The Blind Banker
| "The Blind Banker" |
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The Blind Banker is the second episode of the television series Sherlock and was first broadcast on BBC One and BBC HD on 1 August 2010.
Synopsis
At the National Antiquities Museum, Chinese pottery expert Soo Lin Yao (Gemma Chan) sees something that frightens her, and disappears. Meanwhile, John is having financial problems, and needs to find a paying job. Sherlock takes him to "the bank", which turns out to be a high-powered international finance house. There Seb Wilkes (Bertie Carvel), an old university acquaintance of Sherlock's, asks for help, in return for a large fee. A break-in occurred in which nothing was taken, but an apparently meaningless pair of symbols were spray-painted onto an office wall. Sherlock realises that was a message meant for one man - Edward Van Coon of the Hong Kong desk - who hasn't come to work. Sherlock breaks into Van Coon's locked apartment and finds him dead. The police, under Detective Inspector Dimmock (Paul Chequer), are prepared to regard it as a suicide, though Sherlock sees it as murder. Soon, journalist Brian Lukis (Howard Coggins) is also killed inside his locked apartment. Sherlock and John investigate, and in a library where Lukis had been they find the same mysterious symbols painted on a shelf.
Meanwhile, John obtains a job as locum at a local surgery with Sarah Sawyer (Zoe Telford). Sherlock and John discover a link between the two men; both had just returned from China, and both went to an oriental curio shop, "The Lucky Cat". There John discovers that the symbols are ancient Chinese suzhou numerals. Sherlock breaks into Soo Lin Yao's flat, obviously empty for several days. At the museum they discover the same symbols on a statue. Then, with the help of graffiti artist "Raz" (Jack Bence), Sherlock and John find more symbols painted on a railway yard wall, and struggle to decode the message.
Back at the Antiquities Museum, Holmes discovers Soo Lin in hiding. Soo Lin explains that the code is the work of the criminal "Black Lotus Tong", of which she was once a member. Unfortunately, before she can decode the message, the assassin, who is revealed to be Soo Lin's brother, strikes again. Sherlock realises that Van Coon and Lukis were members of the Tong, involved in smuggling valuable antiquities from China to sell in London, and that they were killed because one of them stole something.
Sherlock knows that the message is in the form of a book cipher, and he and John spend the night going through the first two victims' books trying to find the solution. John's first day at work does not go well, as, having stayed up all night, he falls asleep in his consulting room. Sarah covers for him, and Sherlock arranges a date at a local circus for the three of them. While John and Sarah enjoy the classic escapology and acrobatics acts, Sherlock snoops around backstage and is attacked, but with Sarah and John's help, they escape. While Sherlock continues to search for the solution to the book cipher, John and Sarah are kidnapped, Sarah is bound and gagged and then set in front of a giant crossbow that will soon shoot her. The villains believe that John is Sherlock, and that he knows the location of the missing "treasure". Fortunately, Sherlock finds the solution to the code, reads the message, tracks down the villains to their hideout and effects the rescue of John and Sarah. He also realises that the elusive "treasure" has been in plain sight all the time: a jade hairpin being worn by Van Coon's secretary Amanda, who had received it as a gift.
However, the leader of the gang escapes. After escaping, the leader of gang is in communication with her superior, who is identified by the initial "M". She is then shot by a sniper.
Allusions
This episode takes the concept of coded messages from The Valley of Fear (using book references) and The Dancing Men (using pictorial messages).[1][2] The rest of the plot makes more allusions to the stories. The markings on the feet of the Black Lotus members references the markings of the "Scowers" in The Valley of Fear, along with the plot of escaping the secret society and being tracked and killed in England. The messages allude the "Dancing Men", since they appear all over the city as plain graffiti, much like the dancing men appeared to be childish drawings, and are replacement ciphers known only by a criminal organization.
Cast
- Benedict Cumberbatch – Sherlock Holmes
- Martin Freeman – Dr. John Watson
- Una Stubbs – Mrs. Hudson
- Zoe Telford – Sarah Sawyer
- Louise Brealey – Molly Hooper
- Gemma Chan – Soo Lin Yao
- Al Weaver – Andy Galbraith
- Bertie Carvel – Seb Wilkes
- Daniel Percival – Eddie Van Coon
- Paul Chequer – Detective Inspector Dimmock
- Howard Coggins – Brian Lukis
- Janice Acquah – Museum Director
- Jack Bence – Raz
- John MacMillan – Community Police Officer
- Olivia Poulet – Amanda
References
- ^ "Steven Moffat: "Cos people have asked: tonight's Sherlock ("The Blind Banker") is loosely based on The Dancing Men."". twitter.com. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
- ^ "Steven Moffat tells us about 'Who' vs. 'Sherlock'" (YouTube video). Digital Spy. 22 July 2010.
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