History Recap / SherlockS01E01AStudyInPink

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* BeneathNotice: Cabbies. Everyone trusts them without knowing them. They hunt in crowds because all everyone thinks about is the back of soneone's head. Sherlock even mentions that the killer has to be someone the victims trusted and who was in plain sight.

* PowerWalk: The last scene has Sherlock and Watson walk away in slow motion with confident looks on their faces.

* BigShutUp: Sherlock does this to everyone in 221B while trying to think about the matter at hand.

* ChekhovsGun: John has a gun in a drawer shown in the first minute. He takes it later.

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Jeff Hope is an unrepentant killer and borderline misanthrope to boot, but the main reason he poisons people is to make sure his children have some kind of inheritance when he's gone.

* ExactWords: Jeff Hope says he doesn't kill people. He talks to them, and then they kill themselves. By "talk to them", he means, "force them into a DeadlyGame" and by "they kill themselves" he means "they 'lost' said game by drinking poison."

* EvilOldFolks: Jeff Hope's exact age is unknown, but he's definitely getting on in years.

-->'''Sherlock:''' You've seen a lot of trouble, too, I expect?\\

-->'''Sherlock:''' [[SarcasmMode No, she was leaving an angry note in German]]. Of course she was writing Rachel!

-->'''Sherlock:''' [[SarcasmMode No, she was writing an angry note in German]]. Of course she was writing Rachel!

-->"I'm not going to kill you, Mr Holmes. I'm going to talk to you, and you're going to kill yourself."

* DerangedTaxiDriver: Holmes' investigation into a Serial Killer leads him to a [[TerminallyIllCriminal terminally ill]] cabbie who forces his victims into a sick game of RussianRoulette involving poison pills. Sherlock almost plays the game with him just to see if he's smart enough to deduce the right pill, but Watson sharpshoots the cabbie before he can.

* TerminallyIllCriminal: The [[MonsterOfTheWeek killer of the week]] is a taxi driver-turned-SerialKiller because, as he's terminally ill and unable to provide for his family, he approached [[GreaterScopeVillain "consulting criminal" James Moriarty]] and accepted the offer to be paid for every person he murdered (an offer that, quite notably, Moriarty apparently decided to fund [[ForTheEvulz just for kicks]]).

* DerangedTaxiDriver: Holmes' investigation into a Serial Killer leads him to a terminally ill cabbie who forces his victims into a sick game of RussianRoulette involving poison pills. Sherlock almost plays the game with him just to see if he's smart enough to deduce the right pill, but Watson sharpshoots the cabbie before he can.

* AloneWithThePsycho: PlayedWith. Sherlock leaves the flat, ostensibly to [[INeedToGoIronMyDog "get some air"]], leaving John to sit about in confusion and continue trying to track down a victim's phone through its GPS. After only a few minutes, John realises that [[spoiler: the phone was at Baker Street because the [[SerialKiller cabbie]] who was there a few minutes ago had it - and now it's moving again, ''because Sherlock went out after him'']], putting Sherlock {{Alone With the Psycho}}. Played with in that Sherlock knows full well he's AloneWithThePsycho, and ''actively put himself in that position''.

* BlandNameProduct: MePhone.org.uk standing in for Apple's MobileMe service and as a pun on the iPhone.

* ConfessToALesserCrime: In a variation, Holmes was able to get Angelo, the restaurant owner, out of a triple murder charge by proving he was in a completely different part of town, house-breaking, at the time of the murders.

* FixingTheGame: This may more properly belong under YMMV, but nevertheless it's a distinct possibility. Think about it. The odds of four consecutive victims each picking the poison instead of the harmless pill is in the single digits.[[note]]If we're looking at a random selection with two choices, the probability that the deadly pill will be chosen four times in a row is 6.25%[[/note]] ''Both bottles contained poison pills.'' We only have the cabbie's word that he actually did swallow the pills in the other bottle instead of pretending to, and that he also hadn't taken any precautions to prevent the poison from killing him if he did swallow it. The victims had no chance and he was sadistically offering them false hope while keeping them from trying to save themselves some other way. Sherlock knew this, which was why he deliberately drew things out and made such a show out of getting ready to take the pills before Watson shot the cabbie.

* NiceHat: Jeff Hope sports a nifty flat cap.

* FixingTheGame: This may more properly belong under YMMV, but nevertheless it's a distinct possibility. Think about it. The odds of four consecutive victims each picking the poison instead of the harmless pill is in the single digits.[[note]]If we're looking at a random selection with two choices, the probability that the deadly pill will be chosen four times in a row is 6.25%[[/note]] ''Both bottles contained poison pills.'' We only have the cabbie's word that he actually did swallow the pills in the other bottle instead of pretending to, and that he also hadn't taken any precautions to prevent the poison from killing him if he did swallow it. The victims had no chance and he was sadistically offering them false hope while keeping them from trying to save themselves. Sherlock knew this, which was why he deliberately drew things out and made such a show out of getting ready to take the pills before Watson shot the cabbie.

* FixingTheGame: This may more properly belong under YMMV, but nevertheless it's a distinct possibility. Think about it. The odds of four consecutive victims each picking the poison instead of the harmless pill is in the single digits.[[note]]If we're looking at a random selection with two choices, the probability that the deadly pill will be chosen four times in a row is 6.25%[[/note]] The cabbie couldn't afford to let any victims live, because then they'd have gone to the police, the game would have been up, and he'd have been behind bars with no more money from Moriarty going to his kids. ''Both bottles contained poison pills.'' We only have the cabbie's word that he actually did swallow the pills in the other bottle - and that swallowing the "wrong" pills would indeed have killed him - when he could have pretended to swallow the pills and then said something like "let's wait a moment to see if you chose correctly." By the time the symptoms of the poison hit, it would have been too late for the victims to seek help or try and vomit up the pills. The victims had no chance and he was sadistically offering them false hope. Sherlock knew this, which was why he deliberately drew things out and made such a show out of getting ready to take the pills before Watson shot the cabbie.

* FixingTheGame: This may more properly belong under YMMV, but nevertheless it's a distinct possibility. Think about it. The odds of four consecutive victims each picking the poison instead of the harmless pill is in the single digits.[[note]]If we're looking at a random selection with two choices, the probability that the deadly pill will be chosen four times in a row is 6.25%[[/note]] The cabbie couldn't afford to let any victims live, because then they'd have gone to the police, the game would have been up, and he'd have been behind bars with no more money from Moriarty going to his kids. ''Both bottles contained poison pills.'' We only have the cabbie's word that he swallowed the pills in the other bottle when he could just have easily have told the victims "let's wait a moment to see if you chose correctly." By the time the symptoms of the poison hit, it would have been too late for the victims to seek help or try and vomit up the pills. The victims had no chance and he was sadistically offering them false hope. Sherlock knew this, which was why he deliberately drew things out and made such a show out of getting ready to take the pills before Watson shot the cabbie.

* OnlyALighter: Sherlock confronts the cabbie who's been forcing people to play a deadly game of picking one of two pills to see which is poisoned or he'll just shoot them. Sherlock picks the gun, which [[JustALighter turns out to be a lighter]]. He comments that he knows a real gun when he sees one.

John goes to look at the flat with Sherlock and quite likes it. Sherlock introduces him to the landlady, Mrs Hudson, for whom he did a favour once. After John agrees that the flat would be a good place to live, he is interrupted by the arrival of Inspector Lestrade, who needs Sherlock's assistance with the fourth in a series of identical suicides that have been occurring. Sherlock leaves, before returning to ask John to come along, since he's a qualified doctor who might be able to help. In the taxi, they talk and Sherlock explains his job: he's a consulting detective, one who helps the police with problems when they're out of their depth. He also explains his first deductions of John. John is amazed, naturally, and Sherlock is intrigued by someone who appreciates his deductions.

* AdaptationalVillainy: Jefferson "Jeff" Hope, the cab driver responsible for the murders, uses the same methods as his counterpart in ''Literature/AStudyInScarlet'', but most of his sympathetic motivations are removed. In the book, he was an embittered VigilanteMan [[SympatheticMurderer trying to avenge his wife's death at the hands of fanatical Mormons.]] In the show, he's a {{serial killer}} with a [[DeadManWalking brain aneurysm]], who is murdering innocent people [[ForTheEvulz for the thrill]] of outliving others and because Moriarty is giving him enough money to support [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes his children]] when he's gone. Additionally, the original Hope was captured and confessed, but died in jail shortly thereafter.

* BaitAndSwitch: John is forced into a meeting with a man who's very interested in Sherlock Holmes and describes himself as someone Holmes would call his arch-enemy. It's all very cloak and dagger and gives the impression that Professor Moriarty is coercing Watson's cooperation against Holmes as TheMole (the man even pulls out a small red pocket book, like Moriarty is famous for). In truth, the man approaching Watson is ''Mycroft'' Holmes, Sherlock's brother and a government agent.
* BatmanGambit: Jeff Hope pulls one in the final moments of the show. Sherlock already figured out he has no reason to accede his captor's demand to play the deadly game because he has nothing holding him to, the killer's weapon being a prop lighter. As he leaves, Hope asks if Sherlock had figured out which bottle was really poisoned and by that simple question, Sherlock gets baited into playing the game simply by his own desire to prove himself.
* BeneathNotice: Cabbies. Everyone trusts them without knowing them. They hunt in crowds because all everyone thinks about is the back of a head. Sherlock even mentions that the killer has to be someone the victims trusted and who was in plain sight.

-->"I'm not going to kill you, Mr. Holmes. I'm going to talk to you, and you're going to kill yourself."

* CutLexLuthorACheck: Jeff Hope is very intelligent but working in a low income job, even Sherlock lampshades it:

--->'''Sherlock:''' The bullet they just dug out of the wall is from a handgun. A kill shot over that distance from that kind of a weapon? That's a crack shot you're looking for, but not just a marksman. A fighter. His hands couldn't haven't shaken at all, so clearly he's acclimatized to violence. He didn't fire till I was in immediate danger, though, so strong moral principle. You're looking for a man probably with a history of military service, nerves of steel...\\

* FixingTheGame: This may more properly belong under YMMV, but nevertheless it's a distinct possibility. Think about it. The odds of four consecutive victims each picking the poison instead of the harmless pill is in the single digits.[[note]]If we're looking at a random selection with two choices, the probability that the deadly pill will be chosen four times in a row is 6.25%[[/note]] The cabbie couldn't afford to let any victims live, because then they'd have gone to the police, the game would have been up, and he'd have been behind bars with no more money from Moriarty going to his kids. ''Both bottles contained poison pills.'' We only have the cabbie's word that he swallowed the pills in the other bottle, when he could just have easily have told the victims "let's wait a moment to see if you chose correctly." By the time the symptoms of the poison hit, it would have been too late for the victims to seek help or try and vomit up the pills. The victims had no chance and he was sadistically offering them false hope. Sherlock knew this, which was why he deliberately drew things out and made such a show out of getting ready to take the pills before Watson shot the cabbie.

* TheKindnapper: John is forced get into a suspicious car with no knowledge of where he's being taken, in order to meet Mycroft in an abandoned building so the latter could offer John money to spy on Sherlock, citing the reason as: "I worry about him... Constantly."

* LateArrivalSpoiler: We are lead to believe that Mycroft is Moriarty. So any subsequent episode or trailer that shows him as Sherlock's brother is a spoiler to those planning to start watching the episodes later.

** The fact that Sherlock is on the nicotine patch instead of smoking his pipe: There's hardly anywhere in London where he can legally smoke in public any more.

* OnlyALighter: Sherlock confronts the cabbie who's been forcing people to play a deadly game of picking one of two pills to see which is poisoned or he'll just shoot them. Sherlock picks the gun, which turns out to be a lighter. He comments that he knows a real gun when he sees one.
* OnSecondThought: Sherlock insists that he's not in shock and doesn't need a blanket. Then his chain of deductions lead him straight to John being the one who shot Jeff Hope. He dismisses everything he's said up to this point as the after-effects of shock.

* WeddingRingRemoval: Sherlock is examining the body of the woman in pink, particularly her well-maintained jewelry and her dirty and tarnished wedding band, which he finds to be clean on the inside, meaning it was regularly removed, and leading him to conclude that she was a serial adulterer.

* WhamLine: There's a brilliantly comical, subverted take on this trope, when Sherlock and John encounter the mysterious and ominous man who has introduced himself as Sherlock's arch-enemy.

** When Sherlock and John go to the crime scene near the beginning, they hail a cab and hop in without so much as glance at the driver. It turns out, the killer trapped his victims by exploiting similar behavior in them.

* HypocriticalHumor:

** And then... "[[FamousLastWords MORIARTY!]]"

** This episode does a great job of making you think that the sinister, all-controlling gentleman who calls himself Sherlock's arch-enemy, and who Sherlock tells John is the most dangerous man he'll ever meet, is Moriarty. This false play culminates in this man noting that he and Sherlock are NotSoDifferent, which makes perfect sense when we learn soon after it's actually Sherlock's brother Mycroft.

* SherlockScan: The episode contains three different types of scans to establish just how CrazyAwesome Sherlock is. Though in a bit of a departure from the usual trope, he's not always ''quite'' right -- when [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EbhfRBAWwo he first meets Watson]], he deduces that Watson has an estranged alcoholic brother named Harry who has recently left his wife. He's right about the troubled sibling relationship, the alcohol, and the break-up... but Harry is short for ''[[TomboyishName Harriet]]''.

They go look at the corpse, a woman dressed in pink. When they get there, John finds that the police don't like Sherlock -- the first officer they meet, Sgt Donovan, calls Sherlock 'freak' and another officer, Anderson, seems to really dislike him (after Sherlock reveals his affair with Donovan, it's easy to see why). Sherlock and John examine the corpse and find a few anomalies: one, she wrote 'rache' on the floor next to her. While Sherlock recognises this as being an incomplete 'Rachel', the question still remains: why? Two, Sherlock sees that she had a suitcase, but no suitcase was found. Finally, her phone is missing. Sherlock has a brainwave and runs out of the scene, leaving John to walk home. On his way out, Donovan gives him some advice: stay away from Sherlock, whom she calls a psychopath who gets off on crimes and puzzles. She also says that she fully expects Sherlock to eventually get bored of solving crimes and start committing them. John gets back to the main road and phones around him start ringing. He finally answers one in a public phone box and is picked up and taken to an empty warehouse, where a man with an umbrella identifies himself as the closest thing Sherlock has to a friend (an enemy) and offers John money to spy on Sherlock. John declines and is taken back to Baker Street.

* DyingClue: One victim scratches the word 'rache' into the floorboards with [[CouldntFindAPen her fingernails]]. Sherlock correctly deducts this to be a clue to her phone password.