Liam Gaughan is a writer at Collider with a passion for classic films and the work of Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese.
Benedict Cumberbatch has become one of the most acclaimed actors of his generation, but his career didn’t truly kick into high gear until he landed the role of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective in the BBC's Sherlock.
Although there have been countless films and television shows that took inspiration from Doyle’s stories, Sherlock offered a fresh, modern perspective, which was made even better thanks to the incredible chemistry between Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. Although it ran for four seasons , there has been no indication that Sherlock will return for a fifth season. It’s no surprise that Cumberbatch hasn’t had time to return to Sherlock given how popular he has become within the last decade; he has received two Academy Award nominations for Best Actor, starred in acclaimed miniseries like Eric and Patrick Melrose, appeared in several Wes Anderson projects, and joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe with his role as Dr. Stephen Strange. However, scheduling conflicts are not the only reason that he hasn’t returned to his most famous role, as Cumberbatch stated that he didn’t want to make more Sherlock unless it was “better than it ever was.” ‘Sherlock’ Faced a Decline in Quality Close Although it began as a tightly written, logical series with engaging mysteries, Sherlock began to abandon its own identity as it moved forward, leading to one of the most disappointing finales in modern television history. In the episode “The Final Problem,” it is revealed that Eurus Holmes , the sister of Sherlock and Mycroft , has secretly been orchestrating events throughout the entire series. The reveal undercut many of the better episodes and introduced more questions than it answered. It also raised serious questions about Sherlock’s intelligence, as he is unable to predict something that was directly tied to his own childhood. Sherlock struggled to retain its own internal logic as the series became intent on delivering greater twists. While “The Reichenbach Fall,” the final episode of the second season, is generally regarded as being one of the best episodes in the show’s entire run, it ended on a climactic note in which Sherlock appears to fake his own death. Instead of revealing how this was pulled off, the third season chose to keep it ambiguous and only provided a few alternate methods in which Sherlock saved himself. This indicated that the show was more intent on surprising audiences than it was telling a good story, and this unfortunately didn’t change as Sherlock moved into its final season. Sherlock struggled to develop new villains that could live up to the incredible performance by Andrew Scott as Jim Moriarty. This character is established as Holmes’ archenemy in the original stories. Scott proved to be an intellectual equal to Sherlock who had seemingly plotted for any scenario, and his death proved to be one of the most shocking moments in the series; unfortunately, the subsequent villains introduced didn’t have the same charisma, as both Charles Augustus Magnussen and Culverton Smith were disappointingly bland. While the introduction of Eurus as an overarching villain may have been an attempt to correct this, it became obvious that this wasn’t something that was originally intended, making the earlier seasons feel more incongruous. 1:38 Related Before ‘Ripley,’ Andrew Scott Modernized One of the Greatest Villains of All Time Scott’s scene-stealing performance instantly ranked among television’s greatest baddies. Posts ‘Sherlock’ Needs a Proper Ending It’s unfortunate that Sherlock’s legacy has become so checkered, as there was a time when it was considered to be one of the best crime shows of the 21st century. However, modern television shows are often judged by whether or not they pulled off a successful finale; Game of Thrones and House of Cards now have very mixed legacies based on how underwhelming their last seasons were. A revival of Sherlock could help to restore the show’s reputation and fix some of the errors of the previous season, which could give its fans the closure that they are seeking. However, attempting to launch a new sequel series could face the creators with similar issues; revivals of shows like 24 and Justified were met with more mixed receptions, and didn’t make their predecessors feel any better in comparison. There are still many unanswered questions left by Sherlock, as the final season abruptly wrapped up several storylines. It’s unclear if John will ever have a normal family life again after the death of his wife, Mary Morstan , and it remains to be seen if Sherlock will ever pursue his relationship with Molly Hooper . While there’s always the possibility that characters like Irene Adler could return, there are still many of Doyle’s original stories that have not yet been adapted. Many of the best episodes of Sherlock took direct inspiration from Doyle’s work, including “A Study in Pink,” “A Scandal in Belgravia,” “The Great Game,” and “The Hounds of Baskerville;” nonetheless, Sherlock never got to debut its version of stories like “The Man With The Twisted Lip,” “The Red-Handed League,”"The Bruce-Partington Plans,” or “The Musgrave Principal.” Cumberbatch doesn’t have a reason to return to Sherlock unless it's worth his time, considering how in-demand of an actor he is. While it's understandable that he may want to move forward with his career and try new things, Sherlock is a series that has grown even more popular in the years since its conclusion due to its availability on streaming; it's also likely that many younger viewers who got used to Cumberbatch in the Doctor Strange series have now gone back to watch Sherlock. Given the time since the fourth season wrapped up in 2017, Sherlock has the opportunity to present an older, grizzled version of the iconic detective, which would make it unique from other stories about the character. Cumberbatch has grown into an even better actor in the last decade, as he has frequently challenged himself by taking on ambitious projects. At the same time, it's more than likely that he would bring his A-game to a new season. Sherlock needs to have a story that is worthy of his talents. Your Rating close 10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Rate Now 0/10 Your comment has not been saved Like Follow Followed Sherlock Release Date 2010 - 2017-00-00 Network BBC Showrunner Steven Moffat Directors Steven Moffat Writers Steven Moffat, Steve Thompson, Mark Gatiss Franchise Sherlock Holmes Cast See All
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