REVIEW: ‘Moriarty the Patriot,’ Episode 17 – “The Riot in New Scotland Yard”

Resulting from the events of the previous week, Moriarty the Patriot Episode 17 takes a peek inside Scotland Yard, once again expanding William’s chessboard. Production I.G. is behind the anime adaptation of Ryosuke Takeuchi and Hikaru Miyoshi’s manga. Based on the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the story reimagines James Moriarty as a group of brothers, led by William, who commit “crimes” with the intent of outing the abusive upper class in Britain. The manga is available in English from VIZ Media.

Due to the humiliation from failing to catch “Jack the Ripper,” an innocent man is thrown behind bars in order to save face for Scotland Yard. Specifically, it is so the head investigator of the Yard’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Arterton, can look good. Lestrade and Patterson suspect that he falsified evidence, but they cannot prove it. Additionally, time is running out, as Arterton is trying to physically beat a confession out of an innocent man.

Moriarty the Patriot Episode 17 definitely makes up for the lacking plot last time, however the show continues its problem of over-simplifying the villains. Rooting out the corruption in Scotland Yard is reduced to a few corrupt individuals. Lestrade fills the role of being “one of the good ones” well, but it dilutes the overall impact of the story and any character depth that could be there. Granted, the same cannot e said for Patterson. Another new character introduced in the “Jack the Ripper” arc, Patterson is actually Moriarty’s inside man in Scotland Yard. His motivations are yet to be revealed, however.

He is intriguing, that is for sure, as is the other new character Von Herder, who essentially serves as Team Moriarty’s Quartermaster by inventing firearms and other gadgets. There is definitely a fun nod to the James Bond franchise, as Bond discovers a flasht prototype automobile in Von Herder’s shops and takes it for a spin. Unfortunately, Moriarty the Patriot Episode 17 also emphasizes a larger problem for the show. It is so much fun, but it is struggling to keep hold on all of its players.

The whole show is a large chessboard, and every story arc adds new characters to get involved. The problem is the audience isn’t given enough time with each of them. Even some of the original cast, like Fred and Moran, have yet to be given much backstory or their relationships with the Moriarty brothers. It deprives the show of an emotional weight that would propel it so much further. Keeping track of all the characters will likely even make viewers forget that the beginning of this episode has a brief interaction between Mycroft and Albert…because Mycroft is definitely still involved in all this behind the scenes.

Moriarty the Patriot Episode 17 is still strong, however. This is because James Bond gets another moment to shine for the team in this mission, utilizing his skills as a thief. Sherlock is also brought back into a more prominent role this week. He is clearly well aware of the Lord of Crime’s true intentions. He has realized that the Lord of Crime functions as a Robin Hood for the city, but is still trying to piece together why. His internal conflict is one of the more compelling parts of this episode, because while he doesn’t like playing along with Moriarty’s schemes, he knows if he doesn’t an innocent man will get convicted.

Moriarty the Patriot Episode 17 turns its focus onto Scotland Yard, and once again broadens its cast of characters. The show is still solid and a campy blast to watch. However, it is losing emotional stakes because beyond being an intriguing cast of attractive men, a lot of the backstories and character relationships haven’t really been explored yet. There is less to make the audience invested than there should be by the 17th episode.

Moriarty the Patriot is streaming now on Funimation.