The BBC’s Sherlock made a bunch of changes to the Great Detective, his cases, and the characters in Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories to adapt them to a modern setting, but the character that was changed the most was Irene Adler (Lara Pulver), and here’s why and how she’s different. As one of the most beloved literary characters, Sherlock Holmes has been adapted to all types of media for over a century, and one of its most recent and successful adaptations was the BBC’s Sherlock, created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gattis. Sherlock aired from 2010 to 2017 and it brought the Great Detective to modern-day London, accompanied by characters like his best friend John Watson (Martin Freeman), his brother Mycroft Holmes (Gatiss), and his archenemy Jim Moriarty (Andrew Scott).
Another important character from Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories is Irene Adler, who Sherlock referred to as “The Woman”. Just like in the books, Irene Adler only appeared in the series once, in season 2’s episode “A Scandal in Belgravia”. Although the episode received positive reviews, it was also criticized for its portrayal of Irene Adler, which was very different from the character readers met in the original story, “A Scandal in Bohemia”, and its most controversial scene, which saw Irene appearing completely naked, was seen as degrading and not necessary for neither the story of the episode and that of the character.
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Why There Was So Much Controversy Surrounding Sherlock's Irene
In Sherlock, Irene Adler is a dominatrix known as “The Woman”, who takes photos of her clients during her job as a way to protect herself, so if they do something unfavorable to her, she has something to blackmail them with. Irene turns out to be an interesting opponent to Sherlock, as she’s a highly intelligent woman and ends up being the one person the famous detective finds himself unable to “read” through his unbelievable observation and deduction skills. However, Irene’s mistake is falling in love with the always-cold Sherlock Holmes, and this ultimately plays against her. Irene first appears in Sherlock fully naked, much to the surprise of John and not so much to Sherlock’s, and this was the basis of the controversy around Sherlock’s depiction of the great Irene Adler.
Sherlock took Irene Adler’s agency away and she came off as predatory rather than a woman who freely enjoyed and explored her sexuality, and she wasn’t the mastermind she was in the books, as it was ultimately revealed that she was heavily influenced and manipulated by none other than Moriarty. Moffat’s reputation as not being the best at writing female characters and his sarcastic comments about the Irene Adler controversy didn’t help at all and only added to the criticism around the way he wrote the character and how he tried (and failed) to make her “modern”.
What Happened To Irene Adler In Sherlock?
By the time the audience met Irene Adler in Sherlock, she was gaining more and more enemies. Irene had compromising photos of herself and a female member of the royal family, so the authority was looking to retrieve her cell phone, but it turned out to be a lot more complicated. Irene had to fake her death and returned to ask Sherlock to decipher a code she stole from the Ministry of Defense, and she later gave that information to Moriarty. Irene later sent a list of demands to Mycroft, which include protection, in exchange for the contents of her phone, but her plan failed once Sherlock realized her love for him and he successfully unlocked her phone. Months later, Mycroft informed John that Irene had been killed by terrorists, but in reality, Sherlock had disguised himself as her executioner and instead helped her escape. Sherlock gave Irene Adler a somewhat similar fate to her counterpart in the books, who escaped though it continues to be debated if she survived or not due to possible confusion in Conan Doyle’s words, but the show's version is far from the strong, cunning, and highly-intelligent woman who beat Sherlock Holmes and earned his respect, which is why he referred to her as “The Woman”.
Next: The Real Moriarty? Sherlock Theory Gives Villain A New Twist
