Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for Doctor Odyssey Episode 10.
Hot on the heels of one of the most horrifying episodes of 9-1-1 ever, Doctor Odyssey arrives with a fresh new wave of horrors. The second half of the midseason premiere—aptly titled “Shark Attack! Part 2: Orca!”—delivers a threat even bigger than last week’s horrifying shark attack. While yes, the orcas are a terrifying threat throughout the episode, I’m actually talking about the threat to our beloved throuple here.
Episode 10 picks up right where we left off last week, with Max (Joshua Jackson), Tristan (Sean Teale), Avery (Phillipa Soo), and Brooke (Adrianne Palicki) trying to save Spencer’s (Marcus Emanuel Mitchell) life in the dark. While things manage to go well for Spencer, things only get worse for Josie (Rumer Willis), whose condition continues to worsen for unknown reasons. Recognizing that they’re out of their depth with three critically wounded patients, Max tells Captain Massey (Don Johnson) that they need to load their patients onto a rescue tender and get them to shore ASAP. And this is where everything goes wrong — with the orcas and the throuple.
Avery is still very upset with Max about how he reacted to the baby news in last year’s midseason finale, and now she’s stuck working through a crisis made worse by Max and Brooke’s flirtatious banter. When it comes time to decide who is going on the tender with the patients, naturally Brooke is set to leave the Odyssey with her team, but Avery decides to leave with her. Max is, quite understandably, concerned about her venturing out on such a dangerous voyage in her condition, which only sets her off more. She doesn’t give him a chance to really communicate before she brushes off his concern with the assertion she has more experience than Tristan, which Max can’t argue with. When Tristan gets a moment alone with Avery, he voices similar concerns, but his are received quite differently than Max’s. He brings her Dramamine and suggests various methods for avoiding motion sickness while on a small craft, and while Avery is frustrated with his concern, she’s far more open with him. They watch from afar as Brooke and Max bid farewell to each other, which presents Tristan with another opportunity to swoop in.
As Brooke and Avery depart the medical bay, Max catches Tristan shaking his head at him like a disappointed parent and calls him out on it. Tristan claims that he doesn’t like the way Max has been treating Avery and accuses Max of wanting everything: Avery, the baby, and a bit on the side with Brooke. Tristan isn’t exactly the most reliable narrator, but Doctor Odyssey keeps trying to make some point about how Max is treating Avery, when none of these characters are communicating well with each other. Max hasn’t been treating her vastly differently than how he was before the pregnancy was revealed, outside of being worried about her and a little more guarded. So what exactly is this difference we’re supposed to be noticing here?
The Orcas Get Their Own Theme Week in ‘Doctor Odyssey’ Episode 10

Image via ABC

Captain Massey discusses what their options are with the orcas, and most of them sound like throwing a party for them — some fireworks, a nose cannon. But they settle on the suggestion by Jay (Liam Johnson): Sand. Dumping sand into the water causes the orcas to disperse long enough for them to launch the rescue tender and get back to work on getting the ship’s power systems back online. But nothing is ever as simple as it seems.
On the rescue tender, Brooke brings up Max and tells Avery that she feels like she’s getting in the way of something. Avery shoots that down pretty quickly, and gets even cagier when Brooke suggests that maybe there’s something going on with her and Tristan instead. Avery changes the subject to medical school (that thing she’s allegedly going to do soon) and questions Brooke about what it was like for her. Brooke gives her a pretty good rundown and then warns her about being asked about children. Avery immediately hones in on that, asking about what she should do if that question comes up, and Brooke tells her to lie, one way or the other. Their conversation is cut short by the orcas, which have set their sights on a new target.
With some fast thinking by Ray, they manage to turn the rescue tender around and hightail it back to the Odyssey before it’s too late. Unfortunately, with all the rocking and rolling from the orcas’ antagonizing, both Brodie (Kurst Yaeger) and Josie are in far worse condition than they were when they left. With limited supplies and the power outage putting a best-by date on every refrigerated item in the medical bay, things are only going to get worse if they aren’t able to stabilize Josie. While Tristan and Avery set out to raid medical supplies from the crew — and follow a mysterious trail of blood — Brooke and Max hotwire minifridges to get them to all power each other, thus prolonging the shelf life of a number of necessities.

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“We’re not big on boundaries, personal or professional,” says Jackson, when it comes to the relationships among the crew of The Odyssey.

Doctor Odyssey takes time to really flesh out who Brooke is as a character in this episode, which tells me that they have future plans for her. Palicki would be a great addition to the series, especially if they really are going to split the throuple up. She tells Max all about her father and why she ultimately decided to become a surgeon instead of following in her father’s footsteps. She and Max are very different characters, but they do fit together quite well. Their antagonistic banter settles here into a very natural cadence.
After discovering that Spencer is the one behind the trail of blood they found in the hallway, Tristan decides to take him up to the bridge to help the Captain and the rest of the crew troubleshoot their power issues. He clearly misses being “at home” and he isn’t about to stand in his friend’s way. This sweet gesture works in Tristan’s favor in a big way. As they head back to the medical bay, Avery stops Tristan to comment on how kind that was of him, and they kiss. People are dying, and these two decide to kiss beneath the moonlight. It’s short-lived, as Max summons them back to the medical bay to treat their dying patients!
It’s Love in a Time of Crisis in ‘Doctor Odyssey’ Episode 10

Image via ABC

They piece together that there must be something inside of Josie that’s causing her condition. Her sharkbite looks clean, there’s no pus, no obvious sign of injury, but she’s got pain on one side of her body. Without power, they can’t do a CT scan to see inside of her, so they do the best they can do and cut her open. It’s a risky operation, given the rapidly declining situation aboard the Odyssey, but it’s the only way to give her a fighting chance of survival. Before they wheel her back for the operation, Josie asks Brodie if he’ll marry her when all of this is over, entirely unaware that Brodie has spent the better part of the episode telling Avery that if it comes down to choosing between them, he wants them to let him die if it saves Josie. The clear love that the couple has for each other doesn’t go unnoticed by Avery, which is probably one of the reasons she’s drawn to Tristan throughout the episode, who is all about grand gestures.
Once they cut Josie open, Max finds something behind her spleen, but there’s simply not enough light for him to get it out. It’s a race against time— both in the operating room and down in the ship’s engine as Jay and Rosie (Jacqueline Toboni) try to get the power back online. It’s no longer just the orcas they’re worried about; the wind has pushed them toward a reef, and they’re mere minutes away from a collision. In the eleventh hour, Jay and Rosie save the day, and Max is able to extract the shark tooth that was roaming free in Josie’s chest cavity.
With the power back on, their final obstacle is the orcas, which Captain Massey is able to run off with a colorful array of fireworks. It’s remarkable just how much Doctor Odyssey is able to pack into an hour this week, as that isn’t even the end of the episode yet! Once Josie is awake, Captain Massey marries the couple in the medical bay with slightly abridged vows to remove all of that “for better or for worse” thrown out. It’s a very sweet moment, and, once again, the camera makes a point of getting the reactions of the embattled throuple.
As the episode winds down officially and the Flicka’s crew departs, Captain Massey offers Jay an application to join the Odyssey once he’s ready. After a rocky start with some of the crew, Jay ended up feeling like part of the crew that has been there since day one. It would make sense for him to return, especially with Spencer being sent to shore to finish recovering from his injuries. Doctor Odyssey makes a real point of showing how out of sync Max, Avery, and Tristan are now. They aren’t even all together when they’re bidding farewell to the ship’s newcomers. Instead, Max says his goodbyes to Brooke while Tristan scores a proper date with Avery. Even when Captain Massey addresses the crew about next week’s theme, they’re split up, with Max on one side, and Tristan and Avery on the other side. Interesting!
Hopefully, if Doctor Odyssey does intend to pursue Tristan and Avery as a real couple, it isn’t at Tristan’s expense. He has been steadfast in his adoration of Avery, and it would be a shame if all of this is her way of getting back at Max for whatever perceived slight she’s feeling about Brooke. The misunderstanding trope is an excellent one, but only when it’s handled right. But the main question after the two-part premiere is: What will happen next week when Doctor Odyssey has its first crossover event with 9-1-1? The last time Athena (Angela Bassett) got on a cruise ship, nothing good happened!
New episodes of Doctor Odyssey air Thursdays at 9 PM ET on ABC and next-day on Hulu.

Doctor Odyssey

Love in a time of crisis.

Release Date

September 26, 2024

Network

ABC

Pros & Cons

Adrianne Palicki and Liam Johnson were great additions to Doctor Odyssey, and their dynamic elevated the two-part premiere.
Despite how much was going on throughout the two episodes, the series pulled it off and tied up every loose thread nicely.

The Avery and Tristan subplot felt out of place in the episode, when there was already so much going on.
Max was wildly underwritten here, with it being incredibly hard to tell where he’s at, and it doesn’t feel intentional.