Episode 1.2, "The Blind Banker"

[Arcadia]

So we are flock of quite special people :lol:

 

Is the blind banker actually refers to Van Coon?

I keep wondering.., all the while I thought it was the guy whose potrait was vandalized.. sounds silly I know.. never quite convinced as well :lol:

 

Hey, I forget to rate the ep. Will do.

I think you were right the first time, it refers to the vandalized portrait.

 

I still need to watch this at some point today... so unmotivated to do so, though.

Would a kick in the pants help? :D Or maybe the offer of cake?

[J.P.]

Here, this might help
 

The only blind banker in the episode to me was the guy on the wall.

[Inge l-w]

Left hand and eye dominant, but I can write on a whiteboard with my right hand, so I tend to drive my students crazy, since I begin a sentence with my left hand and finish with my right! Ambidextrous, probably, inherited from my great-uncle in Masuren, East Prussia.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Just wondering how you can inherit traits from a great-uncle?  (Unless of course he raised you, and you learned certain behavior from him.)

 

[J.P.]

Back on Topic

 

Well, after watching TGG I have an impression that this episode is totally superfluous. Even the character development seems to go in a different direction than we see in TGG. The fact, that Shan was "supervised" by Jim could be also easily left out without changing anything in the story afterwards.

[Inge l-w]

Absolutely no idea! Check Mendel's laws, all I know he was ambidextrous, my dominant hand and eye are left-handed, but give me a whiteboard pen and I can start a sentence with the left hand and finish it with the right hand, and it would take Monsieur Bertillon and his whole graphology jumbo-jumbo to tell the difference! ^_^

[Carol the Dabbler]

The fact, that Shan was "supervised" by Jim could be also easily left out without changing anything in the story afterwards.

 

That did seem to be kind of an afterthought, yes -- just to tie the episode to the overall story arc.

[J.P.]

Would you also say that in that episode John is the drama queen? We see much of his temper.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Do you think he's faking the temper, then -- just to get attention?  I've always thought he was legitimately angry, but am curious to hear your point of view.

 

[J.P.]

No. Sherlock isn't faking his temper either. At least not consciously.

[Arcadia]

I think of a drama queen as someone who relishes the drama s/he creates/enlarges on, not someone who is faking their emotional response. That doesn't seem to fit John. Also I can't think of when he gets angry (a week goes by and already I've forgotten everything I saw.... :( ) ... was he more angry than usual?

[SherlockedCAMPer]

I think of a drama queen as someone who relishes the drama s/he creates/enlarges on, not someone who is faking their emotional response. That doesn't seem to fit John. Also I can't think of when he gets angry (a week goes by and already I've forgotten everything I saw.... :( ) ... was he more angry than usual?

 

 

Well John & Sherlock call each other drama queens in HLV and Mary doesn't deny it and agrees with Sherlock.  And I can't recall when John gets angry either.  Of course I was half spaced out while it was on.

[sittything]

OK, so I FINALLY watched TBB.  It still has not grown on me.  There are certain moments in it that I really love and are so memorable:  Sherlock sweet talking his way into Van Coon's flat, going to consult an "expert," Sherlock manipulating poor Molly (dunno that I "love" this but it's memorable even if it makes me cringe), Sherlock's definition of a "date."   But this episode leaves me with too many questions that take away some of the enjoyment of it.

 

Why cover the cipher for Soo Lin Yao?  Wouldn't that reduce the chance she'd see it?

How would he know where to put the cipher in the library?

Why wouldn't John follow Sherlock up the fire escape when it was down? I know, I know... they needed him to yell he's Sherlock Holmes, but ugh.

What was that mess at the museum where both Sherlock and John abandon Soo Lin Yao?  When did she have time to decipher anything?  We see her doing nothing but sitting there after John leaves her.  Why didn't she hide?  Lock the door?  Anything.  I really liked her, and I still get annoyed that she died.

 

Those are definitely jeans, though.  I approve.  

 

I also caught for the first time (sad, I know) that the corner of the poster Sherlock rips off is for that circus.  I never made the connection before between that and the slip he hands John for his date. 

 

Shan is still the worst villain ever... fall over in your chair, Sarah...  and that is no way to organize books.  It's my new head canon that Moriarty has Shan killed because she bored him to tears.

 

 

 

 

[sittything]

Back on Topic

 

Well, after watching TGG I have an impression that this episode is totally superfluous. Even the character development seems to go in a different direction than we see in TGG. The fact, that Shan was "supervised" by Jim could be also easily left out without changing anything in the story afterwards.

 

I've always found it interesting that TBB and HOB seem so removed from the rest of their respective seasons, when TSOT clearly ties in with the rest of season 3   Difference being for me, I actually really enjoy HOB as a stand-alone episode.

[Van Buren Supernova]

I think of a drama queen as someone who relishes the drama s/he creates/enlarges on, not someone who is faking their emotional response. That doesn't seem to fit John. Also I can't think of when he gets angry (a week goes by and already I've forgotten everything I saw.... :( ) ... was he more angry than usual?

 

 

Well John & Sherlock call each other drama queens in HLV and Mary doesn't deny it and agrees with Sherlock.  And I can't recall when John gets angry either.  Of course I was half spaced out while it was on.

I think he screamed and nagged quite a lot.

Anyway, I think John doesn't have any right to complain about the grocery. After all, according to Sherlock, he is the one who 'eats all the time'! :lol:

 

 

Shan is still the worst villain ever... fall over in your chair, Sarah...  and that is no way to organize books.  It's my new head canon that Moriarty has Shan killed because she bored him to tears.

I have to thank him for that.

[sittything]

 

 

Shan is still the worst villain ever... fall over in your chair, Sarah...  and that is no way to organize books.  It's my new head canon that Moriarty has Shan killed because she bored him to tears.

I have to thank him for that.

 

 

Don't we all!   Imagine if she had made repeat appearances!  

[Carol the Dabbler]

Why cover the cipher for Soo Lin Yao?  Wouldn't that reduce the chance she'd see it?

My assumption is that the statue had been covered all along, but the covering had originally been tied on, to protect the statue from dust, minor scratches, etc. Soo Lin would have been used to seeing it that way. If the baddies had uncovered it, sprayed on the death threat, and left it that way, some random museum employee would have seen it and raised a fuss. So they put the cover back on [note: that paint must be a quick-drying type] but left it loose, figuring that Soo Lin was sufficiently nervous (following her brother's visit) and sufficiently detail-oriented that she'd notice and check it out.

 

How would he know where to put the cipher in the library?

That one bothers me too!

 

Why wouldn't John follow Sherlock up the fire escape when it was down?

I think John was looking elsewhere when Sherlock pulled it down (though you'd think the squeaking mechanism would have gotten his attention), and it stayed down for only an instant. (And they were setting up a joke.  <_< )

 

[Godolphin]

I think I agree with many of the responses to this episode which can loosely be summed up as " eh."

 

The mystery didn't really grab me, nor did the villains. The sandbag-deadly dart contraption gave me the uncomfortable feeling of watching 1970s-era James Bond movies with their overly elaborate contraptions that always allowed Bond to escape death. About the only thing missing was a shark tank beneath the damsel in distress.

 

And yes, tiresome and outdated stereotypes about the "Asian menace"...

 

But on the bright side, it gave me a huge grin to watch Sherlock bobbing strangely around the cubicle desks at the bank, and the odd looks he got from everyone who was just trying to go about their work. Now that would be a diverting moment in a dull workday! 

 

Cheers!

 

[sittything]

 

 

But on the bright side, it gave me a huge grin to watch Sherlock bobbing strangely around the cubicle desks at the bank, and the odd looks he got from everyone who was just trying to go about their work. Now that would be a diverting moment in a dull workday! 

 

 

I love that scene!

[J.P.]

The best moment of TBB. Just because.

Notice: Ben grabs the pen with his left hand. He's watching a mirror, but Martin doesn't look at what he's doing. :o

 

To be honest - initially I thought it was a CGI trick!

 

[SherlockedCAMPer]

That was a fun shot. They mentioned it one of the commentaries as taking a bit to do because the camera didn't see that pen being caught by Benedict the first time.

[J.P.]

Found another thing about TBB that I like: the way John having a fight with the machine and Sherlock having a fight with the ehm... someone are edited. Something you need to watch in slow motion, otherwise you miss it. (I was doing my research)

[Carol the Dabbler]

??? 

[J.P.]

When John is buying groceries Sherlock fights that mummed guy with a sword. It's interesting how the changes between those two situations are made.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Oh.  Kay.  Will have to pay more attention next time.