He's Back - Be It Ever so Briefly

I knew it would be good.  I just wasn't prepared for something that amazing!  

Let me explain.  I was lucky enough to snag a ticket to a showing of Sherlock's "The Abominable Bride" in a theatre for this evening.  That meant avoiding every word written about the episode since it first aired on New Year's Day.  It hasn't been easy.  We're only graced with so many Sherlocks and to avoid one precious episode for almost a week was torturous.  Oh but it was worth it!

The episode was better than I could have imagined.  Just based on the trailer, I had gleaned a few things here and there.  I had also accidentally seen a few pics people had posted on Twitter, so I wasn't completely in the dark.  But I should have known better.  I should have known the dynamic duo of writing - Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat - would provide all sorts of surprises that I'd never dreamed of.  

Aside from the eye candy, that's what draws me to Sherlock; its absolutely pitch perfect writing.  It can swing from silly, to funny and back to dramatic and heartbreaking all within the span of a scene.  It's also unbelievably clever and creative.  I'd love to live in their heads for just a little bit.  As Sherlock himself would say "What must it be like in their funny little heads..."  

On top of the writing, the acting is spot on as well.  They could not have chosen better actors for each and every role.  The Sherlock and John characters are especially well cast, but even the supporting actors are perfect.  The writers managed to fit in all the major players from the 9 episodes we all love, somehow.  And thank goodness they did, because it wouldn't have felt right if they weren't there.  The ensemble is just such a cohesive unit.  You want to see them interact with each other for the entire time they're on the screen. 

I won't go into details because I definitely don't want to spoil it for anyone, if for some unknown reason they haven't seen it. But I will say this, while I'm super confused and little uneasy about where next season (whenever the heck that will be) is going, this particular episode is so very good and so worth many re-watchings.  Thank goodness for DVRs!