[It goes without saying that there are spoilers ahead -- but there, I said it anyway. You've been warned.]

In keeping with a show that generally managed to keep a light tone even as it dealt with grisly murders, serial killers, and so on, "Elementary's" characters all live happily ever after. Maybe even the villain.

Not without a couple of scares, though.

First, Sherlock (Jonny Lee Miller, "Dark Shadows," 2012) was supposed to be dead but wasn't. But he returns to New York three years later when Watson (Lucy Liu, "Why Women Kill") contacts him, saying that she received a package originally addressed to him from the villainous Moriarty (Natalie Dormer, though she never actually appeared in the final season -- the character was only ever invoked by name). Watson, by the way, is now a mom, having adopted a young boy.

But after he returns, wily sleuth that he is, Sherlock discovers that Watson is hiding the fact that she has cancer. The show then jumps forward in time again to a funeral, and viewers are supposed to believe it's Watson in the casket. But it's not -- the funeral is for Moriarty, though Sherlock doesn't believe she's really dead, either.

And, for the record, neither does showrunner Robert Doherty. "I'm with Sherlock on this one," he said in an interview with TVInsider.com. "I absolutely believe Moriarty is alive and well."

(Sadly, despite having strong ideas about where the characters go after the finale, Doherty was pretty adamant that a revival is, at best, very unlikely.)

In passing through all this, we also learn that Gregson (Aidan Quinn, "Practical Magic," 1998) has retired and that Bell (Jon Michael Hill, "Widows," 2018) took over as captain of the precinct.

In the end, Sherlock decides to stay in New York, and he and Watson are discussing the possibility of once again consulting for the NYPD.

If you're thinking this is a lot of drama to squeeze into a single hour of TV, you're not alone. Vulture.com reviewer Angelica Jade Bastien suggests the writers tried to cram too much in, resulting in "an overwhelming story that is too worried about burning through plot to deliver true emotional closure."

But maybe she was just trying to comfort you for having missed it.

Have a question? Email us at questions@tvtabloid.com. Please include your name and town. Personal replies will not be provided.