10. Sherlock is Dying... - His Last Bow
Two of the most intriguing additions made to Series Three were the further explorations of Sherlock's head, in the many Mind Palace scenes the series gave us and, unexpectedly, the tantalising hints at what made Sherlock the (super)man he is today. These two elements are demonstrated no better than in the tense scene when Sherlock is fighting to survive after being shot. Articulating the lightning-quick thought processes going on in his mind, the scene gives us Sherlock taking advice from an imaginary Molly, Anderson and a berating Mycroft on how he should fall, thinking of his childhood dog, Redbeard, to prevent him going into shock and facing a straight-jacketed Moriarty for information on how to stop the pain. Yes, Sherlock did get weirder this year. Letting us journey with Sherlock through his own mind plus a surprise appearance from his nemesis (they could only pull that off once!) would be enough to make this scene memorable but what sets it even higher is the flashes of the past. The inclusion of Redbeard the dog, with all the implications that has for why Sherlock's repressed his emotions (it's said the dog was put down) and, also, the glimpses of a young Sherlock played by co-creator Steven Moffat's son, Louis, make for a fascinating scene in which we see through the cracks in Holmes' hard shell.