Editor’s Note: The recap below contains spoilers for Watson Season 2 Episode 2.WatsonSeason 2 remains off to a shaky start — but at least Robert Carlyle’s Sherlock Holmes has injected a bit of “spice” into the storyline. Episode 2 picks up right where last week’s premiere left off, with Watson (Morris Chestnut) grappling with the revelation that his best friend faked his own death and left him to deal with the fallout of Moriarty (Randall Park). Their conversation goes about how one might expect it to, with Watson expressing his frustration about the predicament he was left in, and Sherlock hesitantly trying to reintegrate himself back into Watson’s life.
Carlyle is really inspired casting as Sherlock. He flounces around Watson’s apartment, commentating on the choices he’s made in the months following his “death”— namely, calling out the fact that he and Mary Morstan (Rochelle Aytes) have failed to reignite their romance, and branding Dr. Derian (Eve Harlow) as Watson’s “nemesis.” He really speaks for the audience on a lot of matters, and it makes Watson squirm. The mischievous element Carlyle brings to this interpretation of the character does leave you wondering if the next words out of his mouth might be “all magic comes with a price, dearie.” Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Sherlock Shakes Up on ‘Watson’ in More Than One Way
Sherlock’s return also gives Watson the opportunity to flip the script on its formula. While reacquainting himself with Watson’s life, Sherlock prompts him to talk about his day, which happens to have been quite the eventful one at the clinic. A patient came in with flu-like symptoms after returning from a trip to Siberia to examine a herd of woolly mammoth corpses recently exposed by global warming. The patient — Dr. Woodward — believes she encountered an infectious disease, which led to her rapidly declining health. Watson and the team set to work investigating the purported “zombie virus” and tracking down the members of her team, but it proves to be an easy task when they all turn up in the ER with similar symptoms.
The episode plays out mostly through these flashbacks as Watson regales Sherlock with his investigation, while he pokes and prods at Watson’s theories and the decisions he made leading up to their conversation. Watson sends Dr. Lubbock (IngaSchlingmann) and Stephens (Peter Mark Kendall) to retrieve samples of the woolly mammoth for testing, while he deals with a (rightfully) irate Dr. Derian who shows up to accuse him of contacting her psychiatrist. The conversation takes a turn when Mr. Mallory — one of the patients from the Siberian voyage — has a sudden heart attack and dies, leaving both Watson and Derian at risk of exposure to a deadly virus.
That fear is quickly put to rest when Watson realizes it isn’t actually an infectious disease afflicting the team, but rather a foodborne illness. Prior to leaving Siberia, the team ate a meal consisting of a meat stew and Irish soda bread, made with the baking soda that they took with them on the voyage. This revelation also means they’re no longer just trying to pinpoint the cause of their typhoid-fever-like symptoms, but also uncovering who murdered Mr. Mallory, since it’s unlikely that the illness was an accident.
At first, Watson is convinced that Dr. Woodward is the culprit. She had the most at stake with the mission — and openly spoke about how badly she needed the money from the research derived from the trek — and she had a sick brother who could have benefited from the cash flow that surviving a “zombie virus” could have provided. However, when he goes to accuse her, she’s struck down by a typhoid fever-fueled splenic abscess. Sherlock is also quick to poke holes in Watson’s accusation, which forces him to reconsider who might have been responsible for poisoning the team. With surprising ease, Watson shifts the blame from Woodward to Dr. Hermansen — a bright-eyed member of the team who idolized Dr. Woodward — and he folds relatively quickly under the weight of the accusation.
This Episode’s Subplot Speaks to ‘Watson’s Greatest Flaw
Watson and Sherlock’s reunion takes up the bulk of the episode, but there is a subplot threaded throughout Episode 2. While Lubbock and Stephens are checking out the woolly mammoth remains, her phone keeps pinging, which prompts an awkward dose of exposition. With very little tee-up, Lubbock reveals that she was adopted and was recently contacted by her biological uncle. Apparently, after Mary was reunited with her long-lost brother, it made her want to know more about her past — but it has proven to be a double-edged sword, because her uncle is overwhelming her with his messages. Like the audience, Stephens seems surprised by this lore drop, and Lubbock quickly shuts down further questioning because she doesn’t really want to talk about it.
The subplot isn’t necessarily a bad one, but Watson has never done well with naturally introducing storylines for the characters outside of Watson (and even then, some elements of his background were poorly introduced). Lubbock’s subplot in this episode speaks to a larger issue that has been ever-present throughout the run of the series: Watson is afraid of giving character development time to build naturally. Instead of introducing an idea and leaving the thread hanging for a few episodes, the series introduces and then resolves everything within a singular episode. The unclear time jumps between episodes also exacerbate this issue, leaving plotlines feeling truncated and haphazard. Rather than springing the fact that Lubbock is adopted in this episode, Watson should have included it in the previous episode, with her maybe sharing a moment with Mary after her familial revelation or mentioning it to Stephens. Here, it feels like an afterthought, compounded by the minor narrative tension of her being overwhelmed by the contact, only to jump at the opportunity to meet with her uncle in the final moments of the episode. No part of the subplot feels earned or emotionally satisfying.
Watson has such great characters — and incredible performers behind them — but the writing keeps cutting them off at the knees by delivering poorly formed character development. With Season 1, it felt like the series was uncertain about its future and desperately trying to throw everything at the wall while it still could, but there is no reason to still be approaching characters this way in its sophomore year. While Watson desperately wants to be this generation’s House (or even its creator’s own Elementary) it fails to understand how to create characters that exist beyond their buckshot plotlines.
It Seems Sherlock Is Already Out After One Episode
After making his amends with Dr. Woodward, Watson discovers that Sherlock has left a note in her notebook urging him to rehire Dr. Derian. He goes to the team with the decision — ensuring that Stephens and Adam are okay with this plan, given the fact that she nearly killed both of them — and everyone is surprisingly onboard with bringing her back on.
Later that day, Watson spots a bearded old man in the waiting room of the clinic, and after asking Shinwell (Ritchie Coster) if the man was there to see him, he seemingly vanishes. Confused, Watson searches for the man and follows him through the halls of the hospital, into a stairwell, and up into an abandoned area. The mysterious old man reveals himself as none other than Sherlock Holmes, playing a mischievous trick on Watson just like old times. After rambling a bit about all the wrongs in the world, Sherlock promises Watson a “third act surprise” before bidding adieu. While he does acknowledge that it is simply a “goodbye for now,” the way Watson has seemingly introduced and subsequently done away with Sherlock in a singular episode speaks to the larger issue afoot for the series.
New episodes of Watson premiere Mondays on CBS and the next day on the Paramount+ app. Season 1 is streaming now.
Watson
Sherlock Holmes is on Watson’s case.
- Release Date
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January 26, 2025
- Showrunner
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Craig Sweeny
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Morris Chestnut
Dr. John Watson
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Eve Harlow
Dr. Ingrid Derian
- While Episode 2 is a marked improvement from the premiere, it’s carried by strong performances, not strong writing.
- Watson continues to showcases its weakest elements, particularly where character development comes into play. It rushes through vital subplots for its cast of characters, which sets back the entire series.
