In the middle of all the craziness of Watson Season 2 Episode 8 “Livvy Sees the Doctor,” I saw John in a new light when he opened up about being burned out. Because oftentimes these brilliant doctors on these procedural type shows, it’s case after case. So much so that it never really seems to tire them out. Sure, their personal problems might come into play here and there. But the case persists and you never see them falter when it comes to that aspect of the procedural. This episode saw John faltering and admitting it.
MORE: Need a refresher on last week’s episode? Read our review for Watson Season 2 Episode 7!
Often time shows are scared of showing weaknesses like the one John explored in Season 2 Episode 8. It goes against the grain of the kind of mythos that they built with John in general. John is a detective, a doctor, and the one saving the day over and over. On the surface, someone like him shouldn’t have a weakness like feeling burned out. But he’s human just like the people watching Watson. Verbalizing it in the middle of such a tense series of events makes it so the emotions that he’s feeling are heightened and he’s being his most honest self.
John admitting that he’s burned out also enriches the lives of the rest of the doctors. Because we learn from those that inspire us. And he just taught his doctors that even someone as brilliant as him needs time off. Because how are we supposed to take care of other people, if we don’t take care of ourselves first? And this is something basic that all of us know. But how often do we actually follow through on this? Because we saw Stephens not wanting to take a break and just do something delightful. He wanted to work, work, work. But John was setting an example about how taking care of yourself takes care of others.
In the midst of this eye opening conversation about burnout is a father trying to do the best for his kid. And I don’t know if I’m just having an overly emotional week, but everything with his dad doing the most for a kid that he thought wasn’t even his, it speaks to one of the most powerful tropes on TV aka found family. Because being born with the same DNA isn’t the only way that you can become family. And sure, we ended up finding out he was actually the dad. But he didn’t know that. And he still chose her.
“Livvy Sees the Doctor” might’ve gone down a little easier if it wasn’t for Beck. And I love that Watson immediately had Sasha clocking how dangerous he is and warning him to stay away from Ingrid. Because we know how protective Ingrid is of Sasha. A prime example is last week’s episode when Ingrid and Stephens were talking about Sasha and this mysterious blood relative. The difference between Sasha and Ingrid is that Ingrid is sleeping with some random guy that does not care for her or wants to commit to her. He just likes the high.
What Ingrid is doing is dangerous, reckless, and going to put her return to the clinic in danger. Because he’s been oddly zeroed in on her for a while and him researching Sasha like that, he would be the one to kidnap Sasha and then rescue her just so he can get the credit. But like I’ve mentioned before, he doesn’t know who he’s messing with when it comes to Ingrid. She might be sleeping with him now because she needs that human contact. Everyone needs a little connection after something so intense. But this isn’t the Ingrid we knew from the beginning of Season 1 of Watson.
This version of Ingrid knows what it feels like to be included and trusted. Like any good story, temptation is knocking on her door. This time she answered. But a temptation is a temptation for a reason. There will come a moment where Ingrid will have to decide where she stands. And with the building blocks that Watson is doing a great job with, I think Ingrid is going to choose her found family. If not, then what was the whole point of this? I’m going to have a little faith that Watson didn’t make me waste my time with one of the most complex characters on this show.
On a final note, that I didn’t know where to put in this review for “Livvy Sees the Doctor,” I love how even though Stephens, Adam, and Sasha weren’t central to the story, they got their time. Because often shows forget that the ones not central to the story, still experience this trauma. So it speaks volumes when you have someone like Stephens stepping up to some random guy to make sure they get the information needed. Because it’s not just about his girlfriend Sasha. His brother is also facing danger. And that just made the hugs at the end even better. These people choose each other over and over. And that makes a show like Watson worth watching, even if everything isn’t imperfect.
Watson airs new episodes Mondays at 10pm on CBS.
