‘Sherlock’ season 3: We review the mini-episode ‘Many Happy Returns’

As an early Christmas gift to fans, the BBC unveiled today the seven-minute prequel of sorts to “Sherlock” season 3 online this morning entitled “Many Happy Returns.” What we have is hardly just some video teasing the new season starring minor characters; instead, it’s an excellent teaser video that features a number of your favorite characters, including Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman themselves. It’s pretty valuable if you want to have a full understanding of what has been going on in the time since Sherlock’s “death,” especially when it comes to finding out who still believes that he was out there the whole time that he was “dead”.

If you picked Anderson as the guy who was still firmly a Sherlock believer, then congratulations! You win the pool and all imaginary rewards that go along with it. Anderson may sound at first like a crazy person just obsessing that Holmes is out there, but as you will see, the man has got some pretty compelling evidence.

Without giving too much more away, the mini-episode is mostly just a remarkable little nugget designed to bridge season 2 to season 3, and show you the path that Holmes takes to get back to the United Kingdom. He has also been in some very fascinating (and faraway) places since he faked his death, and it will be curious to see just what sort of tricks that he picked up over the past two years.

But just from a critical perspective, this is fantastic. Sharply-written and as smartly-acted as you have come to expect from the series, this is one of the finest web videos that the BBC has ever produced. Somehow, they have found a way to get us more excited for the actual premiere on January 1 (or January 19 if you are in America watching on PBS). Regardless of it you’re in Europe or North America, the wait really is not that long for greatness to once again be upon you. Grade: A.

What is your thinking about this “Sherlock” mini-episode? Be sure to share your thoughts below.

Photo: BBC One