Moriarty the Patriot

Episode 3

The Orphan Fantasy has been a staple of children's literature since the Victorian era, when children's literature as we know it came to be. Even if you aren't familiar with the term, you've probably encountered it; it's a story where the child protagonists are conveniently without parents so that they can go on an amazing adventure, and it remains popular to this day. Moriarty the Patriot does use it, but it takes that literary device and dresses it up with a twist of murder and a dollop of social commentary, turning it into the origin story of Professor Moriarty, while also using it to demonstrate the method by which the great criminal consultant works.

This week's episode finishes up the story begun last week, of how William and Louis ended up as Albert Moriarty's younger brothers and what that meant for the rest of the family. The short version is that Lord Moriarty painted himself into a corner: in his desire to appear worthy in the eyes of a duchess, whose social rank was greater than his own, he decided to take in an orphan. His elder son, Albert, already regularly volunteered at the ragged school attached to an orphanage, so when he used his father's promise to bring home William and Louis (whom he had just watched foment social rebellion), there wasn't much that Lord Moriarty could do. Well, that's not strictly true – he absolutely could have been like Albert and offered the boys a home and a place in the family rather than treating them like the lowest of the servants and encouraging his wife and younger son to do the same.

If he'd done that, maybe he'd still be alive.

It's worth pointing out that Lord Moriarty never said that he would adopt an orphan – he said he'd take one in. There's a major semantic difference there; rather than actually raise an unfortunate child up in the world, he's essentially said that he'll do the bare minimum for them. He does get Louis his heart surgery, but that could be seen as an investment, because a sick servant is one who cannot work. But beyond that the two boys are relegated to the attic and routinely abused by the younger Moriarty son, William, and generally treated like dirt. Whether Albert was expecting this or was hoping, in the way of Victorian novels, that doing the good deed of taking the boys in would soften the hearts of his biological family is unclear, but the moment that William goads the elder brother into stabbing his hand with a fork (he was trying to get him to stab Louis), Albert's done. And that's the moment when he becomes Professor Moriarty's first client.

The whole scene wherein the three boys carry out their murders is chilling. In part that's because it's a multiple murder scheme carried out by three children, but the lighting and the sound for the scenes are very effective. The blood-red full moon, the inexorable sound of Albert's footsteps as he crosses the wooden floor of the attic towards William with his weapon poised, the gentle hiss of the gas as the three boys systematically walk through the elegant house turning on the gas keys for the lamps…by the time we see that William has curled around the stake in his gut on the bed in the attic, silently crying in pain, seconds before the house explodes, the whole thing has coalesced into one long moment of terror. And driving that is the way that everything has been carefully planned out, from the use of a weapon that will burn to ashes in the ensuing fire to the fact that Louis and his brother are dressed in William's pajamas and dressing gowns to look like full members of the family when they miraculously become the only three survivors of the terrible tragedy. And while the man who will take on the name of William Moriarty has taken a more active role than he will in the future, as we saw with episode one, it isn't hard to call his first real “case” a resounding success – for some of those involved, at least.

Many people have mentioned the ikemen-style beauty of young Professor Moriarty in this series, citing that as a concern. I see it as a spin on Victorian notions of angelic beauty, a Dorian Gray-style refutation of the belief that outer beauty equals inner goodness. Although in this case, it depends what side of the tracks you're standing on – whether William James Moriarty is an angel or a devil in disguise.

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Moriarty the Patriot is currently streaming on Funimation.