I do not, and probably never will, understand the fascination with Irene Adler. Even in the original short story, I never really connected with her. She was jilted by some royal dude, but was determined to keep a picture of them together. Why? Because she still liked him? But then she later married the guy she called the love of her life, a British lawyer, and left the country. And that was that.
When I watched A Scandal in Belgravia, I loved the first part of the episode, like you did, but then I was annoyed with Irene Adler. Not because she was a dominatrix or naked or liked sex, but because she was 1) incompetent (she needed Moriarty's help to carry out her schemes), and 2) shockingly selfish and cruel in many ways (helping terrorists, extorting money from the British government -- which ultimately is payed by the British public, and generally not demonstrating any concern for anyone else at all -- including her assistant who's injured).
Also, Sherlock should've been able to deduce something from her earrings or makeup, at least, when they first met. The only excuse, really, is that he was so put off by her nudity.
As for any Sherlock/Irene overtones, I thought they were somewhat plausible in the beginning because, if Moffat's Sherlock is actually a virgin, he might simply be confused and flattered by her incessant flirting, rather than actually in love. His inexperience and curiosity might prompt him to consider the possibility that he's interested in her (despite the way she drugged and beat him, which I fail to find sexy in any way). And Irene's clearly playing a part; she's not in love with Sherlock. She's using him, as she's used so many others. She might find him attractive, but lust is not love. But Sherlock's interest would absolutely and irrevocably die after she embarrassed him in front of Mycroft. That, more than anything, would seal it for him. His pride is very important to him, especially when it comes to his brother.
The worst part of all, though, was clearly the bit at the end, where Sherlock "rescues" Irene. It's cliche and horribly low budget in execution (especially compared to the rest of the episode, which is very slick) and not motivated at all. The episode would have been much better without that last bit. It's definitely frustrating.
(On the subject of Sherlock's sexuality, or lack thereof, I never got the impression that he was actually asexual. Just guarded and awkward. He's certainly got emotions in spades, and cares deeply about others -- John and Mrs. Hudson, at least. He probably just thinks sex is weird and yucky, mostly because, before John, he'd never before been around anyone who could stand him and he actually liked.)
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Generally, I agree. :)
Date: 2012-01-24 04:57 am (UTC)When I watched A Scandal in Belgravia, I loved the first part of the episode, like you did, but then I was annoyed with Irene Adler. Not because she was a dominatrix or naked or liked sex, but because she was 1) incompetent (she needed Moriarty's help to carry out her schemes), and 2) shockingly selfish and cruel in many ways (helping terrorists, extorting money from the British government -- which ultimately is payed by the British public, and generally not demonstrating any concern for anyone else at all -- including her assistant who's injured).
Also, Sherlock should've been able to deduce something from her earrings or makeup, at least, when they first met. The only excuse, really, is that he was so put off by her nudity.
As for any Sherlock/Irene overtones, I thought they were somewhat plausible in the beginning because, if Moffat's Sherlock is actually a virgin, he might simply be confused and flattered by her incessant flirting, rather than actually in love. His inexperience and curiosity might prompt him to consider the possibility that he's interested in her (despite the way she drugged and beat him, which I fail to find sexy in any way). And Irene's clearly playing a part; she's not in love with Sherlock. She's using him, as she's used so many others. She might find him attractive, but lust is not love. But Sherlock's interest would absolutely and irrevocably die after she embarrassed him in front of Mycroft. That, more than anything, would seal it for him. His pride is very important to him, especially when it comes to his brother.
The worst part of all, though, was clearly the bit at the end, where Sherlock "rescues" Irene. It's cliche and horribly low budget in execution (especially compared to the rest of the episode, which is very slick) and not motivated at all. The episode would have been much better without that last bit. It's definitely frustrating.
(On the subject of Sherlock's sexuality, or lack thereof, I never got the impression that he was actually asexual. Just guarded and awkward. He's certainly got emotions in spades, and cares deeply about others -- John and Mrs. Hudson, at least. He probably just thinks sex is weird and yucky, mostly because, before John, he'd never before been around anyone who could stand him and he actually liked.)