[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the Watson Season 2 premiere “A Son in the Oven.”]
“What the hell?!” That’s what’s going through the head of Morris Chestnut‘s titular doctor when he finds his friend, the sleuth Sherlock Holmes (Robert Carlyle), who’s supposed to be dead, raiding his fridge at the end of the Watson Season 2 premiere.
“His first thought is, does he believe what he’s seeing?” Chestnut continues in the video interview above with him and Rochelle Aytes (Mary) when they stopped by TV Insider’s office ahead of the premiere. “That person is supposed to be deceased. So, he just can’t believe not only is that person not deceased, but he’s raiding his refrigerator.”
We don’t get any answers — is Sherlock really alive, or is Watson seeing things? — but whatever’s going on, “Mary’s not married to him anymore, so that’s Laila’s [Tika Sumpter] problem, for now,” quips Aytes.
Chestnut says he’s still figuring out Watson and Sherlock’s dynamic. “There’s still a lot of unresolved issues that we have to talk about, including I kind of really want to confront him about this disappearing on me like he did, if he is in fact alive,” he explains.
Colin Bentley/CBS
Meanwhile, it’s a heavy premiere for Mary, whose mother, Watson’s patient with a worrying case of dementia, needs a liver transplant. Mary’s not a match, but, surprise: Elizabeth (Juanita Jennings) had a son before her whom she gave up for adoption, and she’s been visiting Miles (Khary Payton) in his bakery every day. She appeals to him, and he agrees to donate.
“It was definitely way more emotional and so heavy, so exhausting, but also very rewarding and challenging to get to play another dimension of Mary, getting to see her in a more vulnerable light,” says Aytes.
As for that shocking reveal of Mary having a brother, “I don’t even think she could really process it in the moment,” Aytes tells us before praising the casting of Payton. “Amazing actor. There were similarities between the two of us. I was looking at his face and I was like, ‘Wow, they did a great job.’ I think Mary is emotional because she has a brother that she didn’t know existed, and I’m sure there is a part of her that’s grateful to Watson for finding him. And I hope that they bring him back to show more that they’ve stayed in connection in a relationship with each other.”
While this is something that her mom hid from her, Aytes thinks that while Mary “was hurt … there’s some grace, I think, Mary gave her for being young and not ready. But it was shocking that she never told her about this person.” After all, as we see at the beginning of the episode, Mary and her mother have a great relationship. Aytes is hoping both Payton and Jennings return, plus she wants to know “who and where [her] father is. Is he alive? Is he dead? Are we estranged?”
It’s while Watson’s sitting with Mary at her mother’s hospital bedside that we learn that she was seeing someone, but the other woman ghosted her after her mom got sick. Aytes isn’t sure what Mary’s looking for in a partner right now.
“She was married to Watson for a long time. Maybe she’s not ready for something very serious, and it’s just kind of enjoying life. But I have hopes that Mary and Watson will get back together at some point,” she admits before teasing, “We have little hints of our relationship throughout the season. We have some flashbacks, which is always fun.”
Watson has (seemingly) moved on, with Laila, but if you ask Aytes, “he’s not serious” about her. Chestnut somewhat disagrees.
“Watson definitely takes Laila seriously because there is a child that could be involved, and we’ll see what happens with that later on in the season,” he explains. “But he does feel like he still has some unresolved feelings, emotions, situations, circumstances with Mary, so he’s conflicted in that regard and he has to figure out how he’s going to deal with it.”
Watch the full video interview with Morris Chestnut and Rochelle Aytes above as they break down the Season 2 premiere, discuss Watson and Mary’s relationship — and Watson’s with Laila — Sherlock’s return, Mary’s family drama, and much more, including about that secret place of Watson’s and Ingrid (Eve Harlow) possibly returning to the team of fellows.
Watson, Mondays, 10/9c, CBS
 "Fox News settles with Dominion for 7 million, averting defamation trial over its 2020 election lies")
