Since Sherlock survived, is it possible Moriarty did as well?
Highly unlikely, after all, his unfortunate suicide was actually on screen. It seems hard to fake shooting yourself in the face, especially when you are standing up against your own nemesis. More so, if he had not died, he would most likely have known how Sherlock's own suicide had been faked. After all, one thing is to get it to look real to bystanders on a street or in other buildings, another is to make it look real to someone a few meters behind you.
Lastly, the series is following the original stories rather well, considering the time period of choice, and it seems doubtful they are going to change such a big part of the plotline to bring back a (rather interesting) villain.
Anyway, yes, he most likely got help from Molly, in case he actually needed it. Now, I can't really read the distinct character of this Holmes, but he did seem like faking the suicide was going to be the very last option, and that he was in no way willing to let this very part go wrong, considering the lives at stake.
More so, Molly was never mentioned as one of the friends of Holmes, when Moriarty was threatening him. This gives Molly the perfect opportunity to be out of danger, and more importantly, she is out of sight. No one is watching her, so no one will know about her, most likely important, role in saving several people's lives.
What she did exactly will continue to be a mystery for a while.
And just to end this off: This episode, no matter the series, continues to annoy me. Not as much because of the mood swings and the apparent horror of the death of the main character, but mainly because Sir Conan Doyle was bullied into continuing the story past this point, which means leaving Watson with the traumatic experience of a good friend dying (horribly), just to have said friend come about three years later, all well and no issues.
Also, I liked Moriarty, he was, in this version, an amusing character.
