Although would have a hard time justifying the character’s appearance, series star Morris Chestnut wants ’s Joan Watson to show up in the CBS procedural. There are dozens of TV shows and hundreds of movies featuring Sherlock Holmes, and his legendary mysteries have been adapted into countless different contexts over the years. Most recently, CBS’s Watson stars Morris Chestnut as Sherlock’s famous sidekick, John H Watson, who returns to work as a doctor after the apparent death of his friend and colleague Sherlock Holmes before the series began.

While Watson season 2 promises more appearances from classic characters from the Sherlock Holmes universe, Watson season 1’s shocking ending killed off Holmes’ infamous nemesis Moriarty in a shocking twist. From Ingrid’s relationship to Stephens to the future possibility of an appearance from Sherlock himself (despite his ostensible off-screen death before the series began), Watson season 2 has many potential story strands to follow. However, one possible crossover is of particular interest to series star Morris Chestnut.

Speaking to Deadline, Chestnut said that he was eager for Elementary star Lucy Liu to appear in the series. Liu played an earlier re-imagining of Sherlock’s sidekick, Dr. Joan Watson, in the hit series Elementary. Elementary ran for seven seasons from 2012 until 2019 and the show cast Liu as Dr. Joan Watson, a sober companion to Johnny Lee Miller’s recovering addict version of Sherlock Holmes.

While Elementary had many more episodes than Sherlock and lasted a lot longer than the cult hit, the overlapping release of the two shows meant they unavoidably garnered a lot of comparisons. Although Chestnut didn’t make it clear whether Liu would return to the role of Joan in Watson or not, his suggestions for season 2 are still the best opportunity for anyone in Elementary to come back for a reunion. Per Chestnut, “I’m trying to track her down and get her to come on our show because, yes, that would be great if we could get her.”

, although it is tough to see how the procedural could pull this off. After all, Dr. Joan Watson spent the entire series working with Miller’s version of Holmes, whereas Watson has its own unseen take on Holmes in the form of a late character who Watson assisted during his life.

Although he is apparently dead in the world of the series, Watson’s Holmes can be heard voiced by Matt Berry in some recordings made during his life. Since Watson was created by Elementary's co-executive producer, Craig Sweeney,. Combine this with Chestnut's comment, and it becomes clear that Liu’s return could be the most likely way for her to reprise the role of Elementary’s Joan Watson.

While Watson season 2’s Adam and Stephens storyline will likely take precedence when the series returns to screens in 2026, viewers could still reasonably expect to see Elementary’s star appear on the show in a guest role. It is harder to see how Watson season 2 could get around the show’s conflicting continuities.

Watson has its own version of Moriarty and Sherlock, as does Elementary, meaning the show can’t simply have Liu play Dr. Joan Watson without acknowledging this confusion. However, there is another approach available. , proving that the show shares its continuity with Elementary in the process.

This would be a fun, meta way to acknowledge the countless adaptations of Sherlock Holmes that exist, from Guy Ritchie’s movies to Netflix’s Enola Holmes franchise. However, this could quickly become confusing for Watson. As such,’s star may appear as a new character if Lucy Liu does crop up in season 2 for a guest role.

Source: Deadline

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