2015-2016, 24 episodes. In modern New York, (a completely different)
Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson continue to consult for the police.
The big theme this season is Sherlock's relationship with his
father, Morland Homes (John Noble with a profoundly unconvincing
British accent), one of the movers and shakers of the world. All the
baggage they have to get through tends to come down to "rich people
are Just Like Us really", though some of the detail is pleasingly
different, and the eventual resolution of this arc is something that
few other shows would try.
Unfortunately, the quality of the case-of-the-week spackle seems to
drop this time. There are some definite CSI moments, using the
formula that show would dig out whenever it ran out of ideas: here's
someone who lives an unconventional life such as being in a group
marriage or trying to be a real-life superhero, and being at all weird
means you are socially inadequate, therefore it's bound to end in
MURDER! There are some good episodes (the rescued kidnap victim who
may be an impostor; a setup for a raid on a drug-dealing bike gang's
house, but then the inside man gets shot before the raid can begin; a
different take on The Hound of the Baskervilles) but they're rarer
than in previous seasons.
It's still watchable, and Miller and Liu in particular continue to
impress, but there's less here than there was last year.
The show was renewed for a fifth season.
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