5 TV Shows Where One Bad Character Spoils The Whole Show

3. Irene Adler - Sherlock

There are a lot of things that are problematic about Sherlock (casual racism, lack of women, lack of anyone who isn't a white dude), but the transformation of Irene Adler from intelligent, happily married, cross-dressing opera singer in the Sir Arther Conan Doyle canon to a dominatrix who relies on her body and answers to another man is one of show's most grievous sins. To be clear, there is nothing wrong about working in the sex industry and Irene Adler's weakness did not lie in her being a dominatrix. It was the fact that without her body or sexuality, she did not exist. She was not a dynamic or fleshed out character. She worked for and answered to Moriarty. She did not seem to do anything for herself and Sherlock simply used her feelings against her. Love is weakness in this show and what's worse, a character who claimed to be a lesbian was suddenly sexually attracted to a man. I don't think you understand how homosexuality works, Steven Moffat and you certainly don't know how to handle the most important woman in the Sherlock Holmes canon (aside from the matronly Mrs. Hudson). He has claimed that Sherlock Holmes fancies Irene Adler. That is incorrect. Sherlock Holmes respects Irene Adler. She is the only woman who outsmarts him and thus changes his misogynistic perception of women. This Irene Adler did not do this and simply became a damsel to be saved by a Sherlock dressed like a Lawrence of Arabia cosplayer. It was painful to watch.