SHERLOCK – Live-action drama created by Steven Moffat; rated TV-14; airs Sunday nights on PBS as part of “Masterpiece – Mystery”; 86 minutes. Episode 3.2: “The Sign of Three” (original airdate, Jan. 26, 2014). Directed by Colm McCarthy, written by Stephen Thompson, Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss (7 out of 10)
Previously on Sherlock: Sherlock Holmes, world’s greatest detective, and his companion Dr. John Watson, a veteran of Afghanistan and army doctor, solve London’s toughest cases. Holmes has come back from the dead to find Watson engaged. In our last episode, Watson and Holmes saved London from a terrorist threat planned by an unnamed and unseen mastermind.
In this episode: The main event is the wedding of John Watson and Mary, during which Sherlock is rather daunted by having to give his best man’s speech.
During his very-Sherlockian-speech, we get all sorts of flashbacks of the weeks leading up to the case, including a pub crawl for John’s stag party, ending with both of them being very drunk — hijinks ensue. Specifically, a very drunk Holmes and Watson find a woman who claims to have dated a ghost! This also ties in with the case of a palace guard who is being stalked.
Back to the speech, Sherlock then reveals that the perpetrator of an unsolved murder is in their midst, and he is intent on killing another wedding guest. He then solves the case. Sorry if that’s a spoiler, but really shouldn’t be. This is Sherlock Holmes we’re talking about, after all.
Other things to look forward to in this episode:
Drunk Sherlock. This is awesome.
Sherlock helping the maid of honor to find a suitable man to have a one-night stand with.
Sherlock helping the flower girl in her duties. . .by bribing her with gruesome pictures of crime scenes.
And when you find out what “the sign of three” finally is, you’ll be very pleased.
And oh, the cinematography. This has a lot of excellent visual flairs in it, even more than a typical episode.
Quote of the week:
“It’s true! You’re a bloody psychopath!”
“A high-functioning sociopath. With your number.”
Rating and final review: 7 out of 10
This was very, very good. Especially when all of the threads from the entire episode get woven together in the final 15 minutes. But up until then it still seems very disjointed. Still, it’s a fun ride, so just let it take you there until you get to the climax. It’s worth it.
Unfortunately, no sign of last week’s mastermind. Very sad, but perhaps we get some more clues next week?