The Blind Banker

TV Watched Today:
Community Season 2: Basic Rocket Science (third viewing)
Chuck: Chuck vs The First Fight
Hawaii 5-0:  Ho'apono
Naked Archaeologist: John The Baptist
The Daily Show
Star Trek TOS: Plato's Stepchildren

Last night I was graced with the fabulous second episode/movie of Masterpiece Mystery's Sherlock. This episode, called "The Blind Banker" follows Holmes and Watson as they investigate series of  spray paint clues that turn out to be an ancient Chinese language cipher. The episode features a weird, tiny (only like 10 people are in the audience and they aren't provided with basic conveniences... like chairs) Chinese circus, complete with an aerialist and a crossbow escape as well as a possible girlfriend for Watson.  Unfortunately the circus is a front for a crime syndicate and Sherlock continuously cock-blocks Watson so they all eventually end up in an abandoned tunnel fighting off a bunch of acrobatic assassins.

Although this episode of Sherlock was still better than just about anything, I still felt like "The Blind Banker" wasn't quite as good as "A Study in Pink."  I think this is probably because Watson's attitude shifted in the second installment, from being amazed and excited, happy to be pulled from his post-war depression, to a more surly, annoyed version of himself.  I'd bet that this stems from the writers trying to inject conflict into the story but I really feel that chasing down awful murderers and dealing with your own personal conflicts, your inner demons, is quite enough.  I feel like hanging out with Sherlock Holmes and solving crazy mysteries would be all I need but I'm a bit of a cultural outlier and I quite fancy the idea hanging out with like-minded high functioning weirdos, rather than going on random, meaningless dates. 

Still, this is the middle of a three part series and I'm sure this is all leading up to something else that's all amazing and stunning and brilliant. 

I know one thing for sure: When this show starts, I instantly shut my laptop, stop writing or reading or whatever it is I'm doing and just watch.  That's pretty rare for me.