Eat the rich.
What They Say:
In 1866, a brilliant young orphan and his ailing younger brother are taken in by a charitable aid organization, where they catch the attention of the son of an earl, who is discontent with Britain’s class system.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
After an early prologue depicting a relatively throwaway story to give you an idea of what Moriarty eventually becomes, the story proper finally begins over two weeks later. I was waiting for two things from the beginning of the main story. The first was an explanation of how the Moriarty brothers that we see came to be. The second was an introduction to Sherlock Holmes and his side of the story. The latter would of course require a story focused on the Moriarty brothers in their adult life as we saw in the first episode as well as the prologue of this episode. However, rather than explore the brothers’ backgrounds through flashbacks interspersed throughout their adult lives, we begin to experience the full story in chronological order, with the episode quickly switching to a flashback of a child William James Moriarty, which almost as quickly flashes back even further to a time before he met the Moriarty who would eventually bring him into the family.
We already had some knowledge that the younger Moriarty brothers were adopted into the family from a life of poverty, but this begins to tell the story of exactly how that happened. It’s a tale of William’s brilliance and hatred of class disparity, Albert’s genuine care for the lower class and disgust with his family for their opposite values, and ultimately a partnership to do awful things for ultimately benevolent results. I expected this dynamic from the first episode, but this essentially confirms that the Moriarty brothers, especially William (or the replacement for the true William, as we learn this episode), will become characters much like Light Yagami, and Sherlock Holmes will, appropriately enough, serve as their L analogue. Whether they’ll become as twisted as Light remains to be seen, or perhaps the question is merely whether the series will present them as such. There’s little doubt from early on that Light is the villain, even though his goals are admirable. So far, we haven’t gotten much of an impression that the series intends to paint the action of these accomplice “brothers” in any sort of negative light, though this is only the very beginning of their real story.
So yes, in contrast to the sole Moriarty that has generally been featured in Sherlock Holmes stories throughout the ages, we already have at least four James Moriarty brothers of different kinds, as well as their full family, and they’re famous and respected throughout various pockets of society in very different ways depending on the audience. The class system they intend to dismantle is truly reprehensible, so there will undoubtedly be some catharsis as they achieve their goals, even if that continues to feel conflicting in the face of the equally despicable actions they take to get there. We see that right at the end of this very episode; Albert clearly supports the ideals of these orphan brothers, but the degree to which he invests in their extreme measures so quickly is deliberately shocking. As much as I want to see them all grown up again, engaging in battles of wits with Sherlock Holmes, the breakneck progression of events here does come off as a bit more rushed than perhaps it ought to be.
In Summary:
The first episode of Moriarty was something of an extra peak into what these characters will eventually become, but we start to explore their story in earnest now. Thanks to this dedicated look into what makes them tick, the series is on a much stronger path now, though the speed at which the events play out could use some massaging. Still, things are definitely on the right track.
Grade: B-
Streamed By: Funimation
Review Equipment:
LG Electronics OLED65C7P 65-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart OLED TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K
