So Moran in The Final Problem (2018)
I liked him and what they did with him, except for the end. They made use of him, they actually used his name and talked about his history a bit, he got to do things and though he had no interaction with Moriarty in it they actually did say about him escaping with Moriarty when everyone else got arrested. I could buy him being completely loyal and close to Moriarty.
Also he barely spoke in it, I think he said about 2 words in it, and that for me also really worked. Him being this kind of lurking presence who is very taciturn and very 'aloof' and who barely ever says anything really worked because there's really no evidence that Moran is some kind of extrovert guy and I really don't think he is someone who says a lot most of the time unless he's just acting out some kind of role so he can cheat people or something.
Also it did feel like when he was shooting at Holmes initially he was toying with him, not actually seriously trying to kill him. That and the whole lurking about watching Holmes before he did make a real attempt to kill him did feel like there was this element of psychological manipulation almost going on, him subtly winding Holmes up, making Holmes feel really paranoid, which is a really interesting way of doing it I think. It's definitely hinted at in the canon that this might be going on but it's not something that seems to get explored much and I don't know for certain if that was meant to be happening in this or not but it definitely felt like that to me.
(Also that's Parker with him. They actually put Parker and Moran together!)
