CBS’s new medical drama Watson has already left viewers speechless with its casting reveal of a classic villain.
The series, which aired its pilot episode immediately after the NFL AFC Championship between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills, is a daring spin-off of Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.
Starring Morris Chestnut as the eponymous Doctor Watson, the show picks up one year after Sherlock and his archenemy, James Moriarty, fall to their deaths. As Watson resumes his medical practice by opening the Holmes Clinic in Pittsburgh to treat patients with strange and unidentifiable ailments, he soon discovers that Moriarty might still be alive.
*Warning — spoilers for Watson episode one ahead*
At the end of the episode, it’s revealed that Moriarty is indeed alive and played by Fresh Off the Boats star Randall Park.
The comedic actor, who also played “Asian Jim” in The Office, was not entirely who fans were expecting to play the infamous criminal mastermind.
“That is unexpected casting for Moriarty and I’m not mad at it!” one viewer wrote on X/Twitter, adding: “Might be worth sticking around just for that alone.”
“RANDALL PARK AS MORIARTY?! YOOOOOO!!! THIS IS EPIC!” a second exclaimed. “JIMMY WOO IS JAMES MORIARTY??” another asked, referencing Park’s Wandavision agent Jimmy Woo.
Speaking to Deadline in a new interview, Watson creator Craig Sweeney spoke about his decision to keep Park’s casting under wraps before the premiere.
“I’m always thinking about what’s the most fun for the audience. I think that we have a strong enough concept to draw crowds to the show anyway and that the idea of seeing Moriarty — but really Randall Park playing Moriarty, which I find to be a really surprising, interesting choice — the idea of that being a surprise and shock was appealing to me,” he explained.
Asked about how Park’s casting came about, Sweeney said: “I had a pre-existing relationship with Randall, not a huge one, but enough that I had his number in my phone, and we were friendly.”
He shared that he received a lot of interest in the role from “great” actors who were “more traditional villains.” However, he was “interested in the idea of really inverting [Moriarty’s] persona.”
“The idea of what if Randall Parks’ affability and smile and his famous and completely genuine niceness were a mask for something much more sinister,” he continued. “I thought that was a really interesting writing challenge and a really interesting way to present the character of Moriarty and that performer as well.
“I sent him a text and said, would you want to do that? Obviously, there are negotiations that needed to happen but there was interest right from the get-go, we’re very fortunate,” Sweeney added, teasing: “He comes back quite a bit over the course of the season.”
Confirming that Park’s role is recurring rather than a series regular, he noted: “This version of Moriarty is always looking to slip effortlessly into the world and not draw eyes to himself.
“Although we tell a lot of great cases, what you’ll remember, I believe, primarily from Season 1 is the story of Watson vs. Moriarty and what Moriarty is doing with the DNA from Watson’s clinic.”
Watson airs Sunday nights at 9 p.m. EST on CBS.
