#hislastvow

One more time I left 'His Last Vow' behind me... As they say, it's always darkest before the dawn, and 'Sherlock' proved it very well, bringing the worst episode of the show right before the best season. What amazes me the most is how could it be that this episode looks as though Mark Gatiss didn't participate in its creation at all (apart from playing Mycroft, of course). Typical moffatian script with no riddle, a lot of talk and very little sense. But what is the worst - this episode is just boring. The pacing simply died, the stakes suffered the same fate (of course Sherlock is not going to die - it is his show!), and the awful dramedy in the scenes at Baker-street (when Sherlock tells John about Magnussen) and later at Appledore just doesn't work. Nick Hurran, the new director, brought an interesting style to the narration, but it disharmonizes with the previous two episodes, and hence 'His Last Vow' just looks out of place. Lars Mikkelsen may be a good actor, but his Magnussen is disgusting and pathetic at the same time - not a mixture one wants to see in a convincing strong villain. Louis Moffat is a decent cosplayer, but the character he plays has nothing to do with Sherlock Holmes from this series. Benedict Cumberbatch tries very bravely to save the whole broudhaha, but it's Amanda Abbington who succeeds in it, delivering the best female performance in the first three seasons of the show. So let's thank her for this terrific acting which really made 'His Last Vow' worth watching. And also I want to thank Yelena Shul'man (Елена Шульман) who did a great voice-acting for her and rightfully called Sherlock and John 'bastards' for what they did to Mary. I can only add that in this episode they're not just bastards - they are stupid bastards, but who can blame them for their creators' mistakes?

Rewatched 'His Last Vow' today. It always was and still is the episode of 'Sherlock' I dislike the most, but today I realized one thing: when Sherlock says goodbye to John and bords the plane to leave it really marks the end of the first chapter of the show. So when he comes back a completly new story begins. So it's no wonder that season 4 is so different from all the others - it turns the whole narrative to a new direction and represents the new chapter of the story.