Watson – Season 1 Episode 12 Recap & Review

The Review Geek

05-05-2025

My Life's Work Part 1
Episode 12 of Watson starts with the group handling a new patient who happens to be suffering from side effects to a black mould infestation in the building. The pair are working through these cases methodically, and it leads into more interpersonal drama along the way. Specifically, in the double date that the twins head out on. Adam seems to be experiencing strange symptoms whilst there though, acting forgetful and not quite with it. Stephens is shocked as it would appear his brother could well be having a relapse.
Back at the lab, Watson has cause for celebration. Every patient that passes through their doors willingly donates a sample of DNA, and now, with the extensive amount of DNA they've collected, Watson has decided to begin the 'Watson Database of Human Mutations'. He's got a paper about to be dropped in a science magazine called New Scientist about it too, so he knows they're going to be very busy.
However, they're all thrown a curve-ball when Moriarty shows up in the office. Watson doesn't recognize him, so Derian decides to talk to him privately. Apparently, he's here to set her free. Specifically, with one final mission for him.
This mission includes sabotaging Watson's DNA gig by spiking the adeno-associated virus that he's using for experiments. Everything after this will be easy, and he continues to taunt her all the while, claiming that he's doing this to make her see the real version of herself.
Stephens is concerned as Adam admits that the results are going to come back positive for hydrocodone. He has been relapsing and right on the verge of being engaged and having a book come out too. He shrugs it off though, reinforcing that addiction has no logic or reason. However, there could be something else going on here, something under the veil of addiction that's causing his symptoms to worsen.
Adam shows up in the surgery room not long after and he seems completely delirious. He has a childlike wonder, and he also has insatiable hunger too. Watson deduces that he may have Kluver-Bucy Syndrome. It seems this has advanced from a simple Herpes diagnosis, so a couple of weeks on antibiotics and he should be good as new. Only… he's not. Not only does Stephens wind up infected in the process, but it seems the twins are also resistant to the antidotes too. Turns out whatever they have has been genetically modified.
Shinwell shows up and confirms as much, and having been absent for a few days in the lab, he arrives just in time for an exposition dump with Watson. Turns out Watson's research has made the Croft twins sick. Shinwell breaks down everything that's transpired over the last 12 episodes, including how Moriarty has been pulling the strings all along, and Shinwell has been doing his bidding all this time.
All that DNA that Watson is keeping downstairs has been used against those very people inside the lab. Watson is not happy but when he learns Shinwell has been blackmailed into submission along the way, he's not quite sure how to process this information.
The silence speaks volumes though and Shinwell eventually decides to leave. Outside in the parking lot, Shinwell suddenly sports a burn across his neck. Has he been infected too? This is a serious problem because Watson's DNA lab is, right now, a weapon that Moriarty could use at any time to kill anybody.
Watson explains all of this to the group, before they get down to brass tacks and figure out how to cure the twins. The others in the lab – including Mary, Derian and Lubbock – set out to find a cure for the twins before it's too late. They find a SNORA31 mutation which is essentially a needle in a haystack situation. This could be exactly what they're looking for. In order to sort this, Derian bargains her position back in the lab in exchange for continuing to find a solution. Mary doesn't have much of a choice and agrees.
Time is very much of the essence though, as Adams falls into a coma as his condition worsens. This is all very sketchy territory and Watson creates a new enzyme to target the virus. In order to administer it though, they need to drill into Adams' skull and things seem to be going well… until they're not. Turns out Derian sabotaged the cultures after all.
With weeks needed to grow more, the Croft twins will be dead by then. However, Watson manages to rustle up enough to create one vector. The trouble is, this single dose means they need to make a choice. Do they save Stephens or Adam? They need to make their choice and time is ticking.
The Episode Review
So Watson returns with an explosive penultimate episode, with all the moving pieces starting to slot into place as Moriarty's plan takes shape. Well, kinda anyway. So it seems like he's using Watson's DNA lab against him, hurting his own employees to basically besmirch Watson's reputation.
However, I'm sure we'll get a solution to the Croft twin dilemma at the last second. Perhaps Derian kept one of the cultures separate for this very occasion, or maybe Shinwell will swoop in to redeem himself. Either way, this is the sort of show that lives and dies by writing like this so it wouldn't surprise me.
Having said that, it's nice to see a bit more urgency thrown into the plot, although I must say that 13 episodes for what is basically a reskin of House, feels like way too many for the story being told. Well, lets wait and see where the finale goes from here!
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