Boss Talks Casting, Shinwell Betrayal (Exclusive)

(WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Watson series premiere.)

Dr. John Watson (Morris Chestnut), you want to keep an eye on the man closest to you! The Watson The series premiere ended with the reveal of who is playing Moriarty – Randall Park! – When Shinwell Johnson (Ritchie Coster), Watson and Sherlock Holmes’ friend who now works as an administrator at the clinic, meets with him.

The episode begins at Reichenbach Falls, with Watson following Sherlock and Moriarty into the water. Only he appears. After he recovers (mostly), he opens the clinic with the money Sherlock left him. The premiere introduces the team of fellows working with him, beginning to touch on his complicated relationship with his ex-wife Mary (Rochelle Aytes), who has moved on and is his boss and shows that he is still feeling the effects of going into the water.

Below, executive producer Craig Sweeny talks about casting Randall Park as the iconic villain, what’s going on with Shinwell, the long-term effects on Watson and more.

Talk about Casting Randall Park as Moriarty.

Craig Sweeney: I had a prior relationship with Randall. Not deep, but enough that I had his number and he’d read the script and I texted him and said, “Why don’t you play Moriarty?” And he was instantly interested. It just happened very quickly. I like the idea of ​​taking – he’s pretty much the nicest man in the world. So I like to ask the question, what kind of sinister thing might lie beneath that, that kind of veneer of pleasantness? How do you make Randall Park evil? It’s a fun problem to have as a writer.

What would you do with Moriarty’s introduction?

I wanted to shock and surprise and provoke and make you watch the rest of the season.

When did you know you wanted to be the Shinwell that had that connection to Moriarty?

I knew that pretty early on. The character of Shinwell has always interested me in Canon and we used Shinwell in Elementaryto whom I also wrote, in a very different context. But I knew I wanted someone from that world around the clinic. Shinwell popped into my head immediately.

What can you say about these samples?

Watson is a geneticist, so these samples are samples of DNA taken from the clinic, and Moriarty has a very specific and medically accurate plan for the samples that are the big story of the season.

What can you say about the extent of what Shinwell is trapped in what this is? Because it doesn’t look like it’s by choice, does it?

No, Shinwell does not betray Watson out of passion to betray Watson. He gets caught on the horns of a very, very wild dilemma that plays out over the course of the season.

How hard a pill is it to swallow when Watson finds out? Does any part of him understand because of what he is trapped in?

As with any kind of huge news like that, he kind of deals with it in stages and his first reaction is to push Shinwell away from him – I was just watching that scene today. But in time he sort of understands, at least to be able to trace the why of it in a way that makes sense to him. And there is the possibility that this relationship will survive into Season 2.

Colin Bentley / CBS

We know that Watson is still very affected by what happened to him when he followed Sherlock and Moriarty into the water. What can you say about how it will play out and any long term effects?

Well, he has a very serious traumatic brain injury and that will be a major plot point in the season. He is self-medicating, and Moriarty’s ability to ape those medications is a very important thing as we move through the season.

Mary tells Watson that he has never met her and refers to her new relationship. What can you say about the new relationship with Mary?

It’s someone she’s involved with who’s in their orbit at the hospital, and the relationship is a source of comfort for her, but there’s tension between her and Watson.

Watson mentions Gregson in the premiere. How much do we have to hear about Scotland Yard and its inspectors and possibly see someone?

We never see Gregson in Season 1. Gregson is out there. Lestrade, in our universe, is a detective in Pittsburgh, and they meet in episode 10 of our season and collaborate on a case. And it will very much be an ongoing relationship.

WatsonRegular time period premiere, Sunday, February 16, 9/8c, CBS