Review series ‘Doctor Odyssey’ on Disney Plus

A surfer with a shark bite, a cougar With Covid, a nurse who has to undergo an emergency operation on her blind intestine during a storm. No, life in the infirmary of a cruise ship is not about roses – although everything will be fine at the end of the day. Doctor OdysseyThe newest series of the very productive television maker Ryan Murphy (Glee,,  » American Horror Story,,  » Poseet al) is a guilty pleasure series as we don’t get it often since the 1990s. Lots of melodrama, little tragedy.

The hook: Doctor Max Bankman (Joshua Jackson) rises in the early days of the Corona Pandemie, and almost dies from the disease. After he has recovered, he decides to exchange his stressful job in a busy hospital for a position as head of medical help with the cruise ship ‘Odyssey’. With the help of the young, attractive nurses Avery (Phillipa Soo) and Tristan (Sean Teale), he must ensure that the often wealthy passengers can experience the journey they have always dreamed of. Of course there is also an old captain (Don Johnson, Miami Vice) That every episode has to hand out some wise lessons. And there is a complicated triangular relationship in the infirmary (Avery chooses one of the two men, our protagonists become one Throupleor does it stay with a threesome? Be continued!).

In the current television age, the viewer often bounces from flat reality series to high -drying drama. But Doctor Odyssey Is something of a different time, a kind of cookie jar full of sugary snacks. Each episode is a rounded story, the only real continuous storyline is the romantic thread between the three main characters.

Soap

Setup, of course. Maker Ryan Murphy thought « that we had withheld our breath in recent years, » said actor Joshua Jackson last year Deadline. « He thought it was time for a series in which we breathe out. » Jackson himself became famous for his role as the young heart breaker Pacey in teenage soap Dawson’s Creekbut in recent years he has often played heavy roles in series such as The Affair,,  » Fringe and Doctor Death. « I wanted to play again in a series in which I just had fun, and where the intention is that the viewer also has fun. »

Murphy has been building television for some time that looks back at a time before the era of the heavy drama series. Doctor Odyssey takes place in the same universe as his 9-1-1also a loose, soapy series about first aid providers-although 9-1-1 is often just a little bit more serious. The tone is ‘sparkly’, glittery. The characters are simple, but charming. And every episode something exciting happens.

Doctor Odyssey is to be the modern answer within this shared series reality The Love Boatthe romcom series from the 70s and 80s with captain Merrill Stubing every week new guests with new problems welcomed Pacific Princess. From this time: better cameras, faster assembly, discussions about queermiers, and occasionally an artistic quink stroke in control (although a moment when a surfer of his surfboard is scooped by a shark as a classic kitschy 70s). Consciously not modern: short story arches about simple problems, cheesy Dialogues that are very clear and not too smart, and recognizable characters that you understand at a glance.

Admittedly, it does not take care of the most compelling television, but that is not necessary. You don’t feel like a Michelin meal every night. Doctor Odyssey Looking is like a cotton candy, preferably while lying around at the fair. And if you still want some depth, there are enough fan speculations to go all out. Is Max perhaps still in a coma? Or is the Odyssey actually the hereafter? The search for evidence for these wild theories gradually becomes part of the fun.

To share

Mail the editors