Watson Season 1 Episode 2 Review: Redcoat

On Watson Season 1 Episode 2, “Redcoat,” a man gets shot in the head in the opening scene. Somehow, this is the least of the issues he faces when it comes to his treatment.

You’d think his conviction that he’s a Scottish sniper from the revolutionary period would be a plausible symptom of his injury. But Watson soon realizes it’s an act that he’s pulling on everyone, including his devastated wife and young children.

The team realizes he believes he is dying of Huntington’s disease and has set up his own “murder” to get insurance money for his family. Now trapped in the lie, he attempts suicide again, is stopped by Watson, and begins having a major (and real) seizure.

In another case of initial misdiagnosis, he actually has a very treatable condition. But first the bullet must be removed from his brain by a renowned surgeon who has a fraught past with Ingrid. Tensions aside, the surgery is a success.

A happy ending for the family doesn’t mean everything’s perfect for our main characters. Shinwell is blackmailed by an assistant of Moriarty’s to swap Watson’s medicaton while Watson himself continues to pry into his ex-wife’s personal life.

With three weeks of hiatus between the first two episodes of the series, Watson has to work harder than most to establish dramatic patterns this early on. It does seem to be leaning heavily into an episodic format for the show.

Once again, we get guest characters who really become the center of the hour. Their plot is both emotionally and dramatically engaging, even if we have gotten endings that feel a little too good to be true for both of two subplots.

I still wish we had more central focus on the characters the show rests on, especially this early on. It still feels like we’re getting moments added onto the edge of the episodic plot when we could be spending a lot more time exploring their personal lives.

Fortunately, though what we get is limited, it’s fulfilling enough that we do learn a few important things about everyone. With the exception of a couple scenes of bonding, a lot of that seems to establish how much they struggle to get along.

Ingrid in particular seems to have tensions booth within the core group and in her past, as highlighted by the doctor she brings in to perform the surgery. Of course, as he blames her for turning him in for drunk driving, I’m not sure we can be too critical of her morals just yet.

I’m very interested to see where they go with Watson and his ex(?)-wife. It would be nice to see the dynamics between characters who care deeply for each other but acknowledge to themselves and us that they really won’t ever get back together.

And then there’s the continued presence of Moriarty—this time in name only—and his influence on Shinwell. What does he have on the main to have this much influence on him? Will that eventually make him an antagonist as well?

There are more welcome touches of the Holmesian canon, this time through a mention of the detective’s irregulars. We still have no suggestion of the man himself returning from the dead, but I’m still expecting that to come somewhere down the line.

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

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Watson airs Sundays at 9/8c on CBS.

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