Young Sherlock Recap ‘The Case of the Burnt Photograph’: The Game’s Afoot

Young Sherlock Season 1 Episode 2

Warning: This recap contains SPOILERS for the second episode of Young Sherlock.

I want to be as careful as possible in discussing the character James Moriarty in case there are viewers who are not familiar with him, but at the same time, I also want to discuss how the show is beautifully laying the foundation of what is to come. So, if you are completely unspoiled and would like to remain so, avert your eyes. For those who would like to continue, let’s get on with the second episode of what is shaping up to be an engaging take on the well-trodden Sherlock path. 

That James Moriarty would eventually take a darker turn, we who have been reading and watching Sherlock Holmes stories already know. This is why it is thrilling to watch Dónal Finn’s work, to see him get close to that darkness a few times, even briefly tap it, but not yet be consumed by it. Hodge humiliated James in front of his schoolmates at the banquet hall, when he refused to reinstate his scholarship and instead banished him from Oxford, for no other reason than outright classism. Everyone stared, and there was deep anger in James when he called his now former schoolmates sheep. When Smudger refused to give him Professor Roberts’s address, James’s, ‘One day, I’ll remember that’ was a show of temper and was laced with threat. Amongst the theatre props, James quoted from Henry V and placed a crown on his head. When Sherlock asked him, ‘Fancy yourself a king?’, his cool response was, ‘If the crown fits’. The Napoleon of crime. 

The chemistry between Sherlock and James was easy, entertaining, and brotherly, and Mr. Finn and Hero Fiennes Tiffin work well together. This was a very young Sherlock, often in his head, in many ways (prison stints aside) sheltered from the world because of his family wealth and connections. James was a friend, a friendly rival at times, a mentor in others. And, at least for now, James’s affection for Sherlock seemed genuine. 

Having left Oxford and taken refuge in an empty theatre, James decided to make use of the costumes available. He snuck into the prison as a washerwoman and got Sherlock out. In between teaching Sherlock how to fight, or at least defend himself, he and James figured out that it was Shou’an who staged the theft of the scrolls, to give herself time to plant the bomb. They took police constable uniforms from amongst the costumes and returned to Oxford to investigate.

Sherlock was still searching Shou’an’s room when she arrived, and they ended up fighting. Sherlock managed to escape with James, but not before he saw something burning that Shou’an tried to keep from him. Sherlock and James figured out that it was a photograph printed by the photographers Lord and Kingsley. Their investigation led them to the Master’s Lodge at Candlin, where they found a copy of the photograph. Shou’an did not want Sherlock to see it because the photograph contained her targets – Professor Thompson, Professor Roberts, Professor Enright, and Professor Malik. 

Smudger may have refused to help, but the lad who was helping him decided to give Professor Roberts’s address to James and Sherlock. They found the house, but too late. Shou’an, in a delivery boy’s disguise, had already killed the second name on the list. The way Sherlock and James’s arrival into the scene was interestingly staged. It was James who knocked on the door. It was James who checked the body. James was more audacious, more experienced with life in general at this stage. He casually sat across the dead body and convinced Sherlock to continue with their investigation. 

So far, Young Sherlock has been doing well with solving its case of the episode whilst building on the larger season-long mystery. But, the core strength of the first two episodes for me lay on the growing relationship and the chemistry between Hero Fiennes Tiffin’s Sherlock Holmes and Dónal Finn’s James Moriarty. On to the next!  

Rating: B+

Strays

🕵️Mycroft tried to convince Hodge of Sherlock’s innocence, but Hodge declared that keeping Sherlock locked suited his purposes. Mycroft told Sherlock that he wired their father in Vienna as he may be able to pull strings. 

🕵️Shou’an denied that Sherlock was with her the night before. She ‘accidentally’ spilled tea in Hodge’s office so she could search it and locate the list of four apostles.

🕵️Shou’an was working with a man named Esad.

🕵️Detective Fidget from Scotland Yard was now in charge of the murder investigation. When Sherlock and James dressed as constables, he called them and asked them about Sherlock Holmes. The competition between Sherlock and James was not subtle, though it was almost endearing. Sherlock emphasised how smart he was, whilst James claimed he was not as smart as he thought and that he got his best ideas from his associate. Sherlock also complimented the detective on his hat.

🕵️Fidget, Lestrade, and Mycroft went to the facility that held Cordelia Holmes. Cordelia immediately knew something was wrong and that Mycroft was lying about Sherlock. She mentioned again the man with the bird’s claw whom she claimed was after Sherlock.

🕵️James asked an important question – why did Shou’an want those men dead? Since all four were at Hodge’s gala and sitting at the same table, close to the bomb, the bomb was likely meant for them.

🕵️I appreciate how Sherlock’s interest in photography was thoughtfully included in this episode.

Writer: Steve Thompson

Director: Guy Ritchie

Original Release Date: March 4, 2026

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