Watson Star Reveals if Sherlock Holmes Is Actually Alive

After the convoluted explanation behind Sherlock Holmes’ return in Watson’s most recent episode, one of the series’ stars finally puts an end to the theories regarding his death. Robert Carlyle, who portrays the famous detective in the medical drama, reveals the current status of the character.

In an interview with TV Insider, the actor stated that he genuinely believes that Holmes is alive. His response shuts down all the theories swirling around the internet about how Watson was just hallucinating and that the detective is just a figment of his imagination created to help him cope with all the trauma in his life.

However, while Carlyle stated that he personally believed Holmes was alive, his response was still rather cryptic. “Well, as far as I’m concerned, he’s very much alive. The whole idea of that is kind of like a Sherlock Watson type of thing; it’s a mystery in itself for the viewers to try and figure that out.“

It’s safe to say that his response likely wasn’t enough to put an end to all the conspiracy theories floating around the internet. Although he did deny any type of trickery, his comments still have an air of uncertainty to them. Telling viewers that they still have to figure it out after he seemingly answered the question definitively will likely trigger a negative reaction among fans who are seeking the truth.

Carlyle also teased that Watson is likely just as confused as the audience is. He said that the titular character probably doesn’t trust what he is seeing or hearing when he finds out that Holmes is still “alive.”

Why should he believe him? I don’t know whether he does. I think by the end of that second episode, I don’t think that’s resolved in any way. I still think that that Watson is very, very wary of what is happening, of what this guy actually is. [Laughs] You’re not quite sure what’s going on there. So I don’t know whether he should believe him, I think, to answer your question, and I think the audience also would be quite right to think, “I’m not too sure. Is this a fake? What’s going on?”

Watson is based on the iconic literary character Dr. John Watson (Morris Chestnut), who originated from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes books. The series is set in the modern day and sees the protagonist transition from solving crimes to decoding medical mysteries.

New episodes of Watson are released every Monday at 10:00 PM ET and 7:00 PM PT on CBS.