Sherlock

Well, the third and final episode of the first series of the BBC's new, present day version of the Holmes saga was aired last night. Though the overall standard has been remarkably high, with some neat plot twists, plenty of atmosphere and some brilliant acting, I must admit the final minutes left me less than overwhelmed. The long awaited appearance of Moriarty finally happened, and what a disappointing, over-wordy, overly dramatic (or melodramatic) piece this was! Its implausability overshadowed everything else. The posturing of all the people taking part in it was particularly bad, turning what should have been a cliffhanger for the next series into little more than an implausable farce. Moriarty - the arch enemy of Holmes and the world's greatest criminal mastermind - was reduced to someone who would have looked over the top as The Master in Doctor Who. And where in the name of reality where all those snipers who had laser sights dotted all over Holmes and Watson? There must have been at least six of them - a whole crowd! And what criminal mastermind would have delayed one second in having both Holmes and Watson killed when he had the chance? The final minutes just didn't make sense and were a poor ending in what till then had been a superb episode.
I hope there is a second series, though. But one in which these faults are rectified in some way, if that is possible. I still think the BBC's choice of Moriarty and the way in which he was portrayed were big mistakes, letting the series down. Casting till then had been first rate.