Moriarty's portrayal in Elementary was quite different from BBC's Sherlock Holmes (& that's how it dodged a major mistake)

Throughout much of the past decade, Elementary lived in the shadow of the BBC's Sherlock. Now that Sherlock hasn't been around for a while and the possibility of a fifth season of the BBC show seems to be in the wind, large sections of the audience are finally turning to the much underrated Elementary.

While both of these shows originate from the adventures of Sherlock Holmes as penned by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, there is one key area in which Elementary differs from Sherlock, i.e., in the approach towards using the arch-nemesis Moriarty.

Here's everything that you need to know.

Elementary made better use of Moriarty than Sherlock

There's no doubt that Benedict Cumberbatch rocked the world with his first appearance as Sherlock back in 2010. Alongside him, Andrew Scott seemed almost the perfect Moriarty for a while, perfectly yielding the cunning and the bravado of the character. Contrary to this, the CBS show took a markedly different direction when it came to characterization and had a female Moriarty who also doubled up as Irene Adler, i.e., Sherlock's former lover, played by actress Natalia Dormer.

Having a female Moriarty undoubtedly allowed the CBS show to offer a fresh take on the much-adapted literary source. This also enabled the show to have a more subtle Moriarty who wasn't always necessarily in Sherlock's face and controlling almost every crime that the sleuth uncovered. As opposed to this, Sherlock was little short of working Moriarty to death as he was involved in each and every criminal operation that came across Sherlock's way. Even after his death, he still loomed large across Sherlock's horizon and was an integral character, somehow orchestrating crimes from the dead.

Dormer's Moriarty used her subtle powers to bring Sherlock into his fold after the latter upset many of her criminal proceedings. She leads Sherlock to fall in love with her, and while she's incarcerated, she regularly receives letters from Sherlock as a token of his love.

Natalie Dormer opens up about her role on Elementary

The CBS show aired for seven seasons before it was cancelled, and Dormer delivered powerful performances throughout the entire journey. Speaking in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Dormer had previously opened up about her experience of playing Moriarty:

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"It’s a real privilege to be asked to play that one woman who has gotten under Sherlock’s skin. Occasionally, two personalities bump into each other and this mad chemical reaction happens — and not just sexual. Obviously because of the nature of Sherlock Holmes, it’s cerebral as well. He has to engage with somebody on an intellectual level to really be inspired or intoxicated by them. And the feeling is mutual. Irene brings out an entirely different side of his personality that no one else has yet been privy to. So it’s interesting to see Sherlock go through that turmoil"

Elementary is available for streaming on Hulu.

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