The Irregulars- commentary essay

 

“How do you stop loving someone?

…I’m sorry?

When you don’t want to love someone anymore, because it hurts too much… How do you stop?

You don’t.

”

 

When you search the meaning of the word “relationship”, the first definition is “the way in which two or more people or things are connected or the state of being connected.” May it be platonic, romantic, based on trust or even lies, certain types of relationships are undeniably special.

What makes a relationship special? The people who form the bond? The infinite hours of conversations? All the memories you create? The fatal thought that everything will eventually come to an end? 

When I think about special bonds, I can’t help remembering the smallest scenes in The Irregulars. For those who don’t know, "The Irregulars" is an original Netflix series starring Thaddea Graham Darci Shaw Harrison Osterfield McKell David Jojo Macari Royce Pierreson Henry Lloyd-Hughes. The show follows the story of four teen orphans and the prince, recruited by Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes to solve all sorts of cases. Set in Victorian London, the series is a combination of science fiction, mystery, and drama, all accompanied by some very well chosen (in my opinion) modern songs.

Disclaimer, there will be spoilers so if you haven’t seen it, you should do it as soon as possible. So… 

 

The Irregulars is an unexpectedly amazing series. Even though, at first sight, it seems to follow the same old patterns any teen show has nowadays, this series was for me a breath of fresh air. There are A LOT, and I can’t stress enough, A Lot of Sherlock Holmes adaptations. To see that I actually researched, there are officially around 250 movie adaptations and 30ish series, or at least that’s how many I could find. So, making another piece revolving around the genius detective isn’t something particularly new. But that’s exactly what "The Irregulars" doesn't do. This series is not about Sherlock Holmes and his well-known adventures accompanied by his favourite John Watson. It uses the detective as a concept, a name, a certain feeling. 

Sherlock and Bea:

  Although he doesn’t even appear in the first 4 episodes, the audience is always feeling his presence when intended. But for the most part, his story doesn’t even affect the overall plot of the first few episodes, or at least not directly. The show almost teases the viewer with increasing anticipation. The main character, Bea, grows into a replica of Sherlock that highlights his strongest qualities. The distinctive part is how they got these traits. Sherlock has been, in every adaptation, naturally fearless, convinced that he’s always right and makes the best decisions no matter what. While Bea also presents these characteristics, she doesn’t have them just ‘because’. Her experiences, her relationships with her loved ones but also the ones she hates, her childhood trauma and hard days, everything shapes her to be this way. In episode 1 she confronts Watson not because she thinks she’s entitled to do so, but rather ‘cause she faced much worse. On the same note, Bea is also, in many ways, similar to Watson. They start off as completely different personalities in the first few episodes but their journeys bring them to the same ending. And that’s mainly because of their common drive: Love. 

Love is explored in many ways from various points of view. Both Watson and Bea care a special love for someone. Feelings that drive them crazy and make them do things they never thought they would, things they wouldn’t do otherwise. Jessie is the most important person for Bea. For her, she agrees to do almost anything without thinking twice. 

The relationship between siblings on-screen has always been fascinating to me. As a sister myself, I’ve always been curious about how movies and tv shows handle this topic. Bea and Jessie’s relationship feels grounded in reality and familiar and that’s what makes it special. The sibling dynamic is often portrayed as this unconditional friendship driven by childlike love. And although it’s true, The Irregulars is one of the few portrayals I actually identify with. It’s grounded in the deepest and most simple memories together and it shines a warm light on different aspects of their love. 

While Jessie doesn’t really remember all the horrible days in the workhouse, Bea lives every moment of her life thinking about them. This way, Bea already feels like the adult that has to take care of the younger sibling in order not to lose her. Jessie isn’t in desperate need of a parental figure like Bea is. I’m not saying that she doesn’t feel the lack of parent support, she just already has someone who is there for her unconditionally. 

This brings us to the second relationship slightly based on this concept. Sherlock, at the end of the day, didn’t lack the love he thought he was so entitled to. Living for being praised and right all the time, John pleases him with every occasion. Take this series of scenes:

The last scene is the ‘confrontation scene’. It appears in almost every Sherlock Holmes adaptation. There is nothing new here. When Sherlock finally falls for someone, forms an attachment, ‘the person’ calls him out for basically being a ‘narcissistic prick’. What I care about is this exact quote: ‘Fear only takes those who have things to lose.’ if you just think it’s directly correlated only to Sherlock’s linear thinking you might be right. But since I love overthinking, I actually believe it describes Watson and Bea perfectly. In every adaptation, Watson is the ‘scared one ‘the conscious one’ in their duo. This phrase foreshadows his entire story. Unlike Holmes, he has something to lose. None other than Sherlock himself. Even though his relationship with Alice breaks him, he doesn’t step back. He still protects him and flatters his ego. Nonetheless, Bea does the exact same thing in the last episode. She’s terrified of closing the Rip because she knows it’ll take everything from her. 

Grief or ‘the lack of grief’ as Bea puts it may be the central theme of the show. It not only drives almost every villain but also especially Bea and Watson. But in the last episodes, every single member of the group faces their demons and ends up accepting their prejudices and overall past. As Spike says in a perfect way, their whole group is structured like a living-breathing body.

Billy(the muscles) has the need to protect everyone and create a safe space for his loved ones. Since none of them has any kind of social-status power (except Leo of course) in the workhouse he learns there’s no other way to protect himself except physical violence. Haunted by his past and the workhouse master he can’t accept, under any circumstances, the truth.

Leo(the brain) constantly has to challenge his condition and prove himself that he’s more than a rich guy whose life’s got boring. 

And just a side-note here, I actually really like when he’s called out for it by Billy. The rich nice guy trope is seen quite often and it’s just refreshing to experience a story where the characters are fully aware of their status and privileges. 

Spike(the skeleton) feels like he doesn’t matter unless he’s surrounded by the group. He may be the one who brings everyone together but without them, he feels useless. Especially without Jessie, the soul.

Jessie struggles with her identity and her powers the entire series. She needs someone to guide her since she is the outsider no one seems to understand. She feels not worthy enough and frankly, in the end, she gets to discover her past and her real self. 

The last scene of the Irregulars is, at least for me, perfect. I usually hate endings but they orchestrated the whole last 6 minutes perfectly. From Bea’s and Watson’s short funny tattoo conversation, the scene gets increasingly intimate and emotional. Earlier in the series, Sherlock tells Bea: Life isn’t supposed to be painless, Beatrice. Joy and suffering dance together long into the night. Both Watson and Holmes essentially tell her the same thing. When it hurts too much, when pain and grief bring you down, you don’t stop. You don’t ever stop. You keep going and light will guide your way. There’s no easy way to happiness. But even when the road is tougher than ever, there’ll always be someone who’ll stand by you. And help you stand up again.

 

I just wanted to also give a shoutout to all the actors in this series. Without them, The Irregulars would have not been this truly magical, real, and genius series. The way they all took some much care of the characters and how every single one of them carried the story in such a genius, truthful, and truly inspiring way is amazing and I couldn’t be more grateful.

Thank you for reading and I’ll see you next time. Take care!