Watson Season 1 Episode 9 Review: Take a Family History

We finally get a deep dive into a character’s past on Watson Season 1 Episode 9, “Take a Family History.” The backstory of Ingrid and her sister is tragic, but the most shocking secret she holds comes in the final scenes.

In flashbacks, a young Ingrid, going by “Didi,” rushes into the hospital with her sister Gigi. Their father explains only that she experienced a fall that immobilized her. Didi desperately pleads with several doctors—including a younger Mary—to perform surgery.

When the unauthorized procedure is discovered, it’s shut down, leaving Gigi paralyzed. She admits her father, who abuses both girls, caused the fall that led to her injury. All this leads to present-day Ingrid’s work defying all rules to try to find a cure for her sister.

Her rash and secretive actions are partially to blame for the circumstances that cause Gigi to experience debilitating pain and become critically ill. Both John and Mary eventually work out the truth, and Dr. Morstan is shocked she hasn’t recognized Ingrid before.

Once the truth comes out, Watson is able to find a successful treatment. Mary lets Gigi stay in the trial but orders Ingrid to leave the clinic within two months. We end on another flashback, revealing she killed her own father to avenge her sister.

It took us a good chunk of the first season to get here, but this is the kind of character exposition I’ve been waiting for, and it sure seems to be making up for lost time. As the few hints we’ve gotten suggested, Ingrid has one heck of a past.

Teenage Didi is easy to empathize with. Even all these years ago, she’s her sister’s only real protector, desperately trying to stand up for Gigi’s dream of being a dancer even as the reality of her situation presses down upon her.

Realistically, it’s a bit of a stretch to have her run into Mary, especially since they’ve only just seemed to recognize each other in the present, but it definitely hypes up both the intrigue and the personal impact of the situation.

Things get a little messier when it comes to how Ingrid is handling the situation now. Her choices are certainly understandable, but she made them knowing the consequences. It makes it more difficult to relate to her seeing herself as a victim.

While it’s possible that she will indeed depart the show, leaving a character slot open for season 2, it seems far more likely the team will manage to work something out. I just hope everyone’s positions will be treated fairly if that happens.

Of course, none of that accounts for the fact that she’s technically a murderer. There are no tears to be shed for a man who abused his children and permanently disabled one of them, but the law is the law. Now that we know about this, we know it’ll come out eventually.

The cases at the center of each episode have always been gripping, but that emotion has often been reserved for people we only see once. I hope we get more episodes like this one for everyone else as the season winds down—though hopefully with a touch less murder.

 

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Watson airs Sunday at 9/8c on CBS.

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