'Doctor Odyssey' Review: These Doctors Are Making Us Thirsty

By Jen Maravegias | TV | October 1, 2024 |

By Jen Maravegias | TV | October 1, 2024 |

Do you like Joshua Jackson? (That’s a rhetorical question, you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t.) Do you like Joshua Jackson dressed in nice clothes? How do you feel about him when he flashes his megawatt smile?

What about Phillipa Soo? You like her, don’t you? In case you’re not familiar with her name, Soo originated the role of Eliza Hamilton in the Broadway musical Hamilton.

In case you need your memory jogged, this is Joshua Jackson:

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And this is Phillipa Soo:

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Not doing it for you? Can I interest you in Sean Teale? He’s British and known for his roles as Prince Condé in Reign, Nick Levan in Skins, and Ben Larson in the series Incorporated.

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What if we put all three of these very good-looking people together on a luxury cruise ship? Wait, I’m not done. And then we put them in uniform? Oh, and sprinkled a little Don Johnson in there. You know, for your mom.

No, this is not a Pajiba 10 FYC post. This is a review of the pilot episode of ABC’s new medical drama, Doctor Odyssey. It is The Love Boat with doctors. In the first episode, everyone is very sexy, stylish, smart, and capable. And Joshua Jackson makes an entrance wearing this:

Jackson is at peak Clooney-esque handsomeness and charm in Doctor Odyssey. His character, Dr. Max Bankman, has been hired away from a life of globe-trotting altruistic, charity labor by Don Johnson’s Captain Robert Massey to be the head physician onboard his luxury cruise ship, The Odyssey. Nurse Practitioner Avery Morgan (Soo) and nurse Tristan Silva (Teale) have to teach him the ropes of living That Cruise Ship Life when he arrives.

Everyone has a chip on their shoulder. The nurses have years of practical experience on the ship and are familiar with all of the ailments and issues they are likely to face throughout a cruise. Jackson’s Bankman is a highly educated, privileged white guy. Historically, that’s not a demographic that is very good at taking advice from subordinates. But, of course, they work it out, in part thanks to the guests who come up with some weird reasons to need medical services right off the bat. In the pilot, they deal with iodine poisoning from eating too much shrimp at the buffet, a broken penis that requires immediate surgery, and a man overboard.

Once the three team members decide they’re all very good at their jobs and pat each other on the backs, it’s a regular “love fest,” as Bankman explains to the Captain over a black-tie dinner. And he means that literally because of course two people who look like Joshua Jackson and Phillipa Soo generate sexy sparks of sexiness between them that they then act upon. But only once (in the first episode.) This immediately triggers the Law of Love Triangles because, of course, Teale’s Tristan Silva has had a crush on Soo’s Avery Morgan for two years. How will Nurse Practitioner Morgan ever decide between these two?

Doctor Odyssey is an extravagant soap opera set on the open ocean with medical jargon thrown in. The pilot is fun, albeit ridiculous. It’s hard to take the drama parts seriously because there’s no sense of realism to it. The ship’s Captain goes so far as to explain that they’re there to maintain a level of fantasy regardless of circumstances for their passengers. But he was talking about us as viewers, too. It is a Ryan Murphy show, after all.

Doctor Odyssey promises special guest stars each week, including Shania Twain, Gina Gershon, and John Stamos. And while I’m not a fan of medical dramas, I’ll probably watch this one for as long as it lasts for all of the reasons illustrated above.

Doctor Odyssey airs Thursdays on ABC and is available to stream on Disney/Hulu.