‘Sherlock’ season 4 finale ‘The Final Problem’ leaks online; show, producers urge fans to steer clear
It’s been a fun week reading about much of the buildup and the fan reaction leading to Sunday’s “Sherlock” finale (and possibly series-ender) entitled “The Final Problem.” Consider this story to be another sign that we in the internet age cannot seem to have anything ever go smoothly.
Over the course of the past 24 hours, the finale has found its way on the internet, seemingly started by a Russian version that found its way online. It doesn’t so much matter how the episode ended up online so much as the fact that it is. It’s certainly unfortunate given that so much of the enjoyment of this show comes out of the element of surprise.
With that, we come to you tonight with what is a humble plea: Please watch the show live. Don’t go watch that version. It hurts the BBC live ratings, takes away the community experience, and really just fuels the fire for other incidents to happen in the future. The primary reason we are reporting about this at all (after all, we don’t want to otherwise publicize something that could hurt the series) is to raise awareness that if you are watching the show tomorrow, be forewarned that there are some dark corners of the internet now with MAJOR spoilers. Be wary over the next 24 hours or longer, depending on where you are in the world. The last thing we would want is for someone to have the fun taken away from them just because of the fact that they’re being patient and trying to watch the show the right way.
Oh, and we also are writing about it because the show and its producers have already spoken out about it urging viewers not to watch. Our advice for people wanting to avoid spoilers is pretty clear. Maybe just go off the internet for a while, watch some playoff football if you’re in America, or even go outside for a little bit — it actually is rather lovely in some places right now!
This is certainly far from the first time that a pivotal episode of a TV series was leaked early over the past few years. We saw this happen heavily back with “Game of Thrones,” and this decision prompted HBO to change the way that they handed out screeners in advance. It does also tend to happen with many pilots. These episodes are things that are widely distributed to people in the media, and when this happens, there are occasions of dishonesty out there. There are also just times where someone hacks in and takes the episode for everyone to see. Unfortunately, there’s no real way to completely combat this unless you just find a way to not let ANYONE see your episode in advance — that’s what FX did with “American Horror Story: Roanoke” last last year, but they are one of the few networks to give that a try. Many networks are willing to take the risk of having leaks just so that they can have those screeners out there — press is valuable for generating discussion, and you need to give up episodes sometimes in advance if you want to make the most of that opportunity.
We hope you’ll all stand in solidarity with us, “Sherlock” fans! We will be back tomorrow to cover the finale further over at the link here; for now, let us know what you think about these leaks in the comments. (Photo: BBC One.)