CBS's Watson once gave John a life after Sherlock—and it weirdly worked

Dr. John Watson is usualy viewed as a loyal companion, who is always one step behind Sherlock Holmes in his tweed sidekick mode with revolver and notebook ready. However, what happens to a character whose essence is built on another when the center of gravity is removed? CBS turned this question into an experimental television twist by reimagining John as someone who does not only survive through Sherlock’s legend but finally comes into his own.

Titled simply Watson, the procedural drama premiered in early 2025 and quickly positioned itself as more than just another modernized Holmes adaptation. While countless TV shows and films have milked the Sherlock formula—from brilliant deduction sequences to shadowy archvillains—the show dared to zoom in on the quieter question: What does a life in the shadow of genius look like once the genius is gone?

The idea sounded risky on paper. Diminishing Sherlocks usual thunder could easily freeze an audience. Instead, tight plotting and Morris Chestnuts grounded turn breathed warmth into the hour. Week by week, personal stakes tangled with the case at hand and the show quietly claimed an identity all its own.

Watson without Holmes: A risk that paid off

Watson on CBS begins not with pipe smoke or sleuthing spectacle but with absence. No tricks, no secret returns—Sherlock Holmes is dead. The show uses this finality as the base to build Watson’s new world around it. Now distanced from the limelight, he resorts to medicine and runs a clinic specializing in rare diseases. However, mysteries keep finding him and his past with Holmes still haunts, inspires and complicates his life.

What I found to be compelling about the show is that it was able to change the position of John from being a substitute for Sherlock to someone who wants to create meaning apart from him. This perspective changes subtly but significantly. The investigations are still thrilling, however, they are viewed through the lens of subjective risks, ethical dilemmas and a lead character that is an imperfect sleuth and more like a person fitting into a new picture

Old names, new faces: Reinventing Holmesian lore

Watson’s focus is on the titular character; however, the show does not disregard its origins. Moreover, characters like Moriarty and Mrs. Hudson are recognizable—though in ways that can feel strange as if they have been taken and reshaped in a world without Sherlock as its foundation. It isn’t just about pleasing fans of the series but a thoughtful re-creation. The first season is a clever game of expectations where viewers might think that they know what to expect only to be thrown off course unexpectedly

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The writers dont shy away from messy intimacy, so fresh arrivals like Ingrid,r plus the wordless pull between twin brothers Adam and Stephens, keep getting revisited. The story lines drift farther from neat, last-act wrap-ups than any episodic police drama ever could. The show pushes John forward, forcing viewers to reckon with the debris of legend and the private choices that follow once the curtain drops

CBS's take was different – it wasn’t an instant pop-culture phenomenon like Ritchie’s movies or the BBC’s Sherlock, but it did something none of those dared – it made the story about John. Not a synonym, not an accessory, but the hero. And from that twist, one of the best, most normal, most relatable standalone characters in genre history emerged, and it made some form of sense.

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