I was sitting in my office, working late, when an interesting video came up on my youtube feed. It was the entirety of a mid '90's cartoon called Fish Police. I watched the first episode to get a hint at what the show was like.

It was a show about a fish named Gil. He was a detective for the police precinct in some fictional underwater city. I watched, rapt, in this vehicle for fish-based wordplay. Reminded me of a few other pieces of media.

1. Darkwing Duck, another mid-90's cartoon and
2. MOUSE: P.I. For Hire, a recent video game that copied the style of rubber hose animation.

What did all 3 have in common? Outside of pet protagonists and a penchant for puns? They were all rooted in the hard-boiled detective, film noir style. Curious.

This trend has continued up to today. There will soon be a whole show dedicated to a film noir version of spiderman, played by Nic Cage. The greatest casting choice of the decade. Even on the internet, it seems as though nowadays any time someone wants to make a video that contains the slightest amount of investigation, they use the trappings of this genre to do so. I turned on the Coffeezilla video I was watching before all this to be proven correct in the hypothesis immediately.

But this didn't just start in the 90's. I discovered a large spate of books and movies made in the 1940's and 50's that used this exact style. This rabbit hole is deeper than I thought, and goes straight to the heart of American culture.

I began getting my pin board set up to get to the bottom of this, when my Partner walked in the room. They needed a ride to work. They were in their uniform, black pants and a button-up for their job as a concierge at a local hotel. Perhaps not the most showy clothes but their beautiful smile made up for it. I swear if my parents divorce hadn't done my head in all those years ago, I'd propose on the spot. My office, being a spare bedroom in our apartment, was easily accessible though I asked not be disturbed while I'm working. They were understanding but they reminded me I had already committed to driving them. Checkmate.

I guess this mystery will have to wait...