'Doctor Odyssey' Ending Explained: Joshua Jackson's medical drama ends without answering major mysteries
Contains spoilers for 'Doctor Odyssey' Episode 8
'Doctor Odyssey' set sail for one last time this year, concluding Season 1 with Episode 8. The finale episode continues its steak of bringing extreme medical emergencies and high-stakes drama into the lives of crew members.
In 'Doctor Odyssey' Episode 8, which premiered on Thursday, November 21, the Quackers community has descended on the luxury cruise line to celebrate a fun week of rubber duck hunting. Even though Captain Robert Massey (Don Johnson) and Dr Max Bankman (Joshua Jackson) strongly dislike the idea, they have to give into the command of Lenore (Gina Gershon), the wife and co-owner of Odyssey. What unfolds next takes the cruise drama to a whole new level.
Another emergency reveals Max's inner thoughts in 'Doctor Odyssey' Episode 8
In the finale episode, Max and Avery Morgan (Phillipa Soo) bring the leader of the Quackers community to the ER when he collapses with massive pain in his abdomen. The CT scan revealed that he had been swallowing non-food items. What starts as a simple extraction of a few loose objects turns into a midnight necrotic bowel resection. During a long surgery, Max and Avery are able to take out 18 objects from his stomach including keys, nails, coins etc. They inform the patient's wife that he has pica, a mental health condition where he feels the desire to swallow inedible items. The medics can save the patient and tell his wife that he needs treatment from a psychiatrist to avoid deadly consequences in the future.
The next morning, while talking to other crew members, Max acknowledges that when he took up this job, he thought that it would be a smooth sail. Although he was no stranger to close calls with death, he never anticipated facing a similar ordeal as a doctor aboard a luxury cruise ship. His conversation suggested that he was aware he was escaping his reality after COVID-19, much like many passengers who board a cruise to flee from their own.
Avery confronts Tristan and Max about her pregnancy in 'Doctor Odyssey' finale episode
Earlier in the episode, Avery found out that she is pregnant. Now, she has major challenges ahead of her. Firstly, she doesn't know who the father is; and secondly, a bright future is ahead of her since she recently got selected in a medical school.
As the episode nears its end, Avery calls Max and Tristan Silva (Sean Teale) for a private conversation, knowing that either one of them has to be the father (since they had a threesome in the previous episode). Upon the big revelation, both men react differently. While Max is frantic and inquisitive and doesn't stop blabbering about the possible scenarios, Tristan is rather calm, downplaying the situation while extending his emotional support to Avery.
And here comes another revelation- Tristan has been in the exact same situation, twice, on previous cruises. It remains unclear whether those women chose to keep the child and if he was truly the father.
'Doctor Odyssey' finale paves the way for another thrilling season
'Doctor Odyssey' Season 1 ends quite abruptly. We still don't know who is the father of Avery's unborn child. Will she keep the baby? And how her pregnancy will impact her career choices? Moreover, we are left wondering about the Fever Dream Theory, which argues that the Odyssey is just Max's dream and the passengers are occupying the liminal space between life and death. The finale neither acknowledges nor dismisses the theory. There's now enough to explore in a potential Season 2, the announcement of which is still awaited.
'Doctor Odyssey' is available to stream on Hulu and Disney+