BBC’s television series “Sherlock” returned all too briefly over the New Year in the form of a one-shot holiday special called “The Abominable Bride.”
For this one special episode, viewers are taken back in time to the Victorian era, made famous in Arthur Conan Doyle’s original “Sherlock Holmes” works. Viewers were treated to a lush story of mystery, horror and the possibility that everything we see might just be a drug-addled dream playing out in the detective’s mind. Of course, as with everything to do with the detective, nothing is ever as it seems and mystery is the name of the game.
Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman return as Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, and although they sport appearances fitting to the Victorian era, they are still the familiar characters that viewers have come to know and love over the course of three prior seasons of the show.
Together the detective and doctor take viewers on a wild ride that explores many ideas (the role and treatment of women in Victorian society becomes a prominent aspect of the mystery that unfolds) and reveals subtle fascinating details that perhaps only ardent fans of Doyle’s written work could catch.
Though the full episode clocks in at just shy of two hours, it moves at a brisk pace, sometimes to the point where details get muddled and the story becomes somewhat hard to follow.
Though the episode doesn’t appear to be part of a narrative for what will unfold in the upcoming fourth season, “Abominable Bride” still proves to be suitable entertainment to fill the void until it appears.
There is plenty of action and clever humor to keep fans of the series happy as well as the beautiful cinematography and witty storytelling that the show is known for.
