I meant to write this up last week, but other stuff has got in the way. Anyway, while I’ve lost a bit of momentum with my Studies in Sherlock, I do want to conclude them in the way that I intended.
So, Moriarty… This reconception of the character has definitely been the most controversial aspect of the series. It really affected my enjoyment of The Great Game, and unfairly biased me against other aspects of that episode. Looking back now, I retain my reservations but have less of the jaw-dropping astonishment at Andrew Scott’s gurning campy “Jim”. The following series of screencaps illustrate the broadness of Scott’s performance (screencaps thanks to Cementville).
While many fans seem to have accepted and enjoyed the new version, I disliked the episode’s cynical invitation to “ship” Sherlock and Jim. I had a similar objection to the way this was done with David Tennant and John Simm in Doctor Who. I’d argue that, in this respect, both shows are pandering to their fans rather than challenging them. In fairness, some of these aspects have been interpreted differently in an excellent essay by Matt Hills on the subject.
I think my friend Alex put his finger on the strangest aspect of this reimagining. While Moffat and Gatiss have insisted in interviews on the affinity between their update and the Conan Doyle stories, their Moriarty bears no resemblance to the original character. He destroys the logic of the show. Far from being a shadowy presence, here he seeks the detective’s attention. And I think that by making him a fan of Sherlock, he becomes less complex. Moriarty is frightening when he towers above Sherlock, not when he is following him.
I have to admit I haven’t revised my opinion on this interpretation of Moriarty. I agree that there is no real logic in the relationship between Jim and Sherlock. Jim is working on a huge international level of crime (despite associating with some utter losers in the criminal fraternity) and one doesn’t get the sense of why Sherlock would have grabbed his attention. I think the series could have done with a real “bloody nose” moment where Sherlock becomes less an amusing annoyance and a genuine thorn in his side. To this end, it wouldn’t have been such a bad idea to have an older Moriarty who you could believe has spent years (decades?) putting together the perfect criminal network and now it is being undone by someone he never could have foreseen (no matter how precocious an evil genius, I too find it difficult to buy into the idea he was planning all this on his etcha-sketch years ago).
Absolutely. The only way they can redeem this is if we get flashbacks to Young Moriarty on his Etcha-Sketch.
I suppose the thing is, it just seems like such a weird set of creative decisions. As you’ve said in the past, it’s too much too soon. I was really looking forward to a slow unveiling of Moriarty’s influence. By making things personal between him and Sherlock just seems odd – the Brett series is far more effective in showing us how Holmes becomes a liability to Moriarty’s operation. But then, as you say, the chumps and losers Jim is working with aren’t very well drawn.
I’m intrigued to see how they flesh things out next series. I suppose we shall eventually meet a Col. Moran figure, who’s at the other end of that sniper rifle. I suppose the obvious thing to do there would be to play him as a mirror image of John Watson…
I agree with both of you. Quite apart from the frankly rather mad way Jim Moriarty (boke) is played, it makes very little sense both to introduce him at this point and have him played in the way he is. It makes it impossible for me to suspend my disbelief because if Moriarty is enough of a numpty to chase after Sherlock for attention, then it’s just so impossible to believe that he could have built such a massive criminal network. Someone who has put in the time to do that wouldn’t be able to afford to be so impulsive, and would actively seek to avoid catching Holmes’s intention. Add to this the logic-leap we’re being asked to take to believe that someone so young could have achieved this sort of power and Moriarty totally undermines the series’ credibility.
Ugh, I am clearly ILLITERATE. I meant Holmes’s ATTENTION there x
Yeah, it makes no sense so far. It’ll be interesting to see how the second series expands on Moriarty’s actions. Unfortunately I suspect they’ll just gloss over his intentions and continue with the pantomime supervillain stuff.