Content & Trigger Warnings for Sherlock (2010)

Magnussen stalks and surveils his blackmail targets; his method involves total knowledge of people's pressure points

A child's murder is revealed as a central mystery; Eurus killed Sherlock's childhood friend Victor Trevor as a young girl

Mary Watson dies leaving behind a young baby; the impact of a parent's death on a child is explored

Eurus is held in a maximum-security facility; the conditions of her imprisonment and the ethics of containment are explored

Watson's devastating grief over Sherlock's apparent death; his emotional breakdown at the graveside is deeply affecting

Watson processes his anger and grief over Sherlock's faked death; their friendship is strained

Watson's grief over Mary's death is devastating; Sherlock processes childhood trauma he had repressed

The serial killer's MO involves psychological manipulation pushing victims toward choosing death

Suicidal thoughts and coerced suicide are central to multiple storylines

Moriarty orchestrates an elaborate campaign to destroy Sherlock's reputation and make everyone believe he's a fraud

Charles Augustus Magnussen uses psychological manipulation and blackmail as his primary weapon; he licks people's faces to assert dominance

Eurus has been manipulating events from behind the scenes; Sherlock's memories have been altered to suppress trauma

Multiple kidnappings occur across the series as plot devices

Watson's PTSD from military combat in Afghanistan is referenced throughout

Blood at crime scenes and during the Study in Pink case; forensic examination shown

Blood at crime scenes and from violent encounters throughout

Victor Trevor's death by drowning in a well is a central revelation; the well and water imagery are disturbing

The Hound of Baskerville-style tension in the Blind Banker episode; sudden reveals and startling moments

The Hounds of Baskerville episode relies on horror-style tension with sudden scares and hallucinatory sequences

Sherlock's drug use involves needles; medical scenes after he is shot

Irene Adler appears fully nude in her introduction; sexual power dynamics between her and Sherlock are a major theme

Irene Adler uses sexuality as a weapon and manipulation tool; scenes of her dominatrix profession with implied BDSM

Sherlock's past drug use is referenced; nicotine patches used as a substitute; drug history is an ongoing character element

Drugging occurs in the Baskerville episode; chemical exposure causes hallucinations and paranoia

Sherlock's drug use becomes more prominent; he uses drugs as part of an undercover operation and his addiction is addressed

Sherlock's drug addiction reaches a crisis point; he uses heavily and his behavior deteriorates

Sherlock's drug addiction including heroin and morphine use is a recurring plot element

Drug overdose risk is depicted in connection with Sherlock's substance abuse

Eurus Holmes was confined and isolated as a child; flashbacks reveal horrific emotional and psychological abuse of the Holmes children

Domestic violence situations are investigated as cases

Crime scene imagery throughout; bodies in various states with forensic detail shown

Crime scenes and violence escalate; the Hound of Baskerville features disturbing imagery and a military conspiracy

Crime scene violence continues; a terrorist plot involves graphic imagery

More graphic violence than previous seasons; multiple deaths shown on screen in Eurus's games

Watson shoots a suspect to save Sherlock; gun violence in the Moriarty-related plots

Multiple armed confrontations; gun threats and shootings in the Moriarty storyline

Mary Watson is revealed as a former assassin; she shoots Sherlock, and there are multiple armed confrontations

Mary Watson is killed by a gunshot; multiple shooting scenes throughout the season

A serial killer forces victims to choose suicide as part of a twisted game; Sherlock nearly takes a poison pill

Sherlock's apparent suicide by jumping from a rooftop is the climactic moment; extended scenes of the fall and aftermath

Sherlock is shown being tortured during his two years away dismantling Moriarty's network; graphic physical abuse

Eurus orchestrates elaborate psychological torture games forcing Sherlock to make impossible choices involving people's lives