Walter said:My esteemed colleagues, having read most of the Sherlock Holmes stories, I'm always a little peeved when people think of Watson as an idiot who just gesticulates wildly in surprise constantly. He's often underrated simply because he pales in comparison to his partner's superhuman abilities. But Watson's not stupid. He's able to bounce off ideas and even contribute to Holmes' deductive reasoning faster than nearly every other characters in the series. The notable exception being of course, Moriarty. And really, Holmes wouldn't logically have kept him around if he thought Watson as a buffoon.
Yeah, same here. Watson's pretty cool in the books and if anything that's how his character should be pictured by default (not to mention the fact that as the narrator he always downplays his own role).