‘Sherlock’ season 5: Series bosses on the back-to-basics approach
The fourth season of “Sherlock” is now said and done, and it ended in a way that made one thing rather clear: We’ve almost seen an origin story more than anything of how Holmes and Watson come to be one of the greatest detective duos ever. They’ve been through hell and back, and they’re now in a position almost where the two can settle in. There was no enormous cliffhanger, and no real reason to be gasping in fear for the past few years.
This is clearly what executive producer Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss meant when they said that “The Final Problem” answered so many questions — there is no need for the show to come back to resolve anything in the near future. Obviously, we and everyone else wants to see another game in the future for these characters, but it will come when all parties involved are good and ready. (You can read a little bit more news on the subject of the series’ possible future by heading over to the link here.)
Meanwhile, Gatiss had the following to say to the Radio Times on the subject of the show giving you this particular ending:
“Our original intention of the series was to go back to the beginning and see them as younger men and… restore it to its factory settings. But I think what’s actually happened is that we have now done the story of how the Sherlock Homes and Doctor Watson that we have always known, how they became those men. It’s actually really a backstory … The reason we [ended with] Rathbone Place is that, actually, if we do come back – and we would love to come back – we could absolutely very easily start with a knock at the door and Sherlock saying to John ‘Do you want to come out and play?’. They have become the two heroes that we always knew them to be.”
There are obviously still a wide array of different stories from the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle library that can be explored, and there are many great characters who the show could adapt. Regardless of what happens now, you can have the feeling that the show has taken us somewhere, and we’ve come to learn a rather lot about this iteration of the characters. The waiting now begins — we could be waiting forever, but no matter what it’s easy to feel rather satisfied.
Want to get some other coverage regarding “Sherlock” and the big finale? Then be sure to head over to the link here right now! (Photo: BBC One.)