For those that were put off by the experimental nature of the first two episodes of Series 3, this episode must have been a pleasant surprise. I certainly preferred it myself. Instead of focusing on many different case threads, we only have the one, an update on the tale of Charles Augustus Milverton, with the despicable blackmailer Milverton updated to being a news mogul called Magnussen, a superbly played villain who keeps all of his reports on people in a mind palace, like Sherlock Holmes. He is a villain the audience wants to die.
The structure of the plot is similar to the one Moffat used for Scandal in Belgravia. The first act of the tale is based around the original short story, with Sherlock breaking in to Magnussen’s office, only to find someone already there and planning to shoot Magnussen. It then spirals off into a different direction when Sherlock finds that it is Mary Watson who is threatening Magnussen. The next two acts move off into different directions as John is shown the true face of his wife, reconciliation and the final confrontation leading to Sherlock killing Magnussen.
The reveal of Mary's secret past we well done. I like that the clues to her secret identity were hidden in plain sight in the earlier episodes. This woman who appeared to represented normality for John has now become shown to be the opposite. She turns out to be a killer. Steven Moffat has always had a fetish for sexy psychopaths, as evidenced by River Song in his episodes of Doctor Who. But unlike River, Mary does not seem particularly self-satisfied by her previous life. Her secrets are safe at the end of the episode, meaning there is scope for expansion in future episodes.
Of course, Mary is not the only character who hides a dark side in this show. In spite of his growth as a person, Sherlock shows he can still be a cold bastard, when he proposes to Janine as a ruse so he can break into Magnussen’s Office. John Watson also shows his horrible side by using a neighbour’s drug addiction as a pretext to go and beat up some addicts. At least, unlike in the original text, Sherlock gets called up on his manipulative ways by an angry Janine. To paraphrase Lestrade's words from A Study in Pink, these men may be great men, but they are not good ones. They are not role models. This is also a key to their victory, as Sherlock can kill Magnussen.
With the focus on the main trio, Molly, Mrs Hudson and Lestrade are once again sidelined. Molly has broken off with her relationship, which means she’ll probably be pining after Sherlock again. We do find out that Mrs Hudson used to be an exotic dancer, which is pretty funny.
The characters who do get the best development are Sherlock’s family. It is good that we finally get to see what a Christmas for the Holmes family looks like. Mycroft sharing a cigarette with Sherlock and then hiding it from their mother was genius. The older Holmes is more protective of his younger brother than it first appeared. It was also good to see Sherlock's parents again.
I admit I was worried that Series three would struggle to find a new direction after the death of Moriarty, but I am glad to say it has found one. Mary has been an excellent addition to the cast and she has a good deal of backstory to explore. We have been introduced to Billy Wiggins, who could become a more regular face in the future. I don't particularly care for the mystery of Moriarty's survival, since it is probably just the work of a tape loop. But even so, there is a lot of potential for a fourth series. Overall I would say this is my favourite episode, but it still needed the others to build up to it. Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss and the rest of the crew can congratulate themselves on a job well done.
9/10
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