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The game is on.
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Welcome to WatchMojo UK and today we're counting down our picks for the Top 10 Genius
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Scenes in “Sherlock”.
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For this list we're looking specifically at
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the cleverest and most ingenious scenes from the popular BBC show, demonstrating the sheer
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power of Sherlock's mind and his amazing deductions.
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So, grab your deerstalker, let's unlock the Mind Palace
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Introduced in Series four, Toby Jones' Culverton Smith cuts a shifty and suspicious kind of
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character from the off, despite his philanthropic and entrepreneurial reputation.
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And it didn't take Sherlock long to twig Smith's true villainy, capturing his confession
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with a perfectly laid trap.
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Thanks to Watson's predictable nature (and a cleverly planted recording device in his
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walking stick), Smith incriminates himself beyond dispute.
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Of course, much hinges on John arriving to save Sherlock so that the confession can be
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released - but that was never in doubt, either.
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First impressions are everything, and Sherlock knows that better than most.
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Here he runs into a supposed super-fan, but he immediately works out the ruse.
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Kitty Riley's in fact a journalist, looking for the latest scoop on one of the UK's
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most elusive characters.
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Of course, Sherlock never takes too kindly to the press, and he promptly puts Riley in
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her place - with some typically astute comments on her look and demeanour.
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The whole scene sizzles with intensity, as each tries to outplay the other.
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But, there's only one winner here.
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After a break-in at a bank where all the assailants did was leave graffiti on a painting, Sherlock's
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asked to investigate - and the trail soon leads him to break into Edward Van Coon's
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flat, where he finds Van Coon dead.
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Watson and the rest of the police rule suicide, until Sherlock deduces otherwise.
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The super sleuth explains how Van Coon's apparently obvious left-handedness makes it
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very unlikely that he shot himself, rattling through a list of simple-but-brilliant observations
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to back his theory up.
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And there's some trademark sarcasm, just for good measure.
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Sherlock's got one hell of a memory (on top of everything else), which he uses to
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solve this case in the show's very first episode.
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Chasing a taxi through the streets of London, with Watson just about keeping up, he employs
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a photographic knowledge of the city, including the latest roadworks and diversions, to eventually
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catch his target.
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The scene does leave one question unanswered, though.
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Why does Holmes use cabs as frequently as he does, if he can travel just as quickly
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on foot?
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Seems like a waste of fare money.
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We're picking apart passwords next, as Sherlock's faced with the four-digit code to Irene Adler's
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infamous phone.
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And with apparently endless combinations in front of him, we spend the entire episode
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trying to figure out what it is.
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As usual, the actual solution is so painfully simple that we're kicking ourselves for
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not realising it sooner, as Sherlock's thrown into an unexpectedly emotional exchange.
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The 'I Am Sherlocked' line quickly became a mantra for the show, and understandably
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so.
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Sherlock's no stranger to injury, but he usually escapes fairly unscathed - until Mary
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shows up, that is.
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Just as we find out Mary isn't all she claims to be, she goes and shoots our gifted detective.
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But things are never simple with this show, not even point-blank bullet wounds.
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Time seems to stop, and Sherlock has seconds to determine how to fall to reduce the damage
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done.
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An ultra-intense moment, with viewers begging him to think fast, Holmes' ability to make
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the right call was never really in doubt, was it?
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Seeming like an ultra-logical superpower, Holmes' Mind Palace stores all of his memories,
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and every piece of seemingly pointless information he's ever encountered.
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Quite unbelievably, it's actually a legitimate memory technique, although Sherlock's is
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much bigger, more effective and more extravagant than anyone else's could ever be, naturally.
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Tapping the Palace for this scene, it takes him mere seconds to solve a huge piece of
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the Hounds of Baskerville mystery - shining light on significant details his brilliant
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brain has always had access to.
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He just needed to cut through the chaos.
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A huge moment at the start of the series, this scene establishes the Holmes/Watson friendship.
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Serving as our introduction to both characters too, it's where we learn John's backstory
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and it's when we get a first look at just how brilliant Sherlock really is.
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Watson arrives and Sherlock instantly deduces that he's an army man with family issues.
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Later, John's bemusement turns to amazement, when Sherlock explains exactly how he came
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to those near-perfect conclusions.
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We can forgive him that brother/sister slip-up - he's still human, after all.
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For one
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of the biggest surprises in the entire show, Sherlock jumps to his death at the end of
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series two.
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Or he seems to, at least.
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We soon learn that the sleuth's still alive, but how did he do it?
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Fans had to wait two theory-filled years to find out, with the first episode of season
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three proposing multiple possibilities - including a plan involving a Sherlock mask, Derren Brown
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and a bungee cord, and another hinging on a giant crash mat.
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It's all about the ambiguity here, though - with some fans still unconvinced by Sherlock's
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version of events.
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What do you think?
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It's not often that Sherlock shows his emotions, but here his straight-faced facade slips just
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for a second - so he starts to question his most valuable asset, his mind.
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But just because he's scared doesn't mean he's not still brilliant, and he proves
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it by deconstructing a random couple nearby.
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Revealing everything from their familial relationship to the breed of the lady's pet dog, he's
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very clearly still in control, turning simple observations into spectacular details.
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In case we didn't know it by now, nothing phases this guy - not even a supposedly supernatural
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killer hound.
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The solution is always within his grasp.