The Ecstasy Of Death
Episode 7 of The Irregulars begins with Bea heading to Baker Street while chaos grips London. She questions Watson over his motives, and specifically what drove him to open the Rip. It turns out he was trying to impress Sherlock and show he wasn’t just a spare part but an integral part of their team. As he continues on, Watson admits that he’s always loved Sherlock and this love is what drove him on to open the Rip. Well, Sherlock suddenly bursts in with an unconscious Jessie, warning that the Devil has now arrived in London. Inside Jessie’s mind, the Linen Man taunts her, telling Jessie that he’s the harbinger of nightmares and he’s going to use fear in his master plan with the Rip. Well, Jessie soon realizes that it’s her own fear that’s keeping her inside this prison, prompting her to confront these head-on to break free. Sherlock acts as a spare part while the rest of the gang start to piece together the clues. This brings them in to see Arthur again at the hospital. Bea tells him about the Rip and what it’s done to him. As the group wait around for night to descend, John and Sherlock patch up their differences. However, they’re interrupted by a loud bang. A man falls to his doom as the Linen Man arrives and stands over him. Eventually this suave American opens up the door to Arthur’s cell and tells him to show off his power. Unfortunately Arthur’s plan goes completely awry as the Linen Man turns Arthur against the others, poisoning his mind. Sherlock eventually gets the better of the Linen Man though, trapping him behind a caged door and holding a gun up to him. He demands the man from Louisiana tell him where the Rip is. Instead, he whispers something indiscernible to Sherlock which causes him to rethink his options. As the others watch in horror, he lets the Linen Man go free and follows him out. Meanwhile, Leo finds himself stuck in the palace, ready to be forced into marriage with a woman named Helena. At the same time, Spike visits Billy in prison. He feeds back the news about Leo, desperate to keep them together and likening himself to a skeleton. After all, he’s the one keeping everyone together. Alone, he comes up with a plan of breaking into the Palace but it all goes wrong when guards surround him. Spike is eventually brought before Leo though, who puts on an act and claims to not be friends with any of them. Spike demands the truth though and makes Leo outright admit that none of them are his friends. Leo can’t do it, eventually breaking down into tears as he bemoans the fact he doesn’t belong anywhere. The whole gang is eventually brought back together at Baker Street, courtesy of Spike. Together, they convince Jessie to rise up and fight back against the Linen Man. She even learns what the Circle means too; it’s the Aldgate Inner Circle Line for the Underground. This, as we soon find out, is the location of the Rip.
The Episode Review
We’ll chalk it up to a hangover from the heroin addiction but honestly Sherlock has been completely butchered in this series. The world’s greatest detective is not only reduced to a junkie but he’s also tricked and outsmarted by the Linen Man. Personally, it would have been good to see his mental strength shine through here but to be honest his character has been wasted n this show which is a shame. Elsewhere, the rest of the kids continue to try and thwart the threat of the Rip opening but everything feels very surface level with not a lot of depth. The background for our different characters has been drip-fed across the run-time but Spike, for example, has had very little to work with. Even worse, the chemistry between the characters has been weak and Leo and Spike’s conversation should have a lot of meaning behind it. Instead, this feels like the first time these two have actually been in the same room and spoken one on one to each other. While I’m all for a show bursting head-first into its premise, it also needs to back that up with strong characterization. Given the way this one crescendos with its mantra of “together”, there just isn’t the emotional resonance to really feel the full effect of this. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still enjoyment to be had here and the show has been a fun ride so far, but it’s also one that doesn’t do enough to really stand out next to so many others in this field.
