Watson Season 2 Episode 18 Demonstrates How Far The Series Has Fallen Despite An Interesting Premise

Critic’s Rating: 2 / 5.0

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Watson’s latest story left me scratching my head.

It’s not that Waston Season 2 Episode 18 was bad, per se, but it certainly drifted far from the series’ original premise.

Instead of medicine, we got political intrigue and a violent twist in the Beck storyline, while Sasha prepared to meet a birth mother who had never really contacted her — not the types of stories at all that I signed up for with this show.

(Colin Bentley/CBS)

Watson Season 2 Episode 18 Was Only Tangentially About Medicine

Watson‘s case of the week involved an aging, ill dictator who insisted on coming to UHOP — but he wasn’t really interested in being cured.

Instead, he wanted Watson to use his genetic expertise to pick a successor for him. This silly plotline was compounded by other political intrigue, such as Watson discovering that someone was poisoning the guy and quickly unmasking the culprit.

All of this political backstabbing would have been interesting on a series like Madam Secretary, where world politics were the central premise. But Watson should never be about volatile political situations, and the idea that Watson had to put off the State Department so he could do his job was equally ridiculous.

The scene in the medical discussion room, where someone wondered aloud why they were treating a dictator, raised an ethical question that was more interesting than the rest of Watson Season 2 Episode 18.

(Colin Bentley/CBS)

Unfortunately, this question wasn’t explored in detail. Watson said they were treating the patient and that was that.

I had a hard time staying focused during scene after scene of political intrigue, so I only got the broad outlines, which were that the patient’s right-hand man poisoned him with beta blockers in the hope that it would spark a revolution and end the dictatorship.

Watson convinced the guy at the end to pardon the poisoner in exchange for access to a top oncologist who could help add years to his life, which didn’t impress me as much as it would have if Watson had discovered the cancer earlier and devised a treatment protocol that no one had ever heard of.

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The cancer discovery didn’t come until three-quarters of the way through the hour, so there really wasn’t enough time to develop it into a full story.

Instead, Watson Season 2 Episode 18 used it only as a plot device, giving Watson the leverage he needed to ensure Miguel would survive his betrayal of the autocrat.

(Colin Bentley/CBS)

Sorry, but I wasn’t feeling the urgency here. Instead, I was getting bored while waiting for my once-favorite medical drama to be about medicine.

Watson Working With His Brain Tumor Didn’t Seem Like The Best Idea

I’m already traumatized by the similar tumor that killed Dr. Glassman on The Good Doctor, so I don’t like this storyline at all.

Additionally, Watson was supposed to be on a medical leave of absence because of the progression of the tumor, but he came back to UHOP because his patient wanted him and only him.

This type of medical leave should be a non-negotiable, and it didn’t make sense that it wasn’t. I realize that there wouldn’t be much of a show without Watson going to the hospital, but his return should have been more logical than a powerful patient demanding it.

(Colin Bentley/CBS)

The idea of Watson being supervised by Lestrade and later by Ingrid was also silly — if he needed that much supervision, he shouldn’t have been working at all, and if he did need help, it should have been from a neutral aide, not from people he knows well, one of whom is supposed to be his subordinate.

That supervisory angle all but disappeared once Watson became obsessed with finding a way to avoid choosing a successor for his patient. Other than Mary telling him he should go home and sleep, no one was watching what he was doing at all.

Did you like the idea of Watson working despite his brain tumor?
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Speaking Of Ingrid, What The Hell Was That Ending?

After spending the majority of Watson Season 2 Episode 18 sneaking around to try to find proof that Beck was pretending to be Sasha’s birth mother, Ingrid confronted Beck in one of the most bizarre such scenes ever.

Ingrid bear-maced Beck and put his hands on her throat while he couldn’t see, then, after he almost choked her to death, turned the tables on him before faking upset in a call to 911.

(Colin Bentley/CBS)

What a disappointing twist in the Beck lawsuit storyline.

Ingrid’s investigation was one thing, but it was unnecessary for the story to end in violence.

It felt like the easy way out, as if the writers didn’t know how to wrap up the story before the series ended, so they just literally eliminated the antagonist.

I also don’t like the implications here. Ever since Ingrid lost her therapist, Watson Season 2 has been suggesting that she’s on a downward spiral that’ll end in unnecessary violence toward others.

The problem is that Ingrid killed her father because he was abusive, not because she enjoys killing people, and the same holds true for Beck.

(Colin Bentley/CBS )

Plus, as I said earlier, this story would be more interesting with Beck alive and a real resolution.

At least we didn’t have nearly as much Sherlock nonsense as usual, although Shinwell suggested that Sherlock was alive before Watson pulled him off the search.

What did you think, Watson fanatics?

With only a few episodes left, are you happy with the direction the series is moving?

Hit the comments with your thoughts, and don’t forget to share this article with your friends so they can join the conversation.

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If you enjoyed this article, check out our thoughts on the rest of CBS’ Sunday night lineup — Tracker and Marshals.

Watson airs on CBS on Sundays at 10/9c and streams on Paramount+ on Mondays.

• Watson Season 2 Episode 18 traded in the usual surgical gloves for a story about political intrigue, but it didn’t quite work. Our review!

• Watson Season 2 Episode 17 experimented with telling a story using an extended dream sequence, and it failed miserably. Our review!

• Watson Season 2 Episode 16 offered one of its most interesting cases, but this Sherlock nonsense has to go. Our review!

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