When we learned that Sherlock Holmes was coming into Watson season 2, we weren’t all that surprised. How can you have a show set in this universe without the iconic character?
Of course, initially, the plan was to keep Sherlock dead but then plans always change. Never say “never” in this business. However, none of this means that Sherlock is actually alive and well. There is the theory that he is part of John’s imagination.
Sherlock has only revealed himself to John in Watson season 2
Something to note is that Sherlock hasn’t revealed himself to other characters in Watson season 2. This naturally leads to the suspicion that the character is dead and just a hallucination.
After all, when Moriarty returned from the dead, he remained hidden from John as much as possible. Yes, John had a few visions of him now and then, but for the most part, Moriarty interacted with Shinwell and other characters. That in itself made it clear that Moriarty was definitely alive, and there was no reason to doubt it.
For a character to only appear to one person makes it feel like there is much more to the story. Why would Sherlock just appear inside John’s home in the way he did?
Actor Robert Carlyle says that he played Sherlock as alive during the first two episodes, according to Us Weekly, but that doesn’t mean he definitely is alive. A character who is a hallucination doesn’t always know that he is a hallucination, after all. It’s only when the one seeing the figure realizes that they’re not real that the hallucination also figures that out.
Sherlock is thinking about what he hasn’t achieved
With the conversation that’s happening between Sherlock and John, it does seem like Sherlock is alive. He’s contemplating life and his age. More importantly, he’s contemplating the things has has and hasn’t achieved in his life.
This could be something that John is contemplating, though. It’s plausible that John is trying to see if his life’s work has been worth it. Is this why he’s pushing for his clinic to be the big success that it is, because he wants to make sure he leaves some sort of legacy behind? Maybe having Sherlock contemplate this means that John feels like Sherlock failed in that, and that he doesn’t want to be the same failure.
This is an arc we’ll need to see play out over the course of the season. It certainly has me intrigued.
Watson airs on Mondays at 10/9c on CBS.
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