Watson Season 1 recap, Watson Season 2: The only Watson Season 1 recap you need before the second chapter premieres this October

CBS’s Watson brings popular characters created by Arthur Conan Doyle in his Sherlock Holmes stories. The TV series follows Dr. John Watson (Morris Chestnut). After a year of Sherlock Holmes’ death, John opens up a clinic named Holmes Clinic in Pittsburgh, where he treats his patients with the deductive investigation skills that he learned from working with the popular detective.

The series premiered in January 2025 and depicted John working with his patients and trying to save their lives by finding out the causes of their illness through his investigative techniques. One of the most important parts of the season was the villainous Moriarty, who had been plotting a devious plan from the beginning.

However, John was successful in saving the day, and season 1 ended with Moriarty’s death. Let’s take a look at what happened in Season 1 before the premiere of Season 2 in October.

Watson Season 1 recap

1) John opens a clinic

Morris Chestnut in Watson | Image via Instagram: watsoncbs

Sherlock Holmes’s funded clinic becomes John's new purpose in life as he and his team begin taking patients in Holmes Clinic. However, John's methods of treatment differ from the usual treatments as he tries to find clues through his exceptional investigative skills.

There are also times when John violates the rules and regulations to treat the patients, which sometimes raises questions about his methods. For instance, when he hired a researcher to create a non-FDA-approved method of treatment to use a patient’s bone marrow to replace her cells that made her sick. However, even with sometimes aggressive methods, John saved numerous patients in Season 1.

2) Moriarty’s plan affects John's personal and professional life

Randall Park and Morris Chestnut in Watson | Image via Instagram: watsoncbs

After being the reason behind Sherlock Holmes’s death, Moriarty returns to create chaos in John's life. He instructs Shinwell to change John's pills. This results in John hallucinating about Sherlock and Moriarty, and he needs another brain surgery.

Through Shinwell’s help, Moriarty swaps and returns John's pills a couple of times, which affects his sanity. At one time, it also results in him keeping himself away from his patients as he learns that he cannot be trusted with them in his condition, until he discovers that his pills were swapped in the later episodes.

3) Shinwell Johnson changes sides

Ritchie Coster in Watson | Image via Instagram: watsoncbs

The former criminal plays a crucial role in Season 1 of the CBS series. While he proves his worth numerous times, his loyalty to John had been questionable at the beginning of the series. He was the one who swapped John’s pills due to Moriarty’s orders.

While he felt guilty carrying out Moriarty’s bidding against John, he still continued to do it several times. However, in the end, he changes sides and confesses to the doctor of helping Moriarty. His decision to hand over fake DNA samples to the villain also depicts his change of side from Moriarty to John.

In the finale episode, Shinwell tries to redeem himself by promising Moriarty’s agent, Hannah, that her ailing daughter will be provided with treatment from the clinic if she tells him about Moriarty’s lab.

5) Ingrid’s action becomes Moriarty’s fall

Eve Harlow in Watson | Image via Instagram: watsoncbs

Other than Shinwell, Ingrid was also one of the pawns of Moriarty. Ingrid had been a questionable character due to her mysterious past. The antagonist lures her into his schemings by telling her he will help her search for her true self. She even destroys research samples in John’s lab, which ultimately threatens the lives of the Croft twins.

However, in the finale of Season 1, Ingrid infects Moriarty with the same virus that he had infected Adam and Stephens with, resulting in him suffering from the same symptoms that ultimately take his life. However, she still leaves the clinic at the end, as no one now trusts her enough to work with her.

In Season 2, John will surely treat several other patients, but now also has to deal with his own guilt of being responsible for Moriarty’s death. In the finale, he let Moriarty die of a stroke intentionally, as he knew his being alive would endanger more lives.