Episode 1.2, "The Blind Banker"

[sfmpco]

Same thing happened with Monarch of the Glen.  

[Arcadia]

And Beauty and the Beast.

[SherlockedCAMPer]

I would so love the scripts for the rest of the Sherlock episodes. It's fun to compare TBB script with the transcripts.  We see the edits and the ad libs which make it a touch more interesting.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I would so love the scripts for the rest of the Sherlock episodes. It's fun to compare TBB script with the transcripts.  We see the edits and the ad libs which make it a touch more interesting.

 

... and what they've omitted as well -- John has one line in TBB that always sounded like a slight non-sequitur to me, and when I read the script, I saw that they'd omitted a few of the lines just prior to that.  I'm guessing that they may have even filmed them, and then cut them.

[Arcadia]

 

I would so love the scripts for the rest of the Sherlock episodes. It's fun to compare TBB script with the transcripts.  We see the edits and the ad libs which make it a touch more interesting.

 

... and what they've omitted as well -- John has one line in TBB that always sounded like a slight non-sequitur to me, and when I read the script, I saw that they'd omitted a few of the lines just prior to that.  I'm guessing that they may have even filmed them, and then cut them.

 

What line is that, Carol?

 

(You know your Sherlock obsession is bad when you will seize on any detail of the show, no matter how trivial, and analyze it to death.)

[Carol the Dabbler]

John has one line in TBB that always sounded like a slight non-sequitur to me, and when I read the script, I saw that they'd omitted a few of the lines just prior to that.  I'm guessing that they may have even filmed them, and then cut them.

What line is that, Carol?

 

It's while he and Sherlock are questioning Soo Lin:

 

SOO LIN:  ... He came to my flat three days ago. He asked me to help him - to track down something that was stolen.

 

JOHN: You’ve no idea what it was?

SOO LIN (shakes her head): I refused to help.

SHERLOCK: So he sent you the cipher as a punishment.

 

SOO LIN: He is ruthless. A fanatic. He would strike down anyone. Even family - if they betrayed him.

 

JOHN: You knew him well? When you were living back in China?

SOO LIN: Oh yes. He is my brother.

 

The two lines in boldface were omitted.  In the episode, John's subsequent sentence begins with a "So," implying that he's following up on something she's just said -- even though all we've heard her say is that he came to her flat, which does not necessarily mean that she even knew him at all, let alone "well."

 

[Arcadia]

It's while he and Sherlock are questioning Soo Lin:

 

SOO LIN:  ... He came to my flat three days ago. He asked me to help him - to track down something that was stolen.

JOHN: You’ve no idea what it was?

SOO LIN (shakes her head): I refused to help.

SHERLOCK: So he sent you the cipher as a punishment.

 

SOO LIN: He is ruthless. A fanatic. He would strike down anyone. Even family - if they betrayed him.

JOHN: You knew him well? When you were living back in China?

SOO LIN: Oh yes. He is my brother.

 

The two lines in boldface were omitted.  In the episode, John's subsequent sentence begins with a "So," implying that he's following up on something she's just said -- even though all we've heard her say is that he came to her flat, which does not necessarily mean that she even knew him at all, let alone "well."

 

Wow, good catch. Something like thats slips right past me. I'm guessing they trim for length or something.

 

Which reminds me, didn't I see or hear somewhere that the original cut of HLV came in at around 4 hours? No wonder it feels incomplete......

[SherlockedCAMPer]

 

Which reminds me, didn't I see or hear somewhere that the original cut of HLV came in at around 4 hours? No wonder it feels incomplete......

 

 

I had heard that most of S3 was short as the lines were delivered faster so more lines were added.  I had not heard that HLV came in at 4 hours.

 

[Arcadia]

I may have dreamed it.

[SherlockedCAMPer]

With the time between episodes we have and how much behind the scenes stuff we read and/or listen to anything is possible.

[Carol the Dabbler]

For anyone who'd like to read the actual filming script for "The Blind Banker" -- it's available for download here.

 

As CAMPer says, it's fun to compare the script either with the finished episode or with Ariane DeVere's transcript of it.

 

[T.o.b.y]

After spending a very pleasant evening with this episode, my poor brain is desperately trying to make some sense of the villains' behavior, and the best I could come up with is this:

 

- First of all, as Sherlock says, they're not just a band of smugglers, but a cult. That explains why they have a number of strange rituals and also suggests that most members are slightly brainwashed, which can't be good for one's intelligence.

 

- Why did they kill Van Coon and Lukis, the only people who might have known where the treasure is or at least who the first buyer was in England? Well, they left the cipher before they sent the killer. So maybe the cipher was like an ultimatum: Own up, or we'll kill you. They didn't own up, so... Also, who knows what the killer said to them before he took their lives. Perhaps he tried to make them confess before he shot them. Ultimately, they had to kill these two to maintain their authority over the other smugglers. They can't let anyone steal from them and get away with it, or their entire power structure would be in danger.

 

- The above would also explain why they announced their murders in advance.

 

- They thought John was Sherlock. And their goal was to get Sherlock to find the hairpin, then take it from him or have him lead them to it. So couldn't the graffiti message have been for Sherlock? Once John, who they think is the detective, has seen it, they immediately erase it, because it has fulfilled its purpose and they don't want to draw too much attention to themselves in general.

 

- Because they expected Sherlock to lead them to the treasure, they most certainly had someone following John around nonstop (because for them, John = Sherlock). So it's not that much of an unlikely coincidence that the writing got erased the minute after he saw it.

 

How's that for a start? I really like this episode, and I need my brain to go along with it...

 

My favorite part is still Sherlock crashing John's date. The way they interact at the Circus is priceless. And after having just seen her again, I must say I prefer Sarah to Mary. She's not as perfect a match for John, not at all, but she's way more believable.

[Carol the Dabbler]

- Why did they kill Van Coon and Lukis, the only people who might have known where the treasure is or at least who the first buyer was in England? Well, they left the cipher before they sent the killer. So maybe the cipher was like an ultimatum: Own up, or we'll kill you. They didn't own up, so... Also, who knows what the killer said to them before he took their lives. Perhaps he tried to make them confess before he shot them. Ultimately, they had to kill these two to maintain their authority over the other smugglers. They can't let anyone steal from them and get away with it, or their entire power structure would be in danger.

 

I think you're right about maintaining the power structure. But it still makes absolutely no sense for them to kill Van Coon and Lukis, especially without taking them to headquarters first and torturing them. Lukis, in particular, seemed like the sort of guy who'd probably cave in immediately. (Then you kill him.)

 

- Because they expected Sherlock to lead them to the treasure, they most certainly had someone following John around nonstop (because for them, John = Sherlock). So it's not that much of an unlikely coincidence that the writing got erased the minute after he saw it.

Nope, definitely not a coincidence, and good point about them already thinking John was Sherlock. But I still have a ludicrous mental image of them following John around with an entire case of quick-drying black spray paint.  And it appears that they did not originally plan on getting Sherlock to do their work for them -- at the end, Shan tells "M" "We did not know he would come, this Sherlock Holmes" -- which takes us right back to the stupidity of killing Van Coon and Lukis.

 

My favorite part is still Sherlock crashing John's date. The way they interact at the Circus is priceless. And after having just seen her again, I must say I prefer Sarah to Mary. She's not as perfect a match for John, not at all, but she's way more believable.

I love Sarah, and if Mary's ever out of the picture, I would hope to see her back again. But I like Mary too, and as you say she seems a good fit for John, so I hope the two of them can work things out.

 

[Redbeard]

Wow Carol, that is dark.  That is just cold lol. 

Lukis, in particular, seemed like the sort of guy who'd probably cave in immediately. (Then you kill him.)
 

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Well, I didn't mean you you, I meant the Black Lotus.  And of course that's what they'd do, if they only had the brains to wait that long.

 

[stick]

For me this is the one weak episode the show has done, its not terrible but there just seems to miss a spark and flare that all the other episode have.

[sfmpco]

For me this is the one weak episode the show has done, its not terrible but there just seems to miss a spark and flare that all the other episode have.

 

I quite agree with you.  It's a little too heavy on the case and not enough of the stuff we love so well.  Then again, the creative staff seemed to have it all sorted out by S2.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I don't know if it's too heavy on the case as such, but it's certainly too heavy on that particular case, because that case doesn't hold together well at all.

 

[sfmpco]

It spends a lot of time on the set-up of Soo Lin pouring the tea and explaining all that which has nothing to do with anything except for the fact that she works at the museum, but that's just boring stuff.  So, the set-up to me just takes too long.  I really couldn't care about that darn tea-pot or the young man who has some romantic interest in her.  

 

Thankfully by the time TGG came along, they weren't doing those lengthy set-ups.  Even the set-up in ASIP is too long (IMO).

[Carol the Dabbler]

It spends a lot of time on the set-up of Soo Lin pouring the tea and explaining all that which has nothing to do with anything except for the fact that she works at the museum, but that's just boring stuff.  So, the set-up to me just takes too long.  I really couldn't care about that darn tea-pot or the young man who has some romantic interest in her.

 

Maybe it could've been done more quickly, but those points both had to be established, and early in the show.  We need to know that the teapots are her obsession, or it would make no sense for her to hide in the museum and care for them at night.  We need to know that Andy is sweet on her or it would make no sense for him to be worried about her and go looking for her, and coincidentally, leave a note at her flat for Sherlock to find.  (Besides, I think he's cute!)

[sfmpco]

Yes, it could have been done more quickly.  A slow start is a killer.. but also it was a killer because it didn't involve the boys.  Thankfully, they got over that issue.

[T.o.b.y]

Funny, I never minded those "case introduction" episode openers. I kind of like them, actually. They went back to that concept in His Last Vow, by the way, did you notice?

 

I like Soo Lin. She's pretty and gentle and tragic, and I wish John wouldn't have rushed off and left her to be killed by her own brother, although I love that scene between them just before he shoots her.

 

Does anybody know, by the way, whether Thompson will be back as a writer in series 4? I know absolutely nothing about him, but so far, I've really liked his Sherlock scripts.

[Tunguska]

I love how you notice small new things with each rewatch of Sherlock episodes. When Sherlock and John are going through the crates of books, Sherlock keeps putting his matching pairs on a pile on John's desk and John silently keeps moving them to another pile. Just a very recognizable, realistic little scene - the same inevitably happens when my husband and I sort through stuff together.

[Boton]

I love how you notice small new things with each rewatch of Sherlock episodes. When Sherlock and John are going through the crates of books, Sherlock keeps putting his matching pairs on a pile on John's desk and John silently keeps moving them to another pile. Just a very recognizable, realistic little scene - the same inevitably happens when my husband and I sort through stuff together.

 

I did notice that and liked it.  Although that's usually the part where I'm tearing my hair out yelling "Alphabetize!  Both of you alphabetize one of the men's collections, and then start reading off titles to find your matches.  Don't do it randomly!"

[T.o.b.y]

I think how Sherlock goes about checking those books gives us a lot of insight into how his mind works, and he's not really a methodical thinker. Like Carol has pointed out, his deductions are often based just as much on intuition as on logic. Sherlock would never have taken the time to alphabetize and compare the two collections. If that was all he wanted, he'd have left the entire work to John. He was flipping through pages seemingly at random, looking for something to give him a brain wave. Which even worked, eventually, when he got the right book from the German tourists.