"They say that genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains” he remarked with a smile. “It's a very bad definition, but it does apply to detective work"
- Sherlock Holmes in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet (1887)
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Compared to part 1, the structure of part 2 was a bit of a mess. While each arc was interesting, the way it has been laid out makes me wonder if they’ve taken random arcs from different points in the manga and pieced them together to make this part 2. Despite this, the last few episodes were super consistent and were also by far the best.
While part 1 introduced us to the Moriarty family’s business, part 2 exploits that and takes it further, giving us more time to delve into the crimes. It goes back and forth from William’s side of things to Sherlock’s side of things, sometimes letting the two sides of the stories meet ever so briefly. That is, until we get to the last arc where the story is really entangled. In part 1, where we mostly follow William’s POV, his ideas make a lot of sense and highlights that deep down, there are a lot of people who are like him, who want the power to punish people for their wrongdoings, they just don’t have the courage that William does. Part 2 slowly dives into different territory and gives us more insight on William as a character and makes the audience realize that, well, the end doesn’t justify the means.
# From here on out, there are spoilers. So you have been warned
What's truly interesting about Moriarty the Patriot are the characters, William and Sherlock, so let's talk about them.
As I also mentioned in my review for part 1, William can be compared to Light. However, how many traits they share, they are still two vastly different characters. William plays the role of a villain, which is “what the society needs”, and he’s aware of it, even pointing out necessary evil (William) vs pure evil (Milverton). He even goes as far as to point out that the only way to achieve his goal would be the death of him, meaning he will atone for his actions because he is aware that what he is doing he is doing for justice, but it is nonetheless morally wrong. No, not even for justice, as he says “I don’t consider the actions I’m taking to be in the name of justice. I’ve never believed that a person has the right to pass judgment on another”.
He is much more self-aware of his actions, and this sets him apart from Light who is egocentric and thinks himself to be flawless. William is “playing Robin Hood”.
I stumbled upon a comment made by someone, and they made a brilliant point. William is using Light's methodology of wanting to make the world a better place by getting rid of all the bad guys, but with Lelouch's ideology of wanting to protect the weak as the strong and privileged one. Truthfully, William is more like Lelouch than Light if you think about it. At first glance, it makes sense to compare him to Light but the more you learn about him, the more you learn that he’s way more like Lelouch, both are characters that know that their actions are pretty damn messed up. And both have pinned a protagonist to be the good guy – Lelouch with Suzaku and William with Sherlock.
This series has such an interesting take on Sherlock, partly due to the focus mainly being on his rival. This Sherlock shines at his brighest when the focus shifts to both him and William. Sherlock is selfless but also selfish and acts how he wants if that means it's for the sake of justice, or well, what he deems to be justice. His actions also cause him pain and regret, sometimes. He's always one to look back at his past actions and dig up his wrongdoings, whether there were wrongdoings or not, makin him a bit pessimistic at times. However, he's never regretted anything that has to do with William. Ever since he met him, maybe due to how they met, he's always seen William as a rival and a friend. Never the former alone, never the latter alone, always as a rival AND a friend. And that's what makes their dynamic so good.
For once, things aren't going as William had planned. And it's getting to him. He wasn't expecting Sherlock to kill Milverton at all. And it seems to have affected him greatly, "I never meant to let him become a murderer as soon as this" he says but the last part can pretty much be left out cause in truth he respected and acknowledged Sherlock for his methods of achieving justice - that being the exact opposite of his own. Because Sherlock is the light, William is the dark.
Even after finding out that William is the Lord of Crime, he exclaims that he is happy that it was William and wouldn't know what to do if it hadn’t been him. He never even stops calling him Liam. To him, William is and has always been who Sherlock wanted him to be. Sherlock understands William in a way even his brothers don't, because they don't share the same ideology. Understanding their relationship, it is NO wonder, that the first thing Sherlock says when he finds out about William's final plans...
Because he knows that deep down, William wants to be saved. However, he didn't expect William to be so honest with his feelings, and even to the audience this is a surprise.
When Sherlock asks William why he chose him, out of all people, William gave him the perfect answer ever imaginable:
>I found our meeting to be enjoyable enough to forget all about my heinous plan for a moment. It felt as though I had found the one person who could understand me.
Not only Sherlock, but William too has always seen Sherlock as both a rival and a friend. Ladies and gentlemen, this is peak character writing. William even repeats what is the best scene in the show but instead of "Mr. Holmes", he changes it to
>Catch me if you can, Sherlock
And with that, you have beautiful character writing, beautiful character dynamics in a show that will satisfy your curiosity.