The days are counting down until the beginning of the end for Watson in CBS' spring 2025 TV schedule, with the first half of the two-part finale airing on May 4 and streaming afterwards via a Paramount+ subscription. It wouldn't truly feel like a Watson event if the leading man's nemesis didn't return, with the fun twist that John doesn't actually know with certainty that Moriarty is even alive and active to be his enemy.
Well, the promo confirms not only that Randall Park will be back for the finale, but he'll share at least one scene with Morris Chestnut. The footage reminded me of what showrunner Craig Sweeny told me earleir this year about casting the Fresh Off the Boat sitcom star as the iconic villain out of Sherlock Holmes lore.
First things first! The preview for Part 1 of the finale may be short, but it packs in plenty of reasons to worry about what the episode will bring. One of the Croft twins appears to be in bad shape, and Moriarty... well, it looks like he's finally making a big move that can't be undone. Take a look:
Moriarty has mostly lurked in the shadows on Watson, reaching out to Shinwell and then Ingrid to blackmail them and get an edge on Watson. Apparently, if he can't torment Sherlock Holmes, John Watson is the next best thing for him! Based on the preview, it appears that Moriarty will finally be bold enough to reach out to the good doctor himself, which really doesn't bode well. The look on his face is pretty chilling!
In fact, the expression on his face in the promo as he tells Watson that he's a "big fan" is what reminded me of my conversation with showrunner Craig Sweeny (who was a writer and executive producer for Elementary prior to Watson's take on the Arthur Conan Doyle characters) and star Morris Chestnut at SCAD TVfest in Atlanta earlier this year.
At the time, only the series premiere had aired to reveal that Watson's take on the iconic literary villain was an unassuming man in a polo shirt played by an actor with great comedic timing, so I had to ask: what went in to casting the WandaVision alum as THE James Moriarty? After the star and EP reacted to the strong series premiere ratings, Sweeny shared:
When you're writing a pilot, you're sort of fantasy casting as you're writing, because you haven't cast actors yet. Moriarty was one that was wide open in my head, but I did have a pre-existing relationship with Randall, and it sort of jumped into my head that that would be the most surprising casting that you could possibly do. He's a nice [man]. His work reflects who he is as a person, which is this genuinely kind, thoughtful guy. How do you possibly turn that on its head and make that menacing and evil? And that just seemed like a challenge that was really exciting for me.
Watson made the most of the veneer of kindness for a fair amount of Moriarty's screentime so far, to the point that he doesn't seem all that despicable even when detailing nefarious plans. I think that may be about to change in at least the first part of the two-episode season finale, which hopefully means big things for Season 2 after the early renewal. Sweeny went on:
I have written Moriarty before on Elementary with Natalie Dormer. This was a way to just do it in an entirely different way. Then you think about, 'Okay, how does he present in the world?' The polo shirt was my version of [how] he just wants to blend in. He was referred to in the script as Pittsburgh Dad. That's what he wants you to see when you look at him, just a guy on the incline on his way to work. It's how he blends into the world.
Watson may have introduced Moriarty in his Pittsburgh Dad persona, but it certainly appears that it would take more than a polo shirt to hide the villain's true nature in the finale! Then again, no promo is going to spoil the biggest twists of an episode, so perhaps we shouldn't read too much into the ominous but brief shots of Randall Park in the preview. Other than Moriarty's identity seemingly being figured out by Ingrid and Moriarty meeting Watson, we can't say much about what kind of havoc he'll be wreaking in the finale episode based on just the few seconds of footage so far.
The first half of the two-part Watson Season 1 finale airs on Sunday, May 4 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS, followed by the second half the next week on May 11. You can also revisit any earlier episodes of the doctor/detective drama streaming on Paramount+ now.
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