5. The Blind Banker (Season 1, Episode 2)
Written by Steve Thompson
"No, I'm Sherlock Holmes and I always work alone, because no one else can compete with my massive intellect!" - Dr. John Watson While I would give "Scandal," "Reichenbach," "Game," and "Study" all 10/10 for being truly outstanding examples of great television, for me "The Blind Banker" would probably get an 8/10, which is still a decent score. It may not be amazing like the aforementioned four others, but it's still good, with many clever plot points - I liked the book code especially - and an intriguing premise. It's also interesting to see the more domestic side of Sherlock and John's life. Over the course of the episode, John argues with a self-check-out machine at the grocery store, gets angry with Sherlock for never doing the shopping, and, as bills pile up, gets a job at a clinic. There he meets Sarah, another great plot point for the episode, as Sarah is dragged into Sherlock and John's investigation of a band of Chinese smugglers. Sarah is actually pretty cool. She takes Sherlock's presence during her and John's date in stride, she beats off Sherlock's attacker with a stick, she inadvertently helps Sherlock solve the book code, and she and John have pretty great chemistry although not as good as Sherlock and John, of course. Knowing now that Mary Morstan is in John's future, I like to think that this episode is a glimpse of what it's going to be like in Season 3 when Mary, John, and Sherlock are inevitably thrown together in the same awkward mix as in "Banker," only probably ten times more awkward. I liked Sarah; it was good to see her return for "The Great Game," but then by Season 2 she had disappeared, and John had moved on to considerably less awesome girlfriends like Jeanette. After enduring a life-threatening first date with John, I was surprised and pleased that Sarah stuck around for another episode after "Banker" (if only for a couple minutes), but I suppose we won't be seeing any more of her. Pity. While containing many minor characters that aren't that memorable, this episode boasts a villain as over-dramatic as the cabbie in "Study" was subtle. While General Shan's dialogue can lean towards becoming campy (I'm thinking especially of her "I need a volunteer from the audience!" speech as she's threatening Sarah), the tension and danger is still real, especially as the trap slowly draws closer and closer to ending Sarah's life. Luckily John saves the day (again), Sherlock solves the mystery, and all is back to normal at 221B...which is to say, not normal at all. The most striking visual comes in the next-to-last scene, when an eye is spray-painted in white outside 221B so that it seems to be looking in at Sherlock and John through the window. It's a (not-so-subtle) sign that Moriarty is watching them more than ever, which, given how Moriarty has been behind both villains they've faced, is a particularly chilling thought.