Yahoo News Sherlock's 10 most mind-blowing twists
Oh, Sherlock, you twist and turn like a twisty-turny thing. In 13 episodes across seven years, the adventures of our contemporary Holmes and Watson have delivered some serious jaw-droppers – and if the show never returns, we'll miss having the rug pulled out from under us again and again and again.
Here are the ten best WHOA! moments.
1. Moriarty is Molly's "gay" boyfriend - 1.3, 'The Great Game'
The arrival of uber-foe Moriarty had been teased throughout the first series, but Sherlock totally trolled us by having Andrew Scott – then a relative unknown – appear earlier in the episode as the seemingly sweet "Jim", before revealing his true nefarious self in the closing scenes.
2. Moriarty pretends to be Richard Brook - 2.3, 'The Reichenbach Fall'
Having fabricated evidence to make the public suspect Sherlock is a fraud, Moriarty's masterstroke was to assume the fake identity of Richard Brook – an "actor" whom Holmes supposedly paid to pose as a master criminal.
Scott was so convincing as "Rich" that we almost believed him, even though the whole thing was obviously a big fat lie.
3. Sherlock survived his fall - 2.3, 'The Reichenbach Fall'
To prevent Moriarty's goons from hurting his friends, Sherlock took an apparently fatal leap from the roof of St Bartholomew's Hospital, only to later reappear, alive and well, at his own graveside.
How had he done it? We had to wait two years for the (slightly confusing) answer. We're pretty sure Derren Brown was not involved, though.
4. Mary shoots Sherlock - 3.3, 'His Last Vow'
Mary Morstan, great friend, devoted fiancée... and treacherous ex-assassin.
Sherlock discovered the truth about Mary the hard way, taking a bullet in the process. Still, she eventually gave her life to save his, so they're pretty much quits now.
5. "Did you miss me?" - 3.3, 'His Last Vow'
After murdering the evil blackmailer Charles Augustus Magnussen, Sherlock is exiled to Eastern Europe by MI6, only to be called back almost immediately as images of (the apparently late) Jim Moriarty appear on TV screens all over England.
Did we miss him? You're damn right we did.
6. It's all in Sherlock's head - 'The Abominable Bride'
We were told a great big fib. 2016 special 'The Abominable Bride' was supposed to be an episode set outside of the ordinary Sherlock-verse - an excuse to have Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman put on the classic Holmes and Watson togs and romp around Victorian London.
In fact, the entirety of the 19th-century adventure was taking place inside Sherlock's "mind palace" – with the drug-addled detective going to extreme lengths to discover whether Moriarty could really have faked his death.
7. Culverton Smith is… innocent? - 4.2, 'The Lying Detective'
Holmes was utterly convinced that he had cold-blooded serial killer Culverton Smith (Toby Jones) dead to rights, having previously obtained crucial evidence from Smith's daughter Faith.
Except the woman he'd met wasn't the real Faith. Had Sherlock been played? Had he accused an innocent man? Was he totally lost in his latest high? We honestly weren't sure... and by the look on the sleuth's face, neither was he.
8. Meet Eurus Holmes - 4.2, 'The Lying Detective'
The fake Faith, it transpired, was the same woman who'd flirted with John (Martin Freeman) in the previous episode, and was also the therapist who'd been listening to Dr Watson's problems for weeks.
But that wasn't even the big surprise. The identity of this mistress of disguise? Eurus Holmes, the long-lost sister of Sherlock and Mycroft.
9. Moriarty returns - 4.3, 'The Final Problem'
It was a neat trick in 'The Final Solution' – inserting a flashback into the episode in such a manner that we were briefly fooled into thinking that Jim Moriarty was actually back from the dead.
We saw the super-villain shoot himself in the head, but all the same, as he strode out of that helicopter to the strains of Queen's 'I Want to Break Free', we totally bought it.
10. 'Redbeard' wasn't a dog - 4.3, 'The Final Problem'
Perhaps the most macabre twist in all of Sherlock. It was bad enough that Eurus had apparently drowned Sherlock's pet dog, but it turned out she'd actually murdered her brother's childhood friend, Victor Trevor.
Brrr. So scarred was Sherlock by the trauma that his young mind reimagined Victor as a canine and erased Eurus from his personal history entirely.
Bonus: Sherlock remembers Lestrade's name - 4.3, 'The Final Problem'
Utterly mind-blowing.
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