One of the results of the Peak TV era is that there doesn’t seem to be enough shows out there that are “entertainingly dumb.” You know what we mean; the plots are ridiculous, the dialogue silly, the situations unrealistic. But, damn if the show isn’t fun to watch. A new Ryan Murphy-produced medical drama is firmly in the category of “entertainingly dumb.”
Opening Shot: The cruise ship The Odyssey is in port in Los Angeles.
The Gist: Two of the ship’s medical staff, nurse Tristan Silva (Sean Teale) and nurse practitioner Avery Morgan (Phillipa Soo) board the ship and are summoned to meet with Captain Robert Massey (Don Johnson). He informs the pair that the previous ship’s doctor was fired after letting a “special guest” on board during the previous cruise season. That guest is was a nasty bacteria that made hundreds of passengers sick, and the previous doc diagnosed “patient zero” and let it spread.
The new doctor, Max Bankman (Joshua Jackson) is highly qualified, almost to the point where Tristan and Avery don’t know why he’d practice medicine on a cruise ship. When Max boards, he’s much younger and more charming than the nurses envisioned, and he loads a ton of new equipment into the ship’s infirmary. But the nurses are still skeptical, especially given the fact that they know that some of the emergencies they see are very specific to people enjoying themselves on a cruise.
Case in point: A longtime married couple (Rachel Dratch, Tom McGowan) come in because the husband has been throwing up. While Max thinks it’s a reaction to antibiotics, Avery knows it’s iodine poisoning due to the husband eating too much shrimp from the seafood buffet.
When Max expresses a bit of bemusement over what he saw on his first day when dining with Captain Massey, the captain lets him know that it’s the job of everyone one board to make people’s experience magical. “This is heaven,” he tells the new doc.
There is definitely an attraction between Max and Avery, and the two of them drunkenly act on it after a day of shore leave. Problem is, Tristan already told Max that he’s got a massive crush on Avery. They end up not consummating the attraction, but Max does talk to Avery about the time he almost died from COVID during the early days of the pandemic, which is why he pursues fun whenever he can.
The medical trio also deal with a man with a broken penis (yep!) that requires a surgical fix, a return visit by the first couple after a water slide accident that involves a broken clavicle, and an open sea rescue after a Molly-addled surfer falls overboard.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The Love Boat crossed with 9-1-1 crossed with Grey’s Anatomy.
Our Take: Doctor Odyssey, created by Ryan Murphy, Jon Robin Baitz and Joe Baken, is taking the tradition of Murphy’s 9-1-1 franchise and extending it to the high seas. Really, the show isn’t trying to be anything more than a medical drama that floats, complete with crazy cases and people sleeping with each other. And, just like with 9-1-1, a pretty basic premise is elevated by the presence of well-known, very charming stars.
It would be so easy for us to dismiss the show as utterly inane, but if we did that, then sat and watched Love Boat reruns on Pluto TV over lunch, we would be pretty hypocritical. Doctor Odyssey is essentially that level of show; there’s guest stars, crazy medical cases, and people not being able to resist the sexual energy between them. That’s a formula that’s stood the test of time, so how could we say that this time around, it’s bad?
It helps that Jackson is as slyly charming and watchable as ever, and the chemistry between him and Soo is palpable. Soo is mostly known for her amazing voice and star turns in musicals like Hamilton, but she does quite well here, giving Avery a quiet confidence that permeates every interaction she has. The jury is still out on Teale, whose character Tristan is a pretty standard young hothead who thinks he’s God’s gift to women. But there’s time for him to evolve.
Were there a bunch of silly moments in the first episode? Absolutely; Max’s monologue about his COVID struggle was not only too long, but we don’t even know if the timeline matches some of the aspects of his case. Having the medical staff also diving in the ocean to rescue the man that went overboard was a little much. But if you’re looking for veracity in your shipbound medical dramas, you might want to start watching other types of shows.
Sex and Skin: We see a network-appropriate view of why the newlywed ended up with a broken penis, but that’s about it.
Parting Shot: Avery tells Max to brace himself; the next cruise is the Singles cruise.
Sleeper Star: The role of Captain Massey is perfect for a senior statesman like Johnson, who can be the wise old soul for a couple of scenes per episode and not have to carry the bulk of the drama.
Most Pilot-y Line: Kind of hard to find a dumb line in a show that starts with a broken penis and goes from there.
Our Call: STREAM IT. Doctor Odyssey is a pretty dumb, inessential watch, but an entertaining one, mostly due to the performances of the main cast and guest stars.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.