Doctor Odyssey

So I'm rooting for this show because I adore Joshua Jackson. Mighty Ducks, Dawson's Creek, Fringe. I've been a fan for awhile. With that said, this show has potential, but it needs some major work. I like that Dr. Bankman seems teachable and is quick to humble himself. His backstory however, just lazy. Seriously, that's what they came up with. The whole patient zero thing, earned an eye roll. The situation with, Avery was cringey and forced. I'm glad of how it went but did the first episode really need it. Then the supposed tension with Tristian, again was forced and unnecessary. For this to be a major network show, the writing seems amateur.

As far as the technical stuff, I've never been on a cruise so I just take it for what it is. However, the whole 3 hours from land, but no medevac helicopter, has me questioning what the writers really thinks of their intended audience. I may not know much about ships, helicopters and medicine, but even that seemed far fetched.

I'm really hoping this gets better fast. Otherwise, it won't last.

Joshua Jackson does george clooney in the E/R on a boat. That seems to be the concept of this series. Joshua Jackson got the greyish hair, the george clooney voice and charm, heck he is a spitting image of george clooney, its quite amazing actually.

The other lead actors are miami vices Don Johnson and fresh face actors Phillipa Soo and Sean Teale. Acting is overall good, but the story has so far not made any room for anything challenging. Its been very simple, quick and superficial.

The story is as mentioned quite uncomplicated. Its slightly sitcom-ish and surrounds the emergency medical staff on a cruise ship.

The good of this series is its freshness and elegance. Its easy to digest.

The bad is that its too simple, too lighthearted. The characters are very much caricatyrs and not acting like real people. I for one prefer realness above actingness. This production also comes with 'the message'. Its everything from pro covid propaganda to, trans and other stuff.

Oh yeah, since the story takes place on a boat mostly at sea, the storyline is somewhat limited and most of the photage never give away that its played on a boat and it gets kinda stuffed and closed in.

6/10.

Don't expect a serious medical drama here or a laugh out loud comedy.

It's light-hearted. A balancing act with the cruise theme with related-medical situation(s) of the week and the dynamics of the different characters.

The characters are all fairly likeable and with enough diversity for a 30+ audience demographics.

As another reviewer wrote Joshua Jackson in the lead does his best "Clooney" and is charming. With Jackson and Johnson, they got the Baby Boomer, and Gen X covered. The new faces Soo, and Teale covers Millennials and Gen Z.

The ultimate question is given the demographic coverage, can the characters make meaning connections to the audience based on the story and their performance to keep the show going.

I personally enjoy it as a nice distraction from reality shows, and serialized drama that takes themselves too seriously.

The Bacchanalia were Roman festivals of Bacchus, the Greco-Roman god of wine, freedom, intoxication and ecstasy. With this series, that's what to expect.

I like the setting and the cast. The guest stars are awesome. The production is excellent. The handful of episodes I've seen so far... they've been interesting enough. A few good stories. The views are pretty (although the outside of the ship is pretty "meh" in the long shots).

But honestly - there's just too much debauchery and too many intimately contracted diseases being dealt with (eeew, right?). The stories could be played out without so many icky symptoms among the guests. I'll keep watching but I hope this series can find a way to tell fun stories without the ick factor.

I don't think this show would win a lot of points for accuracy or realism, but I am really enjoying the escapism it provides me so far - go out weekly on a gorgeous looking boat with beautiful people shot in bright colors practicing impossible medicine? - why not..

The 3 main actors are well known and deserving of their street cred, they mesh well together, sometimes making you forget that they are supposed to not know each other, and I always find it refreshing when a show tackles interpersonal issues head on instead of forcing it (through lazy writing) into a conflict for the sake of drama - normal people talk to one another!

There are some continuity issues with the personalities of the characters, it feels like they haven't yet fully got it down, but I'm rooting for them - I'm having a great time so far.