Sherlock - New BBC Episode
So bad. So, so bad.
1) Let's not even talk about how Sherlock was able to infiltrate an extremist terrorist group.
2) Let's also not talk about that OOC moment with Ms. Hudson and the CIA man, and how the narrative has taken the stance that being genuinely afraid of the man who ruffed you up and dragged you upstairs and is pointing a gun at your head is a sign of weakness, and you have to be able to fake fear and steal items right out from under the CIA's nose in order to be a strong character.
3) No, let's talk about Irene's story, because what?
Irene in the books was not a criminal at all. She's charmingly called an adventuress, and it's clear she's been all over the world from her opera days. During that time, she'd had a romance with the Crown Prince of Bohemia (who apparently cruelly broke her heart) who wanted back the evidence before his marriage to a very Christian princess. She wanted leverage against a guy who'd already burglarized her house twice, and it's clear that she and Norton were afraid of what he could do to them (thus the rushed wedding).
The BBC explicitly references the original story title, yet manages to make everything so much worse.
While I have no problem with Irene being a dominatrix, I felt it was solely done to titillate. She's in to D/S, so obviously she has drugs lying around ready to inject people with! And then she can beat him up with her sexy whip!
The hideous part was where we learn she regularly betrays the trust of all the subs she plays with by taking pictures she can potentially blackmail them with later. Irene is an asshole in the BBC series even before all the complicated mystery stuff starts just because of that.
The twist in the original story is that the client, the King, is the asshole, and Irene is actually the good guy, just trying to marry the guy she loves and get away from the crazy ex, who still harbors a torch for her. She's not trying to blackmail anyone, she just wants a guy with almost unlimited resources to stop stalking her.
In the BBC version, the whole plan to figure out the code and blackmail the British government is Moriarity's, as Irene attests to, and Irene accomplishes it by dint of sleeping with various men and then using that against them. Positive portrayal of women or sex workers it is not.
Oh, she was very smart (I liked her solving the boomerang case) and I loved her poise, but she's also shallow and unkind. It seems Moriarity had a fairly easy time convincing her to put people's lives in danger by helping the terrorists in exchange for money. The original Irene's news clippings were about being a fabulous opera singer renowned throughout Europe. The new Irene's stories were about breaking up a couple by sleeping with them both.
And because she's now a shallow criminal only interested in money, and not a woman trying to outmatch one of the wealthiest men in Europe for love, there's no way for her to win against Sherlock, which is the whole point of Irene Adler.
In the book, the King says, "Would she not have made an admirable queen? Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?"
"From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly.
Irene not only outwits Holmes in Bohemia, she outclasses them all as well. I didn't get that from the BBC episode.
1) Let's not even talk about how Sherlock was able to infiltrate an extremist terrorist group.
2) Let's also not talk about that OOC moment with Ms. Hudson and the CIA man, and how the narrative has taken the stance that being genuinely afraid of the man who ruffed you up and dragged you upstairs and is pointing a gun at your head is a sign of weakness, and you have to be able to fake fear and steal items right out from under the CIA's nose in order to be a strong character.
3) No, let's talk about Irene's story, because what?
Irene in the books was not a criminal at all. She's charmingly called an adventuress, and it's clear she's been all over the world from her opera days. During that time, she'd had a romance with the Crown Prince of Bohemia (who apparently cruelly broke her heart) who wanted back the evidence before his marriage to a very Christian princess. She wanted leverage against a guy who'd already burglarized her house twice, and it's clear that she and Norton were afraid of what he could do to them (thus the rushed wedding).
The BBC explicitly references the original story title, yet manages to make everything so much worse.
While I have no problem with Irene being a dominatrix, I felt it was solely done to titillate. She's in to D/S, so obviously she has drugs lying around ready to inject people with! And then she can beat him up with her sexy whip!
The hideous part was where we learn she regularly betrays the trust of all the subs she plays with by taking pictures she can potentially blackmail them with later. Irene is an asshole in the BBC series even before all the complicated mystery stuff starts just because of that.
The twist in the original story is that the client, the King, is the asshole, and Irene is actually the good guy, just trying to marry the guy she loves and get away from the crazy ex, who still harbors a torch for her. She's not trying to blackmail anyone, she just wants a guy with almost unlimited resources to stop stalking her.
In the BBC version, the whole plan to figure out the code and blackmail the British government is Moriarity's, as Irene attests to, and Irene accomplishes it by dint of sleeping with various men and then using that against them. Positive portrayal of women or sex workers it is not.
Oh, she was very smart (I liked her solving the boomerang case) and I loved her poise, but she's also shallow and unkind. It seems Moriarity had a fairly easy time convincing her to put people's lives in danger by helping the terrorists in exchange for money. The original Irene's news clippings were about being a fabulous opera singer renowned throughout Europe. The new Irene's stories were about breaking up a couple by sleeping with them both.
And because she's now a shallow criminal only interested in money, and not a woman trying to outmatch one of the wealthiest men in Europe for love, there's no way for her to win against Sherlock, which is the whole point of Irene Adler.
In the book, the King says, "Would she not have made an admirable queen? Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?"
"From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly.
Irene not only outwits Holmes in Bohemia, she outclasses them all as well. I didn't get that from the BBC episode.