You're right that there is a difference. However, coming on the heels of the first Ritchie film (which had its Moriarty using Irene) and in a season that builds up to the Sherlock-Moriarty confrontation from Reichenbach, it still inevitably puts Irene in a context where to a lot of people unfamiliar with the ACD canon, if the internet is remotely representative, the impression is created that she's at least some subordinate of Moriarty's. I'm sure this was not intended by Moffat & Gatiss either for Scandal in Belgravia specifically or generally; it's just an unfortunately side effect. Which was all my observation intended to remark on.
(I actually liked Scandal in Belgravia - and the Irene in it - far more than most non-Sherlock fans seem to have done, as you'll see in my review at the time.)
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You're right that there is a difference. However, coming on the heels of the first Ritchie film (which had its Moriarty using Irene) and in a season that builds up to the Sherlock-Moriarty confrontation from Reichenbach, it still inevitably puts Irene in a context where to a lot of people unfamiliar with the ACD canon, if the internet is remotely representative, the impression is created that she's at least some subordinate of Moriarty's. I'm sure this was not intended by Moffat & Gatiss either for Scandal in Belgravia specifically or generally; it's just an unfortunately side effect. Which was all my observation intended to remark on.
(I actually liked Scandal in Belgravia - and the Irene in it - far more than most non-Sherlock fans seem to have done, as you'll see in my review at the time.)