NetflixIt brings me no shame to say that I’ve been eagerly awaiting the next chapter in Netflix’s Enola Holmes franchise. No, I can’t claim to be its target audience — these films invariably mean more to the tweens who grew up watching Millie Bobby Brown come of age as Eleven, the consummate heroine of Stranger Things, than to a 30-year-old who never quite clicked with that series — but still, somehow, these frothy little mysteries speak to me. Maybe it’s the substance of the mysteries themselves, which are miles easier to follow than anything Enola’s (Brown) older brother, Sherlock (played capably by Henry Cavill here), would busy himself with in a story of his own making. Maybe it’s the emphasis on romance: the plots are as much about Enola’s developing bond with Viscount Tewkesbury (Louis Partridge), the hapless lord she gets stuck with in her first adventure, as the adventures themselves. Maybe it’s that Brown wound up feeling a bit like a little sister over time, which makes her latest outing as Enola all the more emotional.That Enola and Tewkesbury’s nuptials form the backdrop for Enola Holmes 3, the third adaptation of the Nancy Springer novels, is admittedly another draw. Four years after Enola’s last mission, in the shockingly good Enola Holmes 2, Brown and Partridge have effectively grown up right before our eyes. It lends a more nostalgic vibe to what’s become an unlikely hit trilogy. Adolescence scribe Jack Thorne returns to shepherd Enola from teenhood to adulthood, but not without a lot of looking back. Enola Holmes 3 is positively pockmarked with flashbacks — some of which help our teen sleuth recall the facts she needs to solve her most personal case yet, others that stand in for the emotional gut punches we felt in the past. Four years might as well be a lifetime in the realm of streaming, so the reminders are sometimes apt. Even so, it’s hard to say if Enola 3 suffers more from its need to remind us of past impact than it does in its search for deeper, more grown-up themes.The third installment in Netflix’s Enola Holmes saga doesn’t boast as great a mystery as one might have hoped coming off of Enola Holmes 2. It’s straightforward and leading when things ought to be getting more complicated, but the film makes up for that by beefing up its emotional beats. Enola has, in fact, grown up a lot since we last saw her: she and Tewkesbury are old enough now to make their relationship official in the only way that mattered in Victorian times. Their impending wedding in Malta, the Mediterranean colony where Tewkesbury basically grew up, shakes a whole lot loose in Enola’s mind. She’s spent so long trying to prove herself worthy of the Holmes name, and now that she has — with her own detective agency and, maybe most crucially, Sherlock’s approval — she’s giving all that up to become a Tewkesbury. It doesn’t help that Sherlock himself seems disappointed by her choice to marry into nobility. While it raises her status, it might also demean her reputation as a detective… if her new duties would even allow her to hold a job.It almost feels like a sign from the universe when, on the morning of the ceremony, Sherlock turns up missing. While Enola’s been duped by another “missing” family member before, Sherlock’s not really the type to feign abduction to teach his sister any valuable lessons. There’s really only one person smart enough to get the drop on the world’s greatest detective, which means that Moriarty (Sharon Duncan-Brewster) is back on the scene and eager to teach both the Holmes clan and the Tewkesburys a lesson of her own. Sherlock is the one on the back foot in Enola Holmes 3. | NetflixThough Enola’s name is essentially “alone” in reverse — and her films make the best of that solitude with Fleabag-esque fourth-wall breaks — she’s long proved that mysteries are better solved with allies. That sentiment continues in Enola 3. It takes help from everyone to build a clear picture of Moriarty’s scheme. Elementary as that makes this mystery, it also means we get great appearances from Helena Bonham Carter, returning as the eccentric Holmes matriarch, and Himesh Patel, finally stepping into a bigger role as Dr. Watson. Patel and Duncan-Brewster both boarded this franchise in its second installment, and their respective castings were thrilling for myriad reasons. Not only are they more than capable as actors, but Enola 3 wisely uses them to critique the Victorian elephant in the room: colonialism. As Watson, Patel gets great opportunities to tackle the British Empire, its less-than-savory presence on Malta, and the crimes it perpetrated elsewhere — realms like India and Afghanistan, both of which have a part to play in this great game. The specter of colonialism serves some characters well in Enola 3. Others, not so much. | NetflixWatson’s quiet, steely calm does so much with so little, and when Tewkesbury finds himself disillusioned with the title he’s inheriting, Watson is there to counsel him through it. Their scenes together come closest to grounding Enola 3 in a tangible, sticky issue: the franchise could soar with more of that sentiment, but its glossier instincts nearly wash that substance away before it can leave a real mark.Duncan-Brewster is the angrier, more vengeful side of Watson’s coin — but only just barely. Sherlock’s greatest adversary is somewhat reduced to a cackling bogeyman who skulks in the shadows. We’re told that her mind is just as sophisticated as his, but director Philip Barantini doesn’t give Moriarty many chances to prove it. By the time Enola 3 reaches its swashbuckling climax, it’s almost too late to bring her out of stock-villain territory. It feels like a waste no matter how you slice it: that Moriarty is, for the first time, a woman of color should have opened the floodgates for new ideas and conflicts. Thorne and Barantini can’t think quite that big, which leaves this adventure stuck at the starting line.Of course, Enola Holmes 3 is spectacularly fun otherwise. Its status as a mystery makes it a little more than the “turn your brain off” thrillers you’ll easily find on Netflix, and it does a great job of bringing our heroine into the next phase of her coming-of-age. There’s a sense of finality to the adventure here, but fitting as that might be, I pray it’s not the end for Enola Holmes. Even in its weaknesses, there’s an untapped potential here — and Netflix owes it to the character and the audience to chase it.Enola Holmes 3 streams on Netflix on July 1.