Sherlock:
His Last Vow
By Steven Moffat
Charles Augustus Magnussen is a
blackmailer. A blackmailer who owns a news corporation and he use what he knows
to get what he wants. Right know it is
to get an inquiry of his back. Sherlock
Holmes has been asked to get some letters back from him by Lady Smallwood who
he has complete power over. Holmes and
Watson look into stopping Magnussen by going as far as fabricating a love
affair with his personal assistant to gain entry. This works all to well and unfortunately for
Holmes he gets shot by someone who wants Magnussen dead. The thing is Sherlock knows who shoots him
and it is someone dear to him and Watson.
I really liked “His Last Vow”. It was like the Sherlock of old for the most
part back to the mystery and all the twists and turns that the show is known
for. There were quite a few twists that
really surprised me as I did not see those coming especially the one about Mary. It turns out Mary used to be an operative
that has killed lots of people for her country or some other country. This was quite a surprise and an excellent
development going on in the show. What
was surprising was that the clues about her were all there from the beginning
and I obviously missed them. I really
enjoyed how Sherlock got Mary to reveal who she really was. That was pretty
clever even though you knew John would be the one sitting in the chair. It was pretty clever using elements from “The
Empty House” to bring this about. 
Charles Augustus Magnussen was
one of the creepiest, repulsive and downright nasty characters that Steven Moffat
has created for Sherlock based on a Conan Doyle character. Charles
Augustus Magnussen is a nasty piece of work and was a good adversary for
Sherlock. Lars Mikkelsen played him
pretty well and one of the best performances in the show’s three series. When he met his end I had a feeling of good
he deserved what he got. Sort of the feeling when I watched The Master
Blackmailer in the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes series.
“His Last Vow” was written
perfectly by Steven Moffat and it was definitely the best of the three stories
from Series Three. It had everything we
expect and the twists were really surprising. The fact they had Mary shot
Sherlock really surprised me. In fact
that whole sequence when he deduces how to save him from the gunshot until
Watson shows up was really good. I’m
really liking the scenes in the mind palace as it adds a new element to the
show instead of him just standing there thinking. It is a strange sequence but I enjoyed
it. But tying Magnussen and Mary
together made the story that more intriguing as Magnussen had info on Mary and
was going to use it against her. I also
liked how Steven Moffat used elements from the original story with Sherlock
going out with Janine and then proposing to her. That happened in the original story as Holmes
tricked a maid that he loved her to get close to the Master Blackmailer same as
he did with Janine so it was good to see Steven Moffat using that part of the
original story. 
I was a bit surprised at the
ending as I never expected Sherlock to shoot Magnussen dead with a shot to the
head. That really surprised me just as
much as the fact that all the info was stored in Magnussen’s head. But what really was a surprise was the true
ending the apparent return of James Moriarty from the dead. Or is he? Steven Moffat is good at the cliffhangers to
get everyone talking and this one is another good one. Seeing Moriarty’s face on the video screens
in Piccadilly Circus saying “Did you miss me” was pretty good and surely one I
wasn’t expecting. Now the thing is did he fake his death or is it one of his
Generals picking up where he left off.
Well we will have a long wait to find and the speculation is going to be
good and asinine. “The Last Vow” was a great story to finish up a good series
three.
Grade A
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