‘Sherlock’ season 4, episode 3 (finale) preview: ‘The Final Problem,’ and Holmes’ oldest foe

Tonight, “Sherlock” brought us a brilliant story in “The Lying Detective” that is significant for several different reasons. It marks our first opportunity to see the series following the death of Mary Watson (Amanda Abbington), and it also allows us to get our first look at Toby Jones as Culverton Smith (beyond just the picture/cameo that he had in the premiere). He’s a vile foe for Holmes, and one of the most sadistic men he to date has ever met — which is saying something, given that our famed investigator has encountered some rather seedy and terrible folk – namely Moriarty.

Now, there is only one episode left in season 4 called “The Final Problem,” and it could end up being the last episode of “Sherlock” we ever receive. The future of the show is uncertain for many reasons (including the schedules of stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman), and given that showrunners Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss were aware of this going into it, they worked hard to ensure that the story would be ending big — just in case this is actually the end of the series.

There aren’t any major spoilers in the synopsis below, so rest assured that you can read it even if you haven’t finished reading “The Lying Detective” yet.

Synopsis – “In the final episode of this series, written by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, long-buried secrets finally catch up with the Baker Street duo. Someone has been playing a very long game indeed and, alone and defenseless, Sherlock and Dr Watson face their greatest ever challenge. Is the game finally over?”

Also, the BBC website mentions specifically that Sherlock’s “oldest enemy” will be returning, so it’s to be seen precisely what that means…

(Warning: There are SPOILERS from “The Lying Detective” ahead…)

We now know going into “The Final Problem” that there is a third Holmes sibling in Sherlock and Mycroft’s sister named Euros, an idea that was mentioned briefly before by Mycroft. The challenge now moving into the next episode is seeing how they are going to deal with her since she is very dangerous and has shot at Watson. While Sherlock’s greatest enemy is Mycroft is this episode title actually referring to Euros Holmes? We’ve seen how Mycroft talks about her, so we suspect that he knows that she’s trouble.

What do you want to see on the “Sherlock” season 4 finale? Be sure to share your thoughts, hopes, and expectations in the comments! Much of the internet is still buzzing over everything that happened tonight, so it should be rather interesting to see what the reaction’s like for the finale.

While you wait to see what’s coming up next, be sure to click on the image below to be navigated to our official show archive. (Photo: BBC One.)