The BBC’s Sherlock has many memorable quotes, and its best one is still one of the greatest quotes in TV history. Sherlock Holmes continues to be one of the most popular literary characters, inspiring countless artists and making way for a variety of adaptations. In recent years, Holmes and company have found great success on TV, though with reimagined versions that have given them some freshness while staying true to their essence.
One of the best recent adaptations of Sherlock Holmes is the BBC’s Sherlock, created by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat. Sherlock is a modern adaptation of the Great Detective, bringing him and his accompanying characters to modern-day London and adapting his cases to current technology, social issues, and more. Sherlock, then, follows Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Watson (Martin Freeman) as they investigate different cases, while also struggling with personal issues.
Throughout four seasons, Sherlock featured new characters and adaptations of characters from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories, most notably Irene Adler (Lara Pulver) and Moriarty (Andrew Scott). The latter was the big villain of Sherlock, even though he was only around during the first two seasons. Moriarty was at the front and center of Sherlock’s best episode, where he also delivered the best line in the entire show, which still stands as one of the greatest quotes in TV history.
Sherlock’s Best Quote Shows Why Moriarty Is One Of The Greatest Villains
Moriarty’s presence in Sherlock was teased in the first episode, but it wasn’t until the third and final episode of season 1 that he made his official debut. At the end of “The Great Game”, it was revealed that Moriarty had been hiding in plain sight during the entire episode, as he had been posing as Molly’s boyfriend. This was only the beginning of Moriarty’s role in Sherlock, which peaked in season 2’s finale, “The Reichenbach Fall.”
In it, Moriarty set his plan to bring Holmes down into motion, beginning with shattering his public image and making the world think that the detective was a fraud. Holmes and Moriarty met at 221B Baker Street, where Moriarty partly explained what he had been doing. Moriarty then delivered the following quote, which quickly became viral and ended up being the show’s greatest quote:
“In a world of locked rooms, the man with the key is king. And honey, you should see me in a crown.”
Seconds before that line, Moriarty had revealed to Holmes that he could infiltrate anything with a simple computer code, and that’s all the power he needed. This was to show Holmes how powerful and intelligent Moriarty was, and that as hard as he tried, the detective could never defeat him, as he was always a step ahead. The quote also showed how confident Moriarty was, and Scott’s delivery of the line, especially the second part, made it even better.
Moriarty was as intelligent as Holmes, being the only one who could match him, and being on the opposite side of the law further made him the perfect counterpart to the Great Detective. Scott’s version, in particular, was equal parts charming and intimidating, and those qualities were present in his best line.
Sherlock’s Best Line Marks The Beginning Of The Show’s Downfall
Unfortunately, Sherlock’s best line also ended up marking the beginning of its downfall. Sherlock had an unfortunate quality drop in season 3 and got worse in season 4, with “The Reichenbach Fall” being both the show’s best episode and the beginning of the end. “The Reichenbach Fall” saw Moriarty’s death, as he shot himself to push Holmes to kill himself too, and the show never recovered from Moriarty’s death.
Sherlock seasons 3 and 4 lacked a proper villain with a multi-episode arc, and instead, it only had one-episode villains like Charles Augustus Magnussen and Culverton Smith, both great villains that the show completely wasted. The cases and stories of seasons 3 and 4 were also messy, nonsensical, and hard to believe, and unfortunately, Sherlock had a very disappointing finale.
Despite its less-than-ideal ending, Sherlock is still one of the best detective TV shows of all time, and its first two seasons are what earn it a place there. Andrew Scott’s Moriarty is one of the greatest TV villains, and his best line remains iconic.
- Release Date
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2010 – 2017-00-00
- Network
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BBC One
- Showrunner
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Steven Moffat
