Watson Season 1 Episode 1 Review: Watson

Watson Season 1 Episode 1, “Watson,” is neither the first modern Sherlock Holmes adaptation  nor the first to star Sherlock’s partner instead of the man himself. These origins are embraced with plenty of the lore created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

After suffering a brain injury while following Homes and Moriarty over the Reichenbach Falls, Watson recovers to find (from Shinwell!) that his partner has left him the funds to start a clinic studying and solving unusual medical cases.

Over six months in Pittsburgh, he assembles a team of expert doctors with an waiting list of unusual cases. But in the manner of dramatic television, a pregnant young woman who starts having unusual visions she attributes to fatal familiar insomnia jumps to the top of the list.

Erika’s self-diagnosis is dismissed relatively quickly, replaced instead by the question of which apparently hereditary condition could be passed down an unclear bloodline—both to her and to her cousin, Autumn.

Tumultuous and alarming symptoms eventually reveal the two are actually half-sisters. Their treatment should be simple, but Autumn still requires life-saving surgery before both begin to recover, Erika planning to safely deliver her baby.

Along the way, we spend some time unpacking Watson’s trauma and getting to know some of the other people in his world. But the biggest twist again stems from literary roots, as we meet James Moriarty in the pilot’s closing scenes.

There’s a lot packed into this hour. While it’s engaging and enjoyable, the biggest initial criticism is that our chance to get to know most of the characters is slidelined for both Holmesian in-jokes and the episodic medical case.

We do get a quite a few tidbits thrown at us, but for everyone except Watson himself, they come too quickly and randomly to keep good track of. Pilots typically lean heavily into establishing the cast and their dynamics with each other, so I hope we see more soon.

Still, between the writing and acting, I’m happy to tune back in for the chance. There are glimmers of both humor and tension, particularly between Watson and Ingrid, who acts as his own medical consultant while he recovers physically and mentally.

The case of Erika and Autumn is also interesting. It’s always a good sign to see a show be able to flesh out those characters that appear for only one episodes, and while that’s played up a bit much in this instance, it signals other such intense cases are waiting in the wings.

As for those nods to Doyle’s original characters and tropes, they’re the biggest tool thus far in helping this particular modern adaptation separate itself from its peers. There’s Shinwell, of course, plus a robot named Clyde and Mary as Watson’s ex-wife who has a new girlfriend

And then there’s Moriarty, already a unique figure in both in his portrayal and the timing of his introduction. I don’t know what to make of him yet, but he does suggest that the typical “Sherlock is actually alive” twist is already well in the works.

A promo for the rest of the series promises that he’ll be a villain to get involved in everyone’s lives. Hopefully it also means we’ll get a chance to know everyone better soon– though not for three weeks, thanks to an early Super Bowl-induced hiatus.

 

What did you think of this episode of Watson? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Watson airs Sundays at 10/9c  on CBS.

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