4. A Study In Pink (Season 1, Episode 1)
Written by Steven Moffat
"You're not haunted by the war, Dr. Watson; you miss it. Welcome back." - Mycroft Holmes Ah, the beginnings of what would become the wonderful phenomenon that is 'Sherlock.' Here we meet characters familiar to us through the Conan Doyle stories and pop culture in wholly unexpected ways. We meet Sherlock Holmes as he violently whips a corpse with a riding crop. We meet Dr. John Watson, who has a form of post-traumatic stress disorder and a leg injury that we later find out is purely psychological. Detective Inspector Lestrade is a gruff police inspector who has no patience for reporters' obnoxious questions. Mycroft Holmes appears at first to be the villain of the series and then turns out to be simply Sherlock's concerned older brother. And Mrs. Hudson is the ever-charming and very flappable (not your) housekeeper. There are new faces among the characters as well: Molly Hooper, the adorably awkward mortician who, for whatever reason, has a crush on Sherlock, and Sergeant Sally Donovan and Anderson, the two characters we all love to loathe. This is a great set-up for an incredibly satisfying episode, set off by the fact that Sherlock and John are only starting to get to know each other. While we see a lonely, depressed John at the beginning, we also see an uncaring, crueler Sherlock, who describes four serial suicides (and a note) as "Christmas" and doesn't understand why a woman would still be upset over the death of her stillborn child. Still, together Sherlock and John make a formidable team, and so they dash about the streets of London, searching for the serial killer who, in the end, nearly becomes Sherlock's undoing. The cabbie is a great villain in that he knows just how to play Sherlock in order to get him to do exactly what he wants. Even when his gun is exposed as a lighter (a brilliant gag - still makes me laugh whenever I watch the episode) and Sherlock is safe to go, the cabbie still manages to get him to risk his life by (almost) taking the pills, just to prove that he's right. He plays on Sherlock's pride and arrogance with taunts like "Clever enough to bet your life?" and "What's the point of being clever if you can't prove it?" In the end Sherlock is saved from himself by John, ironically a person who Sherlock had given pride back to, with the restoration of the mobility of his leg. The cabbie dies by John's gun, but not before Sherlock can demand from the dying man if he got the answer right, showing the true depth of his lack of compassion. Interestingly, the cabbie doesn't answer the question, so we are left not knowing whether Sherlock chose the fatal bottle of pills. I like that it was kept open-ended. The implications of his choice are definitely intriguing. If Sherlock picked the safe pills, then he is still smarter than the cabbie, which is plausible, although a bit predictable. If he chose the poison, then Sherlock is no longer the smartest person in the room, which is a bit disappointing. In not revealing if he made the right choice, we are left in permanent suspense, which makes the exchange between the cabbie and Sherlock all the more memorable. Another unforgettable detail of the cabbie's death is the moment Sherlock steps on his wound hard enough to cause him severe pain as he's dying, pain torturous enough to give Sherlock the information he wants - "Moriarty!" Would the Sherlock at the end of Season 2 still be capable of such cruelty?