I’ve been a medical drama lady since earlier than I noticed I used to be a medical drama lady.
This realization didn’t come till roughly two years in the past, which is probably going amusing to lots of you who adopted my work, however I digress.
When CBS greenlit its personal medical drama that additionally served as a detective procedural, impressed by the enduring Arthur Conan Doyle character and starring without end crush Morris Chestnut, they received my consideration.
Quick-forward to us getting three episodes into Watson Season 1, and nicely, to place it mildly, it doesn’t have my consideration.
Lest anybody is inclined to field a lady in when she hates the confinements of them, genre-bending is extra interesting than something when watching a collection.
There’s nothing higher than a present that is aware of how you can mess around with conventional formatting and classes to ship the very best of many or all worlds.
Style-bending and mixing is an artwork type, and so many collection reach that enterprise.
Sadly, Watson isn’t one in all them.
The irony of a collection that goals to delve into hard-to-diagnose instances using a group of docs who all battle a wide selection of psychological points is that the collection itself suffers from the identical.
I’m 100% sure that’s not the intention of the collection itself.
What does one even suppose Watson is as a collection? It adjustments relying on the individual you ask.
Some individuals tuned into the present anticipating some iteration of a detective-style procedural as a result of the collection dares to evoke the names of Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, and Moriarty.
Different individuals anticipated a non-traditional medical drama — one thing akin to Home.
The Moriarty of all of it presents the collection with extra Holmesian folklore but additionally a stage of villainy that teeters on the fantastical. It’s virtually as if Watson goals to tug from comic-book-style storytelling, like Arrow or Gotham.
We additionally see this with the institution of Watson’s group of docs, who genuinely really feel like Knockoff variations of The Suicide Squad. Each time one in all them seems onscreen, my mind conjures up Twenty One Pilots’ “Heathens. “
It’s like Watson tries to tug parts from many various genres below the guise of this elaborate interpretation of a cultist traditional, however it overexerts itself within the course of.
Watson makes an attempt to be intelligent, cool, and cheeky without delay however primarily fails in any respect three.
It’s not that one has to adapt to style expectations. Abnormality could be an asset somewhat than a curse. Someplace, that idea even aligns with the collection’ theme.
It doesn’t truly really feel as if Watson is aware of how you can outline what it desires to be.
The collection should perceive its identification earlier than it might promote viewers on it. Pretend it till you make it and all of that great things.
Up to now, Watson has an excessive amount of occurring, and little of it’s truly compelling. We now have this thriller surrounding Holmes’ loss of life, Moriarity’s involvement, and Watson’s mind points.
Someplace in there, Shinwell is begrudgingly working with a cartoonish Moriarty whose disfigurement leads to him having a hand that’s actually formed in an “M,” plotting some assault on town or one thing.
Admittedly, Randall Park’s cameo was pleasant, however that’s all there’s to say about that growth.
Amid this, Watson solves medical mysteries, a few of which don’t really feel significantly mysterious below the area of his ex-wife, whom he chronically harasses, and with the assistance of this assortment of weird colleagues.
The collection alludes to every of the opposite docs battling one thing or one other, starting from Delinquent Persona Dysfunction to pathological mendacity and no matter else in between.
It’s evident that the present goals to have a supporting forged with such distinctive personalities that Watson is intrigued by them—characters who’re mysteries of their very own.
Other than being nice docs, their uncommon traits are supposed so as to add to their appeal (and show that they’re nonetheless beneficial, succesful docs regardless of their quirks).
Nevertheless, Good Minds manages to tug this tactic off a lot better.
We rapidly felt as if we knew the characters and fell in love with them. Their neurodivergence is effortlessly launched into the collection and explored, together with in a constructive gentle as “superpowers” throughout instances.
Because it stands, Watson is the one compelling character within the collection, with Ingrid an in depth second. The supporting forged struggles to make their characters or the weird, convoluted writing work.
Morris Chestnut is gifted, charismatic, and able to absolutely anything. You want solely have a look at his work to achieve this conclusion.
He’s pouring his all into the position; you may see that he typically has enjoyable with it. However most of the time, it appears like he doesn’t know the way he must be enjoying Watson.
The remainder of the forged struggles on this regard, too. And sadly, Watson can’t depend on Chestnut’s charisma and that alone.
Over to you, Watson Fanatics (or Antis).
How do you are feeling in regards to the collection to this point?
Is the style confusion hurting the collection?
Ought to they’ve caught to extra traditional Holmesian storytelling or deserted it altogether and leaned into medical procedural?
Let’s hear it beneath.
Watch Watson On-line
