“A Scandal in Belgravia,” which is the first episode of the second season of the BBC series, Sherlock, is a modern version of the Arthur Conan Doyle’s A Scandal in Bohemia. In this version, which is in many ways different from the original story, Irene Adler, also known as “The Woman,” is portrayed as the female equivalent of Sherlock Holmes in every way possible. This is first noticed in the scene in which the two are introduced to one another via photographs. In this scene the shot cuts between Sherlock looking at pictures of Irene, and Irene examining pictures of Sherlock. It is important to note that both are looking down at the pictures of the other which implies that Sherlock believes that Irene is his inferior, while Irene does the same indicating that she believes herself able to best Sherlock Holmes. This scene puts the two on the same level in the audience’s mind, and comments that they are very similar in their arrogance.
It is also important to note the way in which both characters are written. Both Sherlock and Irene are dark haired with piercing eyes, sharp cheek bones, and pale skin (as seen in the picture below.) They are both seen essentially naked at some point throughout the show, and most importantly they are both cold and unemotional people. It is clear over the course of the series that Sherlock is a heartless shell of a man who does not care for the feelings of others, and interestingly Irene is scripted as a dominatrix in this version. In order to perform this job one cannot show emotion or care for the feelings of others; emotional connections simply get in the way. Based on the unnaturally similar ways in which Sherlock and Irene think, act, and even look, it is clear that in this remake of Doyle’s A Scandal in Bohemia Irene Adler is meant to be in every possible way a female version of Sherlock Holmes.
