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But I still enjoyed it immensely. And realized that, honestly, Sherlock Holmes would be the most impossible friend. Always knows what you're thinking, where you've been, what you've been doing, who you've been with -- he'd be the world's worst know-it-all. Even worse as a boyfriend or husband. But I still love him dearly, whether in this show or the original stories or other incarnations. There's no one like him.
Okay, sorry, didn't mean to get maudlin or introspective there. Anyway, this ep doesn't resemble any canon story I can recall, other than kind of a bit like "The Dancing Men" with the code/cipher and all. It's about Chinese smugglers, and also about Watson getting a job and going on a date with a girl named Sarah (Zoe Telford). A date that Sherlock crashes, which just amuses me to no end. At the same time, yeah, most impossible friend in the world. You never know if he's just oblivious, or if he's expecting you to think he's oblivious so he can get away with being kind of a jerk.
There I go again! This isn't a very coherent review. I'm sorry. Been a long Monday. Also, I keep remembering the scene with Holmes hopping around in the bank figuring out sight lines, and that makes me giggle a lot, and then I forget what I was going to say about the episode.
I give up. I'll leave you with a reminder that Benedict Cumberbatch can look positively evil if he wants to:
Forgot to mention in the previous review if it was family-friendly. Um, sorta. Both it and this have a handful of bad words, some violence and innuendo. Would clean up easily, I think.
I completely agree with you! The Blind Banker is my least favorite Sherlock episode. It seemed mediocre compared to all of the other episodes. I was interested in the mystery at first, but the more it got solved the less interested I became. There just wasn't much to it in the end, and the climax was a bit over-the-top and kind of silly, in my opinion. But like you, I enjoyed it anyway. I loved all of the funny moments, like when Sherlock was bouncing around in the bank and every one was staring at him. XD The picture you put of Sherlock smiling wickedly made me laugh. :)
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear it's not up to snuff, and the rest will be better :-D Every show takes a little while to find its footing, and every show has a less-than-stellar ep now and then.
DeleteI did really love how they thought Watson was Holmes -- that was really well plotted out, and made me laugh.
I also agree that this was my least favorite episode of season 1, and one of the least memorable, although it was still solid. The next episode is one of my favorite of the season though, I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it.
ReplyDelete-James
I saw an image somewhere while snurching pics for this review that said something like, "Sherlock getting all jealous makes The Blind Banker watchable," so I was guessing that this is universally not a fave. Very excited for the next ep! Might not get to it until Friday, though -- we'll see.
DeleteWhen it comes to Sherlock, I could never say that ANY episode is my least favorite... but, this isn't my favorite either. You're right; the mystery isn't quite as intriguing as usual. But everything else that makes the show great is still there to love! Like when John is mimicking Sherlock and unknowingly saves his life -- brilliant. Or when he thinks to take a picture of the wall of symbols and Sherlock is actually impressed, I love that bit!
ReplyDeleteToo true about Sherlock being a bad friend... so far. That seems to be the case with lots of great characters. We might not love them so much if we knew them in real life! :P
Oh, yes! I loved it when Watson pulled out his picture of the wall! So brilliant, and the look on Holmes' face was priceless.
DeleteI think that this Sherlock is a bit more sociopathic than the original from Doyle's stories. Or at least, he wants us to believe he is. He's very guarded this one, armored up in his cynicism and his biting wit and his big coat and scarf. Underneath, he's still that sweet, lonely Holmes, though.
I also was thinking that this had similarities to "The Sign of the Four" because of the whole code witih numbers and books. I'm not sure if I like the series yet, there are just so many things that bug me, but I agree, that scene with Sherlock moving around the office is hilarious!
ReplyDeleteThe series as a whole is delightful, but it has a couple clunky parts, and a couple episodes I don't ever want to watch again because they make me really angry/sad/annoyed. So yeah, it's... patchy.
DeleteWhoops, *facepalm* I meant "The Valley of Fear" instead of "The Sign of the Four". Shows you how long it's been since I've read those...
ReplyDeleteHaha! Yes, I think I could see a bit of Valley of Fear in it, now that you say that.
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