Spoilers forward for the Season 1 finale of Watson on CBS, referred to as “My Life’s Work, Half 2” and accessible streaming now with a Paramount+ subscription.
The primary season of Watson has come to an finish within the 2025 TV schedule, and the ultimate couple of minutes of “My Life’s Work, Half 2” left me happier than ever that Morris Chestnut’s freshman drama was renewed for Season 2 early. Not solely did the workforce handle to avoid wasting each Croft twins, however John assured that Moriarty will not have the ability to use his twisted DNA science in opposition to one other individual ever once more… by letting him die.
However is Randall Park’s character – THE James Moriarty – actually gone for good? I requested showrunner Craig Sweeny that very query, and he cleared the air.
Watson’s Large Moriarty Twist
Usually, it might appear odd to marvel if a personality who died on digital camera is definitely actually, actually, 100% lifeless, however Watson did begin with Moriarty presumably lifeless after going over a waterfall, solely to disclose that he was nonetheless alive in spite of everything. The person had a knack for surviving and coming again with a vengeance, even blackmailing Ingrid and Shinwell to his trigger. Effectively, that proved to be his downfall, with John discovering a approach to flip his personal DNA expertise in opposition to Moriarty, prompting Moriarty to blindly stumble into the hospital for therapy.
And Watson, being Watson, after all handled the massive unhealthy of the sequence in alternate for the means to avoid wasting Stephens, and the finale appeared like it might finish with all people dwelling: the little lady with most cancers, Stephens (with a kiss from Sasha in addition), and Moriarty, presumably surviving to vanish after which come again with one other lethal plot to wreak havoc on John’s life in Season 2 and past.
Plot twist! John was savvy sufficient to stop that from taking place, though fixing an issue like Moriarty required breaking an oath. The nice physician saved his enemy from the rising blindness, however not from the consequences that left him on the verge of stroking out and dying. Moriarty’s ultimate blow was to take his secrets and techniques with him to the grave, however Watson did certainly simply sit by his bedside and watch him die. The person who was arrange as the massive villain of Watson was lifeless by the tip of the primary season.
Craig Sweeny Set The File Straight
In the event you’re something like me, even seeing Moriarty’s life drain away did not make you 100% assured that the person who had faked his loss of life as soon as and was based mostly on such an notorious Arthur Conan Doyle villain was actually gone for good. In any case, the showrunner had solely nice issues to say about what went into casting Randall Park as Moriarty. Fortunately, once I spoke with creator/showrunner Craig Sweeny, he unambiguously stated “Sure” when requested if that basically was the loss of life of Moriarty.
Once I famous that it might be tougher to faux a loss of life in a hospital versus falling over a waterfall, Sweeny responded:
With the world’s most sensible physician proper in entrance of you rather than handed out! No, it isn’t one the place I wish to be cagey. I feel the character of Moriarty, the issues he is accomplished and issues he brought about Watson to do will proceed to hover over the present, however that’s the conclusion of his time as a human on this planet.
With Watson as a reasonably grounded present and Sweeny not desirous to be “cagey,” I feel even essentially the most paranoid viewers need not suspect that the EP’s phrasing of Moriarty’s “time as a human on this planet” is a clue that he is coming again as a ghost! In all seriousness, the finale already ended with some clues in regards to the aftermath of Moriarty’s plot.
For one, I doubt that John placing the entire Moriarty notes in a field below a mattress is an indication that the case is closed for good, and he was pondering that polo shirt. Plus, Ingrid serving to Moriarty practically led to Stephens’ loss of life. Whereas he forgave her, he additionally informed her that he could not work along with her anymore and she or he wanted to go away.
We’ll have to attend till Season 2 in midseason subsequent yr to see for ourselves, however Craig Sweeny confirmed that John’s choice to let a affected person die – though that affected person was Moriarty – goes to stay with him. He stated:
It goes in opposition to his each intuition as a health care provider. Ideally, we created form of the proper confluence of circumstances the place he may see this as nothing however the proper alternative, based totally on the DNA that Moriarty already had and the truth that he may do to anybody on this planet, basically what he had simply accomplished to the twins. It was nearly extra [that] the one approach to put that toothpaste again within the tube was to do what Watson did.
Watson ran down a listing of ways in which Moriarty had wronged him personally, brought about hurt to others, and would have the potential to kill much more folks if allowed to stay, so he definitely did not come to the choice frivolously. Nonetheless, he did appear to relish Moriarty’s loss of life to a sure diploma.
Positive, we as followers can vicariously cheer John on as he informs Moriarty that his imaginative and prescient has been restored simply sufficient that his would be the final face that the unhealthy man ever sees, however that does not imply the character can shake it off so simply in the long term. Sweeny went on:
I can definitely make the argument for it as the pinnacle author within the universe, however I feel Watson isn’t fully snug with the choice. It undoubtedly could have ramifications. It should trigger him to query his personal perception in who he’s, which is a superb, fruitful place as a author to start out interested by a personality arc for a second season.
It appears unlikely that letting Moriarty die is the start of an arc of Watson persevering with to cross moral strains each time handy. Once I talked about that there wasn’t actually a “do no hurt” state of affairs for Watson when the alternatives had been to let a person die or let that man stay to go on and commit atrocities, Craig Sweeny responded:
Hopefully! If that is what you had been getting, then that makes me really feel good, as a result of that is what we had been attempting to create.
So, when can followers anticipate the physician/detective drama to return to CBS for Season 2? Effectively, the excellent news is that Watson‘s subsequent season is not being pushed again a yr like Matthew Grey Gubler’s Einstein, however the community’s latest schedule reveal confirmed that Watson will premiere in midseason but once more.
Which means that Morris Chesnut and Co. will not be again till early 2026, and can swap to the ten p.m. ET time slot on CBS Sundays, previously occupied by Queen Latifah’s The Equalizer previous to its cancellation. Within the meantime, you possibly can all the time revisit the complete first season streaming on Paramount+.