Watson Season 1 Episode 7 Review: Teeth Marks

A woman named Ginny walks into the ER with a stab wound on Watson Season 1 Episode 7, “Teeth Marks.” Within the hour, she’s already forgotten why she’s there many times.

She’s understandably panicked about the situation. The rate at which she must try and remind herself of as much as she can alone is exhausting. She’s pushed to recruit Watson by holding Shinwell at gunpoint (or at least broken glass-point)

Soon, she’s yelling about something within her body trying to get out. When John takes that seriously, he’s able to diagnose her with a tumor—one with teeth that are indeed cutting her from the inside. A simple surgery restores her health.

While she’s being cured, our main characters spend the same period going off the rails. The tensions from earlier episodes are now growing between everyone. Mary’s revelation that she lost a baby while Watson was away is the least of it.

Just ask Lloyd, a pharmacist who mysteriously commits suicide while seemingly taking the blame for Shinwell’s switching of Watson’s pills. Or Ingrid, who is digitally stalked by a stranger who winds up being Moriarty, leading to a wild confrontation.

The good news is that we’re moving in the right direction with the balance of episodic plots and ongoing character arcs. The bad news, at least for our nerves, is that those character arcs are so crazy that they’re literally getting people killed.

Ginny’s case is portrayed very well. We feel considerable anxiety just from trying to figure out how handling such a situation is even possible. A memory that resets every day or so is stressful but workable. How do you work with one that reverts so quickly?

When we do find a solution, she’s almost too nonchalant. Yes, by the time a diagnosis is found, she’s so desperate for relief that she’ll take anything, but a tumor with a circle of (human!) teeth would sit with me a lot longer if I were in her shoes.

It’s only part of the reason this may be the most intense episode we’ve gotten yet. Because of the chaos, Mary’s plot feels a bit shoehorned in. I’m sure we’ll explore her losing a baby more soon, but I wish we’d introduced it when we had time to sit with it.

No time to dwell, though. The two most climactic scenes in this episode are flat-out alarming. When Lloyd first walks into a room to confront John and Shinwell, we think he might just be having a breakdown. Instead, he’s poisoning himself to death.

Of course there’s backstory. One directly involving both Shinwell and Moriarty’s increasingly familiar henchpeople. But this level of influence is something new. Why take some of the pressure off Shinwell in such a horrific way? What does it mean for him?

Then there’s Moriarty himself. He shows his hand by getting into Ingrid’s head; enough that John now realizes he’s alive. But he’s getting into our heads, too. He only hints at the dark secret about her parents that she’s hiding. What in the world does that mean?

---

What did you think of this episode of Watson? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget to leave your own rating!

Critic Rating:

Audience Rating:

 

Watson airs Sundays at 9/8c on CBS.

Check out our latest TV recommendations, updated weekly!

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!