[Warning: The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for Doctor Odyssey Episode 16, “Double-Booked.”]
Ooh la la. The Odyssey becomes a full-on steamship on Thursday’s (May 1) newest episode of Doctor Odyssey, which sees two competing ideological groups — trad wives and sex-positive women — accidentally hitting the high seas together on the Odyssey. Things get messy, quite literally so, for everyone involved when their feuding devolves into a spirited food fight on deck, but a tough medical case ultimately brings the girlies together to root for a passenger to come through a tough surgery on top, which she does.
The guests of the day also run parallel to the situation going on between Avery (Phillipa Soo), Max (Joshua Jackson), and Tristan (Sean Teale), though. After Avery hears one of her favorite sex-positive speakers, Mona (played by Whitney Cummings), challenge her crowd to have an amazing orgasm that day, she makes an offer to both beaus: unencumbered solo sex sessions until she leaves for medical school in a few weeks.
Max, the trad wife in this scenario, politely declines, while Tristan is all in. Before we know it, Avery and Tristan are slamming bodies together without abandon and living out some new fantasies. According to Tristan, it’s even better than the threesome when it’s a two-some.
“I had forgotten how much fun sex could be — the joy of just getting out of your head and letting your body take control, surrendering,” she later tells Mona.
Max, of course, is jealous but quiet about it. When Avery tells him “we” (as in Avery and Tristan) are heading out, he is visibly distraught but keeps his cool about it. When she asks if he wants her to stay, he says, “No I’m good, thank you,” even though he’s anything but good.
Avery and Tristan’s second rendezvous is tinged with a little wistfulness on Avery’s face. So much for being joyful and free with all the boogeying.
“With Tristan, it’s light and happy and fun. With Max, it is so challenging, which is exactly the sort of thing I vowed to avoid one month leading up to medical school,” she says to Mona after the second round, but does she even believe her own words?
Max has his own sounding board throughout all of this, of course. Captain Massey (Don Johnson) has been a grouch all episode because he can’t get ahold of Heather, and he tells Max that they’ve lost their baby, and she doesn’t want to talk to him or see him.
“Heather and this whole thing has got me thinking about the future and life after the Odyssey: family, love,” Massey tells Max. “You just can’t make someone else want the things that you want, so I’ve taken the next best course: accept and surrender.” Max, in actively tucking his envy away, is doing just the same.
Later, Avery confronts Max about why he isn’t interested in a casual, pre-med fling with her.
“I honestly thought that this arrangement would be fun for all of us,” she explains. “I guess I’m a little more trad than I care to admit,” he says in return. “I’m literally offering you my body, and you are pushing me away. What’s wrong? Are you not attracted to me anymore or … Why can’t we just enjoy ourselves for the little time we have left together?” she asks.
Max points out that this is essentially a request for him to become more like Tristan, who’s game for whatever she wants — at least ostensibly (his real feelings are probably right under the surface, too, right?). He then says, “Do you have any idea how hard this has been for me? How much I would like nothing more than to jump into bed with you, hole up in your cabin, order room service for the next four weeks? But if I did that, and then I had to say goodbye to you, it would break my heart.”
The episode closes with Max declaring, “Avery, I love you. I love you.”
It’s not the first time she’s heard those three words, but given that she’s had a few days of one-on-one time with Tristan, could Max’s words land differently this time? Not so fast…
We’re about to enter the final two ports of call for Doctor Odyssey‘s first (and possibly only?) season. Up ahead is “The Wave,” and it sounds like Max’s words are going to cause a tidal wave-sized rift between himself and Avery. The description for the episode tells us, “After Max’s declaration fractures his relationship with Avery, he leaves the ship and finds himself caught in an earthquake, which triggers a tsunami warning. With the Odyssey forced to leave port, Max races to return before it’s too late.”
Doctor Odyssey, Thursdays, 9/8c, ABC
