PHILLIPA SOO, JOSHUA JACKSON
In a world where things are ever-changing, Joshua Jackson remains a constant in the realm of prime-time television. In his newest show, Doctor Odyssey, co-starring Phillipa Soo and Don Johnson, Jackson portrays a confident, attractive and sometimes cocky doctor starting his first medical contract at sea aboard the Odyssey. As the tag line implies, his character definitely brings “big deck energy” to this three-person medical team.
While the show is very correctly portrayed as a medical drama, this writer couldn’t help but keep waiting or anticipating a supernatural or scary twist, potentially due to the fact that one of the creators is none other than Ryan Murphy, most known for quirky, terrifying and spooky shows such as Glee, American Horror Story and Monsters, just to name a few. Quite honestly, this show could have benefited from taking a unique spin on a tired TV trope, but alas, it remains yet another basic medical show, sandwiched between two other prime time medical dramas (9-1-1 & Grey’s Anatomy) where the guests change every week, the stakes are always high and all of the characters are dating each other … except this one is at sea!
In fairness, the fact that they are out to sea does inherently bring more suspense, because they are limited to what they have on the ship to help fix patients. Already in the first episode, the good doctor and his team get creative with assisting a passenger to breathe better, despite requiring surgery, so there is the potential for Doctor Odyssey to be more akin to a medical MacGyver series – which would be interesting.
With three beautiful people working together basically 24/7, it comes as no surprise that a love, or at least lust, triangle is already starting to develop between Dr. Max Bankman (Jackson), nurse practitioner Avery Morgan (Soo) and nurse Tristan Silva (Sean Teale, The Gifted). This triangle will likely only grow more complicated throughout the season, especially when the crew lives by the mantra, “Work like a captain, play like a pirate.”
The one interesting plot point that took me by surprise was the reason for such an accomplished doctor to abandon his well-established career for a smaller position aboard a cruise liner. As it turns out, part of Dr. Bankman’s backstory includes a long treacherous battle with COVID, having been one of the first people on the east coast to contract the disease. Surviving something that many people early on did not, forced Max to re-evaluate his priorities and decide to “pursue joy.” Outside of Grey’s Anatomy, this is one of the first medical shows this writer has watched that have woven in some of the real world effects of the pandemic into their storyline. (Sidenote – there are definitely many others, yours truly just hasn’t seen them.)
One final gripe with the pilot of Doctor Odyssey is the fact that the credits ran a solid 13 minutes into the show. I haven’t seen credits as long as these since watching Bones. It’s of course a very minor complaint, but one that was definitely distracting and unnecessary.
Overall, the writing could have been stronger, but if you’re a lover of medical dramas who’s looking for a new show to have on in the background while you’re scrolling on your phone and letting your brain decompress from a chaotic day, then Doctor Odyssey might be the perfect prescription.
With such a strong lineup of new shows entering the weekly lineup this fall, this writer had higher hopes for Doctor Odyssey. However, because the casting choices are so great, it might be worth it to give this show a few more episodes to find its sea legs before completely abandoning ship.
doctor odyssey is boring iv tried watching it and end up deleting it