The Final Problem

weirdsociology asked: Hi there! Love the blog. I have a question not at all 'Reichenbach'-related, but it's something I've been puzzling over and I thought you might be able to assist. In 'The Great Game', the envelope Sherlock that leads Sherlock to the initial clue of Powers' sneakers is explicitly mentioned as being on Czech stationary and written in a woman's hand. I know that, later, we are fed a semi-red herring about the Czech curator (she's in on it but not the villain); are we also (con't in next ask)

Are we also, perhaps, meant to assume that Irene Adler is assisting Moriarty at this point? The heavy-handed Czech references and the way Moftiss likes to play with titles (‘A Scandal in Bohemia’ was originally Czech after all) and the woman’s writing make me think that it’s clever foreshadowing, but then in ‘A Scandal in Belgravia’ it makes it sound like Irene seeks out Moriarty of her own initiative later on. What do you think— clever double-reference or just a re-use of the Czech motif?

Sherlock actually came right out and called it “Bohemian” before they went with the Czech thread.

At the time, I took that as a little nod to A Scandal in Bohemia. Like how the “pips” heard on the phone in that episode were a nod to The Five Orange Pips, and like the other little jokes they’ve thrown in alluding to canon cases such as The Speckled Band and The Greek Interpreter in Series 2.

And to be honest, I take it exactly the same way now.

For one thing, remember that The Great Game was written before they knew whether there would ever be a Series 2. I think there’s a good chance they wanted to take that opportunity to throw in a reference to one of the most famous Holmes stories because they had no way of knowing if they’d get to go on and retell that story later.

For another thing, the Irene Adler who turned up in Series 2 had nothing whatsoever to do with Bohemia. They changed everything about the nationalities involved in that story when they reinvented it as A Scandal in Belgravia.

We know this show’s Irene has a past life with connections to Bohemia, but I don’t think she knows that.

So, no, I don’t believe we’re meant to assume that the Irene who turned up later had anything to do with that envelope.