Fans of Joshua Jackson have probably first spotted him in The Mighty Ducks trilogy or Dawson’s Creek, but for me, it was his role as Peter Bishop in Fringe. His quick smarts, the messy love triangle he became entangled in, and the weird mysteries he investigated seemed to be left with the sci-fi show when it ended. That is, until his return to network TV after several years in streaming was also a return of those three of my favorite parts of Fringe, just packaged differently in Doctor Odyssey. Jackson’s role as Dr. Max Bankman in the medical drama may have started off giving “hot doc” energy, but a new side of his character is being uncovered.
Max had everything going for him for the first half of Season 1. His new job placed him in charge of a team on a beautiful, sun-drenched cruise ship, and he has been effortlessly charming to guests, patients, and crew alike. If he seemed too good to be true, the show course-corrected, with how Max lost his cool in the aftermath of a hookup, with consequences that continue to linger. Every time Max opened his mouth to say the wrong thing, it frustrated me to no end, and I loved it.
This Medical Drama Has My New Favorite Joshua Jackson Role
Away from the darkness Jackson has done in Dr. Death or Fatal Attraction, where he is full of secrecy, Doctor Odyssey steers the actor in the other direction. He portrays a heroic presence in Max Bankman that reminds me of my favorite roles, as a lead in Fringe or even his supporting part in When They See Us. The first episode introduces Max as an expert who you can trust to solve your health crisis within the allotted TV runtime. Arriving at the cruise ship like a dashing gentleman, Max very quickly gets close with his medical staff: he hooks up with nurse practitioner Avery (Phillipa Soo), irritating fellow nurse Tristan (Sean Toole), who never figured out how to reveal his feelings to her.
A backstory of becoming patient zero with COVID-19 hints at the vulnerable side of Max, but Doctor Odyssey keeps that plot point mostly on the back burner, slowly teasing it out from his foggy memory of the ordeal. His “hot doctor” charisma didn’t seem like it could waver, so while the campy or unhinged storylines make it a breezy watch for me, I can’t lie that having such a faultless hero is good TV. Ever since Episode 8 “Quackers,” I’ve been noticing a different side to Max, who doesn’t react well in the aftermath of a threesome with Avery and Tristan. The hookup stops short of becoming as unforgettable as Challengers, and what is left is Avery revealing she is pregnant without knowing who the father is. When Max learns about this, he fumbles his response.
Max Doesn’t Know How to Handle This ‘Doctor Odyssey’ Surprise
The causal fun a workplace romance can bring to TV is over, and the impending drama is taking over. The control that Max is known for is on shaky ground. When he realized the hookup was causing problems in an earlier episode, he spoke about it: “When we’re not in sync, we put lives in jeopardy. And I can’t justify that.” A carefully worded reply is nowhere to be found when Avery delivers her pregnancy bombshell, and Max’s confidence that he usually brings to a situation falls apart as he fails to find the right words.
Hearing Max ramble away to work out Avery’s foreseeable future caught me off guard. Although the Covid backstory tries to add nuance to Max, it’s this poor reaction to Avery’s news that actually humanizes him by letting us see his flaws. Doctor Odyssey doesn’t completely undo Max though, and the more he welcomes guest stars with his trademark charm, it makes me want to see him stop digging a hole for himself.
Joshua Jackson Finds Great Chemistry with His ‘Doctor Odyssey’ Co-Stars
During the two-parter where sea creatures bring trouble to the ship, Max shares scenes with Dr. Brooke Lane (Adrianne Palicki) with chemistry that is as great as his scenes with Athena Grant (Angela Bassett) in her 9-1-1 crossover. Even though they never act on it, there is hot tension between Brooke and him, and the duo he forms with Athena to take down criminals turns him into a quite effective detective. It’s when he interacts with Avery that he stumbles over himself, and every time it happens, it can be infuriating. He bombards her with talk about settling down for a family, overstepping when he should just step back. That isn’t to say Tristan and Avery don’t have flaws or are immune to causing drama, but it’s more glaring coming from Max.
It lets me see the flaws of what started as a blemish-free hero, and with no “smooth sailing” in sight for this ocean-set medical show, it makes me enjoy the show even more. Often, problems get solved within one episode, be it a sickness or character dilemma. If Max gets stumped by cruise ship ailments, he recognizes his coworkers have better experience finding a diagnosis from their time at sea. But his shaky responses spill out into the back half of Season 1 regarding the pregnancy that he is already preparing himself for. He becomes too overprotective, resulting in him sounding like he knows the best outcome for Avery. Joshua Jackson gets to flex his acting chops when Max can’t be great at everything, and it keeps me tuning in as I truly have no clue how this storyline will end.
You can watch episodes of Doctor Odyssey on Hulu in the U.S.
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