Sherlock: Many Happy Returns

During a Buddhist ceremony in the Himalayas, the hooded abbot walks along the line of monks and greets each one with 'Tashi Dalek.' When he reaches the last monk, he pulls back the hood to reveal Sherlock Holmes in disguise. The reveal hints that Holmes is not dead and sets the investigation in motion.

In a smoky pub, Anderson tells DI Greg Lestrade that the abbot was Holmes, pointing to his keen observational skills. Greg insists Holmes is dead after falling from St Bartholomew's Hospital and doubts any living mastermind is behind the case. Anderson then references the Incident in New Delhi as a link to Holmes’ activities.

Greg remains skeptical about Holmes being involved, while Anderson argues that only Holmes would have noticed such minute details. The debate deepens the mystery and fuels the notion that Holmes is still out there in some form. Both men grapple with the possibility that Holmes is orchestrating events from the shadows.

Anderson states that Sherlock never took credit for his cases, prompting Greg to list three cases he solved alone: The Klein Brothers, the Tower House case, and the Kensington Ripper. Anderson then mentions the Hamburg case of the Mysterious Juror as a connected thread. The exchange widens the scope of the investigation beyond the immediate case.

A foreman questions Herr Trepoff's guilt in his wife's murder. Eleven jurors vote not guilty, but a mysterious juror at the end changes the verdict. News reports the sensational outcome in two newspapers, underscoring the power of an unseen juror.

Anderson presses that the mysterious man is Sherlock, but Greg remains doubtful. He reveals that Anderson lost his job due to fantasizing about Sherlock and leaves the pub to visit John Watson. The pace shifts from debate to action as the investigation heads toward London.

Anderson maps out locations, suggesting Sherlock is closing in on London. The plotted places hint at a growing web of clues and pull the investigation toward a city where Holmes and Watson operate. The sense of Holmes’s return intensifies as the trail tightens.

Greg visits John's house with a box of Sherlock's belongings left at his office. The box includes a DVD and an uncut version of John's birthday message from Sherlock. The discovery rekindles John's bond with Sherlock and keeps the investigation alive.

John watches the DVD and sees Sherlock at 221B Baker Street preparing the birthday message. He rechecks his own excuses and tries to decide how to respond to the return. Sherlock speaks the message, but John interrupts to answer the door before the ending.

In the pub, Anderson smiles at Sherlock's apparent return, while Greg reads the newspaper with the headline 'The Game is Back On' and smiles cynically. The mood shifts from doubt to a cautious sense of inevitability as Holmes re-emerges in the public eye.

Back at John's house, the DVD starts playing by itself and Sherlock smiles, winking at the camera. The moment blurs the line between fiction and reality, reinforcing the notion that Holmes is orchestrating events from beyond the grave. John's awe deepens as the comeback seems imminent.

The episode closes with the sense that The Game is On again, as Holmes’s presence returns to the forefront of the case. The final image is Sherlock’s sly grin, hinting at a renewed partnership with John Watson and a confrontation with Lestrade and Anderson. The path forward is charged with anticipation and danger.