A Scandal in Belgravia (Sherlock BBC)

[keep_counting]

And that was... dissapointing


The episode went sort of like a curve for me: it started out REALLY great, then it got annoying, then I got bored, then a leeeetle bit of drama, then I was completely unempressed with the over-all plot, then Sherlock cracked the phone-code and I was all 'Wooohooo' and then that ending was about the lamest thing in ever.

Moffat, it's alright for characters to die and stay dead. It happens. Also, he can't write romance to save his life. I would say more about that, but just go read kilodalton's review of this. To quote on Moffat-romance: 'they're too rushed, too vapid, too based on sex as opposed to emotion, and fall flat.'

I got a kick out of Mrs. Hudson's scenes. Sherlock and John's relationship seems to have reverted to a former status however: oh, and the Molly scene was greatly executed as well. But overall? Not at all living up to the pure quality that was the first season. Instead of a plot-driven episode with amazing interaction, we have an episode that is mainly about a sexy-sexy lady (who is played beautifully by Laura Pulver I must admit) who double-hands Sherlock, and the secret, somewhat-eeeevil (only not really) government project. Oh, and Mycroft told Mrs. Hudson to shut up. Mycroft, that is so not on. You have been relocated on my favorites-list, and am now just above Anderson. Shame on you!!

In the canon story, Irene Adler is an opera-singer who, yes, cons people and yes, tricks and outsmarts Sherlock, but her story is a small one and in the end she runs away with this guy that she wants to marry - this guy who isn't Sherlock. At all. And this woman - written by a dude who lived in a society where women were not equal to men - managed to write her as strong and brilliant, without the bloody sex jokes.

Sorry, but its starting to become a pattern that a woman is strong if she's comfortable with being naked: she's strong if she's all about her sexuality. These don't have to be connected, at all.

Moriarty's ringtone almost saved this whole episode, though. That was so fucking amazing, I cried from laughter!!!

Comments

[keep-counting.livejournal.com]

Ugh, that sucks, I hate it when that happens :/

But that's the problem for me: the romance felt forced to me, I don't like the way Moffat generally potray women and as a result also Sherlock in this episode. I would also have to disagree: Sherlock came enormously into contact with his feelings already in the first season. You can see a giant shift between him from ASIP to 'Great Game'. Yes, he still has a long way to go, and if 'Scandal' is going to be a gateway for him, then fine, but I'm just not sure that the writers - particularly Moffat - is thinking that way at all, as opposed to having a sexy sexy lady double-hand Sherlock. The feminist in me is sort of roaring a bit much at Moffat (=

That being said, brilliant performance from everyone involved: that wasn't just Ben playing Sherlock, that was Ben being Sherlock and it was amazing. The same with Gatiss and Martin, and particularly Lara Pulver. And I agree with you about the Mycroft-scene with Mrs. Hudson: it was really well-executed, plus showed Mycroft very out of his element and in Sherlock's 'comfort-zone' for once. Brilliant scene :)

[thymelady.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen as much Moffat writing as you have and I gladly bow to your experience. I also remember a post when the first season came out, discussing the issue about women in the Sherlock series and feminists generally agreed that the women were poorly written and forced to act out on stereotypes. I whole-heartedly agree with this. ROAR MORE TO MOFFAT!!

And I whole-heartedly agree that Irene comes through as a stereotype in this. But only Mycroft refers to her as a 'sex-worker', which is the worst word used by her profession in the whole episode and for which I'm grateful. I am against any kind of sex work and my feminist heart cries over the fact that this is Irene's profession. (But the consolation is that she dosn't turn to Moriarty for sex and she's clever enough to realise that being naked makes it hard for Sherlock to pin her down (LOL), that she has even more brain than beauty and that she thinks brain is sexy, so sexy that Sherlock turns her on because of his personality and not because of his gender. And she's generally badass awesome and controls her own life. Or tries to.)

But: the sex issue. The only sex here happens off stage and/or in the heads of these people. It IS about sex. Sherlock gets called 'The Virgin', not that he cares or even says if he is or not. I LIKE THAT. (My generation was so quick to call people virgins and being obsessed with that. Stupid! It's a non-issue.) And Sherlock can't look away from the fact that Irene is about sex. It's a very direct message, even if she calls it 'dinner', and he can't retort. His initial reaction isn't to her body. He is surprise but observes. His brain and body reaction to her goes together and comes bit by bit. When she's in his coat, when she's a badass fighter, when she's brainy AND when finally she beats him. That's what gets him started.

And indeed, Sherlocks emotional journey started and went a bit in last season. But in this episode? He apologises to Molly and kisses her on the cheek. He consoles Mrs. H in his own weird way, touches her and points out the awesomeness in her personality. (England would fall without Mrs. H on Baker Str.) He's jealous of John's blog and John's dating life in his own odd way. He questions his and Mycroft's relationship while TALKING to Mycroft. He's thrown when he finds out that Irene is alive and straight after, he comes home to find the break-in in the flat. They have Mrs. H. Seriously, he looks really scary there. It's his cold mind that makes him solve the situation BEFORE he throws the CIA man out of the window, but I never doubted that Sherlock would take a painful revenge. When Irene begs for protection, he gives it, even if no-one knows.

*Whew* Here's the essay that LJ ate yesterday. ;-) And I don't mean you have to agree and Moffat IS an asshole. But I do feel that a lot of things happened in this episode, emotionally. And I loved it. :-)

[keep-counting.livejournal.com]

O.o you retyped all that? Well done!

I think most of my issues ultimately lie in Moffat's potrayal of it: that Irene is strong and intriquing because of the sex. I mean, she was incredibly clever and I loved her for that, but it got over-shadowed by the sex-worker business and it became too much for me, I think. Nevermind that Lara Pulver is sexy and completely nailed the role and made me love her, the execution of it annoyed me. I thought her and Benedict had amazing chemistry, but the 'sort-of' romance felt flat to me, and as a result Sherlock showing those feelings might have felt OC. Don't get me wrong, I loved those scenes, but as you say, they are the result of his liasons with Irene and they just didn't properly work for me. So I think my main problem is just the writing: while the actors made it work, the emotion felt forced through the writing and the mystery didn't really work for me.

I did however like her, 'Well, I am', when John said he wasn't gay, because it was such a statement about the fact that you don't fall in love with Sherlock's gender, you fall in love with his massive, amazing brain. The scene where he cracks the code on her phone was amazing.

I can reassure you with the fact that your essay actually made me warm a bit more to this ep :) I don't think I will ever like it over-all much, but I might rewatch it one day: if nothing else than for the sexysexy Pulver :D

[thymelady.livejournal.com]

If you warm a bit more, then you've made my day, again. :-) <3

And I totally see what you mean about the sex worker issue. Because it's a BIG issue and shouldn't be treated like 'What fun, a sex worker!' There should be some sort of seriousness involved. The only we get is that Irene wants 'protection' - but from what? Well, most of us can imagine that her work will put her in danger, but is she in Karachi in the end as a sex worker? Hm. So much weirdness regarding the 'sex worker' thing there. Do not like.

I reblogged a rather good text post in Tumblr regarding Moffat. Did you see it? Would love to hear your opinion, so I'll even link it here.

http://stalungrad.tumblr.com/post/15238253860/sherlock-irene-adler

[keep-counting.livejournal.com]

Your icon did make me melt!

It was all rather vague, wasn't it? I read the link, and its an interesting view-point - I'm always in favour of seeing things from different sides, and I believe you can always intepret it differently than from what it might appear as, but the overtures that Moffat writes still makes me annoyed and left wanting. It was a very good read, but I don't agree with the fact that writing women as 'different' is a good thing, in the way that it's done here. For example the DW Christmas special, which I had a lot of problems with: I think it's an unlucky habit that people are given strengths only according to their gender, and not according to the person they are/will become. I also see many similarities between Irene and River from DW: especially in the way Moffat writes them with their 'partners', the Doctor and Sherlock: someone very sexual and sensual being put up against someone asexual and being described as their 'better'.

I do like Irene's storyline a lot better than River's though, even if I do think it would have had a bigger emotional impact if she had died in the end: it's getting a bit predictable, because Moffat never kills any important characters anymore - it kills the suspense just a bit! Plus, it would have been sort of cool if she had died, and Sherlock actually didn't know, because again, it would have been her fooling him and getting the upper hand :)

I think I might also be miffed, as I mentioned in my review, because ACD, a guy from the Victorian era, managed to write this incredibly strong, female character who didn't really seduce Sherlock at all, and was brilliant anyway. I just think it could be nice if there could be a female who could be strong and brilliant without it being about her gender (= being either a sexual being or a mother)

[thymelady.livejournal.com]

That sort of woman would be awesome and in her own right! It's sad that ACD could write that back then and we can't do it today. It's a disgrace.

The idea with the woman as the other could also refer to de Beauvoir's book and theory about The Second Sex, or at least I can't help getting that impression. Moffat's views on women are sadly lacking. All in all, it's a joy that this fact gets discussed to much.

And not being able to let people stay dead? That IS rubbish writing. In a way, Irene must be 'dead' now, given what happened.

Thinking of this, it annoys me that there was another clever woman who Sherlock sort of admired and who did what she wanted- and it had to include sex. The woman dressed in pink, in the beginning of A Study in Pink. We learn a lot about how intelligent this woman is, but she's not allowed to be alive and fully take an active part. Same goes for Irene Adler.

[keep-counting.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. I mean, I don't think they will bring her back even if she did survive: her story is 'over' so to speak, and if you're right about her being an emotional catalyst for Sherlock - which is quite brilliant - then there's no need for her to return, really. It just bugs me that he didn't make a proper, clean break instead.

I hadn't even thought of that woman! It's a bit of a shame, isn't it? I mean, the only really strong woman we've seen on the show is Mrs. Hudson: otherwise they've just been dead - Sally Donovan was downright nasty and spoke down to her superiors and the consultant they had, and even if we don't know her reasons, they were still out of line and Molly is pining and is sort of sad. Don't get me wrong, I love Molly and I thought she handled the situation very well: god knows I would have burst into tears if my crush had spoken to me like that, but I'm still waiting for her to just punch him and move on. It's just a bad pattern I think.