His reaction to seeing Holmes lying dead on the pavement, hearing that Mrs. He was on the top of his game throughout the entire show. It Is hard to pick out a key scene for Freemans performance in this episode. Speaking of actors making a role their own, Martin Freeman demonstrated once again that all future Watsons will be measured solely against his performance on this show. He really upped his performance for this episode and along with the fantastic script he received made this the most memorable Moriarty ever to appear on screen. When first introduced on the show I thought Andrew Scotts portrayal of Jim Moriarty was a bit hammy and over top, luckily in this episode he felt far more in control of his character and was completely engaging throughout the 90 minutes. This show however really knew what the character is capable of and got the most out of him. Normally the villain is wasted in many on screen Sherlock incarnations, see the recent Game of Shadows as an example.
The writers really knew how to play with a character as clever as Moriarty. Setting himself up as Richard Brook, an actor for childrens television was a marvellous plot twist. The most devious part of his plan was his idea to clear his own name. Blackmailing the jury into setting him free, fabricating the skeleton key, setting assassins after Holmes, it was all wonderfully written by Steve Thompson. Every time you thought you knew where he was going with it a sudden twist in the tale would present itself. Having Lestrade do his best to defend Holmes and not buy into the doubt that plagued the rest of the force over Holmes alleged criminal activity was a wonderful touch that helped add a lot of weight to his character and his relationship with the Baker Street boys. It was very clever for the writers to explore that grey area. Throughout the years of Holmes lore nobody ever dealt with the reality of Sherlock being granted inside information on cases through his unofficial involvement with the police force. It was nice to see the Chief Superintendent flip out upon hearing how Lestrade let an amateur detective help out with so many cases. It was a very interesting and valid point and I was thrilled to see that the writers expanded on it by making it part of Moriartys revenge plan. Back in the pilot episode Donovan warned Watson that Holmes is dangerous and one day he could easily make the switch from hero to villain. It was wonderful seeing such a conflicted Holmes battling with emotion, he has come an awful long way over the course of just six episodes. It was a major wake up call for him in seeing that there are people out there who care for him and are willing to do their utmost to protect him. He was forced to choose between his friends and his reputation. The beauty of this episode was that Moriartys plan was not only displayed insanely creative twists and turns but also served as great instrument of character development for Holmes. He will gladly humiliate those close to him for an opportunity to display and boast about his deductive skills. He has slowly been warming up to those close to him but its his superior intellect which is biggest handicap when it comes to making and keeping friends. Throughout the show Sherlock has been caught between his head and his heart. It successfully built upon everything that had been introduced on the show since day one. The season 2 finale of Sherlock was a fantastic culmination of plot threads and character growth that had been brewing from the pilot episode. While we all knew he wasnt lying, nobody could have predicted the ingenious way in which he would go about doing it. Rating: 5 Back when Moriarty first met Holmes in the season 1 finale he threatened to burn the heart out of the great detective.