The Blind Banker

Not the strongest of episodes and a decline in quality. The first episode was a great and amazing start and a great introduction to these iconic characters. Sadly this episode didn't quite hit the mark and was a bit all over the place. I will off course continue watching.

Study in Pink was always going to be a hard act to follow, and in some ways this will always be the poor relation to the dynamic, pulse racing opener, but on the whole I think there is still real quality here.

The first one was big and bold, and of course introduced us to the main players, here the scene is already set, so by default we get a mystery that's a little cosy, perhaps a little smaller. Cosy might be unkind as it features some complex notions, it's still energetic, particularly towards the ends, and it's certainly visually impressive, with superb production values.

Cumberbatch continues to impress, his delivery so underplayed. Gemma Chan impressed me hugely here too.

I found it a little slow to start, but once it gets going it's enjoyable. The ending didn't feel like Holmes in the form of Jeremy Brett, but it certainly could have been in one of Basil Rathbone's movies.

Enjoyed it, 8/10

Though maintaining an engaging rapport between its two protagonists and an imaginative filmmaking style, Sherlock sees a severe step back in quality in "The Blind Banker", a generic whodunit follow-up to the phenomenal pilot. There aren't any exciting villains or really interesting supporting characters, as both Mycroft and Lestrade have gone AWOL, and the feature-length second episode has a pace and thrill problem in general.

Curiously, it takes quite some time for that to become clear, as "The Blind Banker" commences with a lot of witty moments and the type of brilliant dead-pan situation analysing I've already grown to adore about Benedict Cumberbatch's Holmes. However, after some thirty minutes, screenwriter Stephen Thompson appears to have run out of supplies and in exchange opts for only re-writing the source material and including an awful lot of detective story clichés. Neither would I have been surprised nor disappointed by that – at the time Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had been writing his Sherlock Holmes novels, these sorts of storytelling techniques hadn't been counting as clichés and this series is still an adaption of his works after all – hadn't the crime-solving part consumed such a vast portion of the episode, incorporating the development of John and Sherlock's relationship and the introduction of Sarah a bit sloppily just along the way.

For the crime story and its outcome itself, well, it's surely not on the qualitative upper end of all Sherlock Holmes stories and it will hardly be remembered for its clever or even genuinely threatening antagonists. And as if to secure that this episode is inferior to the whole rest of the bunch by an English-Channel-sized margin with all means available, there's also a colossal bouquet of plot holes to indulge in, along with some general oversimplifying, i.e. Sherlock and John ambling through the not particularly tiny city of London and encountering important hints for unravelling the murders as frequently as bookstalls. Then there's the ever-present prowess of Sherlock Holmes that does go beyond the boundaries of believability a handful of times in "The Blind Banker", but I guess that's something you've got to accept with such a series and its other instalments don't very much exclude it either.

"The Blind Banker" surely is a fun time to watch and benefits from passionate acting, excellent dialogue, and the basic idea behind Sherlock that is of course kept on with. However, whether it's viewed with a critical eye or not, this episode is simply subpar to all of the series's others and maybe would have been better off receiving a second attempt at filming it, just as the pilot had been.

My detective scribblings: • Sherlock ex machina. I was really hoping not having to use that terrible pun when reviewing this series, but here I am, thanks to Stephen Thompson's lack of imagination. • Smart reference to the source material with Sherlock just randomly fighting a robed figure in the beginning of the episode. • Since he is right about the epitome of a socially awkward fellow, it's only been a matter of time until the series included Sherlock Holmes simpering and, well, here it is! • What is with Sherlock's soft-focused establishing shots? It does provide them with a more distinctive touch, but I don't see it as a highly necessary thing to do. Otherwise, there are loads of good-looking shots in this episode. • WHAT? Sherlock Holmes is using Internet Explorer? • And I also do wonder what sorts of news websites he is visiting if they are listing things such as "Canine roller-coaster enthusiast" under their top news. • General Shan creeping from the other side of the street really was a well-done suspension building move "The Blind Banker" would have needed more of. • As if series creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss had listened to my criticisms about their pilot (and not minding the facts that I uttered these three years after this episode had already premiered), Sherlock's unneeded thought bubbles have been taken out for the biggest part. However, this has now led to him soliloquising here and there, which I don't really prefer over the on-screen writing. • Best line of dialogue: "I said could you pass me a pen." Taking Sherlock Holmes as an inspiration, I'll start conversations with that phrase more often from now on.

This episode was not based on any of the original stories. It's a new adventure created with elements of few of the original stories. Still pretty entertaining. Fans of the real Sherlock Holmes might be disappointed however.

The second outing for the modern-day Holmes and Watson proved entertaining enough but just lacking in key areas to take it below the standard of some of the other episodes I've seen (from both series).

For once, the episode title bears no direct reference to a Conan Doyle original, although some of the plot devices were familiar, like the murders occurring in locked rooms and the importance of deciphering codes as clues to solving the case. While the programme was satisfactory enough, the Holmes and Watson partnership didn't seem to develop much, with less of the sharp banter between them you'd expect from say, a Stephen Moffat written story. In addition, for some reason Inspector Lestrade and his team are conspicuous by their absence, upsetting continuity and even Mrs Hudson only manages about a minute of screen time.

As for the story itself, the background plot of smuggling ancient Chinese artifacts into the country resonated with topicality even if the ideas of a "Thuggee" gang with a female Manchu as its head and the mystery assassin being a circus performer seemed somewhat anachronistic. The encounter with a "Banksy" type street artist seemed a bit contrived too, although I enjoyed the museum settings used for a large part of the story. While it was good to see Watson hook up with a woman, although Sherlock naturally plays gooseberry, I felt the direction lacked a little of the sharpness and crispness of what I'd seen in others, even omitting the minor, showy demonstrations of Holmes' deductive skills which add to his personality as well as conveying humour.

Cumberbatch and Freeman are very good together, the latter now overcoming my initial reservations about his over-familiarity and unsuitability for his part. For me though this episode seemed to cater too much to the Dan Brown crowd and with Sherlock resorting too often to conventional fisticuffs, just seemed lacking in the flair and nuance of other superior episodes in the two series.