After that email Dr. Joan Ridley (Felicity Huffman) received in the previousDoc episode, it’s no surprise she’s going to see her doctor in the Tuesday, October 14, episode, and TV Insider has an exclusive sneak peek.
When her doctor tells her her platelet count has dropped significantly, she reveals she knows. “I felt the decline, so I tested my own blood a few days ago,” Joan explains. Since they’ve had this conversation before, rather than repeat is, she just wants to know, “How long do I have before I’m too exhausted to move or, if I’m really lucky, develop full-blown leukemia? One to three years, depending on how I respond to treatment?”
Her doctor tells her she’s right with her guess then details what she’ll need treatment-wise before checking if she’s having any new symptoms, like weakness or tremors. She says she’s not. He warns her it will “get rough at some point,” then asks about her support system, specifically any kids. She has a son, but he’s not returning her calls. Watch the full sneak peek above for more, including what she can and can’t do, what her doctor thinks of her new job, and what she makes clear to him about her health.
“She’s battling a serious health issue. And I think what this disease does for Joan, particularly now since she has the chief of internal medicine job, is it raises a question: What are you going to do with the time you have left?” Felicity Huffman told TV Insider after the reveal in Episode 3.
“And the writers, Barbie Kligman and Hank Steinberg, have introduced this character at a fulcrum in her life, which is, of course, the mark of great storytelling. And before we meet Joan, her whole life has been scattered and traveling, and Doctors Without Borders, and a very peripatetic lifestyle. But facing this illness and having this job, taking on this job, has allowed to stop and focus on what she’s best at: making others great. And that’s how she makes this potentially fatal illness manageable,” Huffman continued. “She’s anchored it to a bigger purpose than whether or not she’s sick. She’s anchored it to, ‘What am I going to do with the rest of my life? I am going to make this hospital great. There are talented people here. There are people with a lot of heart. This could be the best hospital in the country.’ So, it’s a golden opportunity.”
In this next episode, titled “Something to Prove,” an outdated medical proxy form creates tension between a patient’s ex-husband and current partner. Plus, Amy, Jake, and new intern Hannah investigate a college student’s sudden blindness.
Doc, Tuesdays, 9/8c, Fox