The Great Game story
This episode introduced the character of Jim Moriarty, the "consulting criminal". It featured a number of linked cases for Sherlock to solve, with numerous allusions to the works of Arthur Conan Doyle. The episode's storyline is somewhat derived from "The Adventure of the Bruce- Partington Plans" and makes references to "The Five Orange Pips" at various points (as per the five bomb victims and electronic beeps on the phone) in addition to other works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
13 total · 5 major · 8 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| attitude of superiority | major | Sherlock Holmes had a massive ego and condescended people, left, right and center. |
| facing a mortal enemy | major | Sherlock's archenemy Jim Moriarty hatched a nefarious plot that was calculated to leave Sherlock at his mercy. |
| murder | major | Sherlock and Watson were trying to catch a man who was placing his victims into explosive vests and then threatening to set them off. Sherlock and Watson solved several unrelated murders in the process of trying to catch a criminal who was strapping victims into explosive vests and then threatening to set them off. |
| private investigator occupation | major | We saw Sherlock Holmes and Watson doing what they do best. |
| psychopathy | major | Sherlock was being taunted by a psychopathic criminal who put his victims into explosive vests. Watson called out Sherlock on several occasions over Sherlock's lack of empathy for the victims who were being placed in time bomb vests. |
| art forgery | minor | Sherlock exposed a painting valued at 30 million pounds as a fake. |
| boredom | minor | Sherlock fired a gun several times into the wall of his flat out of boredom. Moriarty suggested that he'd been presenting Sherlock with life-and-death puzzles to solve out of sheer boredom. |
| brother and brother | minor | Sherlock showed no interest in taking on a case brought to him by his brother Mycroft. |
| brother and sister | minor | Joe briefly consoled his sister Lucy. |
| coping with the death of a lover | minor | Lucy was in tears over the murder of her boyfriend Westie. |