Watson Season 2 Episode 15 Review: A Third Act Surprise

When we first meet Hollis on Watson Season 2 Episode 15, “A Third Act Surprise,” she’s giving the eulogy at her mother’s funeral. But a persistent cough worries Stephens enough to help discover her own devastating condition.

Upon diagnosis of a rare genetic disorder, her status deteriorates rapidly. The realization she was born via sperm donor and has 42 half sibling should be a godsend, but Watson realizes the fertility clinic’s own doctor was secretly, um, playing the system.

He kills himself when discovered but leaves behind a (somehow even creepier) twin brother. The two were competing for what they call immorality with their respective clinics. Harrison smugly offers his organ in exchange for immunity.

After a brief ray of hope consulting Harrison’s son, Watson and Lestrade reluctantly consent. Later, John tries to introduce her to Sherlock, who’s been offering advice on other cases. But when he brings the man into the room, nobody is there.

Meanwhile, our Croft twins talk about Adam’s expected triplets and their own legacy. He suggests Stephens’s own name for the boy, but Stephens decides to keep it for himself and Sasha—assuming they make it that far.

We might as well address the elephant in the room first. Much as I’d slowly been persuaded to the odds that Sherlock only appearing to Watson was a coincidence, this might still be one of the least shocking plot twists ever.

Especially in light of the show’s cancellation, it’s difficult to feel anything but disappointed and frustrated, because we probably won’t have time to fully unpack what this means for John on emotional and psychological levels.

It will be devastating if Sherlock is truly dead in this universe, but the impact of Watson imagining his best friend for months is even more relevant. We haven’t had much mention of his brain health since season one. This could turn that on its head.

I have no idea what to expect now for either John or Shinwell, who’s apparently still out there trying to track the detective down himself. I’m half expecting him to come back with the real Sherlock. If so, do we just laugh all this off?

The case of this week manages to be aggravating, too, even with a decidedly happy ending. Oliver and Harrison’s competition is just gross, and while the surviving twin faces plenty of consequences, he’s still only smug over winning. Ugh.

At least Hollis is someone we can root for. As Watson says, healing her is the most important win. And we do have a far more likeable set of twins ourselves. But I don’t like the potential trouble in paradise for Stephens and Sasha.

At this point, I don’t have too many wishes for the handful of episodes we have lift. I’d like to see Adam and Lauren’s triplets be born. If everyone else can just make it to the end of the series with their happiness and sanity intact, I’ll take it.

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Watson airs Sundays at 10/9c on CBS.

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