Morris Chestnut’s medical mystery series,Watson, set in the world of Sherlock Holmes, clearly has a lot of potential. The medical drama has been renewed for a second season, after a fairly successful first season. Season 1 ofWatsonended with the villain Moriarty dead. The series was creative withSir Arthur Conan Doyle’s canon, relying on Chestnut’s Watson, close confidant of a yet-to-be-seen and believed-to-be-dead Sherlock Holmes.Randall Parkplays the villain Moriarty, and with him out of the way now, could that be the last of the character we see?
Television has made it possible that characters are never quite dead. Except it’s inWesteros, of course. Flashbacks and hallucinations are some of the ways in whichdeceased characters can remaina fabric of a series as it progresses. TV Insider spoke withWatsonshowrunner and executive producerCraig Sweenyto discuss the possibility of Moriarty potentially haunting Watson, given that the doctor’s actions led to Moriarty’s death. Sweeny responded, “I definitely wouldn’t rule it out.” Adding, “I mean, definitely the act will haunt Watson, and you’d be a fool to say, I would never allow Randall Park to act in our show. I mean, I would love to see him again.”
TheWatsonSeason 1 finale was a beehive of activity within the clinic, with Moriaty’s deadly game ultimately seeing both twins Dr. Stephens and Dr. Adam Croft (PeterMarkKendall) poisoned, with help from Dr. Ingrid Derian (EveHarlow). However, Watson’s re-engineering ultimately cost the villain his life despite the attempt to save him. Thenot entirely shocking demise of Moriartywas not one planned from the onset, according to Sweeny, who explains, “We didn’t start the season going, ‘Oh, Moriarty is going to die at the end of the season.’ But we created this constellation of circumstances where no matter what happened, no matter what they did with him, even if they put him in a lockdown prison in Colorado where there’s no contact with anybody, he still has this trove of DNA somewhere that would allow him to do to essentially anybody in the world what he did to Adam and Stephens.” So, what was Watson’s thought process:
“I believe that Watson really approached that from a perspective of doing the least harm and even though it upended and that decision will have a lot of ramifications on the character going forward, I don’t think even given that he would change what he did because it was a question of, how do I minimize the damage from this situation?”
What’s New in ‘Watson’ Season 2?
AsWatsonheads into Season 2, it’d be important for the series to maintain strong ties with the source material. Speaking previously, Sweeny suggested thatSeason 2 would be “inventive” with its adaptationof Sherlock Holmes' lore. Looking ahead to the coming season, Sweeny reveals to TV Insider that audiences will likely meet a changed lead in Season 2, as Watson’s decision “really challenges his conception of who he is and what he’s capable of.” He goes on to add:
“I think you’ll see it particularly in the season premiere. We’re doing a lot of new narrative stuff in Season 2. It’s not all about looking back on what happened. But I think he does enter the season with a sense that I might not know myself as well as I thought I did, even though he probably wouldn’t do it differently. I think he’s really shaken and rattled by it and it’s affecting the way he’s dealing with the people around him.”
Season 1 ofWatsonis now streaming on Paramount+.
Source:TV Insider
