Nepo babies on board!
It’s always a pleasant surprise to see Hollywood stars turn up in new episodes of Doctor Odyssey, even when those actors are relative newbies. That’s the case for this week’s episode as The Odyssey greets not one, not two, but three actresses who grew up in the spotlight.
In Episode 13, “Spring Break,” it’s Ava Phillippe, Charlotte Lawrence, and Paris Jackson who board the ship as Vanessa (Jackson), Veronica (Phillippe), and Victoria (Lawrence) — a.k.a the “Vixens” — with their hearts set on one final week of drinking and partying before graduation, and their eyes set on Dr. Max (Joshua Jackson). Alas, this is The Odyssey, where medical episodes are plentiful, so it’s not long before things take a turn for the worse.
Just after stepping aboard the ship behind Hannah (Kathryn Newton), the trio witnesses a truly tragic attempt at flirting, which ends in Steve (Noah Beck) introducing himself only to ejaculate in the hot tub before getting his name out. But before you laugh at him for arriving before the party even started, know that it’s a serious medical condition his character has been dealing with and one that Max promises to get to the bottom of. Now that you know, you can laugh.
While the Vixens are hell bent on having fun, it’s Hannah who is wasting her time on the ship studying for the LSAT, which Avery (Phillipa Soo) takes issue with. She gives her the whole “you’re only this young once” spiel, which falls on deaf (and Stanford-determined) ears. But all that studying and stress has given her a stomach ache that ultimately lands her in the nursing wing with a yellow tongue and a mystery ailment.
Meanwhile, after two unsuccessful attempts to lure Dr. Max into their room for a “party,” Lawrence’s character ultimately fakes a medical emergency to try and seduce him. This comes after they swore to get him into a four-way just before scuba diving, even if it would be the last thing they do. It’s during the fake episode that a real medical emergency takes place when Jackson’s character faints after snorting a line of fentanyl-laced cocaine in the bathroom. Not realizing the drugs she took were spiked, Max attempts to give her CPR, which results in him also fainting and losing a pulse, requiring Avery and Tristan (Sean Teale) to spray naloxone. Drugs are never your friends, kids, even the ones you deem “safe.”
As they are receiving care in the infirmary, Victoria now has an actual medical emergency, losing feeling in her legs and experiencing tachycardia. It turns out that after the group went scuba diving, Lawrence’s character suffered from the bends, a condition that — when mixed with an unidentified heart defect from birth — gives her a pulmonary embolism. Luckily, Dr. Max is able to prescribe her one short trip to a hyperbaric chamber, which sorts her out until she can get more help on land. So really, only Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe’s daughter came out unscathed… What, like it’s hard?
Back to Steve, who Dr. Max diagnoses with persistent genital arousal disorder (PGAD), a condition that causes him to “sail away” at any random moment. Luckily, it’s an easy fix and simply requires a new medication that should help to balance out his serotonin levels, finally giving him a fighting chance with the ladies on the ship.
As for Hannah, it’s only after Avery picks up on a metallic scent to her blood that she realizes Hannah has hemochromatosis, in which the body absorbs iron from the bloodstream, leading to liver damage and other issues. The solution is simple: bloodletting, a.k.a. the deliberate process of draining blood from the body to help resolve a buildup of certain nutrients. The medical procedure did kill George Washington as Doctor Odyssey points out — a true story — but it’s exactly what the doctor orders for Hannah, alongside rest, relaxation, and infusing her life with more fun.
Life is too short to only worry about which law school you get into, Avery says. So true.
The first 13 episodes of Doctor Odyssey Season 1 are currently streaming on Hulu. New episodes premiere Thursdays at 9 PM local and stream the next day on Hulu.
