‘Sherlock investigates the murder of a young civil servant and soon finds himself in a battle of wits with a deranged bomber who sets a series of escalating challenges for the consultant detective.‘

The third episode of Sherlock really steps up the pace of the show, which is fitting for a season finale. Rather than following the clues for one big mystery we see Holmes in overdrive as he has to solve a series of mysteries to get to the mastermind behind everything.

While Watson took centre stage for The Blind Banker, The Great Game is definitely Holmes’ time to shine. After some of the oddball antics of last episode it was really nice to see him in full detective mode, solving puzzles left and right as he struggles with the overarching question of who the villain is. And what a villain! Holmes has finally met his equal here, someone who can play the game just as well as he can, but isn’t constrained by any morality. Holmes fans will know who I’m talking about, but I’m trying to avoid spoiling it for anyone who hasn’t guessed.

Even though Holmes is front and centre in this episode, we see Watson starting to branch out on his own. His time with Holmes has been teaching him to look at things more deeply, and he feels that it’s his job to step up when he thinks that Holmes is ignoring the problem. This is a great development for the character and adds a nice extra layer to Holmes and Watson’s relationship. I’ve talked a great deal already about how great these two are together, and this episode is no different.

While none of the mysteries on display here have the depth of the previous episodes, it’s not really important given how many we see. The pace of this episode is unrelenting, and the final climax is brilliant. After seeing the final few minutes I was pounding on the desk in frustration as I realised that I couldn’t watch the next episode. Apparently the BBC are looking to air Season 2 in the next few months, so hopefully we won’t have long to wait.

Overall, this episode was the perfect finale to a fantastic first season. This show was brilliant from beginning to end, and while part of me wishes that more episodes had been made, I much prefer having a short run of this quality.

What I Liked – Holmes in overdrive. Watson starting to branch out on his own. The villain was fantastic.

What I Didn’t Like – That I have to wait to see what happens next.

Rating – 5 out of 5 (Awesome)