How to Watch Sherlock: The Abominable Bride

If you're looking for a great TV special to watch before the Emmys, Sherlock: The Abominable Bride is worth checking out. It's an edgy and contemporary spin on a classic character that playfully confounds audience expectations.

Imagining himself back in 1890s London, Holmes investigates the case of a series of murders credited to a ghostly bride who stalks men after killing them in public. The episode stars Benedict Cumberbatch as the eponymous hero, and Martin Freeman as his sidekick Watson.

How to watch

The BBC's modern take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famed detective is a show that plays with expectations, while still being a delight to watch. Whether you’re a fan of the sleuth himself or haven’t read the stories that inspired his creation, you won’t be disappointed with the cleverly crafted storylines and witty characters.

The show is helmed by creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, who are known for their work on the much loved Doctor Who franchise. It features a stellar cast including Benedict Cumberbatch as the always-entertaining Sherlock Holmes, Martin Freeman as Watson and Una Stubbs as their resident housekeeper Mrs. Hudson.

While the mainstay of the series is its baffling plots and acerbic dialogue, it also provides a hefty dose of humor. As if all of that wasn’t enough, the show has managed to score some prestigious Emmy nominations as well.

To celebrate the special episode aficionados have been enjoying, PBS is offering fans an opportunity to catch it online for a limited time only. The show can be viewed on the PBS app and will air live across the country starting January 11th, 2016.

The most impressive part of this one-of-a-kind special is that the event is actually free! To get the best viewing experience, start by watching the main show first and then check out the special on your phone or tablet. Then you can share your thoughts with other enthusiasts by tagging #SherlockPBS on Twitter or Instagram! If you want to see the best of what’s on offer, make sure to check out the PBS online channel for all of the other eminently enjoyable offerings from the network.

Plot

In this special episode, Sherlock Holmes is transported back in time to the Victorian era as he investigates the murder of a wedding-gowned ghost who has preyed upon brutal, wayward and neglectful men. It’s a clever and moody episode that has more than its fair share of good moments, but the story itself is not without its flaws.

The Abominable Bride tries to fill an important narrative hole in the series, but the whole thing is so disjointed that it’s impossible to see it as a standalone mystery. Instead, it plays out like a non-linear puzzle, as Sherlock and Watson jump back and forth between the present and the past at a dizzying pace. The end result is one of the best episodes of the entire season, but it’s a very jarring and confusing journey that takes nearly 90 minutes to reach its conclusion.

It may be the most mind-boggling story to date in terms of how it weaves together a complicated and disparate set of events into a coherent arc. At the same time, it also contains some of the most grotesque and misogynistic scenes to ever be suckered into watching.

There are plenty of right notes to find in "The Abominable Bride," but it feels too often as if the plot has been built around a set of assumptions, rather than on anything that really happened. The conceit that the ghost is the product of a secret Victorian feminist society and that its members use their guise as Brides to kill men who they’ve wronged is a particularly heavy-handed attempt to rewrite the history of women in Britain.

At the same time, it’s hard not to be confused by how much of this episode takes place in Sherlock’s head. It starts off in the modern day, where Moriarty has resurfaced, and then it quickly jumps to the Victorian time period, where Sherlock is imagining an old courtroom Mind Palace period piece.

That’s where the first hints of the “mind screw” come from, as we begin to hear a lot of Victorian-style quips about shotgun weddings and anachronisms that don’t exist in 1895 London. Eventually, when Mycroft chides Holmes for his dramatic imagination, the story is revealed to be a simulation of Moriarty’s return that Sherlock has been running in his head.

Characters

Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Watson (Martin Freeman) are back in the Victorian era to solve a series of murders that appear to be committed by a ghostly Bride. Using old-time criminal technology and methods, as well as a dash of Holmesian insight, they are on the case in this BBC adaptation that is as fun and clever as the original.

It's 1890s London, and Holmes has been asked by Inspector Lestrade to help him with the Ricoletti case - a woman named Emelia Ricoletti supposedly killed herself in public, but her husband was found dead later that night. Months later, five men are also murdered by what appears to be the "Ghostly Bride."

When Lady Carmichael (Louise Brealey) calls to offer Holmes help, she tells him that her husband, Sir Eustace Carmichael, is hysterical about an envelope containing orange pips that means death. She also claims that she and her sister have been able to identify the "Bride" who appears in her garden.

The pair head to the Carmichael house, and when a Bride appears in the garden, Holmes thinks it's Lady Carmichael. But when she lifts her veil, she turns out to be Moriarty, who chides Holmes for his dramatic imagination.

This episode of sherlock the abominable bride is a little rushed, but still has enough good moments to make it worthwhile. Among the highlights are Louise Brealey's performance, which is consistently one of the show's best; and Benedict Cumberbatch, who is just as brilliant as ever.

There's some good gender commentary, and a few scenes with violence that are a little over the top. In addition, the script is a bit dated in its references to modern society, and a few of the plot contrivances aren't that believable, but it's an enjoyable episode for fans of the show.

A little more background would have helped to explain why Emelia Ricoletti was killed in front of witnesses, and why she was able to commit suicide afterward. However, the plot is interesting and the chemistry between Cumberbatch and Watson is excellent.

There's a lot of gore, with some characters being shot and others having their faces broken open. There's also some ghostly imagery and battle scenes. A little bit of cursing is present, but it's not overly aggressive or offensive.

Audio

The Abominable Bride is a special episode of Sherlock, the acclaimed BBC series about an enigmatic detective and his trusty sidekick. It’s an Emmy award-winning episode, and it stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic sleuth.

The plot is simple enough: a crazed bride opens fire on bystanders and then shoots herself in the head. But this isn’t the only mystery the duo must solve.

Fortunately, this gimmick-laden episode is more than just the show’s most awe-inspiring sequence, and it boasts a lot of other great moments along the way. The audio, in particular, is one of the show’s best-ever offerings.

For example, there’s a good reason why this title is released with a Dolby Atmos soundtrack (most current systems should be able to decode it as Dolby TrueHD 7.1). The episode also contains some other audio aficionados might be happy to learn, such as the impressive sound effects associated with the wedding ceremony and the oh-my-gosh floaty music that fills the air when Mary and Watson make their maiden voyage to London.

This is the best episode of the show to date, and it’s a treat for fans of the series as well as anyone with a Victorian heart. It’s a shame that this special is a one-off, as it would have been nice to see it continue on into season four, but the special is still well worth your time.