Moriarty Gets in John's Head – and Medicine Cabinet – in 'Watson' Episode 3

John Watson has been skirting medical ethics by prescribing his own medication to treat his traumatic brain injury on Watson. That opened him up to a lot more liability than potentially getting in trouble with the medical board because his righthand man Shinwell Johnson (Ritchie Coster) is secretly working for James Moriarty (Randall Park) and has been switching out Watson's meds on the evil doctor's orders. 

The medication switcheroo made treating this week's patient of the week, a stand-up comic named Molly Jones (Djouliet Amara) who mysteriously collapsed during an open-mic night. When every other doctor insisted it was epilepsy, Molly brought herself to the clinic for Watson's opinion. He wasn't interested until he noticed Molly's natural red hair – a rare thing for a Black woman – and decided her condition was worth investigating from a genetic standpoint. 

The truth unveiled tragic truths about Molly's past, put Watson in even more danger, and earned some audience goodwill for Ingrid after her shady behavior the past few weeks. However, the episode also revealed that Ingrid isn't the only member of the team that's been keeping secrets and bending the truth. 

Here's what went down in the third episode of Watson. 

Watson began the usual series of tests once he agreed to take Molly on as a patient. Her CT and MRI results immediately ruled out epilepsy because her brain wasn't showing any seizure activities during her attacks. The team hit a roadblock in making a different diagnosis when they realized Molly was lying about who she was and thus not giving them a full and accurate family history. 

It turned out that Molly was the daughter of a woman accused of drowning Molly's two younger siblings in the bathtub. Molly refused to talk about her mother or her past, so Watson went around her and decided to visit the mother in prison. He recognized the markers of a genetic anomaly on Felicia Mancini that not only clued him into Molly's condition but could prove that Felicia didn't really drown her children. 

The Mancini children all inherited a genetic heart defect that made them very susceptible to fear. Felicia joked that she was going to "eat up" her children while she was bathing them, and being so young, they didn't realize it was a joke, and it literally scared them to death. Molly had managed to live into adulthood because she took beta blockers for her anxiety that dulled the effects of the defect. However, she had an anxiety attack during the open mic night and got freaked out by the mention of her mother in the office, both incidents causing her to have cardiac events. 

Molly was able to be treated with a minor heart surgery. The team poured over Felicia's case files, and Ingrid figured out that the weight of the dead children's lungs didn't match up. Watson was able to take that discovery to the original coroner, who made a statement that he was pressured into saying Felicia drowned her children when his initial findings didn't support that. However, two decades earlier, they didn't have the genetic science to have come to the right conclusion. 

Our girl Molly made a full recovery from surgery, and Watson escorted her to be reunited with her family. He also offered to put in a good word for Ingrid to be added to a neuro study she wanted to lead as thanks for her good work on Felicia's case. Ingrid was suspicious that Watson just didn't want her digging into his behavior during the case and we can't really blame her. 

Ingrid is on to John because he also collapsed while trying to treat Molly. He took a spill while examining Molly and hit his head on the counter, giving him a double TBI. Watson coerced Molly into saying he spilled some water and slipped, but neither Ingrid nor Mary believed him. 

The real reason for Watson losing consciousness during the exam is because Moriarty had Shinwell switch out his drugs. Moriarty had John temporarily put Watson on placebos, allowing his TBI symptoms to return in full force. That gave him nightmares and migraines and eventually caused him to pass out from the pain. The medication also had Watson acting erratically. He crashed Mary's lunch with the head of HR, Devin "Gummy" Chaplin (Bethany Brown), and immediately interrogated them about the nature of their relationship. It was a bold move, considering that Mary is his boss and, again, Gummy is the head of HR. Mary reprimanded him, but even she could tell that Watson wasn't acting like himself. Was that all part of Moriarty's plan, or was he after Watson's nightmares, which brought visions of going over the cliff to try and save Sherlock Holmes? 

Moriarty's henchwoman had Shinwell put Watson back on his original drugs after the collapse. Apparently, Moriarty only wanted the doctor temporarily destabilized, but the motive is still unknown. We understand that Watson wants to be sparing with the Randall Park appearances, so having his direct reports do the dirty work reminds the audience that Moriarty is still present without having the actor on screen. Still, Park is such an inspired acting choice, and we can't wait to see what he does with the role when he has more than one scene to play with. Bring Randall Park back already, Watson! 

We are still keeping an eye on Ingrid and her suspicious behavior, but she isn't the only member of the team keeping secrets or acting weird. This episode reminded us that the bickering between the twins, Stephens and Adams, isn't just brotherly banter. Adams is now living with Stephens' ex-fianée. To rub salt in the wound, Adams spent most of the episode trying to set Stephens up with a friend of that ex-fiancée. Stephens has an online girlfriend, but he also reminded his brother that even though they work together, it doesn't mean that he's forgiven him for dating his ex or that he wants to see the two of them together. Ouch. 

It's Sasha who was hiding the biggest secret from the team this week. She flaunted her new engagement ring to the entire team during one of their meetings about Molly, and Watson called out the rock. It turned out that Zach (Tommy O'Brien) didn't propose, though. Sasha found the ring in his drawer and decided to wear it to work all day. He caught her putting the ring back, and while he wasn't mad, he didn't officially propose either. He promised her "soon" as they hugged, and the disappointment was all over her face. She will have to sneak that ring out to work every day now until he officially proposes or comes up with some excuse for why she's no longer wearing it. 

Everyone on the team has something to hide, and we still have to wonder if that's why Watson brought them all together in the first place. If their secrets are useful to Watson, are they also useful to Moriarty? The mystery continues! 

Watson continues on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on CBS. Episodes are available to stream the next day on Paramount+.