Sherlock

:

Season 4
Season #: 4, 3, 2, 1
User Score
6.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 279 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 177 out of 279
  2. Mixed: 54 out of 279
  3. Negative: 48 out of 279
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User Reviews

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  1. MissMarbles
    Jan 25, 2017
    0
    Season four was extremely disappointing; it's as if the showrunners got the bit in their teeth and let their egos run wild. Rather than give viewers the careful character development that made the first season so masterful, they decided to razzle-dazzle us with cleverness.... except that cleverness should actually be clever. The inconsistencies, improbabilities, plot holes, and neglectedSeason four was extremely disappointing; it's as if the showrunners got the bit in their teeth and let their egos run wild. Rather than give viewers the careful character development that made the first season so masterful, they decided to razzle-dazzle us with cleverness.... except that cleverness should actually be clever. The inconsistencies, improbabilities, plot holes, and neglected resolutions made the whole season painful to watch, particularly the last episode. Eurus, the long-institutionalized Holmes sister, can control people around her simply by being in their presence? How does that work? How does she magically mover herself (and Sherlock and John) from one place to another? The mind-controlled staff of Sherrinford seems to be relatively small.

    Is this an episode of Dr. Who? Because it borders on sci fi.

    Also, season four proves once again that Moffat and Gatiss have trouble portraying female characters. "Strong" female characters seem to them to be "kickass." Mary a ninja assassin who can leap in front of a bullet once it leaves the muzzle of a gun fired ten feet away? Eurus the deadliest person on the planet? Mrs. Hudson cornering an Aston Martin like Mario Andretti? Give me a break. I can't possibly suspend THAT much disbelief. Someone needs to tell Moffat/Gatiss that "strong" characters are nuanced, believable characters, which is why they're memorable.

    One other complaint: this show should NEVER have killed off Moriarty (I think they did this because they wanted to move on to other villains). As portrayed by Andrew Scott, he is the perfect foil for Sherlock, and he should have been used as an occasionally recurring character. It seems that once Moffat/Gatiss belatedly realized how popular Moriarty is, they kept bringing him back, but the posthumous version, a hallucination in Sherlock's "mind palace" isn't HIM; it's a corrupted version that makes a fool of him. What a terrible shame. And baiting the audience that he might be alive, only to yet again confirm he's not, is truly insulting to the viewer.

    Season four episode three was presented as a "finale," and that's fine by me. I'm not enough of a masochist to watch a season five. And sadly, I can't even play my DVD of season one anymore... knowing what's coming is just too painful.

    Au revoir, Sherlock.    … Expand
  2. Annelise
    Jan 17, 2017
    2
    By trying to show the character, Sherlock, in Season 4 (particularly "The Final Problem") as being more "human", compassionate and having more heart, he actually seemed to have less heart. The characters in Season 4 lost the chemistry of the previous seasons and there was a lack of consistency and believability (in both the characters and the plot). In the first three seasons, there wasBy trying to show the character, Sherlock, in Season 4 (particularly "The Final Problem") as being more "human", compassionate and having more heart, he actually seemed to have less heart. The characters in Season 4 lost the chemistry of the previous seasons and there was a lack of consistency and believability (in both the characters and the plot). In the first three seasons, there was character complexity and growth, brilliant cases and you actually cared about the characters. Viewers are not confused because they don't understand what is going on (they get what is happening). They are confused as to why this season doesn't feel right, like it's a different show,..why characters are completely out of character and why a show that was working so well would change so drastically. The actors are all so talented and I really loved watching the first three seasons of "Sherlock". However, except for a few scenes and moments, I was disappointed by the fourth season and did not enjoy watching it.… Expand
  3. nightmancomes
    Jan 3, 2017
    0
    Jesus, the first episode was horribad. Hope to update this with the upcoming episodes.
    Sad to see this show that I once loved very much sink this low. Really sad.
  4. psyberdelic
    Jan 17, 2017
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The shark has officially been jumped. The way Ep 1 ended was just stupid. You know where the killer is so just call Scotland Yard and have her picked up. No need to get a major character killed off. Then all the "it's all your fault so i hate you" bull **** between Holmes and Watson just seemed old and stale. And the "Final Problem" Ep 3 of Season 4 was frankly ridiculous. Long lost siblings that you don't remember? And they have cult leader powers to enslave anyone they come in contact with. Over the shark we go. The writers are officially out of ideas.… Expand
  5. cellisis
    Jan 29, 2017
    2
    This season, the show can be summarized by 1 sentence: 'lower IQ of the whole street' (by the season 1's famous quote). It totally lost the wits and intellect and non-stop mysteries that made season 1 and 2 so successful, rather it becomes a soap opera, super hero movie with the plots and story lines descent to such an unbelievability or fantasies that even people with average IQ wouldn'tThis season, the show can be summarized by 1 sentence: 'lower IQ of the whole street' (by the season 1's famous quote). It totally lost the wits and intellect and non-stop mysteries that made season 1 and 2 so successful, rather it becomes a soap opera, super hero movie with the plots and story lines descent to such an unbelievability or fantasies that even people with average IQ wouldn't buy at all.

    I didn't like season 3 much, and expect season 4 would make up for it, but it got even worse now, and I don't think the show can recover from this if they are going to make more of it and keep the same stupid plot lines. Don't get me wrong, I got what the writers trying to do with this season, but they had such bad ideas in their writing that this show becomes unrecognizable from previous seasons, except actors in it.    … Expand
  6. Happyislands
    Jan 10, 2017
    0
    I’ve watched the first two episodes of the current series of Sherlock and I have to say, I’ve never seen anything so in love with itself as this series. It’s oozing smugness and self-satisfaction. And for a show which celebrates its own cleverness so much, the depiction of the villain in episode 2 as a Jimmy Saville-esque psychopath was crass and ham fisted.
  7. MrMk
    Jan 17, 2017
    2
    hi.this show was amazing in s1 and s2 .but after s2 Unfortunately The story was very poor and defeated. I waited 3 years for Season 4 . season 4 = Terribly weak and empty story !!!
  8. DeniseH
    Jan 18, 2017
    0
    What a piece of garbage. This only rug pulled this appalling, misogynistic queer bait of a season managed is to show that the writers had no clue where they were headed this whole time. The amount of inconsistencies is mind blowing. The acting was fantastic but could never redeem this insult to the viewers' intelligence.
  9. toadvines
    Jan 10, 2017
    1
    Ugh this series is just needlessly complicated and confusing, I was concentrating but it just seemed to be twisty-turny for the sake of it, and at the expense of good functional story telling. Aaaaand we see that Sherlock Holmes is also a world class fighter as well – it seems this guy could give Batman a run for his money. Well, to be honest I find it quite entertaining but I think theUgh this series is just needlessly complicated and confusing, I was concentrating but it just seemed to be twisty-turny for the sake of it, and at the expense of good functional story telling. Aaaaand we see that Sherlock Holmes is also a world class fighter as well – it seems this guy could give Batman a run for his money. Well, to be honest I find it quite entertaining but I think the writers should concentrate more on having a story that you can actually follow, rather than showing off. The cast are great on paper but starting to get annoying – especially the woman who plays Watson’s wife. I love Benedict of course but he’s also getting to be a bit annoying in this, let’s hope this is the last series.… Expand
  10. fraown
    Jan 3, 2017
    2
    I suppose the production team believes us senile and in a retiring home 7 years after the first season aired.
    Sherlock has been given a big budget and has become a play ground for camera men: one nice shot is not enough we need three and the film becomes the sort of challenge your optician would use to test you. Then comes the fast sequences that were so charming and new in the first    I suppose the production team believes us senile and in a retiring home 7 years after the first season aired.
    Sherlock has been given a big budget and has become a play ground for camera men: one nice shot is not enough we need three and the film becomes the sort of challenge your optician would use to test you. Then comes the fast sequences that were so charming and new in the first seasons... instead of being useful to the plot line they're used to speed off the points we probably would have been happy to be included in the main story or are just used to show off the series' new budget.
    My sympathies to the actors who worked hard to forget how ridiculous was the set or their outfits. Both disrespected the wonderful work done in the previous seasons (seriously since when do we go to Mycroft's office or home and why the hell are both underground??) The actors tried to save what they could and probably would have done a better job if the script had allowed them more than 10 sec dialogues full of one line cliches.
    You've heard me, Sherlock has become the super budget day-time soap opera. An overbearing juxtaposition between a children's tale, and an aquarium used so cleverly as a "clue" to the end of the episode. Remember the time when we had to watch Sherlock three times to actually find theses clues?    … Expand
  11. norse
    Sep 25, 2018
    2
    Sad to see such a promising series go so bad so fast.

    The story is so tenous that it doesn't even remotely hang together anymore, with some forced turns and twists that are entirely unlikely and unnecessary to build up to ... nothing much.
  12. carameldance
    Feb 22, 2018
    0
    An insult for both audience and Sherlock himself. It was painful to watch. What a miserable end for such a great show.
  13. Lambo442
    Aug 7, 2018
    1
    I too was hoping Season 4 would improve upon the last but alas the spark is gone. For me it disappeared as soon as Mary arrived. The idea that she was actually a secret agent was so daft and shoe-horned in there, plus her acting is so incredibly dull my soul ebbs gradually away from my body with every lack - lustre word she utters. Such a shame as Season 1+2 were incredible. At leastI too was hoping Season 4 would improve upon the last but alas the spark is gone. For me it disappeared as soon as Mary arrived. The idea that she was actually a secret agent was so daft and shoe-horned in there, plus her acting is so incredibly dull my soul ebbs gradually away from my body with every lack - lustre word she utters. Such a shame as Season 1+2 were incredible. At least Cumberbatch still delivers though.… Expand

Critic Reviews

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No score yet - based on 3 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. Vox.com
    Reviewed by: Aja Romano
    Jan 4, 2017
    50
    Unfortunately, the season four premiere has revealed that Sherlock’s most promising and divisive element in the wake of the season three finale--the evolving three-way relationship between Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch), John Watson (Martin Freeman), and John’s mysterious wife, Mary (Amanda Abbington)--is little more than a giant distraction, a red herring for ... whatever the show has up its sleeve next.
    Read full review
  2. We Got This Covered
    Reviewed by: Christian Bone
    Jan 3, 2017
    80
    Helping move things along at a nice pace is Mark Gatiss’ script, which is quite strong. Though not his best for the series, he clearly relishes taking the show into a more serious direction, as well as providing lots of customary laughs in the episode’s first half.
    Read full review
  3. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Mike Hale
    Dec 30, 2016
    60
    Watching "Sherlock" is like dropping in on old friends who are as smart and sarcastic as ever but don’t seem to have as much joy in their lives anymore.
    Read full review