Watson
Episode 1 of Watson starts with us jetting off to the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland. There, our titular character Dr. John Watson rushes through the trees where he finds Sherlock in a scuffle with Moriarty. Several gunshots go off, leading to the pair tumbling into the rushing water. Although Watson dives in to try and help his friend, he ends up tumbling over the edge, sporting a bloody head and a concussion.
Thankfully he’s found and brought to the hospital, where he’s looked over by a man called Shinwell Johnson. He reveals the bad news that Holmes has passed away and Moriarty is lost, presumably dead too. However, it turns out Holmes was actually loaded and had a fortune. He had a vision of Watson going back to medicine again and practicing.
Along with a brand new clinic, Watson is also given his own pick of medics to work alongside, and Johnson is being paid to be Watson’s right-hand man and confidant through all of this. So I guess it’s time to check in to the Holmes Clinic.
Fast forward six months and Holmes is running his clinic after recovering. Here, Watson is joined by his comrades, the nerdy Dr Sasha Lubbock, who was adopted after living in China and brought into a wealthy family before working her butt off to make it in medical school.
There’s also computer whizz Dr Adam Croft and his brother, Stephens. They have identical DNA and the same background. Oh and Adam is also obsessed with eggs too.
There’s also Dr Ingrid Derian, who’s apparently the best neurologist in the state and works closely with Watson and the team.
Now, Watson is still suffering from amnesia and can’t remember the weeks leading up to his accident in Switzerland. He is starting to remember more about Moriarty though, including that his two fingers have been fused into the M shape.
His latest patient happens to be someone called Erika Filipello, whose vision is obscured and she keeps seeing bizarre fragments in her mind’s eye, as if she’s dreaming while awake. Well, that may not be that far from the truth given there’s a familial history of fatal insomnia and she hasn’t been sleeping for a while now. In fact, since being admitted to hospital, she hasn’t slept a wink.
Watson shows up to see Erika, who’s erratic and convinced that she has FFI. Given she’s also 23 weeks pregnant, she doesn’t want her child to die, and pleads with Watson to keep her alive until she gives birth.
The gang get to work coming up with a proper diagnosis, with all the doctors gathered to discuss the symptoms. It would appear the family have a 50/50 chance of actually passing on FFI and along with doing some research on her father, Watson eventually discovers that Erika does not have FFI. So what’s going on with her?
While he’s talking to Erika, he explains the choice he made back in London and how he chose Sherlock over his partner, Dr. Mary Morstan. The thing is, she happens to be outside the door, having checked his office and seen the work they’re currently doing. There’s no getting back with Mary though, as she’s moved on and is currently living with her new partner.
When Erika awakens the next morning, she finds that her vision has gone completely and she’s blind. It would appear, given the sores around her mouth, that she may well have angular cheilitis. Dr Lubbock believes she needs a bone marrow transplant as a result. The only match though could well be his brother, Damon Filipello. The guy hasn’t been seen for a while so Watson decides to get Gregson to help. For those unfamiliar with the Sherlock universe, this is an Inspector over at Scotland Yard.
Damon is brought in for a bone barrow transplant… but there’s a problem. Turns out Autumn, Erika’s cousin, is also sick. The rest of the gang bring her in but they treat this as a possible infection and take precautions accordingly.
It doesn’t take long before they figure out that Autumn has something called Songbird Fever. Erika though? She doesn’t. With Autumn struggling and becoming resistance to antibiotics, Watson realizes he needs to try and get to the bottom of this mystery.
Through all of this, Watson continues to suffer from flashes and struggles to keep it together. He’s got a whole cocktail of pills he’s taking to keep his symptoms under control. It does the trick and Watson eventually discusses their current case with the team to figure it all out.
It would appear that we’re looking at two inherited diseases. One is called Two-three syndactyly and the other, orbital hypertelorism. These two traits have flowed down from Erika to her brother Damon and then eventually Autumn. The biggest revelation here though is that Erika and Autumn aren’t just cousins… they’re also half-sisters too.
This helps to find a solution and treatment is run on them both. However, Watson needs to figure out his own past and find a purpose going forward.
As the episode closes out, we learn that Moriarty is actually still alive, having survived the fall, and he speaks to Shinwell inside a cable car. Shinwell hands over a briefcase of samples the good doctor wants, and leaves him to it.
The Episode Review
A poor remake of House M.D. mixed in with Sherlock lore was not on our 2025 bingo card but there we have it, another modern remake for a modern audience. Watson is not just a carbon copy though, it’s also poorly written.
The case itself is fine and drives the narrative forward, but we also get clunky exposition throughout. The big information dump with Adam talking about the gang and who they all are feels super forced, while the mystery surrounding Watson’s past is nowhere near strong enough to drive this story forward.
What’s even more disappointing is that this show comes out right on the heels of Brilliant Minds, which at least had a slightly original spin on the same concept of House. Here, the show doesn’t even disguise where its got its ideas from.
Minus the sarcasm and quick with that House is infamous for, the episode features a mysterious case, the gang all discussing this round a table and using both textbooks and whiteboards to try and figure it out. Furthermore, we also have our lead dependent on pills to help the symptoms, and the side-kick friend from the past too.
If this is a sign of things to come, Watson is in for a rough ride. It’s unashamedly unoriginal and doesn’t do a particularly good job in bringing us into this world. And note to the show creators – using trademark Sherlock quotes like “Elementary” and “the game is afoot” is super cringe-worthy, please stop doing that.
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