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, Feb 2, 2014). Directed by Nick Hurran, written by 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. Watson is recently married, as of the last episode, where Sherlock solved a murder while giving the Best Man speech at the wedding.
In this episode:
In the opening, the “Napoleon of Blackmail,” Charles Magnussen, sits being interrogated whilst key information is being fed to him via some sort of Google Glass-esque device. One of the women who is being blackmailed hires Sherlock to get some compromising letters back from Magnussen, leading to an attempted heist on his building, a long con, and a shocking turn when we see who else is is Magnussen’s building.
And that’s all in the first half hour of a 90 minute episode. I dare not spoil anything any further.
Other things to look forward to in this episode:
Sherlock’s mind palace. Including an awesome appearance by someone we haven’t seen in a while.
Magnussen’s mind palace.
Face-flicking.
And. . .uh. . . the last five minutes.
Scratch that. The last 30 seconds.
Quote of the week:
“It’s a sprain. I’m a doctor. I know how to sprain people.”
Rating and final review: 7 out of 10
Both this and episode two suffered from a similar problem. They were good episodes throughout, but only good. And then in the climax they decide the turn everything up to 11. It makes for satisfying but somewhat uneven watching.
And oh, dat cliffhanger.
Can’t wait for Season 4.