An update here from your favorite but repentant film/tv critic.

In my defense, I did say that the season finale could redeem this season of Sherlock. Well, it did. The third episode of Sherlock season 3 was almost definitely the best piece of television in the entire series, and possibly in tv history.

From the initial, enthralling scene, which featured a creepy, potential terrorist (the focus/villain of the episode) blackmailing an MI-6 agent into servitude, to the final, heart-stopping twist, “His Last Vow” delivered more deliciously than just about any finale I’ve seen so far.

The thrill of Sherlockian adventure was nothing short of electric, and the London landscape was perfectly shot and newly perceived. The episode employed plot twists that knotted knickers, a production that will live in infamy, and brought the series to a pinnacle of suspense I doubted they could ever touch again. Cumberbatch and Freeman gave enchanting performances.

This last season, more than any, has explored a “sociopath”’s sense of humanity. Sherlock struggles with his place in the scheme of things; he seems more adept at interaction and simultaneously at a complete loss. The entire series has been primarily a character study, and in this episode we see the most intricate and intimate portrayal of the mechanics of Sherlock’s mind. But we also see something more intangible, his deepest nature, his “pressure point”.

The BBC has brought us to a new plane, and not even a two year hiatus (God forbid) could spoil the poignancy.