Guy Ritchie's New Sherlock Can Solve The Holmes Mystery The BBC Was Too Scared To

Published Oct 16, 2026, 10:30 AM EDT

Adrienne Tyler is a movies & TV features writer, with a focus on horror. She has written for Netflix, FanSided, & more. She was a regular guest on the Netfreaks podcast and was a YouTuber at some point. Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once.

Guy Ritchie’s new Sherlock Holmes TV show, Young Sherlock, took the world of streaming by surprise, and it could be the one to solve a huge Holmes mystery that the BBC’s show was too scared to address. Among the best detective TV shows of all time are plenty of Sherlock Holmes adaptations and shows inspired by the famous detective. One of them is the BBC’s Sherlock, a modern adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s characters and stories.

Despite a dramatic quality decline in its final two seasons, Sherlock is still regarded as one of the best TV shows of all time, as well as one of the best modern versions of the Great Detective. The wave of modern Sherlock Holmes adaptations seems to be over now, with the latest hit in the franchise, Young Sherlock, going back to the character’s original Victorian setting. Inspired by Andrew Lane’s book series of the same name, Young Sherlock centers on a 19-year-old Holmes (Hero Fiennes Tiffin).

Young Sherlock was released on Prime Video in March 2026 and was a big success for the platform, currently holding an 84% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and taking over the streamer’s Top 10. A month later, Young Sherlock was officially renewed for a second season, and while plot details for it are still unknown, it’s the perfect opportunity for it to solve the biggest Holmes mystery: how he fakes his death years later, and this can be explored through his father, Silas (Joseph Fiennes).

Young Sherlock Season 2 Can Explain Holmes’ Future Fake Death Through Silas

Young Sherlock follows Holmes, who, fresh out of prison for pickpocketing, starts working at Oxford University as a scout. There he meets James Moriarty (Dónal Finn), a brilliant student with whom he quickly bonds. When Holmes is framed for the murder of a professor on campus, Holmes and Moriarty set out to clear his name and find the real murderer. However, this investigation leads them to a massive conspiracy and some disturbing secrets of the Holmes family.

Young Sherlock also introduces his parents, Cordelia (Natascha McElhone) and Silas (Joseph Fiennes), with the former living in an asylum due to mental health reasons, and the latter often traveling for work. Young Sherlock season 1 has some shocking twists, the biggest ones being that Sherlock and Mycroft’s (Max Irons) sister, Beatrice, who they thought died years ago, is actually alive and had been living and working with Silas for years.

In addition to that, Silas had been developing a dangerous weapon, and his plans, what he did to Beatrice, and more eventually come to light. At the end of Young Sherlock season 1, Silas jumps off a cliff to his death, but it’s unlikely this is the definitive end for him. It’s highly likely that Silas has faked his death, and it’s thanks to this that Young Sherlock season 2 can finally explain how Sherlock fakes his death years later after his final confrontation with Moriarty.

The explanation that Conan Doyle’s works give is very unique to that specific Holmes and Moriarty encounter at the Reichenbach Falls, but the BBC’s Sherlock infamously failed to explain how its version of Holmes faked his death. Silas faking his death and Sherlock finding out why can explain how he does it years later, or, at the very least, give him an idea of what to do when the time comes.

Young Sherlock Has Already Answered Some Huge Questions About Holmes

Young Sherlock answering how Holmes will fake his death fits the show perfectly, as in just one season, it already solved some mysteries about the Great Detective. The rivalry between Holmes and Moriarty is legendary and well-known by even those who have never read Conan Doyle’s stories. However, Conan Doyle never explained how Holmes and Moriarty met and what led to them becoming arch-enemies.

Young Sherlock answers this by having Holmes and Moriarty meet at Oxford, bond over their equally smart and quick minds, and become very close friends, while also showing how Moriarty’s villainous turn began. Young Sherlock also takes a look into the Holmes family dynamic, which is also missing from the books and many adaptations. Surely, Young Sherlock gave the detective a complex and tragic family backstory, but this has added depth to the character.

Despite not being canon, Young Sherlock is adding to the lore of Sherlock Holmes in truly interesting and brilliant ways, and it has the perfect chance to solve the big mystery that the BBC’s Sherlock could never solve.

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  Hero Fiennes Tiffin

  Sherlock Holmes

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  Dónal Finn

  James Moriarty