Sherlock Holmes - Season 1 Episode 1 "A Study in Pink" - Questions

 Sherlock Holmes -  Season 1 Episode 1 "A Study in Pink" - Questions

1 - Give two examples of events that cause later events in the episode, but which occur before the episode 'starts'.

• The Cab Driver gets a fatal brain aneurysm far before the episode begins, which creates his entire motivation for murdering the victims.
• The three victims die before the episode actually starts, kicking off Sherlock's case for us and setting up the entire episode.

2 - List two events from the episode that happen in a different time/space to the one we are shown.

• The lady in pink is murdered off screen, but we see the results of the murder via her corpse which is then investigated by Sherlock and Watson.
• Throughout the entire episode, Mycroft is watching Sherlock and Watson's actions, although we never see him as he's in a hidden location.

3 - Identify key plot points in the episode that you would associate with the three-act structure.

ACT 1: I would consider act 1 of the episode to be from the beginning of the episode up until Sherlock and Watson learn of the new victim, the lady in pink. This is 'normality', or at least a new normality for Watson, where he returns from war and has to adjust to living with Sherlock.

ACT 2: Act 2 of the episode would be the investigation that stems from the discovery of the lady's body, going up from when the investigation of her corpse begins to the final showdown between Sherlock and the cab driver. This is a disruption to the normality, as it's a case that they have to solve rather than just life.

ACT 3: The final act of the episode would be the final confrontation with the cab driver in the school, where Sherlock has to avoid taking the lethal pill. This is the resolution of that episode's plot, telling us who the murderer actually was and how/why they did it.