Sherlock & Daughter season 1 finale ending explained: Do Holmes and Amelia stop the Red Thread gang?

The Sherlock & Daughter season 1 finale, The Last Dance, aired at 9 pm ET on June 11, 2025, on The CW. The episode is written by James Duff and directed by Bryn Higgins. It reveals that the Red Thread gang wanted to incite a war between Britain and its colonial rival by killing the British prime minister, Lord Salisbury.

However, their plan to start the Great War does not materialize as Holmes and Amelia thwart the assassination attempt and take down the heads of the Red Thread gang - Dan Moriarty, Lady Violet, and Chief Inspector Whitlock.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the Sherlock & Daughter season 1 finale.

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Holmes and Amelia save the prime minister in the Sherlock & Daughter season 1 finale

The British Prime Minister Lord Salisbury as seen in the Sherlock & Daughter season 1 finale (Image via The CW)

At the start of the Sherlock & Daughter season 1 finale, Amelia prepares to attend Clara's debutante ball as her chaperone. The event, held at the American Embassy, is attended by foreign diplomats and the British Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury. Holmes discovers that the Red Thread gang plans to assassinate the prime minister and that the police assigned to protect him can’t be trusted.

The crime syndicate's grand plan involves three steps. Firstly, Chief Inspector Whitlock will facilitate the prime minister's assassination by allowing the killer to escape. As Britain gets embroiled in a full-out war, Dan Moriarty will fund the revolutionaries' fight to free their colonies with the money he earned in the stock market crash.

Lastly, Lady Violet will ensure Britain's defeat at the hands of its enemies by sharing the weapon design for the military tank with the latter.

Whitlock has arranged for the assassin to escape through the locked balcony, as the ambassador had given its keys to the Red Thread in exchange for Clara in episode 2. The assassin, Herbert, enters the ball as part of the waitstaff and shoots the prime minister when he gives a speech in honor of Clara Anderson.

The American ambassador Paul Anderson as seen in the Sherlock & Daughter season 1 finale (Image via The CW)

However, he narrowly misses the politician and gets killed by Holmes in retaliation. The detective finds the naval ensign for the Austro-Hungarian empire in his pocket, thus confirming his suspicion that the Red Thread planned to start a war between the British and Austro-Hungarian empires.

At the end of the Sherlock & Daughter season 1 finale, Holmes confronts Paul Anderson for playing a role in the larger conspiracy. The American ambassador reasons that a war between Europe's industrial powers will help the United States emerge as a manufacturing powerhouse.

But since Anderson is protected by diplomatic immunity and his crimes cannot be proven in the court of law, Holmes takes a different approach. The two men strike a deal to protect their daughters who stand in harm's way. Holmes agrees to back off and keep Clara's involvement with Charlie a secret, as long as Anderson hides the fact that Amelia is Holmes' biological daughter from the world.

What happens to the Red Thread gang members in the Sherlock & Daughter season 1 finale?

An image of Lady Violet and Amelia from the Sherlock & Daughter season 1 finale (Image via The CW)

Holmes and Detective Swann confront Whitlock at his residence with evidence of his culpability. They arrive to find him preparing to leave the country with the stolen jewels he collected from Lord Withersea's estate. Holmes knocks him unconscious after he confesses his crimes and insults Amelia. He is arrested by Swann while the jewels are handed over to Bertie.

Meanwhile, Lady Violet plans to exchange the weapon designs with the Turkish ambassador at the stable at Clara's ball. As she awaits him, Amelia appears and threatens to shoot her to avenge her mother's murder. But Lady Violet tackles her and takes possession of the gun before Holmes catches up with them.

Amelia ties Lady Violet's scarf to the wheel of the horse carriage while the latter is distracted by Holmes. She startles the horses when she fires the gun at Holmes, and gets dragged to her death.

After Lord Salisbury's failed assassination attempt, Dan Moriarty decides to take matters into his own hands. But Amelia confronts him before trapping him inside a passageway with a smoking lantern. She also shuts off the air vent to let him suffocate to death. However, in the last moments of the episode, he is revealed to have escaped.

Amelia stays back in London in the Sherlock & Daughter

season 1 finale

Before Amelia leaves for Clara's ball, Holmes shares an important detail from his past. He reveals that he was in love with her mother, Lucia, and had planned to propose marriage to her before she abruptly left for California. He was, however, unaware that she was pregnant with his child.

Perhaps, she preempted the backlash Holmes would receive for marrying a woman of seemingly inferior race. Hence, Lucia left Holmes to protect his career and image.

After dismantling the Red Thread gang in the finale, Amelia stays with Holmes and continues working as his partner in future investigations. She keeps up the pretense of working as his maid to stay safe from potential danger at Holmes' behest.

American viewers can watch all the episodes of Sherlock & Daughter season 1 exclusively on The CW.

About the author

Deepti is an entertainment writer at Sportskeeda. She comes with more than 6 years of experience in the creative writing field and has written extensively for the entertainment and travel domains.

She holds a degree in Chemistry, but her true interest always lay in the creative field. A passion for reading from a young age fueled her desire to make a career change later in life and take up writing as her profession.

Apart from reading, her hobbies include watching movies, listening to music, and going to the beach. In her free time, she can be found looking up reviews of new and old films to add to her watchlist. She also enjoys watching foreign language films that help expand her knowledge base regarding different cultures around the world.

Asked to describe herself, she would promptly mention that she is a die-hard Swiftie and enjoys nothing more than listening to Taylor Swift songs on loop while writing.

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Edited by Divya Singh