As a chronically squeamish person, medical dramas have never been my thing. I’ve never seen a full episode of Grey’s Anatomy and have always steered clear of even the most critically acclaimed shows like The Pitt, but leave it to Ryan Murphy to actually get me hooked on a medical show with his latest series, Doctor Odyssey. The show follows the medical staff of a luxurious cruise ship, consisting of nurses Tristan (Sean Teale) and Avery (Phillipa Soo), and headed by Dr. Max Bankman (Joshua Jackson). They quickly enter a love triangle that complicates their professional dynamic as the trio tackles new and unique medical crises every week.
The series highlights some of what Murphy does best, with plenty of juicy melodrama, teetering between self-awareness and earnestness, and incorporating some truly absurd plot points and bafflingly tone-deaf moments. An offbeat procedural with an ever-changing roster of celebrity guest stars, the bizarre fantasy world of Doctor Odyssey is the first medical show to keep me coming back week after week.
‘Doctor Odyssey’ Puts a Unique Spin on the Medical Procedural
The idyllic yet isolated setting of a luxury cruise ship makes Doctor Odyssey a unique procedural, forcing our protagonists to think on their feet in unpredictable ship-related situations while dealing with eccentric and at times demanding guests. With a new theme every week, there’s plenty of humor to be found in the various injuries and afflictions that put the guests in the medical ward. In the pilot episode alone, a man “breaks” his penis, a woman’s new nose falls off during plastic surgery week, and during Halloween week, two men develop African sleeping sickness which causes them to behave like zombies. Sometimes, guests will find themselves in the medical ward thanks to injuries resulting from some bizarre, borderline Final Destination-eseque scenarios, like Bob the Drag Queen’s wig catching fire during a performance, or a cheerleader’s hair getting caught in a hot tub drain, resulting in her neck being impaled by a piece of broken plastic.
Aside from Doctor Odyssey’s crossover episode with 9-1-1, another Ryan Murphy production, the show’s diverse cast of guest stars is a major part of what keeps me looking forward to the next episode. There are comedians like Amy Sedaris and Margaret Cho, award-winning actresses like Loretta Devine and Margo Martindale, and a few previous Murphy collaborators like Hollywood’s Laura Harrier, and Glee’s Chord Overstreet and Dianna Agron. During Doctor Odyssey’s spring break episode, TikTok star Noah Beck plays a college student who spontaneously ejaculates in a hot tub at the mere sight of three beautiful women, played by a trio of nepo babies: Paris Jackson, Ava Phillippe, and Charlotte Lawrence. Even country-pop icon Shania Twain appears as a widow who falls for The Odyssey’s Captain Massey (Don Johnson). You never know who’s going to show up next, or what kind of strange medical crisis will befall the celebrity guest stars, who always look like they’re having fun embracing the weirdness of Doctor Odyssey.
The Absurdity of ‘Doctor Odyssey’ Is What Makes It So Entertaining
The sheer absurdity of some of Doctor Odyssey’s major plot points is what persuaded me to actually take a chance on the medical drama in the first place. After seeing a clip from the pilot episode, in which Max explains that he was patient zero of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, I simply had to give it a shot. The episode that really captures the essence of Doctor Odyssey, and convinced me it’s one of the best shows on television, is Episode 6, “I Always Cry at Weddings.” In this wedding-themed episode, one of the guests, groom-to-be Eric (Hudson Oz), is struggling with sex addiction and other mental health issues, and ends up taking his own life by jumping off the ship.
It’s one of the darkest moments in the series so far, and, in turn, inspires Tristan, Avery, and Max to rethink their lives and each share five items on their bucket lists, each of which includes having a threesome. So, in the final moments of the episode, the sexual tension between them finally comes to a head, and they start having a threesome, but it cuts to black before things get too steamy (it is an ABC show after all). Then, a suicide-prevention PSA flashes momentarily on screen before immediately cutting to the upbeat instrumental music that plays over the end credits of each episode. It’s a jaw-dropping level of tonal whiplash I’ve never seen on television before, and it had me totally hooked.
‘Doctor Odyssey’ Balances Its Bizarre Comedy With Touching Moments
Even though Doctor Odyssey begs you not to take it too seriously, there are some genuinely touching moments throughout, and it allows the main trio — and Captain Massey — to grow and evolve as characters as they each find themselves at a crossroads in their lives. Though Avery is often portrayed as an object of desire for Tristan and Max to compete over, she’s still a complex character navigating the difficulties of being a woman in the medical field and, until the most recent episode, the consequences of her pregnancy as she plans to go to medical school. Fun-loving Tristan comes to terms with his alcoholism, Max ponders whether his purpose extends beyond treating wealthy vacationers aboard The Odyssey, and Captain Massey has a new baby on the way.
Sean Teale, Phillipa Soo, and Joshua Jackson work incredibly well together, and the show even toys with the idea of turning Tristan, Avery, and Max into a throuple, which, unfortunately, never ends up materializing. However, it does kick-start some serious personal growth for all three of them when Avery gets pregnant after their threesome and is unsure of who the father is (though it’s later revealed she was never actually pregnant in the first place). Doctor Odyssey appealed to me like no other medical drama ever has because it’s both a procedural and a fantasy where three hot medical professionals jump from run-of-the-mill medical diagnoses to the absolute worst-case scenario in a matter of minutes, using their ridiculously high-tech medical equipment to save the day. At the beginning of each episode, guests board the ship through an aquarium tunnel with the show’s soothing theme music playing in the background, making you feel like you’re entering a paradisaical alternate universe in which no one is ever preoccupied with insurance coverage or exorbitant medical costs, and where things almost always work themselves out in the end.
It’s still unclear whether Doctor Odyssey will be renewed for a second season, and it has already set up at least one major character’s future departure. Nevertheless, I could watch half a dozen more seasons of this dreamy, horny, delightfully strange medical drama. Do I still have to close my eyes and mute the TV when Tristan, Avery, and Max perform surgery or treat a particularly gruesome injury? Absolutely. But it’s totally worth it.
Doctor Odyssey airs on ABC on Thursdays at 9/8c, and is available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.
