The game is on once again. The first two episode titles of Sherlock Season 4 have been revealed and they are packed with potential spoilers. While PBS and BBC coyly withheld the title for the finale, the first episode is revealed to be called "The Six Thatchers" while the second episode is "The Lying Detective." Thanks to the previous hint dropped at Comic-Con which revealed that the pivotal words, or rather names, in Season 4 would be Thatcher, Smith and Sherrinford, it only takes a little bit of deduction to figure out where the latest season of Sherlock may be heading.
I don't know about you, but after the long, long wait between Seasons 3 and 4, I am quite happy to brush off my deductive reasoning skills. Sherlock Season 4 is still at least a few months away since the only clue about the premiere date is it will be sometime in 2017, but don't worry about the premiere date right now, as there are spoilers to be analyzed. The two titles that have been revealed are packed with clues from both Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's official Sherlock Holmes canon and the show's history, and they hint at exciting cases ahead for Sherlock and Watson.
Here is everything you need to know about the revealing Sherlock Season 4 titles.
John Previously Blogged About "The Six Thatchers"
Back in the early days of Sherlock, John's oft-mentioned blog had an official page fans could visit to read about the cases Sherlock and John had solved. One of the cases they solved off screen in 2011 was "The Six Thatchers" which centered around the murder of a student who had sculpted six satirical miniature statures of Margaret Thatcher. It turned out the student was murdered by his boyfriend who had hidden the weapon in one of the statues — way too easy of a case for the TV show, but the idea about the statues is intriguing.
The show may choose to ignore the fact John has previously written about the case altogether, or they could hint that someone has been following John's blog very closely and is now replicating old cases. Since Season 3 ended on a cliffhanger suggesting Moriarty would return, this could be the latest villain's attempt to convince Sherlock and John that Moriarty is still alive.
"The Six Thatchers" May Be A Take On "The Six Napoleons"
"The Six Napoleons" is from the official Doyle canon and it is clearly the inspiration of the version of "The Six Thatchers" John wrote about. Instead of being about a lover's quarrel, the case revolves around a man breaking busts of Napoleon in search of a valuable pearl he hid inside one of them before he was sent to prison. Season 3 ended on a major cliffhanger so I doubt the first episode will be devoted to such a mundane case.
Instead, six statues of Thatcher could hold clues leading Sherlock to the truth about the season's true villain. It is also worth noting a thatcher is someone who lays roofs and Sherlock and Moriarty have quite a history where roofs are concerned.
"The Lying Detective" Will Almost Certainly Involve Toby Jones' Mr. Smith
Toby Jones has been confirmed to be playing the villainous Mr. Smith, a man who in the original stories poisoned his own nephew. There is a real possibility Smith could have been the man responsible for unleashing Moriarty on Sherlock in the first place, and "The Lying Detective" may feature his big introduction. The clue is in the title — in Doyle's short stories, Smith appeared in "The Dying Detective."
The story in question featured Sherlock faking an illness in order to catch Smith who had sent him a gift laced with the same poison he used to kill his nephew. However, several scenes in the Season 4 trailer point to Sherlock actually being ill — or experiencing some serious nightmares about hospitals as a number of nurses walk toward him. The title may refer to Sherlock making himself ill in order to convince Mr. Smith he took his bait, only to find Sherlock losing control of his own scheme.
"The Lying Detective" Could Be A Huge John & Sherlock Episode
The second episode of every Sherlock season so far has been a largely self-contained case. If Season 4 follows suit, Sherlock may be faking an illness to get John over to the flat. Remember, John is now married with a baby on the way, but with a new villain threatening everything they hold dear, Sherlock may need a chance to privately make sure John understands the gravity of the situation.
The original story featured John caring for Sherlock during his "illness" and the show could follow suit to give the fans a revealing episode centered around John and Sherlock adjusting to their new normal as they prepare to face off with Smith in the grand finale.
Both of the revealed titles have strong ties to Doyle stories, but Sherlock is all about reinvention. When these episodes finally air in 2017, they will surely be filled with all of the unexpected twists the Sherlock writers can dream up.
Images: BBC; Giphy (4)
