Oh, Baby? More Like No Baby

Editor’s note: The recap below contains spoilers for Doctor Odyssey Episode 14.Hot on the heels of a devastating episode of 9-1-1, Doctor Odyssey Episode 14 arrived last night to add to that pain with a surprisingly heartwrenching outcome to Avery’s (Phillipa Soo) baby dilemma. Fans who pay close attention to promos, sneak peeks, and images likely predicted where things were headed, but even with that foresight, the plot proved to be a tear-jerker, once you got past the very strange Hot Tub Time Machine aspect of the episode.

While the episode is entitled “Hot Tub Week,” that has very little to do with the actual passengers aboard the Odyssey this week. Instead, it’s a nod to, well, the hot tub — which plays a pivotal role in not only the very terrifying and damn-near unwatchable medical crisis one of the cheerleaders (Monette Moio) endures, but the location of many of the most poignant scenes of the episode. “Hot Tub Week” actually opens with Tristan (Sean Teale) taking a dip in said hot tub, as he tells Avery and Max (Joshua Jackson) that he has started spending a lot more time in it following his decision to become sober last week. It turns out he still needs some sort of high, so he’s taken to enjoying sweet treats, meaning he’s exercising more and hitting the hot tub to soothe his aching muscles. It’s also revealed that he was a cheerleader when he was younger, which he uses throughout the episode to try to relate to the passengers on the cruise.

Captain Massey (Don Johnson) catches up with Max and Avery as they are headed back to the infirmary. He shares with them a recording of the baby’s heartbeat, and complains about being itchy suddenly. Max reveals that he is a soap aficionado, which leads to the most insane and steamy cut sequence of Max lathering up in the shower. Doctor Odyssey was so close to bringing sexy back — because it has been decidedly unsexy ever since the baby plotline started. Listening to the Captain’s baby’s heartbeat leads Max to ask Avery about when she plans to tell him about her condition, but she doesn’t want to tell Massey until they’ve solved the baby daddy problem. Max carefully questions her about why they still haven’t taken the paternity test, and Avery admits that she’s worried the truth might upset their dynamics and lead to things changing for the three of them, and she’s not ready for that.

‘Doctor Odyssey’ Episode 14 Delivers a Stomach-Churning Crisis

In its first — and potentially only — season, Doctor Odyssey has had its fair share of gruesome medical maladies (particularly with the shark attack episodes), but last night’s hot tub crisis easily secured the top spot for grisly, stomach-churning sequences. In the first few scenes of Episode 14, viewers are made privy to the fact that the drain in the hot tub is about to give way, and when it does, it’s gruesome. A cheerleader’s (Moio) hair is sucked into the drain, and the suction causes her neck to be impaled on a sharp piece of broken plastic. Tristan jumps into action to try to save her, first by giving her mouth-to-mouth beneath the water, and then by using a tube to help her breathe underwater. When Max arrives, he tries to move her, only to discover that the piece of plastic is dangerously close to her carotid artery.

Luckily, Max, Tristan, and Avery are a dynamite team when they’re working together, and they are ultimately able to save the girl’s life. This particular show of teamwork prompts Avery to decide that it’s time for them to find out who the daddy really is. This also leads to another subplot in the episode, with two of the cheerleaders (Tayler Buck, Audrey Gerthoffer) vying for the top spot on the cheer pyramid now that there’s an opening. Max ends up being their go-to for melatonin, as they both need to rest if they’re going to ace their tryouts. In the end, he discovers that one of the two cheerleaders is dosing the other with her ADHD medicine to make it impossible for her to get a good night’s rest — which is technically a crime that she gets away with. But that’s far from the biggest crime committed in tonight’s episode. Ryan Murphy is guilty of wasting seven episodes on the baby storyline, instead of giving audiences what they actually wanted: the throuple.

After taking the paternity test, Max and Tristan find Avery sipping champagne in the hot tub — something that no pregnant woman should even dare to do. But we already knew that she wasn’t actually pregnant, didn’t we? The oops baby plotline came on too fast, and then the series provided definitive proof that Captain Massey was going to be a father too, while leaving the throuple’s baby dilemma without a sonogram to be seen. In reality, the “baby” was a cyst on her ovary that was causing her hormone levels to increase, leading to countless false positives. Max and Tristan join her in the hot tub for this sobering revelation, and they both do their best to try to comfort her and keep the focus on how she is feeling. Avery sort of freaks out over their sympathy and ends up abandoning them in the hot tub.

They later reconvene at the hot tub, under false pretenses. Max lures them there and unveils a smorgasbord board of treats that Avery wasn’t able to eat while she was “pregnant.” He wants them to process their grief together, and what better way is there to process grief, other than eating your feelings? The conversation proves therapeutic for them. Avery jokes about them being a throuple, they talk about what they thought life would be like when they were younger — and that’s where things start to go off the rails. Rather than just showing the trio talking about their adolescence, Doctor Odyssey shows Max, Tristan, and Avery as youths, sitting in the hot tub, talking about their dreams. It’s the most disarming moment the series has doled out yet, and that is saying something. In the end, the three (adult) versions of the characters decide to toast to the memory of Charlie (the name Avery had taken to calling the baby) with a trip of Hostess cupcakes. While things didn’t work out for the throuple before, at least Tristan is comfortable joking about the fact that they are dangerously close to what led them to their predicament in the first place. And perhaps, had Captain Massey not interrupted them, something could have happened again.

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Captain Massey’s itching problem turns out to be shingles. Max recommends that he take a dip in the hot tub, as saltwater helps with shingles, and this leads the captain to have a similar Hot Tub Time Machine-style moment, though his comes across more like a ghost from his past coming to visit. While Massey sits in the hot tub, his late wife Catherine (Dianna Agron) joins him (Jesse Johnson) for a soak. They have a very heartfelt conversation about their relationship, and what he missed out on while he was away from their young family, and it all traces back to his remaining reservations about his relationship and future with Heather (Shania Twain). He’s not doubting anything, but there is a lingering fear that by moving on with her, it means letting go of his past. Personally, I think “Bobby” should be more concerned with the fact that he clearly has a type, because Agron could pass as a young Twain, too.

While the Hot Tub Time Machine gimmick is corny, at least Doctor Odyssey is trying something new, rather than just utilizing flashbacks like many other series. Plus, it allowed Murphy to reunite with his former Glee star (Agron), and Don Johnson’s own son got to play the younger version of himself. My only qualm is the fact that the actor playing a young Joshua Jackson looked nothing like Pacey. We know exactly what Jackson looked like when he was a young buck dreaming of white picket fences.

Before heading to port to have her cyst removed, Avery reveals her situation to Captain Massey, which proves to be a very sweet conversation. As he mentions earlier in the episode, he feels a sort of uncle-like affection towards her, and he’s a great sounding board for her predicament, even if he feels guilty for spending so much time talking about his baby dilemma, while she was having her own crisis. Luckily, Avery doesn’t face her medical procedure alone. Max and Tristan join her in the operating room, holding her hand while she counts down. While it may take a bit for the trio to get back on track to become a throuple — something the series doesn’t have much time left to pull off, if the final episode of the season is a series finale. At least they’re laughing it up in the hot tub at the end of the episode, using Twinkies to toast to what lies ahead for them.

New episodes of Doctor Odyssey premiere Thursdays on ABC and next-day on Hulu.

Doctor Odyssey

It’s a Hot Tub Time Machine on Doctor Odyssey Episode 14!

Release Date

September 26, 2024

Network

ABC

Pros & Cons

• Doctor Odyssey delivers an incredibly gruesome, Final Destination-style medical case this week, which is the best of the season.
• Bringing in Dianna Agron and Don Johnson’s son Jesse is a stroke of brilliance.

• While the “Hot Tub Time Machine” gimmick is fun, it’s very off-putting.
• The baby plotline did not need to drag on for seven episodes when this was the outcome.