(This is a spoiler-free article.)
It’s hard to believe that the second series is already over—and it's unclear how much time will pass until the third series. Honestly, if it’s any longer than the 17-month wait between the first and second, I (along with the rest of the Sherlock fandom) will probably go insane.
“The Reichenbach Fall,” written by Stephen Thompson, aired on Sunday night and was brilliant. Just absolutely brilliant. I admit I was a little worried about the quality of the episode going into it, because the episode Thompson wrote in the last series, “The Blind Banker,” was the weakest of the three. There was no need to worry, though, as Thompson’s writing ability had improved exponentially since the last series. As blasphemous as this might be, I can’t help but think that “The Reichenbach Fall” even trumps the episodes written by Moffat, who is an excellent writer. Although, that opinion might be due in part to the fact that this episode was just so intense and had one of the craziest cliffhangers to ever air.
The thing about “The Reichenbach Fall” is that it punches you in the chest right from the start. Twenty-five seconds into the episode and your heart will already be crying. There is an imminent sense of doom that looms over the entire episode, yet one can’t help laughing at all those silly moments between Sherlock and John. That’s also what makes this episode so heartbreaking, though. It shows the audience just how important Sherlock and John are to each other, which makes everything feel so much worse by the end of the episode—their friendship is quite possibly one of the best friendships to have ever existed. The amount of love they have for each other, and the confidence that they have in each other—even when the rest of the world has turned on them—is absolutely amazing to watch.
It was also great to finally see Moriarty (Andrew Scott) get the screen time he deserves. What’s so interesting about Moriarty is that, up until “The Reichenbach Fall,” he’s only had about eleven minutes onscreen. However, it seems like we’ve seen so much more of him because he’s organized the crimes that Sherlock has solved throughout the series. The psychopath to Sherlock’s high-functioning sociopath, it really is fun to watch these insane geniuses battle it out in the episode.
Molly Hooper—played by Louise Brealey—also deserves a lot of recognition in this episode. She’s always ragged on—usually by Sherlock—and generally made to seem a bit dull and unimportant, but that isn’t true at all. Of all the people who spend time with Sherlock, she is the only one to realize something is amiss, that Sherlock isn’t being his usual self, but only through her understanding that she doesn’t matter to him. At least, not as much as certain other people do. What’s really heart-wrenching about the scenes with Molly and Sherlock, though, is that Sherlock comes to the realization that Molly is the only one he can ask for help.
That’s what “The Reichenbach Fall” is all about: the people that Sherlock cares about and loves, just how much he means to those people...and the gaping hole in every heart by the episode's end.
So make sure you have your tissues and shock blankets ready, because there’s no way anyone can make it though this series’ finale without wanting to scream and tear their hair out or just wish they didn’t have a heart. Life would be much easier without all of the emotions brought on by “The Reichenbach Fall.”