So I find the Blind Baker problematic to some extent as an episode and I feel bad that Sherlock abandoned John to the cops with the spray paint, but John’s the one that kicks the crossbow to the side while Sherlock’s all tied up (hah). And watching him in that interrogation scene is interesting. He’s pretty calm, considering, other then insisting he’s not Sherlock. And he does fight back once Sarah is in danger.
The Blind Banker definitely has issues and I have issues with it. It’s by far my least favourite episode for several reasons.
There are things I like, like the growing domesticity between John and Sherlock, the glimpse into Sherlock’s uni days, John getting the job at the surgery and us getting to see a bit more of his womanising side.
But as a whole, it falls a bit flat. The scene in the tunnels always irritates me slightly because I don’t think that is quite how John would react. He seems to flip between calm and panicky a bit too much (though I do like it when he smiles and says ‘Did I really say that?’ when General Shan is relaying what he said outside Soo Lin’s flat). The thing is, in Pink it was established that John is calmest when he’s in danger or others are, but we don’t see that in Banker. When Sarah is threatened he becomes frantic. True, he is tied down and can’t do much, but I still don’t think he’d react quite like that. I don’t know if that’s a fault with the writing or if Martin just didn’t quite know how to play it there.
The thing is, if this episode were in any other detective/cop show, it would probably be really good, but in Sherlock it just doesn’t live up to the standards of the others. It gets sidetracked by the case, which may sound silly because it is a crime drama, but Sherlock is really about the many relationships within it. And although we are introduced to Sarah and we get a glimpse of how John and Sherlock are living together, I don’t feel like it adds all that much to their relationship. I also don’t feel like what we see of John in Banker is a natural progression of a few weeks from what we saw of him in Pink.
Yeah, he does flip a bit from calm to panicky. Maybe we can all jut pretend this episode mostly doesn’t exist?
Last one. the way he goes immediately tense when Mycroft shows up at the end, clearly protective, then the relief when he realizes they’re brothers. And this is after giggling about a crime scene and how John’s just killed a man (well he was a bad cabbie)
Yeah, you can see that adrenaline still pumping when he’s see Mycroft. He’s still itching for a bit of a fight and still willing to do more for Sherlock even though he’s already saved his life that night.
I could write dissertations on John Watson. He’s so far from the simple guy he appears. So willing to protect some people no matter what, and yet so willing to let others, to quote Moriarty, burn.
So I’m rewatching sherlock for the first time since I watched the whole series. And Oh my god Martin’s acting. I mean, benedict is brilliant too, but I’m just finiding myself focusing on martins little nuances
Oh god yes, especially in Pink. He is amazing in that one, showing just how broken John is and how much of his military self is still clinging on. People tend to focus on Benedict because he’s so lively and your eye is drawn to him because he’s different so look at and listen to, but Martin is quietly amazing. As he said, John is still, and doesn’t really show off, but that doesn’t mean that he’s not doing anything. He can convey so much feeling through so little movement.
He deserved the BAFTA for series one so much.
Yes. all this. And I noticed Lestrade calls him Sher when he runs out too, heh. Rupert Graves is also very interesting to watch. But yes, Martin…
I realize I still need to finish watching Supernatural and I have other things to watch, but I’ve only ever watched Sherlock through one time, so I just turned it on to watch again….
