Sherlock Meta: This Woman's Work
This Woman's Work
In Defence and Affection of BBC Sherlock's Depiction of Irene Adler
To Sherlock Holmes, she is always the woman.... In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex.
A Scandal in Bohemia (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
( I misbehave... )
Comments 54
Well said. I agree.
Reply
Reply
While the idea is to give Irene a brain to match Sherlock's Moffat undercuts this constantly, she beats Sherlock by drugging and whipping him, and at the moment of the reveal, she says, 'I didn't know what to do with the information I had until (Moriarty) told me how to play the Holmes brothers.' Which tells you she's only a dupe, not part of the larger picture of the battle between Sherlock and Moriarty.
In the end, she cannot save herself, and it's not because of choices she made, but because she was beaten, she never works toward her own redemption, so it feels a cheat.
This is why Irene as a character in Sherlock is a great disappointment to me. And I mean great because Lara Pulver was excellent in the role.
Reply
Reply
She also screws with people for fun, blackmails people, and she might have committed murder. Or at least allowed someone else to do it to help her out.
You say that you're defending some of the criticisms of her; I'm curious what your defense is of the one I've mentioned? Especially the last one, which hardly any of her defenders is willing to address at all (and the show didn't, either).
manages to get one over [Sherlock] - not once, but three times (knocking him out at the house) [...] she's beaten him on his terms
How is drugging and assaulting him "his own terms"? It doesn't take intellect to do that.
This magpie nature has lead to her having access to some very valuable, very dangerous information and she decided to make a profit from it.
She had to be told how to use it, though. She didn't come up with the idea by herself.
Reply
She also screws with people for fun
Sherlock calls people idiots for fun, embarrasses them for fun, exposes their secrets for fun - "accidentally" and he's learning better, but he still does those things. Maybe if Irene had a John Watson...
blackmails people, and she might have committed murder
She blackmails Mycroft. Who represents a whole government. And both are known to have a few short comings and not play by the rules of decency - that is almost a game between thieves. And Mycroft could have (imo, should have) destroyed the phone.
As for murder, I always thought she had stolen a body from a morgue somewhere... I wish they had adressed that issue, I really don't know what to think happenned to the dead body double.
She had to be told how to use it, though. She didn't come up with the idea by herself.That to me is acctually good, because canon Irene was not a criminal master mind. She was just "misbehaving" and needed protection for that ( ... )
Reply
Yes, but the show acknowledges Sherlock's an arsehole. I never really felt that with Irene. Honestly, the ending, with Sherlock saving her despite her not changing her actions or behavior, kinda felt like the show saying, "She's awesome! Love her!" That's the thing that really bothers me: She does bad shit, and I don't feel like she's really called on it in any meaningful way.
She blackmails Mycroft. Who represents a whole government.
You right, I should have said "She attempts to blackmail the government".
And while I see your point about Mycroft hardly being an angel, I'm not sure I buy, "Mycroft's a jerk so it's ok for Irene to try to blackmail him".
Yes, she might have got a body from the morgue (hopefully after it was ID'd). But it's never addressed, and that in and itself if a problem for me. We're... just not supposed to care.
That to me is acctually good, because canon Irene was not a criminal master mind.True, but isn't she supposed to be smart ( ... )
Reply
I do agree there was a lack of back ground for her character, though.
"Mycroft's a jerk so it's ok for Irene to try to blackmail him".
No, no, that's not what I meant - though I knew that's how it sounded when I typed it. It does not make things OKAY, and I don't think Mycroft's a jerk at all (my baby!!), what I meant to say was that she was fighting him in more or less equal ground.
True, but isn't she supposed to be smart?I dunno, I found her pretty smart. All I got from Moriarty's involvement was that he helped her find a way to crack the code, but how much of the whole plot was his idea was never clear to me. I think - and this is me guessing - she ( ... )
Reply
Leave a comment