Spoilers ahead for the series premiere of Doctor Odyssey on ABC.
One of ABC’s most-hyped new shows of the 2024 TV schedule has been Doctor Odyssey, which brings Josh Jackson back to a network TV series regular role for the first time since Fringe. In the new medical drama, Jackson plays the overqualified Dr. Max Bankman after he becomes the onboard doctor of a glamorous cruise ship. While this isn’t Jackson’s first time playing a doctor, Doctor Odyssey certainly isn’t Dr. Death. A s somebody who has enjoyed the actor’s various projects going back to The Mighty Ducks on VHS in the ’90s, I was expecting a totally new character with the ABC drama… and definitely not to get any Dawson’s Creek vibes.
To be clear – Doctor Odyssey is not a Dawson’s Creek: High Seas sequel, Dr. Max Bankman is not Pacey, and I’m not suggesting that Joshua Jackson can only play one kind of role. But two elements of the series premiere did have me flashing back to his Pacey days, and the first was while he was confiding in nurse practitioner Avery (Phillipa Soo) about where he learned to dance:
You know, I always wanted to take dance classes as a kid, but it’s not really something that boys do where I grew up. And then one day, I got tapped on the shoulder and gently reminded that life is fleeting and unbelievably fragile.
Max went on to tell an emotional story about being the first person in Connecticut to be diagnosed with COVID back in early 2020 and how his experience made him want to pursue joy at all costs… which was his “very, very long-winded way of saying that I finally enrolled in a dance class.”
Admittedly, the closest that I can think of Pacey wanting to pursue joy at all costs was when he paid the price for neglecting his schoolwork, but his comment about dance class reminded me of the Dawson’s Creek episode in which Pacey agreed to help Joey (Katie Holmes) by secretly being her partner at a dance class.
And then there’s the fact that there’s already a love triangle brewing between the three main characters of Doctor Odyssey, with nurse Tristan (Sean Teale) harboring feelings for Avery but Avery quickly having eyes for Max (and Max looking back). When it comes to playing out complicated love triangles on TV, Joshua Jackson has more experience than most after his Dawson’s Creek days when Pacey came out of nowhere to become the romantic rival to the title character in the best way.
It was a long, bumpy, and occasionally ugly road between sparks flying and Joey and Pacey becoming – spoiler alert for Dawson’s Creek – the show’s endgame couple, however, so I don’t think I can be blamed for flashing back to it at the merest first suggestion of a love triangle in Doctor Odyssey.
All in all, I enjoyed the pilot of Doctor Odyssey, and not because it reminded me of Dawson’s Creek. There were just a couple of parallels that stuck out to me as a viewer of the teen drama back in the day. My favorite line of the new show might actually be the very last of the pilot, when Max asked “Is every week a theme?” after Avery announced that next week would be singles week.
It struck me as a fun setup for what the show has in store and a solid hook for the rest of the season. If you’re curious about what singles week involves on board The Odyssey, check out the promo for the next episode:
Keep tuning in to ABC on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET for new episodes of Doctor Odyssey. The network gave the freshman show a strong time slot by shifting fellow medical drama Grey’s Anatomy up to 10 p.m. ET and following 9-1-1 at 8 p.m. If you prefer to stream TV over watching live on broadcast, you’ll be able to find Josh Jackson’s newest show on Hulu.