Sherlock

[thewaterbandit]

Please, please tell me I wasn't the only one who found last night's Sherlock unbearably smug.

Especially because some plot points in the last half were spectacularly stupid (the phone passcode, the very very end, the aeroplane) and the whole 'sexy sexy Irene Adler is a sexy dominatrix who is very sexy!' business irritated the hell out of me. In fact

Comments

[evilsherbear]

I'm in America, so no Sherlock season 2 for me yet ;( Tumblr has already spoiled bits of it for me, namely Irene. (so many gif sets of her and Sherlock!). On the Molly thing, it's ALWAYS bothered me. He is straight up using her, and I hope one day she stands up to her.

[thewaterbandit]

Me too! The way she continues to take his abuse boggles me.

I hope season 2 picks up- this episode had really really irked me ):

[zeitheist]

I actually really enjoyed it, but it was... very obviously a Steven Moffat episode, put it that way. Someone on my Twitter feed expressed disappointment that the writers 'would rather tell a "smart" story at the cost of a complete one', which I think is a lovely way of putting it.

Also, whilst I'm afraid we'll have to agree to disagree regarding Molly (I actually think the show's treatment of her has been fairly decent, and I really refute the criticism that her relationship with Sherlock demonstrates passivity or weakness on her part), I'm fairly sure I shared your irritation at Irene Adler being a sexy dominatrix. Of course she is. This isn't a criticism of Lara Pulver - who genuinely took my breath away at points, she was that good - but it would've been nice to have an Irene Adler whose intellectual dominance wasn't conflated with sexual dominance.

Don't even get me started on that final scene. Do not even get me started.

[thewaterbandit]

That is a really good way of putting it: the emotional core of the story seemed rather dead, to me, with the writers more interested in showing off than actually building a story. Irene suffered from that a little I think: a desire to make jokes about dominatrixes and Sherlock being a virgin, rather than really exploring what the woman who outsmarted Sherlock would be like.

I'd actually not mind hearing your take on Molly: as one of the few recurring female characters I'd like to hear a positive angle on her relationship with Sherlock and her role in general.

That final scene. Oh my gosh. So stupid.

[zeitheist]

That is a really good way of putting it: the emotional core of the story seemed rather dead, to me, with the writers more interested in showing off than actually building a story.

That's also a really good way of summing up exactly what felt lacking with this episode. But like I said, it also felt very much like a Steven Moffat episode in that way. He is an exceptionally competent writer, but he does so enjoy showing off. I think he has a very unusual relationship with the characters he's writing, as well - although I've never quite been able to work out if he's fanboying or self-inserting. There's some noticeable similarities between Sherlock and the Doctor, particularly in the way other characters relate to them. I think in that sense Irene fell casualty to the same forces as River Song in Doctor Who, in that her characterisation exists in relation to the protagonist, rather than allowing her to be a character in her own right

[zeitheist]

... oh, wow. I did not realize my comment would be that long. My apologies.