'Watson' Season 1 Episode 12 "Your Life's Work, Part 1" Recap
- Barbara
- 7 hours ago
- 6 min read
This episode of Watson Season 1 Episode 12 finally showcases Moriarty. He used to work in the shadows or through agents, but not anymore. His fused fingers anomaly is also explained. Look out Watson!
It opens with the Fellows Team split into two groups investigating a mysterious case of a sleeping man, Mike Dwyer. Sasha and Ingrid examine the patient and suggest physical possibilities of his sleeping 14+ hours. Ingrid says it’s Kleine-Levin Syndrome prompted by something at the patient’s new address. Watson works with them to deduce what triggered the sudden excessive sleeping.
Stephens and Adam investigate the possible environmental causes. They enter a sub basement of his apartment building. Note, only Stephens is masked up. The sub basement is an old deteriorating bomb shelter. They turn on the lights and find a room still stocked with items including old food items. Adam opens the fridge door to a cloud of black mold spores. Watson annotates black mold contamination as a cause for Dwyer’s excessive sleep. Mystery solved.
Later that night, Adam and Stephens double date. Adam tells their dates about the idiosyncrasy of being identical twins. He tells of their past pranks. Lauren, his date, tells him how she can tell them apart, since she dated them both. Stephens thoughtfully watches his brother as he looks at the menu.
The next day, Watson, the Fellows Team and Mary meet in the team’s office to celebrate the Holmes Clinic DNA Library. It catalogues every mutation known to mankind. He's been working on a project consisting of anonymous, consensual, rare DNA samples from patients they treat. The Watson Database of Human Mutations is Watson's life’s work. He’ll use it for the good of humankind. A paper publicizing their work will be released soon. They will all be credited for the project and the paper. Watson asks if anyone's seen Shinwell.
A stranger with chronic migraines walks into the clinic. Ingrid immediately recognizes him and volunteers to see him. In an exam room, he tells her what he wants her to do. He knows of Watson's cutting edge genetics lab. He orders her to contaminate Watson's adeno-associated virus cultures used in his research, and sabotage his work. He says this will help her become who she's really supposed to be. Ingrid tentatively asks if he's James Moriarty, and he confirms it. Moriarty tells her how he fooled Watson into believing he had webbed fingers, then leaves.
In the office, Watson asks Stephens if he's seen Adam. Watson got a call from the nurse in the hospital about him. They go there to find Adam on his knees at a desk frantically searching through a nurse's purse. Watson asks the nurse to admit Adam, and get a toxicology screen. Stephens bewilderedly watches his brother get taken away. He tells Watson Adam’s been sober for 5 years. He asks if his behavior could be due to black mold ingestion. Watson thinks otherwise, that Adam's relapsed. This is a mystery that hits one of their own.
Sasha teases Ingrid who sits at her desk brooding. Stephens hurriedly walks in and tells them to meet in the conference room. His brother needs help. Stephens lists all of Adam's symptoms. Ingrid and Sasha ask questions as they brainstorm. Ingrid states the obvious, that Adam's relapsed. Stephens denies it. Watson appears and redirects Sasha and Ingrid's attention to their colleague. Stephens lists black mold and his brother’s vegan dinner as possible causes. Watson assigns everyone tasks. Stephens thanks Watson.
Stephens goes to see Adam and tells him they did a tox screen on him. Adam says he’ll be positive for hydrocodone. He relapsed. Lauren had hydrocodone for wisdom tooth removal, and he took 6 pills over 3 days. Adam says he is stressed.
Ingrid is in the lab recording her feelings and justification for what she's about to do. She's afraid of being blackmailed. She then deletes the recording, and starts contaminating the cultures with sugar.
Moriarty enters an elevator with Watson. Watson asks about his headaches, and Moriarty says he’s better. He tells Watson how he's impressed with what they are doing cataloging human mutations. He says he's a big fan.
Mary stops Watson in the hospital hallway, and tells him Adam tested positive for opioids. She said she'll test again, but this becomes a workplace intoxication case. Watson gets a call from the OR about Stephens wandering into the operating room. The OR doctors, nurses and security officer cautiously approach Stephens. He's standing in the room with a surgical tool. Watson and Mary get there and Stephens is acting as if he's high. He’s admitted and placed in the same room with Adam.
Watson lists Stephens symptoms on the white board. He asks Ingrid and Sasha for suggestions on what is causing the twins’ erratic behavior. Mary enters the conference room and suggests visual agnosia. Their eyes are working, but the brain can't process what's seen. They all are alerted about the twins. They're eating patient leftovers, exhibiting another symptom, hyperphagia, insatiable eating. Watson orders another MRI for them. He believes their brains are quickly changing.
Ingrid says Watson was right. There are rapid temporal lobe changes noted. Watson suggests pica co-existing over different symptoms. He diagnoses the symptoms as Kluver-Bucy Syndrome with a prognosis of cascading brain damage if the underlying cause isn't treated. It's fatal. Ingrid and Sasha quickly rattle off different underlying causes. Watson says they are missing a major cause, herpes simplex encephalitis. Sasha remembers Adam had a cold sore. They saw them both drink from the same mug. Watson later tells the twins the possible diagnosis, and prescribed treatment. He assures them they’ll be recovering in about two weeks. Stephens isn't sure of the diagnosis.
Ingrid meets Watson the next morning at the clinic’s entrance. There's still no Shinwell. He's concerned about him. Ingrid updates Watson on the Croft brothers' treatment. The medication isn't helping. Their form of herpes is resistant. They say something is off about the response. Watson asks Ingrid to sequence the virus. He goes to request a welfare check on Shinwell.
In the lab, Watson, Ingrid and Sasha review the viral sequencing results. The herpes virus the twins have isn't natural. It is genetically modified, and Watson asks who created it. Behind them, Shinwell tells Watson it was him. More specifically, Watson's research made the twins sick.
Shinwell tells Watson that Moriarty is behind everything that's happened. He confirms he's alive and he’s been doing Moriarty’s bidding for months. Watson looks at him with disbelief. Shinwell tells him Moriarty’s been involved in Watson's life work from the start. Adam was targeted. He leaves and experiences severe burning pain on his neck. He drives off in his car.
Watson tells Mary, Ingrid and Sasha they are all in danger, and recommends they tender their resignation. The collected DNA is in the hands of James Moriarty and weaponized against them. The delivery vector is anything touched or breathed. Sasha and Ingrid won’t leave.
Sasha tells Watson she and Ingrid worked and found a solution. Sasha and Ingrid tell Watson they developed a filter and found the SNORA31 mutation. It prevents the body from keeping viruses out of the brain. This was rare and impossible, proving it was engineered for the Crofts.
Later, Ingrid asks Mary if she's still fired. Mary tells her she's been moved to probationary status, unless she does something that warrants termination. They work with Watson on a remedy to help the Croft twins.
Adam's condition worsens. The brothers express their fears, and prepare for death. Stephens talks about what to expect when they die. Adam goes into a coma. Sasha goes to see the twins in their room. Sasha assures Stephens they aren’t contagious. She brings them letters from Lauren. Stephens says he hoped to be with Sasha some day. She holds his hand.
In the lab, Watson finds something that may work. He shows Sasha, and they are hopeful. She runs to tell Stephens and finds he’s slipped into a coma, too. Watson, Sasha and Ingrid quickly make arrangements for the Croft twins’ operation.
Watson directs Sasha and Ingrid to prepare the genetic material needed from the Watson adeno-associated viruses type-9, WAVE9. Ingrid realizes the viral cultures are the ones she contaminated. She removes them from the incubator, and Sasha takes them from her. Watson immediately notices something’s wrong. All the cultured viruses are dead. He can’t grow new ones in time to save the Croft brothers. He retraces his culture prep steps, and centrifuged what was left in the contaminated cultures to get enough vector solution. There's only enough for one dose. He asks Sasha and Ingrid who to save, Adam or Stephens?
This episode had medical science mixed with suspenseful storytelling, and Moriarty’s audacious appearances. Glad Shinwell finally told Watson everything. The heartwarming Croft brothers' relationship was on display and truly realistic. The quick, brilliant, scientific research and lab work was remarkable. A touching surprise was Stephens expressing his feelings for Sasha. Ending the episode with Watson facing an unexpected, dire choice was an exciting cliffhanger. This show keeps improving.
To Be Continued Next Week
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