I was having a discussion about A Scandal in Belgravia, and I feel like I need to clarify why I don’t like it so much. It’s not because I’m anti-feminist, it’s not because it breaks a particular ship of mine. It’s just- :
1) A naked body can be as informative as one fully clothed. So the idea that Sherlock wasn’t able to see anything was stupid. For example, make-up, she had lots of it. Why? Pimples, bruises, freckles, or just for show? Scratches on limbs, scars, the way her muscles form, whether or not she’s too skinny, it all adds in to show health, self-esteem (does she cut, perhaps? Scars would be visible), etc. So actually, that’s a bone to pick with… I believe Moffat wrote that episode? I’ll check later.
2) Sherlock is a known drug-user. It’s canon, and in the first episode there’s that thing with Lestrade and the drugs bust and “No! YOU?” and then, whoever wrote the episode (I really do think it was Moffat) has Irene inject Sherlock with recreational anesthesia? I mean, by god, if this woman knew to expect him, she’d probably know about his previous addictions, and he’d be more resilient to the drug, and also, John and Lestrade would freak out way more and there’d be doctor’s appointments and Mycroft would be upset by it, they wouldn’t just stick him in bed and let him sleep it off.
3) The man fucking leaves her text alert as an orgasmic sigh, even though it alarms his landlady, whom he loves and respects greatly. John comments on it, and after he’s just apologized to Molly, it goes off again and makes it all seem insincere.
4) Which brings me to my next point. Why does he, in the middle of a deeply private moment, with people he loved (he doesn’t play proper music for people he doesn’t like, he tortures the violin- see beginning of episode) leave the room and answer a text from a person who’s treated him terribly? I mean, she treated him worse than Donovan, insulted him, endangered his friend, smacked him around with a riding crop and drugged him against his will, and he still takes the time to read her texts?
5) Just because she’s female and independent doesn’t mean she doesn’t need men. In fact, her business would go under without them- all those references to the people she whipped, the cryptographer who looked at the flight-plans upside down? Yeah, the people who go to her are mostly men.
6) She’s annoying, to me. The sort of person I would avoid if she went to my school/worked at my job, simply because she’s rude and manipulative and not my sort of person- and before you say so’s Sherlock, I know he is. Admiration and compatibility are different things.
7) Who locks their phone with a person’s name? Seriously, personal information, “submarine”, and “password” are the most commonly used words, and she’d take better care not to leave that kind of information open to anyone who walked by- she’d probably have a thumbprint scan or something.
8) Um, she wouldn’t have her phone on her if she was being executed. Got it.
9) Sherlock kept the phone. Sentiment. (See morgue scene and Mycroft.)
That’s all I can think of off the top of my head, but those are the main points about Irene Adler’s character that bother me. Just because she outsmarted Sherlock in the books doesn’t mean they’re interested in each other.
Also, my sources tell me it was Moffat after all.
