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Warning: this post contains brief discussions of mental health issues, and brief references to murder
I can think of very few performances as utterly iconic as Andrew Scott's Jim Moriarty.
Long before he was Fleabag's Sexy Priest, Andrew Scott was BBC Sherlock's Sexy Criminal Genius.
(Sexy being his baseline - it must be a difficult burden to bear; imagine being sexy while you pay your electric bills, or putting the bins out sexily...)
If I had to pick one iconic scene for this man's oh-too-brief screentime, it would have to be the theft of the crown jewels at the tower of London.
This scene opens the legendary third episode of the second series of Sherlock, titled The Reichenbach Fall.
(It's known to fandom simply as The Fall, and often accompanied by the screeching noises of fans in the throws of agony and/or ecstasy.)
All of which is a long way of saying that I've been rewatching Sherlock lately.
(...despite the plethora of unwatched TV and film material out there that I also need to get around to, one of these days.)
And I personally think the second series is *chef's kiss*.
That's not to say it's perfect - I've said it before and no doubt will say it again, but perfect art does not exist; and if it did, it wouldn't be art.
For a start, none of the episodes from series 2 pass the Bechdel test, and the only notable PoC character, Black police officer Sally Donovan (played by Vinette Robinson,) is a complete b**ch.
...Actually, she's only doing her job as a police sergeant, and is doing it quite well, but she's presented as a complete b**ch.
And the actress is doing such a good job that I can't help but hate her character...
...despite the fact that she's actually being completely reasonable in pointing out that her boss shouldn't be letting Sherlock - who, at the end of the day, is just some dude as far as the police are concerned - have unconstrained access to investigations and evidence.
But she's being completely reasonable in a completely obnoxious way, y'know?
That's a lot even before we think about the various pros and cons surrounding the nebulous neurodiversity and asexuality -
- aspects which have been noted many times by many people over the years, and which I won't really be getting into here (I need to control the length of my blogposts somehow and honestly I could ramble on about this series all day 😅)
But for all it's flaws... it's excellent.
It really is.
The second series is amazing.
And that's in no small part because of Andrew Scott's Moriarty.
I think the first thing I love about this character is that the actor is 100% having the Most Fun Ever during every single moment.
...And that's just a joy to watch, isn't it?
When an actor is really enjoying themselves with an unpredictable, evil, wicked, but brilliant character - it really shows.
And that energy, that unpredictability, that brilliance that Scott brings is amazing to watch.
Andrew Scott totally understood this assignment - and passed it with flying colours.
I mean, it takes some real presence to draw all eyes to you when Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are your co-stars, y'know?
Even more so to be one of the most memorable and beloved features of a series in which you barely appeared on-screen.
Scott's Moriarty is the Joker to Cumberbatch's Batman.
They complete each other, mirror each other, and flirt from time to time in a plausibly deniable way.
The little backstory that we have simply links Sherlock and Moriarty further - the crime, (the murder, in fact,) that got Sherlock interested in being a detective in the first place was committed by Moriarty.
Back when the two of them were literally kids and knew nothing of each other.
And while Sherlock's outlet for the unceasing smarts in his head is becoming a consulting detective, Moriarty's is the other side of the coin - becoming a consulting criminal.
But even that is not enough. Because Moriarty is Just. So. Bored.
And... I get that. As does Sherlock.
Look, I'm not calling myself a genius, but its not arrogance on my part to say that I'm smarter than the av-er-age bear.
I'm nebulously neurodiverse - possibly, though not definitely, Autistic; smart; migraineur; definitely though undiagnosed Dyscalculic; a Synaesthete who tastes words and sees music.
Add the Depression and Anxiety, the possible C/PTSD, and the Queerness, and there are enough things there to mark me out as 'different.'
(Also if the lack of formal diagnoses in that list bothers you, I invite you to attempt to breach the condescending impossibility that is our current diagnostic system. #JustSaying.)
My brain has at least six levels of thought at any given moment, and at least two songs playing in the background.
And... it doesn't make it difficult for me to relate to people so much as it makes it difficult for people to relate to me.
But sometimes I do marvel at just how obvious some things are to me, while they aren't to 'normal' people. (If there even is such a thing as a 'normal' person, after all.)
And also how some people just don't seem to think at all... although, honestly, I think that's at least partially an educational/societal problem 😅
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| Via Giphy |
And I've learned the hard way, over the years, that if I don't give my brain enough interesting things to analyse and learn, it starts to over-analyse me.
...Which given my long history of mental health problems is probably not the biggest shock in the world.
(And, ironically, Depression makes it super-hard to think while also making vast and sweeping over-analyses of my failings. Fun times.)
So yes, I get it - that itch to follow the things that make your brain flare.
To challenge yourself.
To fly in a way that everyday life seems incapable of letting you do.
To attempt to use the natural talents you have to actually make something of yourself, even though the world seems intent on sticking you into boring little boxes...
(The only time I had an office job it did not end well. Just saying.)
Moriarty encapsulates that feeling - and the dark ledge it hides. He's fully over that ledge, and swimming in the depths of the void.
(That metaphor got a little weird - but hopefully you get what I mean 😅)
He's the lack of stimulation and interest that has been pushed to the point where it becomes something destructive. Something frustrated. Something that's lashing out. Something dangerous.
He is the personification of Sherlock shooting the wall in his own flat because everything is boring.
...the eventual result of a mind running in so many circles that it is driving its owner to a fever-pitch of desperation.
And all the 'normal' people can't distract him for long enough from the whirlwind of his mind.
Which is why he becomes Sherlock Holmes' biggest fan and rival - because destroying Sherlock (someone who is finally, finally, on his level,) is the biggest challenge of all.
Moriarty is Sherlock's distorted mirror.
He is the same yet different - the choice that could have been made to go down a very dark path. A path that Sherlock sometimes still walks along the edge of.
...And Andrew Scott effing nails it.
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