Episode 1.2, "The Blind Banker"

[Convict13]

Not my favourite episode, but there is still a lot to like about it.

[Arcadia]

I like it better after each viewing. And it's very John-centric, I like that. But the Soo Lin scenes are, well, pretty boring, as is the circus act. Any time the boys aren't center stage, actually, I start to drift.

[sfmpco]

I have to say that this episode is my least favorite of all of them, and perhaps part of that reasoning is that it feels pretty much like any other detective series.  Plus the introduction to the episode seems very long (because the boys are absent).   Really, when you get right down to it, the banter and antics of Sherlock and John are far more interesting than any case they ever solve.

[T.o.b.y]

I have to say that this episode is my least favorite of all of them, and perhaps part of that reasoning is that it feels pretty much like any other detective series.  Plus the introduction to the episode seems very long (because the boys are absent).   Really, when you get right down to it, the banter and antics of Sherlock and John are far more interesting than any case they ever solve.

 

... which is exactly the same for the Doyle stories, if you ask me. I certainly don't re-read them for the crimes. Those are actually rather silly. I just adore Holmes as a character.

 

Am I the only person who likes Soo Lin? Yes, I guess she is a bit if a stereotype, but I never noticed that so much before... All I see is a (in my eyes) exceptionally pretty young woman with a very pleasant voice and I feel very much for her. I cried the first time when she got killed.

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

I liked Soo Lin....a lot too. I never saw the stereotype either....just a young woman who loved and appreciated one of the finer points of her country's history. The tea ceremony is very formal and delicate, alive with symbolism.  Even though she saw the dark underbelly of her own culture she could still find something of it that was beautiful and cling to it.

 

 I don't see that as a stereotype but as a facet of human nature. Here in the US we have people who have never....nor will ever see the countries that their grandparents and great grandparents came from but many of us adopt certain aspects of the "Old Countries" to keep those ties alive.

[Arcadia]

I have to say that this episode is my least favorite of all of them, and perhaps part of that reasoning is that it feels pretty much like any other detective series.  Plus the introduction to the episode seems very long (because the boys are absent).   Really, when you get right down to it, the banter and antics of Sherlock and John are far more interesting than any case they ever solve.

You've nailed it!

[Arcadia]

Am I the only person who likes Soo Lin? Yes, I guess she is a bit if a stereotype, but I never noticed that so much before... All I see is a (in my eyes) exceptionally pretty young woman with a very pleasant voice and I feel very much for her. I cried the first time when she got killed.

Oh, I like her ... I just don't think her scenes are very interesting. They're very static, for the most part. Plus it annoyed me the way she was killed off. I guess it was supposed to be poignant but mostly I was just mad at John for abandoning her.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

 

but mostly I was just mad at John for abandoning her.

 

  Pretty much. It's one of those times you want to throw popcorn at the screen shouting...."idiot.....you leave and now she's going to die!"

[T.o.b.y]

 

 

but mostly I was just mad at John for abandoning her.

 

  Pretty much. It's one of those times you want to throw popcorn at the screen shouting...."idiot.....you leave and now she's going to die!"

 

 

Oh yes... It was so obvious what was going to happen next. And what a spectacularly bad decision for Captain John Watson to make: On the one side, you have a man who conducts sword fights in his living room and jumps around London rooftops on a weekly basis. On the other side, you have a defenseless girl who is also the primary target of the killer. So what do you do? "I have to go and help him" and leave the girl to her fate. Oh John... Lifesaver indeed. He isn't the only person who romanticizes their adventures in hindsight.

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Which the canonical Holmes was always accusing his Watson of.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Alex and I watched this episode again, and afterward we agreed that we'd enjoyed it a lot more this time than we had on other recent viewings.  Could that be because we've been so busy that we had to watch it this time in three half-hour installments?

 

Several times, I've thought that the little girl at the very beginning reminds me of Zoe Telford (who plays Sarah).  Could she be her daughter?  That would fit right in with Hartswood's nepotism policy, but there doesn't seem to be much personal information about Ms. Telford online.

 

[sfmpco]

Not my favorite episode, but the bit where they are discussing his time at University... so although Sherlock is this super genius, he was still in his age group in school.  He wasn't like a Doogie Houser starting university at age 12.  

 

And I'm sure it's already been mentioned that the secretary with the 9 million pound hair pin was formerly BC's longtime girlfriend.  They may have still been together at this point but were not by the 2nd series.  So another bit of Hartswood nepotism.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Hadn't thought of that, but you're right -- Sherlock and Sebastian seem to be about the same age.  That's believable, though, since Sherlock doesn't seem the type to knuckle down and study anything that doesn't interest him personally.  He may have even been considered a poor student.

 

[sfmpco]

Well clearly he deletes things from his mind palace that he considers unimportant - like the fact that the earth goes around the sun, so he may have been completely bored by what he considered non-essential information.  He does have a graduate degree in chemistry, however, and we can assume that science in general was pretty interesting.  Also his grammar is top notch, so he probably excelled in English.  But he doesn't concern himself with trivia -like not knowing who Madonna is in TSOT.  He didn't know who Irene Adler was, so he's not interested in that sort of information.  And at some point he studied dance, as he tells Janine in TSOT that he's always loved it.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Oh I can imagine the talk around the lunch table.....all about raging hormones and Sherlock is just yawning and looking exceedingly bored with it all.

[T.o.b.y]

I've finally gotten round to watching this again after a good long while, and I was surprised at how much it appeals to me. I might not care much for Shan as a villain, but I think this episodes has (together with The Great Game) my favorite characterization of Sherlock. I love how he just rushes around and does his thing and leaves John standing around exasperated and bewildered. I love it when he nearly gets choked to death by "the spider" and won't admit it because that would mean admitting he'd made a mistake by not letting John into Soo Lin's flat.

 

The dynamic between John, Sarah and Sherlock is perfect. It's what I had hoped it would be like with Mary.

 

And god, is Sebastian an ass-hole. I never noticed him much before, but wow, now that I paid a bit of attention to him, I feel like I could really punch him in the face (or a bit lower, actually). What a jerk. I wish John had relieved him of even more money.

 

Somehow, I like the "olden days" when Sherlock was not famous or popular yet, and still had to struggle with the police and clients like Sebastian. I like him as a bit of an underdog.

[Pamela]

I also like it better than I used to.  How about that?

[jesskayding]

Yeah it was a character building episode. You know if they bring another person back from the dead, i'd say Soo Lin. Maybe another character a lot like her. Why did John leave her side? WHYyyyyyyy!

[T.o.b.y]

Yeah it was a character building episode. You know if they bring another person back from the dead, i'd say Soo Lin. Maybe another character a lot like her. Why did John leave her side? WHYyyyyyyy!

 

I think it had something to do with a very recent realization on John's part that Sherlock wasn't nearly as invincible as he liked to let people believe and that as would never ask for anybody's help, you just have to rush to his side whenever you have a hunch that he might need you.

[jesskayding]

Well. Too bad for the ACtuall damsel in distress.

[T.o.b.y]

Well. Too bad for the ACtuall damsel in distress.

 

I know, right? John certainly chose the worst possible moment to decide Sherlock needed him... But just the fact that he finally saw through Sherlock's act at least a little bit made me happy.

[jesskayding]

I say let him get shot in the butt & let Soo Lin live. Ohhh Soo linnnnnn. Soooooooooo Liiiinnnnnnnn Yao!

[Carol the Dabbler]

Though Soo Lin isn't the only person Sherlock fails to save, she's certainly the one that we get to know the best.

 

Since this episode appears to be a take on Conan Doyle's "Sign of the Four," I'm trying to think who might be Soo Lin's counterpart there -- but I'm coming up completely empty, so I have no idea whether her death may be in some sense canonical.  Anybody else have an insight?

 

[jesskayding]

Maybe Janine. Soo Lin curious about tea. Janine curious about men?

 

Oh! Wait wait wait!

 

TESSA!!!

 

Ding ding ding ding ding.... What's my prize Carol.

[Janie]

I think Carol meant the Doyle's book "The Sign of Four" not "The Sign of Three". I have no idea who Soo Lin's counterpart in the book might be so it's propably another character invented by the writers.