The first season of Doctor Odyssey isn’t even over yet, but the show already hinted at several main cast exits — including Joshua Jackson.
During the Thursday, April 17, episode of the ABC series, the Crew Week theme meant a break for the staff at the Odyssey. But while Tristan’s (Sean Teale) time off without guests meant more time for hookups, Max (Jackson) and Avery (Phillipa Soo) were both hinting that their time on the ship would be over soon.
Avery was fresh off the realization that she was never pregnant with Tristan and/or Max’s baby. Instead, she received a false positive that threw her for a loop and now she was back on track. That meant Avery was planning to go to medical school in a month’s time — despite Max hinting that he wanted them to explore a real romance together.
Then there was Max, who decided to go home and visit his twin brother. While Us usually loves nothing more than seeing Jackson — twice — it set up Max contemplating a life not on the high seas. Max even had a job interview, but that just reminded him of what he loved about being a doctor on the Odyssey.
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Max returned with more love for his job, which meant he probably won’t be leaving any time soon. But Avery still seemed divided because Max wasn’t the only man who told her about his feelings for her. Spencer (Marcus Emanuel Mitchell) also reminisced about their past situationship before a parasitic medical emergency changed the subject. Then there was Tristan, who wanted Avery to know that he still wanted to fight for her as well.
Luckily, there’s still several episodes before the medical drama’s first season comes to an end. Doctor Odyssey, which premiered in September 2024, quickly won Us over with its out-of-the-box medical cases, star-studded guest stars and a chance for Jackson, 46, to have some fun on screen.
“[Cocreator] Ryan [Murphy]‘s imagination is prolific and bizarre in its ability to hold [space] for the absolutely grotesque and absurd — and then there are his lighter and happier shows. All of that being inside of one man’s imagination is amazing,” Jackson exclusively told Us Weekly in March. “I will say that for myself, I have wanted to work for Ryan for quite a long time.”
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Jackson credited Murphy for being the reason why he joined the project. “Ryan’s word was sparkle. He said, ‘Make sure that my show sparkles,’” he recalled. “And we have tried to make sure that this show sparkles as much as possible and just hope that the joy that we feel in performing it and doing it all together is what comes across while you’re watching it.”
The actor also weighed in on the central love triangle — including whether it could become a throuple in the future.
“I feel like Ryan’s approach to this is a much more adult approach than when I’ve done this on previous shows. It was a ballsy thing to do to not just have the triangle be consummated but to have them consummated together. I have to say [that is] one of the things I’m most proud of [with] us this year,” he shared. “There are still certain limitations and restrictions to doing something on network television because of the standards and practice issues that you deal with. [We were] able to take something that is very challenging and daring and play inside of the box of network TV.”
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Jackson was thrilled to explore “what you can and cannot show” while creating a “very sexy and challenging” dynamic.
“It was within the boundaries of what we are allowed to do, [and] that is one of the high watermarks of what we were able to achieve from directorial to writing to acting,” he told Us. “Everybody came together to make something that you really hadn’t seen before — particularly on network TV. I think we did a pretty good job with that.”
Doctor Odyssey airs on ABC Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET and is available to stream on Hulu.
