Watson Season 2 Episode 2 “Back from the Dead” had me bored. And it wasn’t because John was doing anything wrong. He was perfect. It’s Sherlock Holmes himself that bored me to death. And it wasn’t because of the actor. Robert Carlyle is a great actor. I was bored by Sherlock because John has outgrown him.
Sherlock had been planning his death for a very long time. He did that as a safety measure because he knew there would come a point where he would want to bounce. And that’s fair. A brilliant mind draws vicious enemies. And no one wants to deal with that forever. But he didn’t have to let John grieve like that. We spend the entirety of Season 1 watching John tear himself apart and be toyed by Moriarty. John cleaned up Sherlock’s mess when Moriarty died. And I don’t feel like Sherlock really understood what he had done to John in “Back from the Dead.”
MORE: Watson Season 2 Episode 1 Review: ‘A Son in the Oven’
Instead Sherlock spent his time dancing around John’s questions when it came to knowing what happened to him. And as a viewer I understand the method of this. If you give the reason away, it takes away some of the mystery. But if you want to honor your characters, honor John, you give him that truth and don’t make him beg for it. Because I feel like John was begging Sherlock for a reason as to why he had left him. And by the end of it John had to weave a tale of interest to keep Sherlock there to finally give him the truth.
As a long time fan of Sherlock Holmes, I feel like I was utterly bored and kind of pissed off at Sherlock, because of how he had treated John. This led me to realize that John has outgrown Sherlock by leaps and bounds. John doesn’t need Sherlock. In fact, I think John is a better detective than Sherlock. Because Sherlock sees this as a game, leading to him devaluing life. John doesn’t see this as a game and knows the value of life.
Watson as a show has made me reevaluate if I ever liked Sherlock in the first place. Because from where I’m standing Sherlock has always been a jerk and John has always been the best part of him. Without him, Sherlock is insufferable. I guess that’s why they balance each other out so well. But this is a show about John. And just because John forgives Sherlock, doesn’t mean I have to. It’s the same rules that you apply to the ex of your best friend. They can forgive, but I don’t.
Then there’s the rest of my band of merry misfits.
I still feel robbed by not seeing more of how Sasha and Stephens got together. I absolutely loved that scene of Stephens’ helping Sasha through reconnecting with her blood relatives. It was kind, empathetic, and built on an understanding that they can have these conversations. I just wish that we had seen these moments that led them to this specific point in their lives.
Same thing goes for the scene at the end where Stephens was actually sitting at the coffee shop, a backup if Sasha needed it. It’s a small and intimate detail that speaks of Sasha and Stephens having a foundation that is rock solid. And I deserved to see that being built. I even deserved to see the beginnings of Adams teasing his brother about his new romance after the mess that was Adams ending up with Stephens’ ex in Season 1. These are essential building blocks of Sasha and Stephens together but also how others close to them react to their relationship.
And we didn’t see them being built.
I could take the time now in this review to talk about the woolly mammoth zombie case of the week. But like most procedurals, the mystery of the week doesn’t matter to me. What matters is how it acts as a vehicle. And this mystery acted as a vehicle to ground John in the fact that the clinic in the form that it is today isn’t because of Sherlock. It’s because of John. And if he wants to have the best of the best, and if he could forgive his own best friend for lying to him about dying, he could forgive Ingrid. That’s the lesson of “Back from the Dead.”
Watson airs new episodes Mondays at 10pm on CBS.
