The stories of Sherlock Holmes' and John Watson's adventures have been adapted to all types of media all over the world. In Moriarty the Patriot, Sherlock's legendary foe takes the protagonist spotlight with a revolutionary agenda behind his crimes.

Unlike most adaptations of the works of Sir Conan Doyle, this series takes the unorthodox approach of making Sherlock a side character appearing late in the story. The protagonist Moriarty, known in this adaptation as William James Moriarty, was an orphan whom alongside his younger brother Louis managed to get adopted into the affluent Moriarty family by winning the graces of the young heir Albert. William, a math genius like his book counterpart, has extreme disdain for the class system of their society. Destroying the system for a fresh start is William's goal and his brothers support him to the end.

The means of this goal are far from orthodox, the three Moriarty brothers form a collective unit alongside allies all over England and dedicate themselves to instigate the resentmentsm of the lower and oppressed class in order to ignite the flame of vengeance against the privileged noble class. Providing the helpless with the resources and impulse to commit crime, William plans to pin the acts upon the Lord of Crime figure that him and his allies represent.

Murder for the means of revenge is Moriarty's crime of choice, the targets being irredeemable nobles who exploited the weak or commited crimes themselves. Sights of carnage and mild gore are frequent in this series, sometimes relying on shock value to showcase the lengths of the hate and vengeance present in the setting. While William works mostly as an instigator, his character doesn't appear to be particularly charming, mostly making use of the facts and situation to convince others of committing crime. Most of his direct followers, including his brothers, seemingly follow his orders blindy without having special stakes at risk or having a particular reason but vaguely sharing the same ideals of achieving equality through force.

Most of the episodes focus on specific crimes, introducing the victim, all practically evil nobles, and those oppressed or wronged by their authority and power. The Moriartys and their allies involve themselves in these crimes, directly or not, and plan accordingly to evade making their involvement evident. This dynamic changes slightly around the middle of the series when Sherlock Holmes is introduced, now with Moriarty taunting the detective whom suspects of the involvement of a bigger group in these series of unrelated crimes.

The tension between Sherlock and William is the most entertaining part of the series, Holmes being characterized as less quirky and more humane than in other adaptations. James H. Watson is also introduced during this series and, while his relationship with Sherlock doesn't get much screentime, their interactions are amusing enough as in most adaptations. There are plenty references scattered accross the series to cases and characters of the original Sherlock stories, while being slightly vague and modified to create new cases and character traits.

While the writing can be less than stellar, especially with Moriarty's group and motivations, the execution of the series is well done and keeps the viewer engaged. The outrageous plans developed by William alongside the gratuitous violence are no less than thrilling, adding the increasingly frustrated Sherlock Holmes to the equation makes for a pretty solid short series.

With polished character designs and special care to representing Victorian England accordingly, Moriarty the Patriot might not be particularly rational or subtle but it's definitely a thrilling watch for most viewers.