Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Doctor Odyssey Season 1.
Season 1 of Doctor Odyssey has officially come to an end, and considering its lackluster finale and the absence of any news regarding a future second season, I’m officially mourning the throuple that could’ve been. The evolving dynamic between Tristan (Sean Teale), Avery (Phillipa Soo), and Max (Joshua Jackson) is what kept Doctor Odyssey afloat amid a constant cycle of new guest stars, but the Season 1 finale dissolves their love triangle in the most predictable way possible.
With both Tristan and Max pining over Avery since the pilot episode, the show almost takes their love triangle in an unexpected direction after their threesome in Episode 6, toying with the idea of turning the main trio into a proper throuple. Sadly, Doctor Odyssey never commits to this, taking the easy way out by having Avery pick Max in the end despite her plans to leave The Odyssey to go to medical school. For a series full of colorful characters and bizarre narrative choices, turning the main love triangle into an actual throuple wouldn’t have felt out of place. It could’ve actually made Doctor Odyssey stand out from other medical procedurals further.
‘Doctor Odyssey’ Should Have Committed to Making Tristan, Avery, and Max a Throuple
From the first episode, Doctor Odyssey establishes that the relationship between Tristan, Avery, and Max will be the most important part of the show. Tristan lets Max know right off the bat that he’s in love with Avery, though she doesn’t reciprocate his feelings, but Max is immediately attracted to her anyway. Avery and Max kiss and nearly sleep together, but their sexual tension is drawn out for just a few more episodes. When Episode 6 rolled around, I watched in amazement as an episode in which a guest takes their own life by jumping off the ship, then culminated in a drunken threesome between our three leads. Things are a bit awkward after the fact, but they’re forced to get right back to work as Gay Week commences, though the arrival of Captain Massey’s (Don Johnson) brother, Craig (John Stamos), makes it impossible for our main trio to simply go back to normal. Craig, who is part of a throuple with two other men, inspires Avery to consider and propose the idea of a throuple to Tristan and Max. Though Tristan is on board, it’s ultimately Max who can’t go through with it, so the idea is quickly discarded altogether, and the dynamic between Tristan, Avery, and Max goes right back to a traditional love triangle.
It’s safe to say throuples on television are not very common, much less on network television, but this wouldn’t have been the first time one has appeared in a Ryan Murphy production, with American Horror Story: Hotel briefly featuring a throuple back in 2015. The chemistry between Teale, Soo, and Jackson is a major part of what holds Doctor Odyssey together, so actually committing to making Tristan, Avery, and Max a throuple would have been an exciting twist on the typical love triangle. It would have opened the door for plenty of unique conflict and drama as they try to balance their personal and professional lives in an environment where doing so is nearly impossible, but Doctor Odyssey gives up on this throuple before it even begins. For a show that emphasizes the importance of open-mindedness and acceptance, taking the central love triangle in this direction would have been a great opportunity to spotlight a different kind of romantic relationship than what most viewers are accustomed to seeing both on television and in real life. It may have been a big swing, but committing to turning our main trio into a proper throuple, even for a few episodes, would have added to the fun of Doctor Odyssey, rather than drawing out their love triangle for the rest of the season.
‘Doctor Odyssey’s Main Love Predictably Fizzled Out by the End of the Season
After discarding the throuple plotline, both Tristan and Max continue to pine over Avery throughout the season, despite introducing new love interests here and there that never lead to anything concrete. The unexpected pregnancy plotline, which leaves Avery unclear as to who the father could be, similarly amounts to nothing when it’s revealed to be a false positive. Once Avery doesn’t have to worry about the reality of having a baby anymore, she still finds herself attracted to both Tristan and Max and even starts to have casual sex with Tristan in Episode 16. But, despite claiming she doesn’t want to become emotionally or romantically involved with either of them since she’s about to leave The Odyssey for medical school, she eventually does confess her feelings for Max in the season finale. This left Tristan, whose other love interest, Vivian (Laura Harrier), disappeared in the latter half of the season, alone at the end of the season.
After watching this love triangle nearly turn into a throuple and then turn back into a love triangle again, I was rooting for Avery to brush both of them off to pursue the life of independence she proclaimed to want. Instead, things played out as I expected them to, with Avery going after the more mature Max while viewing Tristan as a friend she’s sexually attracted to, but nothing more. Not even a “Despacito” callback could make the disappointingly vague season finale feel like a proper resolution to the Tristan-Avery-Max love triangle, with Avery picking the man she was clearly more interested in from the beginning. Tossing the throuple idea to the side while having Avery ultimately choose Max instead of choosing neither of them to prioritize her future, Doctor Odyssey takes the easy way out, which speaks to the way the show seemed to lose interest in itself as Season 1 came to an end. The refusal to commit to a storyline for more than a few episodes, of which there are multiple examples throughout Season 1, leaves little to come back for, but I’m still keeping my fingers crossed for another season.
All episodes of Doctor Odyssey are now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.
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