Editor’s Note: The recap below contains spoilers for Watson Season 2 Episode 1.Five months ago, Watson ended a frustratingly lackluster freshman season on a resounding low note as it rushed to kill off Moriarty (Randall Park) and pair the titular Watson (Morris Chestnut) with a brand-new paramour, despite the sizzling chemistry he shares with his ex-wife Mary Morstan (Rochelle Aytes). The series’ Season 2 premiere is much of the same brand of predictability, laced with an overreliance on its audience to know the Sherlockian rules it’s playing by. The premiere is a very run-of-the-mill episode that doesn’t do anything particularly unique to re-engage its audience. However, Watson’s tag — featuring a perfectly cast Robert Carlyle as Sherlock Holmes — delivers the jolt of excitement that the series has been long overdue for, despite the buoy of Chestnut’s endless charm keeping it afloat.
As with the previous season, “A Son in the Oven” follows the same episodic formula. It opens on the patient-of-the-week who, this time, happens to be Morstan’s mother, Elizabeth (Juanita Jennings), who falls ill while baking in her kitchen. With a single call, Watson and his fellows at the University Hospital of Pittsburgh spring into action to try to diagnose Mrs. Morstan’s mystery illness before the clock runs out. This sequence provides the series with an opportunity to reintroduce the cast to the audience — and also give a glimpse into what we’ve missed between the season finale and premiere. Watson and Dr. Laila Bynum (Tika Sumpter) are still happily together and sharing a romantic evening when Morstan calls. Dr. Sasha Lubbock (Inga Schlingmann) and Dr. Stephens Croft (Peter Mark Kendall) are tucked into bed with a set of pink handcuffs in tow. Shinwell Johnson (Ritchie Coster) has been given another chance at proving himself to Watson.
‘Watson’s Blossoming Relationships Have Thorny Plots
While it is a relief to see that Watson is following through with Lubbock and Adam, it remains unclear if the series intends to commit to actually developing and fleshing out their relationship beyond its current surface-level approach. As Season 1 showcased, Lubbock and Adam have the potential to become the Angela and Hodgins of a new generation of Network TV fans — but only if the relationship is given the tools for success. Between her failed engagement and Adam’s situation with the camgirl, Watson speed-ran through a lot of crucial moments for the couple, and failed to stick the landing with Adam’s near-death experience in the finale. The premiere may offer a glimpse into what their relationship looks like now, but it’s all tell with very little show.
Watson and Laila pose the same dilemma for the series. Since her introduction in the two-part finale, Laila has existed solely to tell audiences that Watson is moving on and letting go of his lingering feelings for Marston. Of course, this doesn’t appear to be the case, but the writing makes it unclear if that is even intentional. For all intents and purposes, Watson has moved on. He and Laila have been together for two months, and they seem happy (though the series hasn’t really given Laila any more dimension beyond being a love interest), and yet he still answers Marston’s call while they’re naked and enjoying a night in together. The mixed messaging makes for great pulpy television drama — especially if a Watson/Marston reunification is on the horizon — but the series seems unwilling to commit to the bit.
‘Watson’s Season 2 Premiere Is a Half-Baked Mystery
When Watson and the fellows converge on UHOP, Mary’s mother’s condition appears to be relatively stable. Lubbock and Adam jump to work trying to unravel the mystery at the hospital, while Adam (Kendall) heads to her house to break down the door (with some helpful advice from Shinwell) to piece together what led up to her episode. At first, they believe she accidentally poisoned herself with cyanide with her homemade cherry extract; however, once Watson enters Mrs. Marston’s room, it becomes apparent that her condition is far worse than any of them expected. She doesn’t recognize her former son-in-law at all. A worrying sign, considering the copious amounts of notes she has stuck around the house, indicating a cognitive decline.
The episode quickly jumps ahead to two weeks later, with Watson and the fellows working to solve why Mrs. Marston’s apparent dementia has come on so suddenly. Her symptoms are compounded by the fact that she believes that she is twenty-five years old, rather than seventy-two. The fellows lament over the fact that they’re down a member — particularly one who understands neurology, which is the first hint at the impact of Dr. Derian’s (Eve Hollow) abrupt (and overdue) departure in the season finale. Watson empowers Lubbock and Stephens to find a replacement, but Watson has rejected every candidate they’ve placed on his desk.
While attempting to rule out Lewy body dementia, Watson begins to piece together little details that Mrs. Marston mentions along the way. At one point, she believes that she is pregnant with a son, and at another point, she off-handedly mentions a “Miles.” Once Watson discovers that Mrs. Marston is in dire need of a liver transplant — and Mary is ruled out as her only living donor — her comments take shape into something much larger. Watson discovers that Mrs. Marston and her late husband had a son before Mary was born, and they gave him up for adoption. He locates Miles (Khary Payton) at his nearby bakery, and springs the revelation on the long-lost siblings in a very awkward fashion.
Understandably, Miles is reluctant to donate a piece of his liver to a woman he never knew; however, his stance quickly changes once he realizes he knows Elizabeth. She’s the kind older woman who has come into his bakery every day since he opened it, and insisted he keep the business running when he had doubts. While this plot point tugs at the heartstrings — especially when Elizabeth recovers and gets to meet the grandchildren she never knew — it feels trite, and far too predictable. There’s also an uncomfortable element to this discovery, given the fact that a major plot point last season was about Mary’s miscarriage while she was with Watson. What’s frustrating is that the series will likely never examine how it might feel for Mary to suddenly go from being an only child to the younger childless sister.
‘Watson’ Returns, but at What Cost?
Toward the latter half of the episode, Lubbock and Stephens devise a plan to bring Derian back into the fold by mixing her application into the next round of candidates for Watson to consider. Derian is trying to get her life back on track after nearly killing off Stephens and Adam to keep her secrets from being exposed, and that includes getting help and going bottle blonde. But, fear not. Watson has a good excuse for why they spent an entire season showcasing Derian as a wildly inconsistent character.
While attending a group therapy session, Derian admits that she has Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD), which seems to be the series’ explanation for why she has been so prickly and self-sabotaging. Whether or not the series is capable of handling such a weighty diagnosis has yet to be seen. Watson has delivered well-researched and intriguing medical maladies episode after episode, so hopefully Derian’s diagnosis will become more than just an excuse for disjointed writing.
Watson remains a series with a lot of potential — especially considering how excellent the cast is — but the premiere lacks any indication that the series has learned from the flaws of its freshman year. Perhaps, with Sherlock back in Watson’s life, the series will be able to reach new levels and rise above the rut it’s been stuck in. After all, Craig Sweeney was the mastermind behind Elementary, which proved to be a delightful reimagining of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s characters.
New episodes of Watson premiere Sundays on CBS and the next day on the Paramount+ app. Season 1 is streaming now.
- Release Date
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January 26, 2025
- Showrunner
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Craig Sweeny
- Directors
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Larry Teng, Bille Woodruff, Jeffrey W. Byrd, Jennifer Lynch, Kristin Lehman, Mario Van Peebles, Ron Underwood, Tara Nicole Weyr, Christine Moore, Clara Aranovich
- Writers
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Craig Sweeny, Jason Inman, Charly Evon Simpson, Shardé Miller, Anna Mackey
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Morris Chestnut
Dr. John Watson
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Eve Harlow
Dr. Ingrid Derian
Pros & Cons
- Morris Chestnut and Watson’s ensemble cast are excellent, but they’re hindered by the meandering script.
- Watson’s Season 2 premiere feels like a mid-season episode, with a two-second tag to hook audiences into coming back next week.
- While the plotline tugs at the heartstrings, this week’s medical case was too predictable and heavy-handed with his implementation.
- Watson struggles with creating compelling relationships that go beyond the superficial.
