Spoiler alert: If you watch Sherlock and haven’t seen the Season 14 opener, do not read further unless you want to know whether he lived or died.

Coming off of another cliffhanger, Sherlock has done it again – he did not perish. Watson is alongside our beloved hero once again. The gap between the 2013-2014 seasons may have seemed long but after seeing the first episode of the 2014 season, I can assure you that it was worth the wait.

“It was brilliant. The wait for the new season felt like a millennium, but after watching it, it was totally worth it,” said Dunbar graduate Jillian Madden.

The show is scripted to be in real-time so the characters have also experienced day-to-day life alongside us even with the show being off-air. A lot has changed during the waiting period for the new 2014 season; Watson is sporting a new look and a new ladylove. Watson said it took two years to get over Sherlock’s death. However, their first encounter on Season 14 showed that Watson still cared about Sherlock.

Fans were ecstatic to see their favorite characters on the screen once again.

Senior John Roark said, “I enjoyed [the season] mostly because Benedict Cumberbatch [Sherlock] is my favorite person alive; but I thought it was a bit slow and it was missing a central theme.”

Certainly this season starter was all about slowing down and answering many questions left unanswered after last season’s finale: How did Sherlock commit suicide and live? Why did he do it? Who knew of the set-up? What was the point of this plan? Where was Sherlock’s back up in case something went wrong and how were they not detected by Watson last season? I applaud the writers of Sherlock for their clear explanations to these open-ended questions.

The writers answer these questions in Sherlock’s suicide operation in a very artistic fashion. The different outcomes and strategies devised for the tedious operation were very intriguing to watch. Additionally it was interesting to see if they would or would not accomplish the goal of making Sherlock “disappear.” These plans were well illustrated and obviously thought out.

For many, the writers’ attention to detail paid off.

“They took the audience and fan base into consideration and paced the start of the third season two years after Sherlock’s fall, which is real time to how long the fans had to wait for the new season, and brought back the wit and banter that everyone loves, right at the start,” said Madden.

Sherlock never fails its fandom with its exquisite storyline and “bloody-good” quality.