If pressed to summarize my feelings for this episode in two words, I would have an answer perfectly prepared: "holy shit".

That was a fantastic 90 minutes of television, and this second season as a whole has been phenomenal. I feel it surpassed the first season in every way.

With this second season, this modern version of Holmes stands head and shoulders above the Downey Jr. iteration for me (though I'm a fan of that as well). These three latest episodes were wonderful, and anyone who has ever been a fan of Sherlock Holmes needs to watch them.

Spoilers follow.

I was iffy on this version of Moriarty at first, but he turned out to be an utter evil genius. This is the first time I've seen an on-screen Moriarty who really and truly was an intellectual match for Holmes. He promised that he would burn Holmes, and he did. It was perfectly executed from start to finish, and the way he left Holmes with no choice in the end was stunning. Bravo.

I haven't figured out how it worked yet. How Holmes survived. There was clearly a trick. He wanted Watson to stand in a very particular position when he dropped, so obviously he had some way out but he wanted Watson to stand there so that he would think he had died. Either that or so there was a chance he could see the trick, but I don't think he would trust Watson not to reveal it if he knew, not when he wasn't in on the plan. Though the end suggests that some part of Watson wants to believe it was a trick.

I can't figure it out though. Damn them for leaving it hanging for another year and a half or however long it takes to get the third season going. At least it will give me time to think it over.

What did everyone else think?