The Final Problem Sherlock

This programme contains some scenes which some viewers may find upsetting

Mummy?

Mummy! Wake up! Wake up!

Mummy!

BLEEPING

CLATTER

RUMBLING

Wake up!

PHONE RINGS

Help me, please! I'm on a plane and everyone's asleep! Help me!

-PHONE:

-'Hello. My name's Jim Moriarty.

'Welcome to the final problem.'

-'You know, I could arrest you.

-What for?

-'Wearing a dress like that.

-Would you like me to take it off?

-'Then I'd really have to press charges.

-Press away.

'Isn't that how they got started?

-'Who?

-Adam and Eve.

-Oh, them.

-And that turned out OK.

'You think so?

'I thought it was supposed to be the beginning of all human misery.

'Now, what was all that about arresting me?

-'Well, maybe not arresting you.

-No?

'I could just keep you under close watch.

-'Very close?

-A-huh.

'Shame, I was looking forward to putting myself into the hands of the authorities.

'You were?

'Finger-printing, being searched...thoroughly.'

-EERIE WHISPER:

-Mycroft?

FOOTSTEPS

DOOR OPENS

DOOR CREAKS

DOOR SLAMS SHUT

POP!

CLOCK CHIMES

-EERIE WHISPER:

-Mycroft?

Why don't you come out and show yourself?

I don't have time for this.

-CHILD:

-We have time, Mycroft.

All the time in the world.

Mycroft?

Who are you?

-SINGSONG:

-You know.

Impossible.

Nothing's impossible.

You of all people know that.

It's coming to get you.

There's an east wind coming, Mycroft. Coming to get you.

You can't have got out! You can't!

CLICK

No use, Mycroft. There's no defence and nowhere to hide.

Y-a-a-a-argh!

Sherlock? Help me!

HE WHISTLES

Experiment complete. Conclusion, I have a sister.

This was you? All of this was you?!

Conclusion two, my sister, Eurus, apparently,

has been incarcerated from an early age in a secure institution

controlled by my brother. Hey, Bro!

Why would you do this, this pantomime? Why?!

Conclusion three, you are terrified of her.

You have no idea what you're dealing with. None at all!

New information, she's out.

That's not possible.

It's more than possible, she was John's therapist.

-Shot me during a session.

-Only with a tranquilliser.

-Hm. We still had ten minutes to go.

-Well, we'll see about a refund.

Right, you two, Wiggins has got your money by the gate,

don't spend it all in one crack den.

SQUEAK!

Oh, I hope we didn't spoil your enjoyment of the movie.

You're just leaving?!

Well, we're not staying here, Eurus is coming and, er...

someone's disabled all your security.

Sleep well!

Dr Watson, why would he do that to me? That was insane!

Er...yes, well, someone convinced him that you wouldn't tell the truth

unless you were actually wetting yourself.

Someone?

Probably me.

So, that's it, is it? You're just going?

Well, don't worry, there's a place for people like you,

the desperate, the terrified.

The ones with nowhere else to run.

What place?

221B Baker Street.

See you in the morning. If there's a queue, join it.

For God's sake, this is not one of your idiot cases!

You might want to close that window.

There is an east wind coming.

You have to sit in the chair.

They won't talk to you unless you sit in the chair, it's the rules.

-I'm not a client!

-Then get out.

She's not going to stay there, is she?

-Would you like a cup of tea?

-Thank you.

The kettle's over there.

So, what happens now? Are you going to make deductions?

You're going to tell the truth, Mycroft. Pure and simple.

Who was it said, "The truth is rarely pure and never simple"?

I don't know and I don't care.

So, there were three of us, I know that now.

You, me and Eurus.

A sister I can't remember.

Interesting name, Eurus. It's Greek, isn't it?

Hm. Yeah, literally, the God of the East Wind.

Yes.

"The east wind is coming, Sherlock."

You used that to scare me.

-No.

-You turned my sister into a ghost story.

Of course I didn't. I monitored you.

You what?

Memories can resurface.

Wounds can reopen.

The roads we walk have demons beneath.

And yours have been waiting for a very long time.

I never bullied you. I used, at discreet intervals,

potential trigger words

to update myself as to your mental condition.

I was looking after you.

Why can't I remember her?

-This is a private matter.

-John stays.

-(This is family!)

-That's why he stays!

Hm-hm! So there were three Holmes kids. What was the age gap?

Seven years between myself and Sherlock,

one year between Sherlock and Eurus.

Middle child. Explains a lot.

-So, did she have it, too?

-Have what?

The deduction thing.

The deduction thing?

-Yes.

-More than you can know.

Enlighten me.

-You realise I'm the smart one?

-As you never cease to announce.

But Eurus, she was incandescent, even then.

Our abilities were professionally assessed more than once.

I was remarkable,

but Eurus was described as an era-defining genius.

Beyond Newton.

Then why don't I remember her?

You do remember her, in a way.

Every choice you ever made, every path you've ever taken,

the man you are today...

..is your memory of Eurus.

She was different from the beginning.

She knew things she should never have known.

As if she was somehow aware of truths beyond the normal scope.

You look funny grown-up.

-What's wrong?

-Sorry.

The memories are disturbing.

What do you mean? Examples.

They found her with a knife once. She seemed to be cutting herself.

Mother and Father were terrified.

They thought it was a suicide attempt.

But when I asked Eurus what she was doing, she said:

I wanted to see how my muscles worked.

-Jesus!

-So I asked her if she felt pain, and she said:

Which one's pain?

Then what happened?

Musgrave.

The ancestral home, where there was always honey for tea.

-And Sherlock played among the funny gravestones.

-Funny how?

Come on, you lot!

They weren't real. The dates were all wrong.

An architectural joke which fascinated Sherlock.

# Deep down below the old beech tree... #

-Help succour me now the...

-East winds blow.

-# East winds blow...

-16 by six.

# 16 by six...#

And under we go.

-You're starting to remember.

-Fragments.

Redbeard? Redbeard?

-Redbeard?

-He was my dog.

Eurus took Redbeard and locked him up somewhere no-one could find him.

-Redbeard?

-And she refused to say where he was.

Redbeard?

She'd only repeat that song.

Her little ritual.

-Redbeard?

-We begged and begged her to tell us where he was.

-But she said:

-(The song is the answer.)

But the song made no sense.

# ..Brother, and under we go. #

-What happened to Redbeard?

-We never found him.

But she started calling him Drowned Redbeard,

so we made our assumptions.

Sherlock was traumatised.

Natural, I suppose. He was, in the early days, an emotional child.

But after that, he was different. So changed.

Never spoke of it again.

In time, he seemed to forget that Eurus had ever even existed.

-How could he forget? She was living in the same house.

-No.

-They took her away.

-Why?

You don't lock up a child because a dog goes missing.

Quite so.

It was what happened immediately afterwards.

FATHER: She knows where he is.

-MOTHER:

-We can't make her tell us.

We can't make her do anything!

FLAMES ROAR

-After that, our sister had to be taken away.

-Where?

Oh, some suitable place, or so everyone thought.

Not suitable enough, however.

-She died there.

-How?

She started another fire. One which she did not survive.

This is a lie.

Yes.

It is also a kindness.

This is the story I told our parents to spare them further pain,

and to account for the absence of an identifiable body.

And no doubt to prevent their further interference.

Well, that, too, of course.

The depth of Eurus's psychosis and the extent of her abilities

couldn't hope to be contained in any ordinary institution.

Uncle Rudi took care of things.

Where is she, Mycroft? Where's our sister?

There's a place called Sherrinford.

An island.

It's a secure and very secret installation

whose sole purpose is to contain what we call the uncontainables.

The demons beneath the road? This is where we trap them.

Sherrinford is more than a prison, or an asylum.

It is a fortress,

built to keep the rest of the world safe from what is inside it.

Heaven may be a fantasy for the credulous and the afraid.

But I can give you a map reference for hell.

That's where our sister has been since early childhood.

She hasn't left, not for a single day.

Whoever you both met, it can't have been her.

CRASH

# I that am lost Oh, who will find me

# Deep down below the old beech tree?

# Help succour me now the east winds blow

# 16 by six, brother and under we go... #

-Keep back! Keep as still as you can!

-What is it?

# My soul seek the shade of my willow's bloom...#

-It's a drone.

-Yeah, I can see that. What's it carrying?

What's that silver thing on top of it, Mycroft?

It's a DX-707.

I've authorised the purchase of quite a number of these.

Colloquially, it is known as the patience grenade.

Patience?

The motion sensor has activated.

-If any of us move, the grenade will detonate.

-How powerful?

It'll certainly destroy this flat and kill anyone in it.

Assuming walls of reasonable strength,

your neighbours should be safe, but as it's landed on the floor,

I am moved to wonder if the cafe below is open.

-It's Sunday morning, so it's closed.

-What about Mrs Hudson?

MUSIC: The Number Of The Beast by Iron Maiden

Going by her usual routine, I estimate she has another two minutes left.

She keeps the vacuum cleaner at the back of the flat.

-So?

-So safer there, when she's putting it away.

But we have to move eventually and we should do it when she's safest.

When the vacuum stops, we give her eight seconds to get to the back of the flat.

She's fast when she's cleaning. Then we move.

What's the trigger response time?

Once we're mobile, how long before detonation?

We have a maximum of three seconds to vacate the blast radius.

John and I will take the windows, you take the stairs.

-Help get Mrs Hudson out, too.

-Me?

-You're closer.

-You're faster.

Speed differential won't be as critical as the distance.

Yes, agreed.

She's further away. She's moving to the back.

I estimate we have a minute left.

-Is a phone call possible?

-Phone call?

John has a daughter, he may wish to say goodbye.

I'm sorry, Dr Watson, any movement will set off the grenade. I hope you understand.

Oscar Wilde.

-What?

-He said, "The truth is rarely pure and never simple".

It's from The Importance Of Being Earnest. We did it at school.

So did we, now I recall.

I was Lady Bracknell.

Yeah. You were great.

-You really think so?

-Yes, I really do.

Well, that's good to know.

I've always wondered.

(Good luck, boys.)

Three, two, one, go!

FLAMES ROAR

'And now the shipping forecast, issued by the Met Office

'on behalf of the Maritime Coastguard Agency at 05.05.

'Thames, Dover...'

Go on, son, get it up.

Better out than in.

-GASPS FOR BREATH:

-Is it always like this?

No. Thank God!

Usually, it's much worse.

I might go and work in a bank!

Is that an helicopter?

No, not in this weather.

'..Shannon, Malin, Sherrinford.

'Sherrinford.

'Sherrinford.'

-Do you hear that?

-'Sherrinford.'

I never heard that one before.

Sherrinford?

Forget you ever heard it.

-What?

-Sometimes when we're out in these waters, we get that message.

Just forget about it.

-Yeah, but we've never...

-Just...!

THUD

-Who the hell are you?!

-My name's Sherlock Holmes.

The detective.

The pirate.

Golf Whiskey X-ray, this is a restricted area.

Repeat, restricted area.

You are off course. Are you receiving?

Golf Whiskey X-ray, you are off course. Are you receiving?

'We are receiving you. This is a distress call.

'Repeat, distress call. We're in trouble here.'

Golf Whiskey X-ray, what is your situation?

Golf Whiskey X-ray, where are you now?

'We're headed for the rocks, we're going to hit!'

Governor to the control room!

-TANNOY:

-'Lockdown in progress! Lockdown in progress!

'Please proceed to designated red stations.

'Please proceed to designated red stations.'

SIREN WAILS

-Hold it! Wait, wait, wait! Wait!

-Wait!

In the sand! In the sand!

I need to speak to Mycroft.

He's in hospital, there was an explosion.

Put me through to the hospital.

He's not conscious. He's severely injured.

No-one is even confident he's going to pull through.

Where's his brother? Where's Sherlock Holmes?

Missing.

No, he's not, he's here!

Sir, we found two more from the boat.

'He stole our boat! Him and another fella, with guns!'

-Where'd you find them?

-'North side of the island, sir.'

-Holding cell, now!

-'Right, sir.'

-TANNOY:

-'Lockdown in progress.'

This is a mistake!

I'm the victim here, this man stole my boat! He's a pirate.

-Yeah, I really am.

-Please, sit down.

I don't even know who he is!

He's Dr John Watson, formerly of the Fifth Northumberland Fusiliers.

-What are you doing here?

-It's a hospital. Any work?

It's not a hospital.

I want eyes on Eurus Holmes.

Go straight to the special unit,

-deploy green and yellow shift, on my authority.

-Sir.

I'm sparing your blushes because we're supposed to be on the same side.

And frankly, this is embarrassing.

Ooh. Doing a cavity search?

The true art of disguise, according to your famous friend,

is not being looked at.

But I am looking at you, aren't I, Mr Holmes?

Yes, you are.

But that is sort of the point, isn't it?

You see, you should have been looking at the guy you just gave your pass to.

Ah!

That's the trouble with uniforms and name badges,

people stop looking at faces.

We'd be better off with clown outfits.

At least they'd be satirically relevant.

Oh, you'll find the real Landers on the north shore, tied up with two others.

-Two others?

-Hm. Well, it was trial and error.

We had to find the right waistband.

This is insane! This is unnecessary.

No, your security is compromised and we don't know who to trust.

And that justifies dressing up?

Yes, it does!

It justifies dressing up or any damn thing I say it does!

Now, listen to me, for your own physical safety, do not speak.

Do not indulge in any non-verbal signals

suggestive of internal thought!

If the safety of my sister is compromised,

if the security of my sister is compromised,

if the incarceration of my sister is compromised,

in short, if I find any indication my sister has left this island at any time,

I swear to you, you will not!

-Say thank you to Dr Watson.

-Why?

He talked me out of Lady Bracknell. This could have been very different.

Are you in?

Just arriving at the secure unit. Explain.

'Door opening.'

Prison within a prison.

Eurus must be allowed the strict minimum of human interaction.

-Why?

-Since you're determined to meet her, you're about to find out.

Eyes on Eurus Holmes. Governor's orders.

Answer yes or no.

Has there ever been, against my express instructions,

any attempt at a psychiatric evaluation of Eurus Holmes?

-Yes.

-I presume the tapes are in my office.

-Your office?

-Cast your mind back. It used to be yours.

You haven't been down here before, have you?

Silence Of The Lambs, basically.

-You what?

-Keep your distance.

Stay at least three feet away from the glass, and all that.

Why the headphones?

She doesn't stop playing. Sometimes for weeks.

Beautiful.

-Kills you in the end.

-Aye, still beautiful, though.

'Door closing.'

VIOLIN PLAYS

SHE STOPS PLAYING

SHE RESUMES PLAYING

'Why am I here?

'Why do you think you're here?

'No-one ever tells me.'

PLAYING CONTINUES

PLAYING SPEEDS UP

SLOWS DOWN

-'Am I being punished?

-You've been bad.

'There's no such thing as bad.

-'What about good?

-Good and bad are fairytales.

'We have evolved to attach an emotional significance

'to what is nothing more than a survival strategy of the pack animal.

'We are conditioned to invest divinity in utility.

'Good isn't really good, evil isn't really wrong,

'bottoms aren't really pretty. You are a prisoner of your own meat.

'Why aren't you?

'I'm too clever.'

MUSIC CONTINUES

-THROUGH SPEAKERS:

-Did you bring it?

-Sorry?

My hairband. Did you bring it, like I asked?

I'm not one of the... I-I don't work here.

My special hairband.

I'm not one of your doctors.

The one I made you steal from Mummy.

It was the last thing I said to you, remember?

The day they took me away.

No.

-No?

-We've spoken since then.

You came round to my flat a few weeks back,

you pretended to be a woman called Faith Smith. We had chips.

Does this mean you didn't bring my hairband?

How did you manage to get out of this place? How did you do that?

Easy. Look at me.

I am looking at you.

You can't see it, can you?

You try and try, but you just can't see, you can't look.

See what?

-What do you think?

-Beautiful.

-You're not looking at it.

-I meant your playing.

Oh, the music!

I never know if it's beautiful or not, only if it's right.

Often they're the same thing.

If they're not always the same thing, what's the point in beauty? Look at the violin.

I need to know how you escaped.

Look at the violin.

-It's a Stradivarius.

-It's a gift.

-Who from?

-Me.

-Why?

-You play, don't you?

How did you know?

How did I know?

I taught you. Don't you remember? How can you not remember that?

Eurus, I don't remember you at all.

Interesting.

Mycroft told me you'd rewritten your memories,

he didn't tell me you'd written me out completely.

What do you mean, rewritten?

You still don't know about Redbeard, do you?

Oh! This is going to be such a good day.

'She smiles at you when you come home...'

Everyone we sent in there, it's hard to describe,

-it's...it's like she...

-Recruited them.

'Smiling is advertising.'

Enslaved them.

She's been capable of that since she was five.

She's an adult now.

I warned you. I ordered you.

She's clinically unique. We had to try.

At what cost?

'Happiness is a pop song. Sadness is a poem.'

What cost?

Tell me the worst thing that has happened.

She kept suggesting to Dr Taylor that he should kill his family.

-And?

-He said it was like an earworm,

couldn't get her out of his head.

-And?

-He left.

-And?

-Killed himself.

And?

His family.

'Are you going to cry?

'It's OK if you cry.

'I don't want to cry.

'I can help you cry.'

-Play for me.

-I need to know how you got out of here.

You know already! Look at me. Look and play.

HE BEGINS TO PLAY

No, not Bach. You clearly don't understand it. Play you.

-Me?

-You.

HE BEGINS TO PLAY

Oh! Have you had sex?

Why do you ask?

The music. I've had sex.

-How?

-One of the nurses got careless. I liked it.

Messy, though. People are so breakable.

I take it he didn't consent.

-He?

-She?

Afraid I didn't notice in the heat of the moment.

And afterwards, well, you couldn't really tell.

Is that vibrato, or is your hand shaking?

I warned you explicitly, no-one was to talk to her alone.

-You spoke to her.

-I know what I'm doing!

You even brought her a visitor on Christmas Day.

I took a calculated risk.

You gave her a Christmas present.

Remember her Christmas present?

I am aware of the dangers Eurus poses

and equipped to deal with them.

What dangers?

Eurus doesn't just talk to people, she...reprograms them.

Anyone who spends time with her is automatically compromised.

'I'm only trying to help you. We can help each other.

'Helping someone is the best way you can help yourself.

'I don't trust you.'

So, clearly you remember me?

I remember everything. Every single thing.

You just need a big enough hard drive.

-WATSON: 'Sherlock?'

-Not now.

-'Vatican Cameos.'

-In a minute.

Let's continue.

Did they tell you to keep three feet from the glass?

-Yes.

-Be naughty, step closer.

-Why?

-Do it. Step closer.

Tell me what you remember.

You, me and Mycroft.

Mycroft was quite clever. He could understand things if you went a bit slow,

but you, you were my favourite.

Why was I your favourite?

Because I could make you laugh. I loved it when you laughed.

Once, I made you laugh all night, I thought you were going to burst.

I was so happy.

Then Mummy and Daddy had to stop me, of course.

-Why?

-Well, turns out I'd got it wrong.

Apparently, you were screaming.

Why was I screaming?

FAINT WHIMPERING

(Redbeard!)

-I remember Redbeard.

-Do you now?

Tell me what I don't know.

Touch the glass.

I put my trust in you, my implicit trust,

as governor of this institute!

GULLS CRY

WAVES CRASH

It's obvious when it all started.

Well, she was never the same after that Christmas.

It's as if you woke her up.

That is entirely beside the point!

-You had your orders and failed to act on them.

-Listen to the tape.

-Sorry?

-Do it now, listen.

-My sister's methods of...

-Just listen.

'You have no idea how I could help.

'Bring me your wife. I want to meet her.

-MAN:

-'I don't need your help.'

Redbeard was my dog.

I know what happened to Redbeard.

Oh, Sherlock, you know nothing.

Touch the glass and I'll tell you the truth.

I'll touch it, too, if you're scared.

'I can fix her for you and then I'll give you her straight back,

'good as new, I promise.

'That's all. What you're proposing is not... It's not...right.'

Everyone who went in there got affected.

-Enslaved, you said.

-Yes.

-One after the other?

-Yes.

-Dr Watson, I think we've...

-Shut up!

-EURUS:

-'Do you trust your wife?'

One question, that's your voice, isn't it?

'Do you really? Do you trust her?

'You've got to stop saying these things.'

If Eurus has enslaved you, then who exactly is in charge of this prison?

'It's completely inappropriate.'

I'm sorry.

-No!

-Very, very sorry.

No! ALARM WAILS

You think it's a trick.

You look so unsure.

You're not used to being unsure, are you?

It's more common than you'd think.

Look at you.

The man who sees through everything

is exactly the man who doesn't notice...

..when there's nothing to see through.

Do you see how it was done? I know you like explanations.

The signs, you suspended the signs!

And my voice? Throat mic.

Puts me through the speakers.

-DIRECT VOICE:

-Don't you think it's clever?

-Simple, but clever.

-Transparent.

Well, you do keep asking me how I got out of here.

Like this.

Ooof! Argh!

A-A-A-A-A-A-Argh!

Get in here, all of you! Stop me killing him!

-COMPOSED:

-No, no, stop me in a minute.

A-A-A-A-A-A-Argh!

Oh!

-TANNOY:

-'Red alert! Red alert!

'Big, red, bouncy, red alert!'

-Dr Watson...!

-'Klingons attacking lower decks!

'Also cowboys in black hats and Darth Vader.

'Don't be alarmed! I'm here now, I'm here now!

'Did you miss me? Did you miss me?

'Miss me? Miss me?

'Miss me? Miss me?

'Miss me? Miss me? Miss me? Miss me?

'Miss me? Miss me? Miss me? Miss me...?'

MUSIC: I Want To Break Free by Queen

# I want to break free

# I want to break free

# I want to break free from your lies

# You're so self-satisfied I don't need you

# I've got to break free

RAPTUROUS APPLAUSE

# God knows

# God knows I want to break free

# I've fallen in...#

MUSIC STOPS

-Mr Moriarty.

-Big G.

Big G means Governor. Street speak.

I'm a bit down with the kids, you know.

I'm relatable that way.

Do you like my boys?

This one's got more stamina, but he's less caring in the afterglow.

This way, please.

Smell all that insane criminality.

HE INHALES

Do you have cannibals here?

-Yes.

-How many?

-Three.

-That's good.

People leave their bodies to science,

I think cannibals would be so much more grateful.

HE WHISTLES

FAINT VOICES

Ah!

HE CHUCKLES

Ah! Isn't that sweet?

Won't you sit down?

I wrote my own version of the Nativity when I was a child.

The Hungry Donkey.

It was a bit gory, but if you're going to put a baby in a manger,

you're asking for trouble.

-You know what this place is, of course?

-Of course.

So, am I under arrest again?

You remain a person of interest,

but until you commit a verifiable crime,

you are, I regret, at liberty.

-Then why am I here?

-You're a Christmas present.

Ah. How do you want me?

There is, in this facility,

a prisoner whose intellectual abilities

are of occasional use to the British government.

What, for, like, really difficult sums, long division, that sort of thing?

She predicted the exact dates of the last three terrorist attacks

on the British mainland after an hour on Twitter.

That sort of thing.

In return, however, she requires treats.

Last year, it was a violin.

This year?

Five minutes unsupervised conversation...with you.

Me?

With me?

She has noted your interest in the activities of my little brother.

So, what has she got to do with Sherlock Holmes?

Whatever you're about to tell me...

..I already know it's going to be...awesome!

I'm your Christmas present.

So, what's mine?

Redbeard.

HE GROANS

How are you?

-Bit of a lump.

-True, that, but you have your uses.

-Did you see your sister?

-Yes.

-How was that?

-Family is always difficult.

Is this an occasion for banter?

Case in point.

RINGING TONE

-Are we phoning someone?

-Apparently.

-What's he doing here?

-As he is told.

Eurus is in control.

PHONE CONNECTS

Help me. Please, I'm on a plane and everyone's asleep!

Help me!

'Hello. My name's Jim Moriarty.

'Welcome to the final problem.'

-It's OK, he's dead.

-He doesn't sound dead.

'This is a recorded announcement.

'Please say hello to some very old friends of mine.'

Hello? I can hear you talking.

'Please help me! I'm on a plane and it's going to crash!'

-What is this? We can't do this!

-Do shut up, dear.

-'Is someone there?!'

-Is this supposed to be a game?

-Be quiet.

-'Please help me!'

Oh, hello. Um...try...try to stay calm.

Just...tell me...tell me what your name is.

I'm not supposed to tell my name to strangers.

Of course not, very good. But, um...I'll tell you mine.

-My name is...

-WHITE NOISE

Hello?

Oh, dear. We seem to have lost the connection.

How have you done this? How is any of this possible?

You put me in here, Mycroft, you brought me my treats.

What treats?

'Clever, Eurus! You go, girl!'

How can that be Moriarty?

Oh, he recorded lots of little messages for me before he died.

Loved it. Did you know his brother was a stationmaster?

I think he was always jealous.

The girl, where is she?

Can I talk to her again?

Poor little thing.

Alone in the sky in a great big plane with nowhere to land.

But where in the world is she?

It's a clever little puzzle.

If you want to apply yourself to it, I can reconnect you,

but first...

That's my wife.

That's my wife!

Oh, God, that's my wife!

I'm going to shoot the governor's wife.

Please! No!

Please! Help her!

In about a minute...bang! Dead!

-Please don't do that.

-Well, you can stop me.

-How?

-There's a gun in the hatch. Take it.

You want to save the governor's wife,

choose either Dr Watson or Mycroft to kill the governor.

Oh! Oh, God!

You can't do it, Sherlock. If you do it, it won't count. I'll kill her, anyway.

It has to be your brother or your friend.

You have to do this.

Eurus will kill her!

It doesn't appear we have a choice.

Right, then. Countdown's starting.

How long?

No, no, no, the countdown is for me.

Withholding the precise deadline will apply the emotional pressure more evenly.

Where possible, please give me an explicit verbal indication of your anxiety levels,

I can't always read them from your behaviour.

I can't do this.

I can't, it's murder.

This is not murder, this is saving my wife.

I'm particularly focused on internal conflicts,

where strategising around a largely-intuitive moral code

appears to create a counterintuitive result.

I will not kill.

I will not have blood on my hands!

Yes, very good. Thank you.

Killing my wife is what you are doing.

No!

OK, fine.

John?

Dr Watson, are you married?

I was.

-What happened?

-She died.

What would you give to get her back?

I mean, if you could, if it was possible,

what would you do to save her?

Eurus will kill me.

Please save my wife.

There will, I'm afraid, be regular prompts

to create an atmosphere of urgency.

-MORIARTY:

-'Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.

'Tick-tick-tick-tick, tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.'

What's your name?

David.

And you're sure about this, David?

Of course I'm bloody sure!

Nearly there.

Right, do you want to pray or anything?

With Eurus Holmes in the world, who the hell would I pray to?

You are a good man and you are doing a good thing.

So are you.

I'll spend the rest of my life telling myself that.

Please!

Oh, God!

I know that you're scared, but you should also be very proud.

Just do it! Be quick!

-MORIARTY:

-'Tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick.'

This is very good, Dr Watson.

I should have fitted you with a cardiograph.

Goodbye, David.

'Tock-tock-tock-tock-tock-tock-tock, tick-tick-tick.'

-SOBS:

-Please!

I can't. I'm sorry, I can't do it.

I know, it's all right.

Stop! No, no! Stop!

I'm sorry.

- It's all right. - I'm so sorry!

Remember me.

-No!

-No!

-GUNSHOT

Oh!

HE VOMITS

Are you all right?

Interesting.

All right, there you go, you got what you wanted, and he's dead.

Dead or alive, he really wasn't very interesting.

But you three, you three were wonderful.

Thank you.

You see, what you did, Dr Watson, specifically because of your moral code,

because you don't want blood on your hands,

two people are dead instead of one.

Two people?

Yes. Sorry.

Hang on.

GUNSHOT

Oh!

HE EXHALES

What advantage did your moral code grant you?

Is it not, in the end, selfish to keep one's hands clean

at the expense of another's life?

You didn't have to kill her!

Huh! The condition of her survival

was that you or Mycroft had to kill her husband.

This is an experiment.

There will be rigour.

Sherlock, pick up the gun. It's your turn next.

When I tell you to use it, and I will,

remember what happened this time.

What if I don't want a gun?

Oh, the gun is intended as a mercy.

-For whom?

-You.

-How so?

-If someone else had to die,

would you really want to do it with your bare hands?

It would waste valuable time.

Probably just take it.

There's only one bullet left.

You will only need one.

But you WILL need it.

DOOR OPENS

Please, go through.

There's a few tasks for you

and a girl on a plane is getting very, very scared.

Treats?

Yes. You know, a violin.

In exchange for?

She's very clever.

I'm beginning to think you're not.

-MORIARTY:

-'Come on now, all aboard!

'Choo-choo! Choo-choo! Choo-choo!

'Choo-choo! Choo-choo!

'Choo-choo!

'Choo-choo! Choo-choo!'

Someone's been redecorating.

-Is that allowed?

-She's literally taken over the asylum,

we have more to worry about than her choice of colour scheme.

Barely dry. Recent.

And it's for our benefit.

As a motivator to your continued cooperation,

I'm now reconnecting you.

'Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night.'

-GIRL:

-'Are...are you still there?'

Yes, hello?

Hello, we're still here, can you hear us?

-Yes.

-'Everything is going to be all right,

'I-I just need you to tell me where you are.

'Outside, is it day or night?'

-Night.

-That certainly narrows it down to half the planet(!)

-What kind of a plane are you on?

-'I don't know.'

-Is it big or small?

-'Big.'

-Lots of people on it?

Lots and lots, but they're all asleep, I can't wake them up.

-Where did you take off from?

-'And the driver's asleep.'

No, I understand, but where did you come from?

'Where did the plane take off?'

-My nan's.

-And where are you going?

-'Home.'

-No, I mean what airport...

Enough for now. Time to play a new game.

Look on the table in front of you. Open the envelope.

If you want to speak to the girl again,

earn yourself some phone time!

This is inhuman, this is insane!

Mycroft, we know!

Six months ago, a man called Evans was murdered.

Unsolved, except by me.

He was shot from a distance of 300 metres with this rifle.

Now, if the police had any brains,

they'd realise there are three suspects, all brothers,

Nathan Garrideb, Alex Garrideb and Howard Garrideb.

All these photos are up to date,

but which one pulled the trigger, Sherlock?

Which one?

What's this, we're supposed to solve this based on what?

This. This is all we get.

Please, make use of your friends, Sherlock.

I want to see you interact with people that you're close to.

Also, you may have to choose which one to keep.

-What do you make of it?

-Am I being asked to prove my usefulness?

Yes, I should think you are.

I will not be manipulated like this.

Fine. John? John!

Yeah, I think I've seen one of these. It's a buffalo gun.

I'd say 1940s, old-fashioned sight. No crosshairs.

Glasses, glasses. Nathan wears glasses.

Evans was shot from 300 metres.

The kickback from a gun with this calibre...

..would be massive.

No cuts, no scarring.

It's not Nathan, then. Who's next?

Well done, Dr Watson. How useful you are.

Do you have a suspicion we're being made to compete?

We're not competing. There's a plane in the air that's going to crash,

so what we're doing is trying to save a little girl.

Today, we have to be soldiers, Mycroft, soldiers.

And that means to hell with what happens to us!

Your priorities do you credit.

No, my priorities just got a woman killed.

Now, as I understand it, Sherlock,

you try to repress your emotions to refine your reasoning.

I'd like to see how that works. So, if you don't mind,

I'm going to apply some context to your deductions.

Oh, dear God!

Two of the Garridebs work here as orderlies,

so getting the third along really wasn't too difficult.

Once you bring in your verdict, let me know and justice will be done.

-Justice?

-What will you do with them?

Early release.

You'll drop them into the sea.

Sink or swim.

They're tied up!

Exactly! Now there is context.

Please continue with your deductions.

I'm now focusing on the difference to your mental capacity

a specified consequence can make.

Why should we bother?

What if we're disinclined to play your games, little sister?

Hm-hm! I have, if you remember,

provided you with some motivation.

-GIRL:

-'We're going through the clouds, like cotton wool.'

Oh, that's nice. Try to tell me more about the plane.

Why won't my mummy wake up?

CALL DISCONNECTS

So it's got to be one of the other two. Now, Howard...

Howard's a lifelong drunk, pallor of his skin,

terminal gin blossoms on his red nose.

And, terror notwithstanding, a bad case of the DTs.

There's no way he could have taken that shot from 300 metres way.

So that leaves us with Alex.

Indentations on the temples suggest he habitually wears glasses.

Frown lines suggest a lifetime of peering.

He's short-sighted, or he was.

His recent laser surgery has done the trick.

-Laser surgery?

-Look at his clothes, he's made an effort.

-That's very good.

-Excellent.

Suddenly he sees himself in quite a different light now that he's dumped the specs.

He even has a spray tan.

But he's clearly not used to his new personal grooming ritual.

That can be told by the state of his fingernails and the fact that there's hair growing in his ears.

So it's a superficial job, then.

But he got his eyes fixed, his hands were steady.

He pulled the trigger. He killed Evans.

Are you ready to condemn the prisoner?

Sherlock, we can't do this.

The plane, remember?

Sherlock, are you ready?

Alex.

Say it. Condemn him.

Condemn him in the knowledge of what will happen to the man you name.

I condemn Alex Garrideb.

-MORIARTY:

-'Mind the gap.'

Congratulations, you got the right one.

Now, go through the door.

You dropped the other two, why?

-Interesting.

-Why?!

Does it really make a difference,

killing the innocent instead of the guilty?

Let's see.

'The train has left the station!'

No. That felt pretty much the same.

John?

-Don't let her distract you.

-Distract me?

-Soldiers today.

One more minute on the phone.

-GIRL:

-'I'm frightened! I'm really frightened!'

It's OK, don't worry. I don't have very long with you,

so I just need you tell me what you can see outside the plane.

Just the sea. I can see the sea.

-Are there ships on it?

-'No ships.

'I can see lights in the distance.'

-Is it a city?

-'I think so.'

She's about to fly over a city in a pilotless plane.

We'll have to talk her through it.

-Through what?

-'Hello? Are you still there?'

Still here. Just give us a minute.

Getting the plane away from any mainland, any populated areas.

-It has to crash in the sea.

-What about the girl?

Well, obviously, Dr Watson, she's the one who's going to crash it.

No. We could help her land it.

And if we fail and she crashes into a city?

How many will die then?

How are we going to get her to do that?

I'm afraid we're going to have to give her hope.

Is there really no-one there that can help you?

Have you really, really checked?

Everyone's asleep. Will you help me?

We're going to do everything that we can.

'I'm scared. I'm really scared!'

It's all right, I...

-EURUS:

-Now, back to the matter in hand. Coffin.

Problem, someone is about to die.

It will be, as I understand it, a tragedy.

So many days not lived,

so many words unsaid, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera...

Yes, yes, yes, and this, I presume, will be their coffin.

Whose coffin, Sherlock?

Please, start your deductions.

I will apply some context in a moment.

Well, allowing for the entirely pointless courtesy of headroom,

I'd say this coffin is intended for someone of about five foot four.

-Makes it more likely to be a woman.

-Not a child?

A child's would be more expensive. This is in the lower price range,

although still best available in that bracket.

That was a lonely night on Google.

This is a practical and informed choice.

The balance of probability suggests that this is for an unmarried woman,

distant from her close relatives.

That is suggested by the economy of choice, acquainted with the process of death,

but unsentimental about the necessity of disposal. The lining of the coffin...

Yes, very good, Sherlock, or we could just look at the name on the lid.

Only it isn't a name.

So it's for somebody who loves somebody.

It's for somebody who loves Sherlock.

This is all about you, everything here.

So, who loves you?

I'm assuming it's not a long list.

-Irene Adler.

-Don't be ridiculous. Look at the coffin.

Unmarried, practical about death, alone.

-Molly.

-Molly Hooper.

She's perfectly safe, for the moment.

Her flat is rigged to explode in approximately three minutes,

unless I hear the release code from her lips.

I'm calling her on your phone, Sherlock.

-Make her say it.

-Say what?

-Obvious, surely.

-No.

-Yes.

Oh, one important restriction, you're not allowed to mention

in any way at all that her life is in danger.

You may not, at any point, suggest that there is any form of crisis.

If you do, I will end this session and her life.

Are we clear?

-MORIARTY:

-'Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock,

'tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tick...'

PHONE RINGS

-What's she doing?

-She's making tea.

But why isn't she answering her phone?

You never answer your phone.

Yes, but it's me calling.

-ANSWERPHONE:

-'Hi, this is Molly at the dead centre of town.

'Leave a message.'

OK, OK. Just one more time.

DIALLING TONE

PHONE RINGS

Go on, Molly, pick up. Just bloody pick up.

PHONE RINGS

'Hello, Sherlock. Is this urgent? Because I'm not having a good day.'

Molly, I just want you to do something very easy for me and not ask why.

Oh, God! Is this one of your stupid games?

No, it's not a game. I need you to help me.

-Look, I'm not at the lab.

-It's not about that.

Well, quickly, then.

Sherlock! What is it, what do you want?

'Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock...'

Molly, please, without asking why, just say these words.

What words?

I love you.

-Leave me alone.

-Molly, no, please, no! Don't hang up! Do not hang up!

Calmly, Sherlock, or I will finish her right now.

Why are you doing this to me?!

Why are you making fun of me?!

Please, I swear, you just have to listen to me.

Softer, Sherlock.

Molly, this is for a case.

It's...it's a sort of experiment.

I'm not an experiment, Sherlock.

No, I know you're not an experiment, you're my friend.

We're friends, but, please, just say those words for me.

Please don't do this. Just...just...don't do it.

It's very important.

I can't say why.

But I promise you, it is.

I can't say that, I can't...I can't say that to you.

Of course you can. Why can't you?

'You know why.'

No, I don't know why.

SHE SIGHS

Of course you do.

'Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock,

'tick-tick-tick-tick-tick.'

Please, just say it.

'I can't. Not to you.'

Why?

Because...because it's true.

Because...it's true, Sherlock.

It's always been true.

Well, if it's true, just say it anyway.

You bastard!

'Say it anyway.'

'You say it. Go on. You say it first.'

-What?

-Say it. Say it like you mean it.

Final 30 seconds.

I...

..I love you.

I love you.

Molly?

Molly, please!

I love you.

BEEPING

HE EXHALES

Sherlock, however hard that was...

Eurus, I won. I won.

Come on, play fair. The girl on the plane, I need to talk to her.

I won! I saved Molly Hooper!

Huh!

Saved her? From what?

Oh, do be sensible, there were no explosives in her little house.

Why would I be so clumsy?

You didn't win, you lost.

Look what you did to her. Look what you did to yourself.

All those complicated little emotions, I lost count.

Emotional context, Sherlock, it destroys you every time.

Now, please, pull yourself together. I need you at peak efficiency.

The next one isn't going to be so easy.

In your own time.

-Sherlock?

-No. No!

No! No! No! Argh!

No! No! No!

A-A-A-A-A-A-A-Argh!

THUNDERCLAP

WIND WHISTLES

Hm-hm.

I know this is difficult, and I know you're being tortured,

but you have got to keep it together.

This isn't torture, this is vivisection.

We're experiencing science from the perspective of lab rats.

Huh!

-Soldiers?

-Soldiers.

WATSON EXHALES

-MORIARTY:

-'Tick-tock! Tickets, please!'

Hey, Sis, don't mean to complain, but this one's empty.

What happened, did you run out of ideas?

It's not empty, Sherlock. You've still got the gun, haven't you?

I told you you'd need it, because only two can play the next game.

Just two of you go on from here.

Your choice, it's make-your-mind-up time.

Whose help do you need the most, John or Mycroft?

It's an elimination round.

You choose one and kill the other.

You have to choose, family or friend.

Mycroft or John Watson?

'Tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick...'

-Eurus, enough!

-Not yet, I think, but nearly.

Remember, there's a plane in the sky and it's not going to land.

-Well?

-Well, what?

We're not actually going to discuss this, are we?

I'm sorry, Dr Watson, you're a fine man in many respects.

Make your goodbyes and shoot him.

-Shoot him!

-What?

Shoot Dr Watson.

There's no question who has to continue from here, it's us. You and me.

Whatever lies ahead requires brainpower, Sherlock,

not sentiment.

Don't prolong his agony, shoot him.

Do I get a say in this?

Today, we are soldiers. Soldiers die for their country.

I regret, Dr Watson, that privilege is now yours.

Shit, he's right.

He is, in fact, right.

Make it swift. No need to prolong his agony.

Get it over with and we can get to work.

Huh! Hm-hm!

Oh, God! I should have expected this.

Pathetic. You always were the slow one. The idiot.

That's why I've always despised you.

You shame us all. You shame the family name.

Now, for once in your life, do the right thing.

Put this stupid little man out of all our misery.

Shoot him!

-Stop it.

-Look at him. What is he?

Nothing more than a distraction, a little scrap of ordinariness

for you to impress, to dazzle with your cleverness.

You'll find another.

-Please, for God's sake, just stop it.

-Why?

Because, on balance, even your Lady Bracknell was more convincing.

Ignore everything he just said, he's being kind.

He's trying to make it easy for me to kill him.

Which is why this is going to be so much harder.

You said you liked my Lady Bracknell.

Sherlock, don't.

It's not your decision, Dr Watson.

Not in the face, though, please.

I promised my brain to the Royal Society.

Where would you suggest?

Well, I suppose there is a heart somewhere inside me.

I don't imagine it's much of a target,

but why don't we try for that?

I won't allow this.

This is my fault. Moriarty.

-Moriarty?

-Her Christmas treat.

Five minutes' conversation with Jim Moriarty five years ago.

What did they discuss?

Five minutes' conversation...

..unsupervised.

SHERLOCK SIGHS

Goodbye, brother mine.

No flowers.

My request.

Jim Moriarty thought you'd make this choice. He was so excited.

'And here we are, the end of the line.

'Holmes killing Holmes.'

'This is where I get off.'

Five minutes.

It took her just five minutes to do all of this to us.

Well, not on my watch.

What are you doing?

A moment ago, a brave man asked to be remembered.

I'm remembering the governor.

-Ten...

-No! No, Sherlock...

-..nine, eight...

-You can't!

-..seven...

-You don't know about Redbeard yet!

-..six...

-Sherlock!

-..five...

-Sherlock, stop that at once!

-POPPING

..four...

..three...

..two...

-GIRL:

-'Hello?

'Hello? Are you still there?'

Yes, yeah, no, I'm...I'm still here. I'm here.

You went away. You said you'd help me and you went away.

Yes, I know. Well, I'm sorry about that.

We...we...we must have got cut off. Um...

How...how...how long was I away?

Hours. Hours and hours.

Why don't grown-ups tell the truth?

No, I-I am telling the truth. You can trust me.

'Where did you go?'

I'm not completely sure.

Um...now, I tell you what,

you...you've got to be really, really brave for me.

Can you go to the front of the plane? Can you do that?

-'The front?'

-Yes, that's right, the front.