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‘Doctor Odyssey’ Just Went Full Soap Twins & Somehow Got More Serious as a Result

Originally posted on TV Insider | Last updated Apr 17, 2025 11:53 PM ET

[Warning: The following post contains MAJOR spoilers about Doctor Odyssey Episode 15, “Crew Week.”]

Doctor Odyssey just keeps finding new ways to surprise us. The latest? Turns out Max Bankman (Joshua Jackson) has a twin, while Tristan (Sean Teale) might have a parasite that could infest his brain… yes really. Also, they’re both still completely in love with Avery (Phillipa Soo), but she might be ready to sail off into her own kinda sunset soon and leave both of them behind. Yet, the most surprising thing about all of this is that, as soapy and silly as it all sounds, “Crew Week” is actually one of the deeper episodes of the show so far.

The episode finds Max at a bit of a crossroads. He takes a bye week off to go home and visit his family, which, it turns out, consists of a look-alike big brother — he’s one minute older, so it counts — and his wife and twin daughters (yes, we have double the doubles here, guys). With Avery planning to head off to medical school in a few weeks, Max realizes he may not have anything anchoring him to the Odyssey, so he’s looking into a job opportunity at his hometown hospital.

Upon visiting the overrun facility, he realizes how much it could use a man of his efficiency and medical know-how. He has to overrule both a receptionist and a nurse to get care to a boy experiencing a dangerous crisis. Back at his family home, his brother sizes up his life story in seconds by saying that his teenage experience of being bedridden with mono made him forever afraid to stop running lest he get sick and miss out on life again. It’s a touching reminder of the fact that he has a whole life here on the shore. However, not even the fact that he loves his nieces to pieces or that he’d have free rein to make changes to the ER system can stack up to how he feels for Avery, so he decides to rejoin the high seas for some more adventures in the mobile infirmary.

“I never really found the one true thing that gave it all meaning and purpose, until I met you. You are that one true thing, Avery, so that’s why I came back,” he tells her.

Disney / Tina Thorpe

It’s the second profession of true love she’s heard in one day, too; earlier, Tristan reveals that after Vivian (Laura Harrier) asked him to take their romance to a more serious level — after all, he’s been making a lot of changes to himself lately, and they do have a lot of fun together — he realized he’s not over Avery.

“It seems you think my feelings are childish and unserious… but if somebody felt for me the way I feel for you, I’d want to know,” Tristan says. “My feelings for you are very real, and they’re very serious.” (Not one to get too saccharine, the comment closes with, “I thought it best to say all of this before my hair falls out,” as a nod to the potential side effects of the medicine she’s put him on to, you know, stave off brain worms.)

The thing is, though, as good as they are at sweet-talking about their feelings, both of these guys make a critical mistake in what they say to Avery; throughout the episode, they both second guess her medical advice, which is what she truly prides herself on, in different ways. (Last week’s trip down memory lane in the hot tub time machine proved she’s always had her eye on being a doctor.) Max’s apology is earnest, and he even admits she’s a better medic than he was, but is it enough? We shall see. For now, it looks like Avery has every reason in the world to just mosey onto medical school and never look back. Is that what we’re building to with the finale that may or may not be a series finale?

Next up: “Double-Booked Week.” The episode description for next Thursday’s episode reads, “Mayhem ensues on The Odyssey when high-profile book tours for trad wives and sex-positive groups are double-booked. As tensions rise, Max, Avery, and Tristan provide medical attention to both VIP authors.”

Doctor Odyssey, Thursdays, 9/8c, ABC

This article first appeared on TV Insider and was syndicated with permission.

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