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This article contains spoilers for Watson, season 1.

Medical mystery drama Watson premiered on CBS with a simple premise. The show would follow famous crime-solving sidekick Dr. John Watson as he returned to practicing medicine after the death of Sherlock Holmes. To CBS's credit, the show avoided becoming just another Sherlock Holmes adaptation, purposefully keeping the titan of literature out of the picture and building a life for Watson and the medical professionals around him.

However, the series did still utilize events depicted in Arthur Conan Doyle's classic novels and short stories. Though they were background information (and of course, updated for the modern day), Conan Doyle's many adventures between Watson and Holmes informed several of the series' plots. And since we imagine that you love the show and its inspiration just as much as we do, we've put together this list of every Sherlock Holmes story that's been used in CBS's Watson. To keep things simple, we'll be laying those stories out by which episode they influenced the most, and telling you a few of the reasons why thereafter.

So adjust your deerstalker hats, make sure your medical gloves are clean, and enjoy.

"The Final Problem" - Episode 1, "Pilot"

The premise of CBS's Watson begins with the idea that Sherlock Holmes is dead. And while Conan Doyle never successfully killed off his most famous creation (though God knows he tried), the closest he got was in the Final Problem, the story that introduced Professor James Moriarty. In this tale, Holmes and Moriarty seemingly kill each other after a confrontation in Switzerland's Reichenbach Falls.

So not only do the events of The Final Problem set up the solo career of Dr. John Watson, but it also introduces Holmes's rival, who serves as the architect of evil in the series. Played (surprisingly) by beloved actor Randall Park, Moriarty's schemes threaten Watson & Co and, unlike in Sherlockian canon, it seems unlikely that the great detective will be back to help his former sidekick anytime soon.

"The Sign of the Four" - Episode 1, "Pilot"

Also introduced in the first episode of Watson is Watson's ex, Mary Marston. Mary comes into the Conan Doyle canon much earlier than Moriarty, appearing as a character in The Sign of the Four. However, despite his later entrance, Moriarty's presence has a bit more sticking power than does Mary's, who does in between adventures and is rarely mentioned again.

That doesn't seem to be the case in Watson, however. Not only does Mary (played by Rochelle Aates) seem in the story for the long haul, she's also much more of a character than she ever was when Arthur Conan Doyle wrote her. And in a move that should be lauded, Mary's reason for no longer being with Dr. Watson is, in this adaptation, no longer just 'death.'

"The Adventure of the Illustrious Client" - Episode 1, "Pilot"

Speaking of interesting moves, Watson is one of the few Sherlock Holmes adaptations to reach into the Conan Doyle canon deep enough to make contact with Shinwell Johnson. Yes, the ex-con and semi-ally/semi-traitor to the Watson crew (played by Ritchie Coster) does come straight from Sherlockian lore, but only in one instance. That was the Adventure of the Illustrious Client, where Johnson does prove to be a loyal friend to Baker Street.

I guess with a name like "Shinwell," you've got to hold on to the pals that you have.

"A Scandal in Bohemia" - Episode 8, "A Variant of Unknown Significance"

Much more well-known in Holmes circles is Irene Adler, who famously makes it into just about every Sherlock Holmes adaptation there is, plus has been the star of a few literary spinoffs herself. First appearing in A Scandal in Bohemia, Conan Doyle crafted Adler to be an intellectual match for Holmes himself, and left the possibility of a secret romance between them very much open.

Which, in the years since, has pretty much proven to be the rule. 

Like her literary counterpart, Whoopie Van Raam's Adler uses her incredible intelligence for her own personal gain, making her not quite an evil figure, but certainly not an outright hero. However, Watson episode 8 does put her in perhaps some of the most sympathetic light we've seen in a moment, revealing her conniving nature to be in service of her son.

Who may also be Sherlock's son? We'll let you watch the episode and find out.

"The Greek Interpreter" - Episode 8, "A Variant of Unknown Significance"

And while you're watching Watson episode 8, you'll also meet another classic character from Holmes lore, one that Conan Doyle put in more stories than any of the folks we've previously mentioned. That would be Sherlock's older brother, Mycroft, who most interpretations paint as both more intelligent but more morally ambivalent than his little brother. At least, that's the idea we get from his very first appearance in Conan Doyle's The Greek Interpreter.

But not only do we get to meet this frequented character in the episode, we also get to travel to one of the staples of Sherlock Holmes's London, refitted in this series to belong to Pittsburgh, PA. That place is the exclusive Diogenes Club, where Mycroft (played in this series by Vincent Gale) spends most of his time and where members of the ruling elite come to relax.

"A Study in Scarlet" - Episode 10, "The Man with the Alien Hand"

So we've met Moriarty, Adler, Mycroft, Marston, and even our buddy Shinwell, but none of them carry the distinct honor that our next canon character does. That next character is Detective Lestrade, played by Rachel Hayward, who was introduced in Conan Doyle's A Study in Scarlet, the very first tale to feature Sherlock Holmes and his beloved biographer, Dr. John Watson.

Now, there are a ton of differences between the Lestrade of Sherlockian canon and the one we meet in Watson - the literary figure is Inspector, not Detective, and is male instead of female - but perhaps the biggest is that this Lestrade seems pretty good at her job. In Conan Doyle's stories, Inspector Lestrade is unimaginative to a fault, and were it not for Holmes and Watson, he would've botched many a case.

Watson is streaming now on Paramount+.

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