I've always felt that Watson has gotten short shrift in the Holmes movies and shows. I can understand how, when he was the narrator, he would want to stay in the background and showcase Holmes. But when you move to an omniscient narration technique, he is nearly always written as a bit of a bumbling three-quarterwit. He was actually a physician, trained in Edinburgh (considered an excellent medical school!) who served in the Army and maintained his own practice on more than one occassion. Holmes also used his medical knowledge and expertise on more that one occassion, and certainly relied upon his revolver shooting skills (Holmes was skilled in many areas, but apparently he had a hard time hitting much beyond a wall with a pistol).