Critic’s Rating: 3.6 / 5.0
3.6
It’s time to have a conversation about Doctor Odyssey.
This is a deeply unserious show that also valiantly tries to be serious, and what we get in return is truly a mixed bag.
Is it good? Is it not so good? Am I entertained? WHAT AM I FEELING?
Would it be a cop-out to say I still don’t know?
Plastic Surgery Week differed significantly from Singles Week in Doctor Odyssey Season 1 Episode 2.
Where the boat was previously filled with people looking to cut loose, mingle, and meet new people, this week’s guests were more or less looking to recover and relax after various surgeries.
As the new guy on the ship, Max is experiencing these weeks for the first time, and it’s interesting to see how he approaches them. This is always in contrast to Tristan, Avery, and Robert, who appear almost jaded at this point.
Tristan and Robert cracked jokes, while Avery was less than pleased about the whole thing.
Should people relatively fresh out of surgery go on cruises? That does not feel like something that should be approved, but I am nothing but a television critic.
If last week was a chance to get to know Avery and Robert better, this one was all about Max and Tristan. And Tristan desperately needed some backstory, so dropping his mom on the cruise was a nice touch.
We’re spending time with these people weekly now, but we still don’t know them outside of the fact that they all are pretty good at their jobs.
Thus far, Tristan has been reduced to being obsessed with Avery and a bit of a lothario, but that’s about all we know about him. Meeting Caroline, it was obvious that there was a lot of pain ingrained in that relationship.
Caroline wasn’t just love-bombing her son; she was also manipulating him, and it was rather sad to see Tristan try to remember how she made him feel and work through knowing that he was likely to be hurt but still just wanted his mother’s affection.
It wasn’t explicitly stated here, but if that shot of Tristan on the beach by himself was any indication, then he’s a rather lonely guy.
And a job on a cruise ship, where he’s constantly in motion and less likely to spend as much time dwelling on his loneliness with the new adventures every day, was probably a big part of the reason why he sought that kind of job.
With the passengers dropping like flies, it seemed only a matter of time before Caroline became the latest patient in the medical bay. But finding out that she had Huntington’s Disease was a shock for them both.
Caroline’s diagnosis didn’t stop her from continuing to live the way she wanted, and while Tristan may have hoped that his mother would stick around a bit to spend time with him, all things considered, she didn’t change her tune whatsoever. It was sad to see that realization sweep over Tristan.
I’m not sure how people feel about Tristan overall, but this hour made me like him a whole lot more than I previously did, and it was not out of a sense of pity or anything like that.
He showed a lot of self-awareness and vulnerability, and it was nice to see a different side of him that wasn’t petty or in the throes of a medical emergency.
There was also some great stuff between Tristan and Max, who’ve slowly formed a pretty deep connection, all things considered.
Max and Avery’s latest rendezvous was hard to ignore since they were hooking up in the medical area. Again, Tristan may have been upset initially, but he did some serious introspection thanks to Caroline.
Tristan may have never loved Avery, but I wouldn’t wholly sell his relationship with Avery short. They spend a lot of time together in close quarters, and those lines get blurred, but there’s also a lot of mutual respect between them, and there is a bond.
Good on Tristan for realizing that he may have romanticized their connection. Many people wouldn’t ever come to that conclusion because they’d be too scared to look that deeply at themselves.
So, does that mean the love triangle has ended after a whopping three hours? I’m not sure whether to be happy about that.
Max and Avery were clearly the narrative’s leanings, but I appreciate the comfort and openness between them and the different pairings.
They could have framed this very differently, especially with the love triangle, but instead, they’ve given us relatively rich relationships between adults who happen to work together on the open sea.
Speaking of Max and Avery, though, before their hookup, Avery comforted Max, who took Ken’s death rather hard.
I could not figure out why Max felt such a pull toward Ken at first outside of curiosity, but it truly was that Ken was a source of comfort to Max. He didn’t know Ken before he stepped onto the boat, not in the literal sense, but he still felt a connection.
Max’s story about watching Ken’s show in his darkest hours was very relatable, even if you can’t relate to being COVID-19 patient zero.
Many of us have been in a place where curling up in bed or on the couch to watch mindless television felt like the only thing keeping us sane. For Max, Ken was living his life how he hoped to, should he ever find himself walking out of the sliding hospital doors.
Ken was unapologetically himself, and it was inspiring to him.
I had a feeling something terrible would happen when we got that scene of Ken going through his night routine shortly after he and Max had a very heartwarming conversation.
It also just felt like this show was bound to have a death sooner or later.
That’s not exactly how things happen on a cruise ship if someone passes away, right? There aren’t dead bodies being shoved onto laundry carts and riding down the elevator with passengers, correct?
I was right with Max that it was hard to reconcile that as the correct course of action.
Elsewhere during this hour, Lenore was a hot mess. She truly had it out for Avery because it was so obvious that she was the exact opposite of the kind of person Lenore was used to.
Avery’s not about to cater to anyone, least of all someone like Lenore, who was about as abrasive and vapid as it gets. She’d rather get fired than back down.
Avery’s firing was obviously not going to last. Still, the show is making a big to-do about Avery wanting to be a doctor, so showing her stepping up like she did with Vanna’s surgery helps that storyline.
One thing the series is doing an excellent job of is making me glad that these guest stars only last a week. I’ve yet to want any of these passengers to stick around for a second week, and that’s either by design or because they’re truly giving us uninspired group after uninspired group.
Check back with me in a few weeks to see if I’ve figured out what they’re aiming for.
Doctor’s Notes
- When I say this show is deeply unserious, I mean the woman who snorted coke and pulled her nose off. They then put a Phantom of the Opera mask on her until she could get her nose reattached.
- Max getting to spend time with Ken before he passed and talking to the others from the Barbie show must have been bittersweet but cathartic for him, as those people were a special part of his life.
- Hopefully, Avery and Tristan had an off-screen conversation because she was a little harsh when she called him out for projecting his mom issues onto her. His heart was in the right place, and he wanted her not to lose her job.
All right, people. This series is moving along, and I’m still trying to figure out what I’m watching!
In the comments, let me know how you feel about things and what you’d like to see from the story moving forward.
You can watch Doctor Odyssey on ABC on Thursdays at 9/8c.
Watch Doctor Odyssey Online
