only request is that Sherlock aim for his heart, since hes donated his brain to science.
He demands that Euros stop the game, but instead she tranquilizes him.
NEXT: Redbeard revealed
When he wakes up, Sherlock is in a dark room.
In the cockpit, the girl sees theyre coming up on a river.
Sherlock realizes hes going to have to direct her to fly the plane.
John realizes hes surrounded by bones just as Sherlock finds a dog bowl labeled Redbeard.
Sherlock quickly realizes theyre no longer on Sherrinford at all, but back at the Holmes family estate.
Together, they untangle the mystery.
The dog story is one Sherlock told himself to feel better.
Redbeard was actually his childhood friend Victor.
They would play pirates together (Sherlock was Yellowbeard).
Shes way above everyone else, and needs help figuring out how to land.
Sherlock approaches her and together, they free Watson and Mycroft.
After that, things go back to normal, or rather a slightly updated status quo.
Sherlock visits Euros and plays violin with her.
Watson rebuilds the Baker Street flat, and together, he and Sherlock find one final message from Mary.
This episode clearly didnt know whether it was supposed to be a series finale or a temporary stopgap.
This episode was just plainweird.
Theres never been much chemistry in the Molly/Sherlock ship, and its never felt very important to the show.
This season had its high points, but ended on a pretty lackluster note.
