Warning: spoilers are ahead for Episode 15 of Watson Season 2, called "A Third Act Surprise" and available streaming now with a Paramount+ subscription.
CBS had bad news for fans of Watson just days before the fifteenth episode of Season 2 aired, with the confirmation that the medical drama would not be back for Season 3 in the fall of the 2026 TV schedule. It wasn't hugely shocking after it was left out of the network's ten-show renewal spree in January and competition with much larger audiences, but I still had a heavy heart when I tuned in for "A Third Act Surprise." And as it turned out, the episode delivered one of the best twists of the whole second season, to the point that I'm questioning pretty much everything.
For the majority of the episode, John seemed to be juggling a lot of problems between the medical case of the week, questions from Detective Lestrade, and Sherlock in his ear about deciding to stay in Pittsburgh and get back to work as the World's Greatest Detective. There was even a close call of Lestrade almost discovering Sherlock in John's apartment...or so it seemed. At the end, when John was finally ready to introduce them to each other, he got a rude awakening from Lestrade.
Article continues below- John: "Detective Lestrade, meet Sherlock Holmes. Are you gonna say something?"
- Lestrade: "Say something to who?"
- Sherlock: "Always another turn, Watson. Always one more surprise."
- Lestrade: "What is this, Watson? There's no one there."
The camera panned around to prove that Detective Lestrade was correct, and there was nobody by John's side in his office. It was a great twist worthy of a show based on the stories of Arthur Conan Doyle, but also one that could come with a slew of continuity errors if not handled in a certain way.
For one thing, when I asked showrunner Craig Sweeny about the early Season 2 fan theory that Sherlock was just a figment of John's imagination or a hallucination, and he told me this:
I think it's very understandable why you would think that. I'd be stunned if people didn't think that. I think at this point, if you go back, there are things that indicate that Sherlock is not real, and there are also things that indicate that he is. The ultimate question for us is [whether] all of those things are going to be squared and revealed in a consistent way. And so the ultimate truth is not going to be what either camp is expecting, I don't think.
I'd spoken to the showrunner not too long after the episode that seemingly debunked the hallucination theory, as Sherlock placed a phone call to help John with a case. Even though he hadn't yet interacted with Mary or anybody else in the flesh other than Watson himself, speaking with somebody on the phone meant that Sherlock was in fact real, which is what Robert Carlyle asserted earlier in Season 2. So, at the time, I assumed that Craig Sweeny was just alluding to another reveal about how Sherlock had survived, since we obviously had the confirmation that he wasn't a hallucination.
Now, months later, I've come to what I think is the only conclusion that makes sense with 1) the first half of Season 2 back in the fall, 2) the showrunner's comments after the fall finale, and 3) the confirmation in "A Third Act Surprise" that John really was hallucinating. That conclusion is that Sherlock really did survive going over the falls, and was indeed in Pittsburgh to help John out in the first half of the season. But everything from when John first tried to introduce him to Ingrid onwards could well be a hallucination.
That phone call is the one thing that really keeps me from believing that John has only been hallucinating from the start, although their reunion happening because John caught Sherlock rummaging in his refrigerator for cold cuts also strikes me as too bizarre not to be real. Plus, there's no reason to believe that what happened with Mycroft was all in his head.
So, I suppose that there are three new big questions now. How long has John been hallucinating Sherlock vs. interacting with the man himself? What is wrong with John that he's having these hallucinations? And does Watson have time to provide satisfying answers before the final credits roll, now that the medical drama has a spot on our list of the spring's most disappointing TV cancellations so far?
I don't have the answers just yet, but the episode description for the next episode from CBS at least previews that we're going to learn more about what's been happening. Per CBS, the episode – called "Respect the Process. Respect the Quirks." – involves this:
Watson investigates a case involving a mentally unstable mother, with the woman's delusions serving as a mirror to his own newly discovered hallucinations
For now, as those of us who are still watching despite the cancellation wait for answers, you can keep finding new episodes of Watson on Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on CBS, following Justin Hartley's Tracker at 9 p.m. ET and Marshals at 8 p.m. ET. You can also catch up on any episodes you might have missed on Paramount+.
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