Episode 1.2, "The Blind Banker"

[Arcadia]

 

Well, Sherlock has a photographic memory so perhaps alphabetizing would be a great strain...?

Hi, I tried to wade through the whole discussion, but nobody seems to discuss the money angle. He gets 25,000 pounds from the bank for solving their dilemma. Who will get the nine million from the sale of the pin? By rights, it is the product of a crime and after being cleared by the police it should be returned to the Chinese government, but a newspaper headline shows "Who wants to be a million-hair?" , and Sherlock has a peculiarly Cheshire Cat smile on his face after she hands him the pin. Even his ten per cent of finder's fee would come to another 90,000 pounds, so, perhaps with the high-profile case earnings at the beginning of the Fall, he is well-off from his work and not dependent on Mycroft or any trust fund, as I found in another discussion thread. Any ideas on the matter of finances?

 

I agree with sfmpco's answer. However, just as a matter of interest, in the original script, the jade pin was given to the museum. John donated the check to them too, in Soo Lin's name!  Here's the script, here.

[sfmpco]

That might be in the script but it didn't make it on screen, so it doesn't count really, does it?

[Arcadia]

Nope, not a bit, I just found it interesting that they cut it out!

[sfmpco]

Yes, they do cut things from the script.  Although sometimes I do wonder if they actually film everything in the script and then cut it out in the editing room.  This is what I suspect to be more of the truth.  It's better to have loads extra than to be caught short.

[joanneta1]

Thanks for all the input, especially Carol's pointing out the script issue.

Edited January 19, 2015 by Carol the Dabbler
Actually, that was Arcadia!

[sfmpco]

TBB ranks lowest on most people's favorite episodes lists, and there's not a lot of discussion regarding it.  Sorry, but it's true.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I was about to say, that's all too true -- but then I had a look at the forum statistics for Series 1 and 2.  Ordered by number of replies, the six episode threads run this way (with number of views in parentheses):
 

Reichenbach  . . 692 (18,727)
Scandal . . . . . . . 671 (17,164)
Hounds  . . . . . . . 295 (  7,176)
Study in Pink  . . . 271 (  6,741)
Blind Banker  . . . 236 (  6,492)

Great Game  . . .  210 (  6,602)

 
Oddly enough, if you go by forum activity, "Great Game" (with more views) is basically tied with "Blind Banker" (with more replies) for last place, even though I'm pretty sure that "Great Game" is among a lot of people's favorite episodes.  Apparently we're perfectly able to discuss things that we may not be all that happy with -- which may help explain the numbers for Series 3:
 

Last Vow . . . . . 3,639 (82,852)
Sign of Three  . 1,039 (27,384)
Empty Hearse . .  923 (27,302)

[Arcadia]

Wow. If you ask me, S3 did its job, whether you liked it or not... it got people talking!

[sfmpco]

I'm quite certain would could all migrate from this thread and go chat up TGG and raise its numbers appropriately.

[joanneta1]

Oh, yes, I aim to watch ["Study in Pink"] as soon as I finish watching the Resident Patient, because through watching Curly, I rediscovered the "museum pieces" and have had so much fun! Talk about CSI Baker Str.  in this episode! And I also discovered that Mrs Hudson, instead of being a Mrs Pepperpot, is actually the only one who can stand up to him and keep him in line. The modern version I watched as a completed project, S1-S3, but now I am getting more and more convinced that however much the creators of the modernised ones protest their love of the stories, they cannot be taken seriously. Not about anything.

Edited February 6, 2015 by Carol the Dabbler
Clarified reference after moving prior post to another thread.

[joanneta1]

Sorry, Carol, but smpfco was asking about the mirror and I was in a hurry to find it for her, because I had seen something like it in Study in Pink, but had to make sure before I posted my answer. It does never do to mix up your facts.

[Carol the Dabbler]

No problem.  That was just me covering my tracks, so I wouldn't mess up the point you were making.

 

[sfmpco]

Okay, is there anyone here who can do a frame-by-frame playback of this episode and write down everything that's on John's CV?

[sittything]

Okay, is there anyone here who can do a frame-by-frame playback of this episode and write down everything that's on John's CV?

 

Screencaps are here:

 

http://dianeduane.com/outofambit/dr-john-watsons-cv/

[sfmpco]

Interesting that it doesn't say anything about him being at Barts although he and Stamford say he was in ASIP.

[Arcadia]

Presumably it's in the missing middle part.

[Experimental]

Oh I never got to read that CV! It's so weird how I wound up at John's school.  (He definitely feels like something public and not posh like Sherlock and Cambridge. Er, technically I don't know if Sherlock went there I guess.. ) I thought he would've gone to UCL because it ranks higher atm and seems more mainstream. But! It's all good! I can write good fanfiction now.

[Boton]

I was thinking about TBB while I was out running errands (because that's what people DO!!), and I think I have an alternate interpretation of the moment where Sherlock introduces John as a friend and John corrects him to colleague.  I know a lot of people interpret that moment as hurting Sherlock's feelings, but I think I may like it more as a moment early in the relationship where they're not yet on the same page with everything.

 

In SiP, when Sherlock introduces John to Donovan, he introduces John as a "colleague."  Donovan predictably responds with "Colleague?  How do you get a colleague?"  Sherlock knew that the idea that someone would actually work with him and that he wouldn't be dependent on trying to get along with Anderson to get forensics input would tweak Donovan, especially in light of the fact that John's entry might supplant Donovan's not-so-secret lover.  "Colleague" was something Sherlock knew would bother Donovan.

 

Then, in TBB, John has just finished admitting that he feels bad about being short of funds.  He's looking for work and Sherlock takes him along on a job, which is underlined by the fact that John ultimately accepts the downpayment on the case from Seb Wilkes on Sherlock's behalf.  John is thinking of himself as a business colleague in that particular role without trying to quantify his growing friendship with Sherlock in any way.  At that moment, he is acting as Sherlock's colleague.

 

Sherlock, on the other hand, knows his own history with Seb.  He knows that Seb would be tweaked by thinking that Sherlock had a friend, because Seb has admitted that he considered Sherlock pretty friendless in university.  So, much like he did with Donovan in the previous episode, he introduces John in the role that will be most attention-getting to Seb.  He's surprised by John's correction because, in his mind, there's no such thing as trying to behave appropriately in a business context and letting that override your desire to prove your adversary wrong.  

 

So, while John perceives a business context with certain rules of behavior (such as not bringing personal relationships into the discussion), Sherlock perceives a chance to prove the idiot from uni wrong, and he's surprised that John doesn't know enough to follow along.  And, the fun thing is, I think if this would have happened in season 3, John would have known exactly what role to play because he knew Sherlock that well by then.

[sfmpco]

I never was under the impression that Sherlock was offended or hurt by John's correction of their relationship status.  I think this is partly because John didn't want to be the tag along friend, and to call himself a colleague elevates him professionally since Sherlock failed to introduce him as Dr. John Watson which would have been appropriate in such a professional situation.

[Arcadia]

Those are pretty good alternative theories! I find I prefer the usual one though, just because it ties in so nicely with the "I don't have friends" comment in Hounds.
 
I have to admit, I never read that scene as Sherlock being hurt until I started seeing that interpretation elsewhere. I thought it was more about John not wanting Seb to think he and Sherlock were a couple, and Sherlock was just filing away his response for future reference. BC's expression at that point can be interpreted any number of ways, imo. But I like the "Sherlock is wounded" scenario best.
 
I love how nuanced BC's performance is sometimes; just a little look can suggest an ocean of thoughts and feelings shimmering under the surface. Sure keeps us guessing at what's "really" going on, tho....

[Arcadia]

Found this, haven't checked yet but the folks on the other forum where I found it seemed to think it was correct:

I first noticed that [sherlock} appeared to be wearing jeans as he's striding towards the fire escape, but I wasn't sure until he's rolling around on the carpet after getting strangled and you can clearly see the rivets and a leather patch at the waistband.

Last one to check out this scene and see if it's true is a rotten egg!

[SherlockedCAMPer]

Yep, definitely jeans instead of the usual suit trousers.  Who knew that Sherlock occasionally dressed in what is referred to as Smart Casual.

[sfmpco]

Must have a look at this.

[Arcadia]

Yup, looks like jeans. The big question is, why are we so fascinated by this? :D

[Shadow Dweller]

We are bored, that's why we nitpick XD