‘Doctor Odyssey’ Episode 2 Recap

Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for Doctor Odyssey Episode 2.

Hot on the heels of this week’s in-flight disaster on 9-1-1, Ryan Murphy’s glamorous cruise ship charts a course for a very memorable singles week aboard the Odyssey. The episode opens with Max (Joshua Jackson) and Tristan (Sean Teale) working out and working things out. In the premiere of Doctor Odyssey, Max made a grievous faux pas: he went after Tristan’s crush and his subordinate, Avery (Phillipa Soo). Not only did Max break the bro code, he broke actual rules aboard the ship, and Tristan alludes to the fact that he could do something about it if he wanted. Instead, however, Tristan’s sole focus is on singles week aboard the cruise ship and getting under someone to get over Avery.

Singles week is off to a steamy start with Doctor Odyssey’s smoking-hot collection of guest stars. Shania Twain boards Murphy’s wannabe Love Boat as a potential paramour for the Odyssey’s silver-fox Captain Massey (Don Johnson); Chord Overstreet brings his showboat swagger to make all the ladies swoon; and Stephanie Sugnami arrives to make Tristan forget all about his long-suffering crush on his coworker.

Tristan Succeeds in Making Someone Swoon on ‘Doctor Odyssey’ Episode 2

In a plotline that would never fly on any self-respecting cruise ship with a human resources department, the Captain has a pretty set directive that his hot doctor and nurses should help “get things going” for all the nervous singles aboard. Who would’ve thought that some of the most educated people aboard the ship would be used as fluffers? After dealing with a scuffle between three women vying for the same man’s attention, the trio gets gussied up for dinner. Right out of the gate, Kelly (Sugnami) saunters over to the table to ask Tristan to dance, and he’s delighted because, for once, everyone isn’t fawning all over Max. Max has his eyes set on Shania Twain, but she sends him off with her granddaughter in favor of pursuing the man in white.

Tristan and Kelly hit it off and head back to his quarters for a night of fun, but disaster strikes. Kelly passes out on Tristan, which is not how he was planning to make the ladies swoon. She’s rushed into the sick bay, where they try to figure out what caused the episode in a very House-like scenario. They initially believe it’s an acute aortic dissection, which would give her a very low chance of survival if they don’t catch it in time. While running the test, Kelly starts to crash, and they figure out that it’s unlikely that this is what’s wrong with her. Tristan is very sweet and doting with her while she’s their patient, which Avery notices. Perhaps she has protested too much about Tristan being nothing more than her friend and coworker.

It’s not until about the midway point of the episode that they discover what’s actually wrong with Kelly, thanks to Avery hitting it off with Overstreet’s self-proclaimed “manwhore.” Kelly has been taking a supplement in her water that acts like a diuretic, in an effort to make herself thinner for the cruise, which was inadvertently wreaking havoc on her heart. It’s easily solved by flushing her system.

The Captain’s Broken Heart Is Mended on ‘Doctor Odyssey’

One aspect of the premiere that I struggled with was the fact that we didn’t really get to meet Captain Massey, and this week’s episode delivered on his backstory. As the pair dance the night away, the Captain reveals that, much like Shania Twain’s “glam-mom,” he’s a widower. His wife died from cancer a year ago, and she was his “everything.” The pair bond over their shared personal tragedy, and their night of dancing turns into an eventful meal in the captain’s quarters the next day,

Unfortunately for Captain Massey, not only is it his week to reveal his tragic backstory, it’s also his week to be a patient. As they enjoy their meal of oysters and reminisce about their late spouses, the Captain keels over and is rushed into the operating room with what the team believes to be a heart attack. However, much like with Kelly, once they run a few tests on him, they’re stumped by the true underlying issue.

Toward the end of the episode, once his blood work comes back and officially rules out a heart attack, Max works out that the Captain is likely dealing with Broken Heart Syndrome, which he scoffs off as a totally fictitious illness. But it is a real condition, and Max prescribes him some medicine that will hopefully help him manage it. Luckily, Shania Twain proves to be exactly what the doctor ordered too. Despite being part of the reason for his bout of cardiomyopathy, the two widowers give it another shot at romance before the week is up, sharing a kiss and a “happy ending” before parting ways.

Avery Is Lost in a Sea of Emotions on ‘Doctor Odyssey’ Episode 2

The singles passengers aren’t the only patients that Max, Avery, and Tristan treat this week. While the Captain is down for the count, the ship comes across a Venezuelan woman (Kassandra Cruz) who is lost at sea after leaving the country with her fiancé, Manuel. While they are able to rescue her and get her stable, her fiancé is nowhere to be found, leading them to believe he has likely died. The patient’s impassioned discussion about why she and her fiancé left, and what their future held, strikes a chord with Avery, who is clearly struggling throughout most of the episode.

Midway through singles week, Max catches up with Tristan, who is sulking while watching Kelly dance with other men. The two men agree to a truce where Avery is concerned, because neither of them wants to be like Sam (Overstreet) who can lure in women, but never keep them. Unfortunately, their quippy remarks about Sam come in tandem with the player heading back to his room with Avery. Uh-oh! Tristan follows after them, seemingly with a plan to stop Avery from hooking up with the most eligible man on the ship, but she’s not interested in Sam once she sees the horrific rash he’s sporting. She’s smart to avoid Sam, as Max winds up spending a day giving all of “Syphilis Sam’s” hook-ups a shot to combat the infection they caught from him.

Later, Tristan finds Avery crying on one of the upper decks, and he throws away the truce he made with Max the second he gets an opening. Avery is very emotional after listening to their castaway. She feels stuck on the ship, she’s afraid she will never become a doctor, and she’s scared that her life will be nothing more than flings during singles week that amount to nothing. Tristan lays it on thick, telling her that she matters to him, and he goes in for a kiss which she seems all-in for. Max happens to be watching from below, and he doesn’t seem too surprised by this turn of events, if a little annoyed. It’s still so hard to tell what Doctor Odyssey plans to do with this love triangle. Quite frankly, the show should just let the three of them kiss. It would solve all of their problems.

Just like the patients who have their ailments remedied before the credits roll, Avery’s emotional crisis is solved by Tristan and Max. Max discovers that the cruise line offers a scholarship to employees seeking higher education, and he speaks with the Captain about letting Avery pursue her MD. She is overjoyed, understandably. But it all feels too perfect, which lends some credit to the circulating theory that everyone aboard the Odyssey is just a COVID-induced fever dream for Max. Stranger things have happened—this is the network that brought us Lost, after all.

Doctor Odyssey’s second episode wraps things up nicely with a happily ever after for more than just Avery, as their castaway is reunited with her fiancé, who miraculously survived being lost at sea too. Doctor Massey had a point last week: this series is all about “preserving the fantasy.” Though, next week’s episode seems to be doling out some dire situations when plastic surgery week rolls around.

Doctor Odyssey airs on ABC on Thursdays at 9 PM ET and next-day on Hulu.

Watch on Hulu