Sherlock: The Blind Banker

‘The Blind Banker’ just wasn’t as good as ‘A Study in Pink’, was it? I think that’s the general consensus, and I do have to agree. It was still entertaining Sunday night viewing, but something fell flat.

For a start, the episode really doesn’t fill 90 minutes and really starts to drag towards the end. I also was disappointed at the lack of returning supporting characters – last week’s episode beautifully set up the whole world surrounding Sherlock, but only Mrs Hudson returns, and even then only briefly. Why not bring back Inspector Lestrade (especially as it was one of the few times I haven’t seen Rupert Graves play a creep) and his Sherlock-hating team?

My biggest problem was the central mystery. It just wasn’t clever enough – solving it didn’t require the amazing deductive powers of Sherlock Holmes. Instead, it was solved through coincidences and some code-breaking that any old detective could have done. Thinking this maybe came from ‘The Dancing Men’, the Conan Doyle story this episode was loosely based on, I gave it a read. But in it, Holmes works out the code for himself, showing his genius. The whole point of Sherlock Holmes is that he can deduce anything, and not using that as much as possible seems silly.

Despite all these gripes, there was much to enjoy here. The start of the episode is brilliant – after a suitably creepy opening, we’re into some great lines and typical Sherlock deductions. My favourite line was Sherlock’s off-hand “Do you want me to go on?... I might as well, I’m almost at the bottom of the list.” The Chinese crime ring allows for some great scenes, in particular at the circus, as well as feeling suitably Holmesian.

The relationship between the two main characters is developing well – I particularly enjoyed John’s outrage that Sherlock would hack into his laptop because he couldn’t be bothered going to get his own, and Sherlock’s inability to understand John’s attempts to woo Sarah. Benedict Cumberbatch has caught the essential elements of Sherlock Holmes, the mixture of egotism and brilliance that make him so compelling. Martin Freeman is equally marvellous – his John Watson is quietly clever and charming in a way that balances Cumberbatch perfectly.

To be honest, this episode seemed a lot worse than actually it was coming straight after the obvious, in-your-face brilliance of last week’s opener. ‘The Blind Banker’ was a pretty good way to spend 90 minutes, and next week's episode is written by Mycroft himself, Mark Gatiss, who is marvellous at this sort of thing. I have great hopes for Sherlock in the future.

I’ll be back next week with my thoughts on the last in the current series of Sherlock, ‘The Great Game’.

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