Doc made a shocking revelation about Felicity Huffman‘s character, Joan, dealing with a secret cancer battle.
During the Tuesday, October 7, episode of the hit Fox series, Joan adjusted to a leadership position at Westside Hospital, which meant butting heads with colleagues such as Amy (Molly Parker).
Viewers, however, were offered more insight into Joan’s state of mind when a flashback showed a conversation between her and Amy. Joan told Amy she was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, meaning “there is a good chance it will turn into leukemia.”
Amy tried to support Joan but reminded her she couldn’t perform surgery if her symptoms got too bad. Joan became frustrated with Amy, saying, “That’s a hell of a bedside manner you’ve got there. I would never do anything to jeopardize a patient and I don’t need you to tell me that.”
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In the present day, Joan got test results, which appeared to indicate that her condition was progressing. Parker, 53, broke down the surprising twist — including what it means for Joan and Amy moving forward — during an exclusive interview with Us Weekly.
“What I learned in season 1 is that the show doesn’t really have villains or bad guys. For example with Scott Wolf’s character, Richard, we really understand why he made the choices that he made and the pressures and the pain that he was in,” Parker noted. “They were still the wrong choices but we have some compassion for him because we’re given access to his home life.”
Parker hinted that Doc will offer a similar perspective with Joan’s story.
“This is the kind of show where it will never be black and white in that way. We — as an audience — can be very assured that Joan will be given a full and complicated life. The truth is Joan is many things to Amy. She is a mentor, teacher and her champion,” she explained. “Amy also doesn’t remember the last eight years of her life, so she doesn’t know what if anything has changed in their relationship.”
Where Will ‘Doc’ Go After Shocking Revelation About Felicity Huffman’s Joan?
Inspired by a true story, Fox’s Doc follows Amy, the chief of internal medicine at Westside Hospital, who suffers a traumatic brain injury in a car accident that causes her to lose her memory of the last eight years. While attempting to rebuild her life after the accident, Amy also comes to terms with a shocking divorce from her husband and a death that changes the course of her future.
“What is quite beneficial for Amy — and maybe a relief — is that Joan is the first and only person who has said to her, ‘No, I didn’t think you were an asshole. I thought you did the best you could do with the hand you were given,’” Parker told Us. “It is such a real relief for Amy that there’s not one more person telling her she needs or she needs to change.”
She concluded: “This is a universal story — even though it’s so specific and far out. In many ways, all of us spend our lives trying to be OK with who we are and trying to really accept ourselves: the good parts and the challenging parts and the shadow things that we don’t want anyone to know about us. That is a lifelong journey of really accepting who you are and living in that for a lot of people. That’s Amy’s journey. It’s going to be her journey for as long as we get to do this show.”
Doc airs on Fox Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
