Eh, happens.

For whatever it's worth, two of the most commonly suggested inspirations for the character are Lillie Langtry [link] and Lola Montez [link] either of whom would have been in the "who a reader in Doyle's day would have thought of when thinking of royal mistresses and potential scandals and stuff like that" category.

Lola Montez! Lola Montez!

HIGH ON MY LIST OF HISTORICAL HOTTIES, YES.

Wait. Right. That's totally not her appeal for you. I keep forgetting. ;p

Wait. Right. That's totally not her appeal for you. I keep forgetting. ;p

Nope, sorry. I just think she's awesome.

(God, that's 90% of our text messages in a nutshell, Jilli.)

Ha! You are not wrong.

Huh. So any mention of Lola Montez makes me want to reread the Flashman book she appears in.

I do think that, much like ACD Holmes and Watson were originally written as young men and the BBC series has tried to recapture the that feel for the audience and push away the cobwebs, the reinterpretation of Adler for modern audiences seems to try to recapture some of what the original readers would have read into the character in the portrayal.

It's always tricky. Times and customs change, and, of course, modern era fans of the original are reading with a completely different context. It obviously worked for some of us, not for others.

(Secondary and critical note, if I could somehow manage to remove the unreconstructed Orientalism from Moff and Gatiss's imaginations, I so totally would. It's like a drinking game with me at this point. Although if I really were drinking, I don't think I could've ever got through the Lucifer Box books and remained upright.)

I finally saw Scandal. Loved it, although there were some things I didn't like. Initially I didn't like her being recast as a dominatrix, but that was because I expected to be disappointed (I usually am, when a woman is portrayed as a sex worker). I didn't like her turning out to be a criminal and a terrorist-enabler, but I also didn't like it when (I thought) she was dead, so I guess I liked her anyway. The one thing I wished Moffat hadn't changed was who won their game. In the story, Irene gets the better of Sherlock and is gone; in this, although she does get the better of him, he gets his own back - not only does he "win", he saves her life. I liked it that there was one person who got the better of Sherlock and it was a woman. I'm glad at least this Irene also both attracted him and beat him with her intellect, not her sexuality. However, in all honesty, if I'd been writing that, I don't think I could have resisted writing that ending either. It was ridiculous, but what the hell, it was fun. The whole episode was fun.

I decided Mrs. Hudson was a little iffy on the moral front, too, when her reaction to bullet holes in her walls was concern for the wallpaper, not the people on the other side of it. "You could've killed someone!" is the sane immediate reaction there, not "That's coming out of your rent!" Also, just the fact that she has such a close relationship with the man who got her husband convicted of murder - I can see being grateful to him for getting the husband away from her, but then treating him like a son doesn't seem the sanest reaction. From what this episode, she considers Sherlock family, and he doesn't object.

I think most sane people would want to stay far away from Sherlock. Use his services when needed, but not get close. But Mrs. Hudson, and John, and Lestrade, and even Molly all want to stay in his orbit, and that tells me they're likely as screwed-up as... well, as I am. I would like to see who's in Mycroft's orbit. I'd also like to know if he knows about Anthea's involvement with Irene.

Oh, I'd also like to know if that guy was really killed by a freaking boomerang. That didn't make any sense to me. He's supposed to be on the Flight of the Dead, so he's got to be already dead, but then how and why did he get into the field?

Anthea's involvement with Irene

(Ok, so I wasn't crazy in thinking that was her. For scoring as well as I did on that facial recognition test, I am crap at "Is that someone we're supposed to know? What character is that?")

Also, OHShit, that probably means that Anthea is in with Moriarty. I don't want this show to get all espionage-y.

I think that the boomerang guy was not one of the Bond Air people, so, yes, I believe that he was actually killed by a boomerang.

Anytime they talk about "terrorists", I find myself assuming that it is the Moriarty network, even though it probably wasn't, in the case of the Bond Air plotters.

Ok, so I wasn't crazy in thinking that was her.

I wasn't sure it was her until John was all, oh, you're just picking me up for Mycroft, and then he got into a car. Her hair is different, I think.

I think that the boomerang guy was not one of the Bond Air people

Mycroft said he was. Didn't he?

Bond Air. Ha.