‘Watson’: Morris Chestnut and Randall Park Tease Watson and Moriarty Going Head-to-Head in Season 1 Finale (Exclusive)

Part two of the Watson Season 1 finale is just days away, and Morris Chestnut and Randall Park spoke to PopCulture.com about what to expect.

In “Your Life’s Work, Part 2,” airing on Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on CBS, “Watson and the team are faced with an impossible choice when two lives hang in the balance, but they only have one vial of antidote available. Meanwhile, Shinwell races to help the team, and Watson goes head to head with Moriarty.”

The episode picks up after the cliffhanger at the end of part one, which saw both Crofts on the brink of death and only enough dose of the cure to save one. Chestnut, who plays the titular Dr. John Watson, told PopCulture, “Part two is where we kind of go head to head. And first of all, we’re gonna see what happens with the twins. We can only save one of the Croft brothers, so we’ll see who we’re going to be able to save. But then, of course, we have the villainous Moriarty lurking around the hospital, wreaking havoc, so definitely we’ll finally go head to head.”

Throughout the season, fans have been getting bits and pieces of Park’s James Moriarty, and Watson himself has been targeted by Sherlock Holmes’ killer without even realizing it. Moriarty has been going after the team now, first with Ingrid and her dead father, and now he seems to be behind everything else, too. Seeing it all come to a head in these final episodes after it’s been building up all season has been entertaining, and Park agrees.

“I mean, it’s been so, so fun to watch and so fun to play when we’re shooting,” he said. “It’s so fun to read when we get each script. It really is a slow build throughout the series, and here in this final episode, it really comes to a head, and so I’m excited for people to see it.”

As for what it’s been like playing off the dynamic between Watson and Moriarty when a lot of it has been discreet, Chestnut said, “I can say that the challenge for me, I didn’t know that that was Moriarty.” He continued, “I’ve been suffering, I’ve had a traumatic brain injury. They’re messing with my prescriptions. There’s a lot going on in Watson’s head leading up to these moments. So when I finally find out who it is, that’s when it really gets playing with Randall. He’s incredible in everything he does, but he’s very sinister and scary in this role. People were looking at him differently on the street now.”

“Being able to play opposite Morris and particularly in these last few episodes was really fun,” Park added. “I mean, he is a hero to me and a legend to me. So it was surreal playing opposite him. But also being able to play this iconic character against another iconic character has been a real honor.”

As if it wasn’t obvious before, Morris Chestnut and Randall Park play versions of some pretty iconic characters, as Park expressed. Chestnut said playing Dr. John Watson has been “fun, and luckily it’s a modern day version of it, post the death of Sherlock Holmes. So a little bit more creative freedom to kind of do what I want with the character, along with working with Craig [Sweeney, creator], it will make some certain decisions. So it’s a good bump.”

For Park, he loves “this version of Moriarty because he is so unassuming and such a kind of a regular guy just walking around, you wouldn’t really think twice about him until he lures you in. And that’s what’s been happening throughout the season, and it all comes to a head here. So I’m very excited for this episode.”

Watson has been renewed for Season 2, so fans will be seeing a lot more next year. In the meantime, the Season 1 finale airs on Sunday at 9 p.m. ET on CBS, streaming the next day on Paramount+, where all episodes are streaming.