A Review of Sherlock Season 4 Episode 1 - The Six Thatchers

Also known as the "Episode that Ripped the Heart Out of My Chest"

After the holiday special, the Abominable Bride last year, Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, and his bride Mary Watson find themselves facing a threat beyond-the-grave of Sherlock's arch-nemesis James Moriarty. Mycroft Holmes and his government officials have effectively covered-up the murder of Magnuson in the third season. Mary has given birth to a baby girl, Rosemund Mary Watson and made Sherlock, Molly and Mrs. Hudson the baby's God-Parents. Sherlock seems still addicted to drugs - high as a kite at times; the scenes of the story take on a psychedelic spin as the drugs affect Sherlock's mind. This story is one about Mary - her history, her dark past as an assassin and her current attempts to protect her family.

Warning: Spoilers Ahead

As mentioned in the summary above, the episode begins with Sherlock Holmes being brought in from his four minute exile after murdering Charles Augustus Magunson by his brother and the government officials who covered up the crime in order to help defeat a non-disclosed scheme created from the grave of James Moriarty. The end-game is unknown - but my gut tells me that the events that happen in this episode may be tied to Moriarty's goal of "burning the heart" out of Sherlock Holmes.

Sherlock himself has decided to wait and see what happens next as he's on the "lookout" for clues from his arch-nemesis. He is on drugs again - it is apparent at the government meeting as well as all of the scenes that flicker rapidly from thought to thought without a reasonable clue of what ties them together. No one seems to notice the drugs - as Mary and John prepare for the arrival of their baby girl.

This bring me to my insight into John and Mary's relationship. If we look back to "the Abominable Bride",  it is evident in Sherlock's mind castle that John is inattentive to his wife to the point where Mary has to inject herself into the investigation in order to spend time with her husband. John, a blogger and detective, was also unable to deduce that his wife was one of the "brides" who were fighting for equality. That episode was meant to be a historic view of the roles of women as caretakers / homebodies, but even in the current timeline - those primitive roles continue still.

The Season 4 group promotional photo does wonders to "spoil" the episode on its own. Those who read body language can immediately spot Mary's disconnect from her family. She is looking off to the outside world; not towards her family. Her hands are clasped tightly, her fingers interconnected as if she were trying to self comfort. Mary's expression is blank, her face is darkened by the shadows of the room. The dress she wears covers her completely - as if hiding.

The other characters expressions in the photo also hint at the events to occur. Molly and Mrs. Hudson are looking towards the baby in John's hands. None of them are smiling - there is a severity in their eyes. They like all of the characters excluding John Watson, are in the shadows.

Mycroft is entirely focused on his baby brother - as usual, always worrying about him. Greg Lestrade is in the scene, but his presence is barely detected. He is almost completely in the dark and is 'pushed out of the photo." This makes sense as the episode continues as he is only in the episode for a few key moments.

Sherlock is dressed in a form-fitting suit, the suit is completely black. The darkness is broken up by the beige robe that conflicts with the severity of the attire and the angry expression on his face. Like everything that occurs in the episode, Sherlock is physically there, but his mind is elsewhere - on the revenge that Moriarty has promised.

New baby Rosemund is the only person who lights up the photo - her purity reflected in the almost white gown she is snuggled in. Her father, John holds her with a small proud smile. John is also wearing black and surrounded in darkness.

All of these things point for a bleak season 4 of Sherlock.

From the moment Sherlock is released, he is focused on finding clues to Moriarty's revenge. He continues to take on clients, but their cases seem to be non-critical to the storyline. The most interesting case he takes on is tragic for the clients who have hired him; apparently the parents were feet away from preventing the death  of their son and didn't even realize it.

John Watson is, as mentioned above, disconnected from his family. His wife is nearing the end of her pregnancy and he needed 56 missed phone calls to realize that she was in labor. This is unlike the character that I have grown to love in so many ways. It made me upset as I imagined the anger I would feel towards a husband who put his work above his unborn child. What kind of man isn't practically glued to his phone when his wife may go into labor at any moment?

Mary has taken on the comedic role during the birth of her child - acting in a way that only TV portrays by squishing Sherlock's face against the car window when she is in labor. We can only imagine that she gave birth in the car.

The timeline quickly shifts to baby Rosemund's christening - to which Sherlock doesn't seem to care that he has been made God-Father, texting during the special occasion. There was also a bit of foreshadow here, as a line made it clear that Molly, Mrs. Hudson and Sherlock were to take care of the new baby if anything would happen to her parents.

The next scenes focus on both the case spoken above as well as Mary's secret life prior to marrying John. Unfortunately, none of these things actually matter. Her secret had come back to kill her - as as a member of her team blamed her for his torture and plotted to assassinate her. Mary runs away from her family to protect them, but both men follow her, using a tracking device inserted into her secret flash drive files. John is upset by the fact that his wife left him...

Sherlock deduces that the man may have been psychologically manipulated into pursuing Mary and decides to make it worse by goading the man into shooting him instead of Mary.

Mary takes the bullet for Sherlock and dies in John's arms. The following scene makes the promo photo above perfectly clear. While the sound of agony John makes has lead to several jokes of defecation on the internet, the look on his face when his best friend offers comfort is pure and utter hate.

From that moment on, Sherlock and John are no more. Lestrade, Sherlock, and Mycroft share a look that is a cross of "Oh My God, did he really say that" and "Is he going to go crazy that his wife is dead"?

Flashbacks of John and Mary's life together are interwoven through the last half of the episode; John's character in the books has been known to be a womanizer and we question his fidelity to his marriage when he bumps into an attractive woman on the bus. The woman is there to flirt with John through texts in the middle of the night while his wife is woken by their "devil" or "anti-Christ" of a child. The non-sleeping baby trope is in full affect in this episode; making you question why the Watson's really wanted a child in the first place.

John's anger is completely directed towards his best friend - due to the fact that Sherlock had vowed to keep his family safe and did not keep his promise. This anger is confused: the fact that John could also not keep her alive mixed with the fact that he had been cheating on Mary has built up a volcano of rage that John is unable to contain.

Sherlock is saddened and heart-broken by the loss of his friends. He is willing to do anything to get them back - including visiting John's psychiatrist to get help for John. The man has completely shut him out of his life -- blocking all attempts at seeing him.

Molly has taken on the role of mother to little Rosemund, as she had been her God-Mother. This in-itself is unusual and continues to place women in the role of caretaker. While I don't doubt Molly's willingness to take care of the baby, I wonder about her future as Season 4 continues. Molly is a highly-educated doctor who works at a prestigious hospital, St. Bart's Hospital. Will her role now shift from the laboratory to a cradle?

The last scene assumes that Mary had known that she would die protecting her family - which included Sherlock. Mary had sent Sherlock a DVD through Mrs. Hudson's mail labeled "Miss Me?" knowing full-well it would capture his attention. In the message, she orders Sherlock on a mission to "Save John". Unfortunately, that message changed the tone of the episode and made her sacrifice feel like simply a plot device to get our favorite "not gay" couple back together.

Ultimately, the question remains, did I enjoy the episode? Would I recommend you to watch it?

The answer is yes. It's a must-see!