Doctor Odyssey Season 1 Episode 1 Review: Pilot

TV series come in many different flavors and colors. This means every TV fan has an abundance of choices. Doctor Odyssey may appeal to a specific group of TV fans, those who enjoy absurd dramas that are self-aware. Doctor Odyssey Season 1 Episode 1, “Pilot” almost feels like a parody of a TV dramedy.

This seems like a choice more than an accident. Whenever broken penises are mentioned multiple times, staff begins to behave inappropriately freely, and the exposition becomes excessive, you have to wonder if we’re all in on the same joke.

Despite Doctor Odyssey’s parody nature, we must judge it at face value. It’s a medical drama. Therefore, we must treat and grade it by that standard. It’s over the top as a medical drama.

Doctor Odyssey loves to explain things to the viewers. This quickly puts it into the unnecessary and excessive dialogue category. Subtlety and nuance are not in this world. Viewers can expect everything explained to them, whether needed or not.

Some shows enjoy a bit of mystery to hook viewers, especially with the first episode. A new doctor comes onto the scene, and viewers may wonder about his past, dreams, methods, and motivations. Doctor Odyssey will basically tell you all of this within the first hour.

It will also not let dynamics have a bit of intrigue. You may wonder if that one nurse has feelings for the other nurse. Wonder no more because the show will flat-out tell you. This is the ship of fantasies and fun, no need to wonder about the crews’ goals or the show’s goals because that’s right, you’ll have your answers.

Doctor Odyssey pairs its explanation with some bizarre and attention-grabbing cases. The big standout is the man who breaks his penis. This gives a sample of the extreme, ridiculous cases we should expect from Doctor Odyssey.

This is probably just the first of many of these types of situations. Is it slightly funny to think of someone getting too frisky that they break their penis? Yes. However, it doesn’t change its absolute bonker nature.

It’s also oddly predictable. It doesn’t surprise you that a broken penis is a serious storyline on Doctor Odyssey because you already can pick up the vibe of the series by the time this storyline starts.

The show is about sexy doctors and nurses on a cruise line. The sex appeal is baked right into the premise. The show plays into that by putting a lot of emphasis on the hotness of Dr. Max.

His introduction screams let’s admire this man’s beauty. Then the show confirms it with his general appeal and immediately sprints ahead for Avery’s affection.

The fun sexiness (can you really complain about dancing Joshua Jackson?) is the best part of Doctor Odyssey. It knows the leads are sexy people and leans fully into this but it isn’t enough to make compelling television.

Pilot episodes are often rough, so there is some grace period to come with this new series. Doctor Odyssey has a really rough pilot but it doesn’t mean it won’t get better. Let’s hope it gets better.

What did you think of this episode of Doctor Odyssey? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Doctor Odyssey airs on Thursdays at 9/8 C on ABC.

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