Warning: this article contains SPOILERS for Watson episode 1.The series premiere of characters based on Sherlock Holmes himself, 2025’s Watson instead centers on the titular John Watson (Morris Chestnut), Sherlock’s partner-in-crime solving who is normally delegated to sidekick status. The medical drama begins with an unapologetic decree of its originality since Watson kills Sherlock Holmes within minutes. To follow his posthumous wishes (and set up the medical drama), Watson opens a clinic.

While Watson has been called a spiritual successor to Elementary, the drama is quickly settling into its unique identity, as well as laying the groundwork for one of its most important plots: the return of Moriarty (Randall Park). According to Shinwell Johnson (Ritchie Coster), Sherlock, Watson, and Moriarty all fell over a waterfall, but only “one survived.” The climactic start sets Watson up as an interesting post-Sherlock adaptation, but the early reveal that Moriarty didn't die in Watson’s opening scene proves that John Watson still has a few mysteries to solve.

Watson's Moriarty Is Designed To Blend In

Moriarty Can Hide In Plain Sight

Arguably no Arthur Conan Doyle character steals the show more than James Moriarty. Andrew Scott’s stint as Moriarty in BBC’s Sherlock is still iconic, and the chilling performance of Jared Harris made Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows a standout title. In every iteration of the Sherlock canon, Moriarty’s character has maintained a certain presence that instantly gives away his villainy. In stark contrast, the first glimpse of Randall Park as Moriarty comes at the end of Watson episode one: an average man with a friendly face, a polo shirt, and a deep evil hidden beneath the surface.

Watson’s treatment of Moriarty is a warning in and of itself: the greatest villains can be the ones you’d least expect.

Watson making Moriarty an everyman figure is refreshing, but also deeply necessary for the medical drama’s success. As Randall Park says of his recurring Watson role, “This version of Moriarty is, by design, a little more surprising and unassuming.” There’s nothing cartoonishly nefarious about this version of Moriarty, nothing that takes away from the drama’s grounded sense of realism. Park’s Moriarty appears so harmless that he could walk into a building without anyone noticing the gun in his hand. Watson’s treatment of Moriarty is a warning in and of itself: the greatest villains can be the ones you’d least expect.

How Being Unassuming Makes Moriarty More Dangerous In Watson

Moriarty Can Easily Go Unnoticed

Although there’s a nearly humorous juxtaposition between Randall Park’s affable disposition and his historically wicked role, Watson's Moriarty has a superpower that no other iteration has possessed: the ability to fly under the radar. Before Watson, most versions of Moriarty have been too narcissistic, too unstable, or too proud of their schemes to keep a low profile. Yet, Watson’s original take on Moriarty doesn’t soften the character. In fact, this Moriarty is so evil that he can plot a mass-casualty event with the same breezy tone he’d use to chat with a neighbor by the mailbox.

Moriarty’s bioterrorism objective in Watson has the power to, as he puts it himself at the end of the pilot, condemn Pittsburgh to a state of “non-existence.” Even beyond Pennsylvania, depending on the samples he possesses and the bioweapon he creates, Moriarty could pose a threat to the entire world. While such a disastrous goal seems lofty, even for the most infamous villains, Moriarty’s ordinary demeanor makes him even more dangerous in Watson. His typical, run-of-the-mill presence enables him to work without arousing suspicion or even fully enact parts of his plan without being noticed at all.

Watson's Randall Park Cast Is Perfect For Its Version Of Moriarty

Park Is Known For His Nice Guy Roles

Despite Randall Park being one of the most recognizable names in Watson’s cast of characters, his acting career consists of mostly comedic and, at times, even heroic roles. Even then, Randall Park has been part of serious projects in the past, but being the main antagonist of Watson is far outside of his typecast. While at first glance Randall Park as Moriarty may seem counter-intuitive or confusing, his amiable reputation is yet another benefit for Watson. Not only is the medical drama’s premise far different from its predecessors, but Watson is already proving it isn’t afraid to take risks.

Casting Randall Park as Moriarty could have gone either way, but the intentionality behind the choice is immediately clear: Watson is using Park’s typecast to the show’s advantage by subverting it and, in doing so, subverting a character that’s existed since 1893. Whether the bold new direction Watson is taking will fully pay off remains to be seen, but there’s something undeniable about the procedural’s commitment to reinventing such a well-known story. Nothing would be more dangerous for Watson than to blend in among the long list of Sherlock adaptations, but the unexpected reinvention of Moriarty is a promising start.

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