Doctor Odyssey Season 1, Episode 7 Review: ‘Oh, Daddy!’

Doctor Odyssey Season 1, Episode 7, ‘Oh, Daddy!’ had lots to unpack. There was a bit of family drama, a drag queen emergency, a possible outbreak, and a lot of talk about that three-way. But it also showed a whole lot of what we love about this show. Every episode of Doctor Odyssey is unique. The medical cases keep us guessing, and the team, Max, Avery, and Tristan, are incredibly skilled at what they do. And then there’s Captain Massey, who, though soft at heart, makes sure he does everything he can to keep everyone safe when it’s time to get down to business.

As we get closer to the mid-season finale (it seems like it came fast, right?), we can say Doctor Odyssey has made many strides in character development on this show. We feel like we have gotten to know everyone. Is there still room for more growth? Because we know we have barely scratched the surface.

MORE: The wedding episode of Doctor Odyssey was a good one. Read more on that one HERE

Brotherly Love

Since the start of Doctor Odyssey Season 1, we have wanted to know more about Captain Massey. And the arrival of his baby brother Craig (John Stamos) gave us a glimpse at his past. As Craig arrives on board with his two boos, Brian and Riley, in tow to celebrate “Gay Week,” it’s clear that the Captain is excited. In fact, he is so excited he arranged for his brother’s favorite drag queen, Marsha D’ Penguins, to provide some live entertainment.  Captain Massey loves his brother deeply and would do anything for him. Because he’s ten years older, he always looked out for Craig. Especially when he was dealing with his alcohol addiction. Craig is now 15 years sober and seems to be happy. Like, happy. He’s so glad it’s a cause for concern to the Captain. He thinks that Craig might not be as sober as he claims.

Craig insists that he has not had a drink in 15 years and is genuinely happy enjoying life with his two partners. Unfortunately, even Craig’s partner has some doubts about his sobriety. Captain Massey’s feelings change when Craig faces a medical emergency while onboard. At that moment, he chooses to stop trying to manage aspects of Craig’s life and be a loving brother. That is put to the test when Max informs Craig that his blood alcohol level came back above the legal limit. Craig is adamant that he has not had a drink in 15 years, but the signs are there. A man of his word, the Captain chose to be supportive and not judgmental. He does what a good sibling would do and investigates Craig’s cabin to see if they may have missed something.

While checking Craig’s items, they find a bottle of medicine that Craig has been taking for acid reflux. The Captain learns from Max that his brother is suffering from Auto-brewery Syndrome, a side effect of years of taking Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPIs). Isn’t that wild? We think so. But we’re glad that Craig’s problem was able to be treated so he could not only get back to enjoying his time on the ship but also his time with his big brother.

Aesthetics Matter

What works so well about Doctor Odyssey is the interaction between the main characters on the show and the interaction between the guests onboard. We get to see what each of their experiences are like as they enjoy their time. And each character has a story and is dealing with their struggles. In Doctor Odyssey Season 1, Episode 7, Marsha’ D Penguins is a confidant, loud, and proud drag queen. She brings joy and happiness to those around her. After a freak accident in which her hair catches fire, Max, Avery, and Tristan rush to her aide. She suffers some burns to her head, but she is assured that everything will be okay.

MORE: Halloween week was one of our faves. Read that Doctor Odyssey review HERE

Try as he might, Tristan cannot get Marsha to relax, but we get it. As she points out to Tristan, everything he says or does comes easy because of how he looks. For her, she has to fight two battles. One as a drag queen and the other as a man. As she says, “aesthetics matter.” Marsha has to “be gorgeous as a girl and sexy as a man.” And not only that but a Black man when doing so. That causes a whole host of battles Tristan couldn’t possibly know about. Thankfully, by the end of the episode, Marsha has embraced the new version of herself and is ready to celebrate being her authentic self.

A question of the human condition

“Can all of my needs be met by one person?” that’s the question Captain Massey poses to Avery after he learns that Craig is in a throuple. Of course, he didn’t realize when he asked this, she was actually contemplating how to proceed after having a three-way with Max and Tristan. Throughout the episode, we can see how much their dynamic has changed. While Avery was floating around on cloud nine, Max and Tristan were both having an emotional crisis, by emotional crisis, I mean their bromance was falling apart along with that truce they made about Avery in Doctor Odyssey Season 1, Episode 3 “Plastic Surgery Week.”

That’s not good, considering it bled into their work as they argued over the diagnosis for a couple on the ship. Tristan believed the couple, who are “Travel Gays,” had developed Marburg Syndrome, which is highly contagious. Max, on the other hand, did not think this was the case.

When they brought the diagnosis to the Captain, he was highly frustrated by the lack of a definitive diagnosis for the passengers on his vessel. As we said earlier, Captain Massey has a soft heart, but when it comes time to get to business, he does not mess around. The Captain lays it out for Max, Tristan, and Avery. If they are going to diagnose two passengers with a contagious infection, they need to be sure because if that is the case, it will affect everything on the ship. Not only would The Odyssey have to head back to port, but they could have all ended up stuck on board as all the agencies figured out how to stop the spread. Oh, and did we mention that a quick way to get that answer was Max doing a biopsy on the patient? So, all that fighting almost led to a patient having an unnecessary procedure onboard. Talk about a liability or lawsuit waiting to happen. Thank goodness patients can tell the doctor what’s going on because, as it turned out, the guys were sick from eating too many sweet potatoes and nothing else.  

After the three took care of the patients and ruled out Marburg Syndrome, they talked about everything that had gone down. That talk includes the Captain. We told you Captain Massey can sense when stuff is off, and he makes it a point to tell Max, Avery, and Tristan he needs them in “lockstep sync.” Max knows that he cannot afford for his medical team to fall apart. Once Max and Tristan make up, it’s then that Max reveals his true feelings about the three-way. He admits that he enjoyed what they all did, but that’s not him on the regular. He is a one-woman man and wants a family someday. Avery is caught off guard by that and has a chat with Tristan because she thinks he can convince Max to get on board for their three-way relationship to continue.

Unfortunately, as we predicted, Tristan is also conflicted. He is not looking to share Avery with anyone, and it’s because wait for it… he loves Avery (pretends to be shocked). The thought of having to share her makes him physically sick because he loves Avery so much. We don’t know what Avery was expecting from both Tristan and Max. They wear their hearts on their sleeves. We were not screaming “NO THREE-WAY!” for nothing. We knew this would end badly. Things have gotten so much more complicated. We don’t see it getting any better in the episodes to come. At some point, Avery will have to make a choice. And we’re also curious about how strong Max’s feelings are for Avery.

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Nautical Thoughts

• The card game to learn all the lingo before the gay passengers arrived was hilarious.
• So we have a pride flag in the entryway of the ship. Love to see it.
• Marsha D’ Penguins has fierce fashion sense.
• The pregnant lady saying she didn’t want to “go full Karen” while demanding to be moved to a suite….
• Avery has a lot of nice talks with the Captain.
• Captain Massey wants the passengers to have a “smooth ride.” mmmhmm, we know what that means.
• Given what went down between the dudes and Avery, that fight between Max and Tristan was kind of hot.
• “A kiss is a gay handshake.”
• Sorry Avery, that “Dude dialect” thing was never going to work.
• “Am I the chips?”
• WHERE IS VIVIAN????? Seriously, we thought something was brewing between her and Tristan and then she just disappears.