Irene Adler, "The woman"

Lara Pulvers's character is rather different from Doyle's one. 

On screen, we see a sexy and provocative woman. Her website advertises clearly the kind of services she proposes : she is a dominatrix, with a wide variety of clients; among them, a police detective, a spy, and a royal highness.

She gathers information as a life insurance; but this is also a dangerous game : a wide variety of people wish her dead.

Irene Adler is intelligent, of course. She is cynical and seductive. She finds Sherlock appalling -because of his genius- but we never know for sure how much the opposite is true. Impressed at first, Sherlock never wants to admit how much interested he is in Irene. He refuses to answer her texts, but never turn his mobile off and read them all. Before his brother, he pretends not to care about what will happen to her, but saves her from terrorists.

And that is, in my opinion, the flaw that spoils a beautiful -though non classical, of course- romance... At the end, the knight saves the damsel in distress ?! So basic, so macho, so... pathetic !

In his way, Doyle's portrait of Irene Adler is also machist, but less -and written in the beginning of the 20th century.

Irene Adler is an American, 30 years old when she meets Sherlock ("A scandal in Bohemia"). She was a Contralto and an adventuress. Retired from the operatic stage, she lives in London. Just as in BBC's show, she is blackmailing a royal highness (the Great Duke of Bohemia) with photographs. She doesn't ask something in exchange, her motive is not clear. She doesn't need money. 

She gets married with a lawyer. Disguised, Holmes, who was following her and thus attended the discreet ceremony, serves as a witness !

In Doyle's story, Irene will thwart Sherlock's guiles and win over him ! But she didn't get the credit for it, because she was helped (by Moriarty)... She didn't succeed all by herself. She is clever, but not that clever. She had been informed about Sherlock's capacities and habits.

So, Doyle's character doesn't appear as particularly brilliant. Although impressed by "the woman", Holmes doesn't faces a genius, just a clever woman.

Lara Pulver performs a much more original, intriguing and strong character. It's a pity the scenario missed the end of the story...