![]() He does everything in this episode – manages to give us Sherlock at his most unlikeable, his most heartbreaking, and his most heroic, all in the space of ninety minutes. See above re: Martin Freeman needing to win a BAFTA next weekend, well that goes double for Benedict Cumberbatch. He makes a character that could be – that has been – nothing more than sidekick window dressing into someone that’s not only an equal partner for Sherlock onscreen, but someone that viewers care about just as much as (if not sometimes occasionally more than) they do the series' lead. If Martin Freeman doesn’t win another BAFTA for this next weekend, I’m sending someone a strongly worded email of complaint. I know everybody believes in Sherlock (and I do too), but, oh, how I believe in John Watson. Freeman’s graveside speech where he asks for “one more miracle, Sherlock, for me” was just an instant emotional breakdown. Personally, I’ve never been so glad in my life that people can’t see into my house while I watch television, because my ugly crying jag was out of control (again). Everyone loves watching Sherlock do his thing, even when he’s at his most unlikeable, but I think we all just flat out love John, and it’s his quiet loyalty that comprises the heart of the show. ![]() ![]() I have tremendous respect for Freeman as an actor – but never more so than in this episode, when he’s playing opposite an increasingly dramatic, erratic and fractured Cumberbatch – because he manages to do so much with the designated “normal” everyday character, ultimately making playing the “straight man” in the Holmes-Watson partnership both interesting and emotionally affecting. From the very opening scene of this episode, Martin Freeman apparently feels free to take all of our hearts and stomp all over them. But, it's hard to nitpick an episode that's this good, it really is. You all deserve a warning for that upfront. Therefore, there’s less in the way of well written coherence here and kind of a lot of flailing around in awe. Do come chat with me in the comments – would love to know what people thought about this episode, as well as your theories about what happens next. ![]() So, let’s dish about it! Click through for a few of my thoughts on the Series 2 finale, loads of general emotional flailing, and a bit of speculation about where we go from here. I laughed, I cheered, I yelled at my TV screen, I sobbed. Funny, clever, tense, exciting, surprising and sob-your-guts-out emotional, I don’t think that there’s been an episode of TV in recent memory – for any show – that’s put me through the wringer like this one. Just to put this out there: “The Reichenbach Fall” is the single best episode of television I’ve seen this year. ![]()
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