Critic’s Rating: 4 / 5.0
4
Watson Season 2 Episode 14 asked an important question: what happens when Watson can’t help someone who has been in pain all their life?
“Wrongful Life” was about a depressed teenager who couldn’t take any more pain and lashed out at Watson because of it.
However, a disturbing subtext was not really addressed, which made the episode somewhat weaker than it should have been.
(Colin Bentley/CBS )
Kayden Kept Saying He Shouldn’t Exist, And That Should Have Been a Huge Red Flag
Kayden’s distress throughout Watson Season 2 Episode 14 was understandable.
This was a kid who had never known anything but hospitals, pain, and treatment after treatment that came with promises that this would all end soon, but it never did.
However, his behavior with Watson after his latest health issue was more than erratic — it suggested that he might want to take his own life.
He kept saying it would be better if he had never existed, and there is only a short step from there to the idea that he should end his pain and suffering right here and now.
(Sergei Bachlakov/CBS )
Watson Season 2 Episode 14 probably didn’t want to delve too deeply into that because it would have taken the story in an even darker direction than the writers planned.
Still, it seemed strange to me that this kid was saying over and over that he didn’t want to exist, yet nobody evaluated his suicide risk or seemed seriously concerned that he might try to hurt himself, not even after he said he was refusing the latest surgery because his “life wasn’t worth saving” and told everyone to leave the room.
If that wasn’t a gigantic red flag that this kid was suicidal, I don’t know what would be, and it seemed irresponsible not to respond to that in a stronger manner than Stephens suggesting Watson listen more and talk less.
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Watson did ultimately get through to Kayden by being more empathetic and apologizing, but that still doesn’t erase the fact that there was a safety issue here that was never addressed.
Also, The Beginning of Watson Season 2 Episode 14 Was Confusing
(Sergei Bachlakov/CBS )
The flashback to everybody’s first day felt like a repeat of the pilot, so much so that at first I wondered if I’d stayed up late for a rerun.
It wasn’t clear until later why we spent so much time on the fellows’ first day, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who was confused — if you were too, let me know in the comments!
Good job giving Ingrid back her black hair and making Watson look slightly younger to let us know that this took place in the past, though.
In retrospect, now that the whole story has unfolded, those flashbacks were important.
They explained why Kayden was in so much distress and why Watson was so determined to help him, although that wasn’t clear until later in the hour.
(Sergei Bachlakov/CBS)
Kayden and His Mother Blaming Watson For His Distress Got Old Fast
I did think Watson was remiss in a few respects, but he certainly didn’t deserve all the blame for Kayden’s condition, and the idea that encouraging a patient not to give up somehow ruined his life was ridiculous.
My biggest issue was with the cold open. Kayden was happy and excited until a rod in his back broke, at which point he called Watson a liar for saying he wouldn’t need more surgeries.
Did Kayden’s blaming Watson seem fair to you?
Let us know in the comments, and don’t forget to share this article with your Watson-loving friends.
In my (non-medical) opinion, Kayden should have been told the risks from the start — no doctor can promise that a surgery will be 100% effective and that nothing can go wrong, and if Kayden knew “I’m done unless a rod breaks,” then the rod breaking wouldn’t be such a shock.
It also seemed strange that Watson never realized before that the bones didn’t actually fuse. I’d think the doctor would keep checking on the progress to make sure the surgery worked.
(Colin Bentley/CBS )
However, that didn’t mean Watson was responsible for all of Kayden’s pain and should have just let him suffer in silence all these years or demanded that his mother terminate the pregnancy.
That’s not how medicine works, and the continued insistence on blaming Watson was annoying.
Are We Ever Going to Continue Ingrid’s Story and Bec’s Lawsuit?
The lawsuit in the middle of Watson Season 2 Episode 14 added little to the plot, especially since it was resolved relatively quickly.
However, it made me wonder what had happened to the other lawsuit that Beck filed.
(Colin Bentley/CBS)
Ingrid’s story has been left hanging for far too long.
Yes, her apology to Paola and her willingness to collaborate show growth, regardless of Sasha’s scepticism.
However, I haven’t forgotten Ingrid asking that cute EMT out and smirking, although the show seems to have done so, nor that Beck is suing the hospital.
For that matter, wasn’t Beck causing trouble for Sasha by pretending to be her birth mom online? Whatever happened to that plot?
Watson is too slow to get back to some of its’ plot threads — Sherlock’s mystery will finally take its next step on Watson Season 2 Episode 15 next week — and it’s annoying.
(Colin Bentley/CBS)
It’s especially silly that Ingirid’s smirking behavior and suggestion that she may be going back to her old ways were clearly supposed to be an episode-ending cliffhanger… and then nothing happened, for weeks after the fact.
Over to you, Watson fanatics.
What did you think of Kaden’s plight, the way he blamed Watson for it, and the Ingrid subplot?
Hit the comments with your opinions, and don’t forget to share this article with your Watson-loving friends so they can join in the conversation!
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If you enjoyed this article, check out our coverage of other medical dramas like Chicago Med and Grey’s Anatomy.
Watson airs on CBS on Sundays at 10/9c and streams on Paramount+ on Mondays.
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