SHERLOCK SEASON 4
★★★★★
FROMNOW/SHOWRUNNERSSTEVEN MOFFAT,
MARK GATISS/CASTBENEDICT CUMBERBATCH,
MARTIN FREEMAN,AMANDA ABBINGTON,
UNASTUBBS,MARKGAT ISSNeeds to get back to elementary
IT’S BEEN THREEyears since the last
series ofSherlock, with onlya single Christmas
special since then, but those expecting a
traditional re-introduction to the BBC’s
re-imagination of Sherlock Holmes are in for a
shock. This fourth (and most likely, last)
season starts with a breathless episode more
interestedinthefoibles ofthe cast—
especially Watson’s wife, former super-spy
Mary (Abbington) — than solving mysteries.
The secondpresents a veryJimmySaville-like
supervillain(played bya scenery-chewingTo by
Jones)but the focus is more on Holmes’s drug
experiences(again), while at least the third and
inal episode promises to answer a range of
questions hanging over the series for years.
Unfortunatelythosequestions are, again, more
to do with the cast’s personal relationships
than actually solving mysteries. Sherlockhas“Wait, aren’t you the
Sorceror Supreme?”ARCHER SEASON 7
★★★★★
FROMFEBRUARY 15/ RATEDM
ARCHER PULLS THE reboot switch again for
its seventh season, and while it’s not as big a
shift as season five (AKA Archer Vice) it does
see the cast dropped into a new environment.
After ditching the CIA at the end of last
season, the team head out to Los Angeles to
set up a private detective agency, where
they... basically do all the same stuff they’ve
been doing for the last 80 episodes. There are
a few new angles here but there’s not a whole
lot that’s surprising or new — which is a good
thing: Archer’s survived this long because it
has great comedy characters and loads of
brilliant one-liners, not because audiences
were clamouring to see an animated spy
series. Some elements are showing their age
— Archer and Lana’s relationship is just stale
bickering now — but so long as Pam and Cheryl
get to display their crazy, Archer is on target.
EXTRAS None. ANTHONY MORRIS
FEAR THE WALKING DEAD SEASON 2
★★★★★
FROM FEBRUARY 8 / RATED MA15+
AS A PREQUEL to The Walking Dead, fans
expected Fear The Walking Dead to provide
backstory; what they got in season one was more
of a slow-burn family drama. But now it’s LA
that’s burning as the military try to bomb it clean
of the zombie infection. It’s no surprise that this
season is a series of dashes between safe havens
that turn out to be not very safe. More surprising
is how rapidly this series — which started out as a
character-based take on a slow-motion disaster,
and can still deliver thoughtful moments when it
wants to — turns into a Walking Dead clone. Bad
enough that society has all but collapsed a few
episodes in, and that the unsafe safe haven is a
plot gone stale after six seasons of TWD. Now the
characters have also become the same kind of
“kill them before they kill you” types that
populate the original series, only plausible as
good guys because everyone else is worse. We’ve
seen it all before: only the gore remains shocking.
EXTRAS The Making Of Season 2; Flight 462
webisodes. ANTHONY MORRIS
always been a series about how amazing
Sherlock Holmes is, but with the mystery side
of things largely sidelined his narcissism feels
oppressive, his blatantly supernatural abilities
mere showing off. What makes it all the more
frustrating is that the writing is still sometimes
as good as it thinks it is (the end of episode
one especially) while performance-wise all the
pieces remain in place: Cumberbatch is often
captivating, Freeman is excellent as the
increasingly tormented Watson, and Stubbs as
Holmes’ not-housekeeper remains a delight.
It’s always been lashy and fast-paced, and the
constant stream of shock twists and big
revelations shouldn’t be fatal. But too often
this season ignores the core of Sherlock’s
appeal: two friends solving puzzles. Getting
that right shouldn’t be a mystery.
ANTHONY MORRIS