S01.E01: Pilot

[AnimeMania]

Max Bankman is The Odyssey’s new onboard doctor, where the staff works hard and plays harder. It’s all-hands-on-deck as he gets acquainted with Capt. Massey and his medical team, Avery and Tristan, while treating crises miles from shore.

Premiere Date: Thursday, September 26, 2024    ABC   9pm

[Frost]

The pilot was OK.  The romantic triangle was too much for the very first episode.   And I'm not sure why the Doctor has to narrate what he's doing to the nurses.  He comes across as a bit condescending.  I'm definitely giving it a few weeks though.  I like Joshua Jackson and Don Johnson so I'm hoping the quality of the writing improves.

I have a bone to pick with costuming.  The captain should not be wearing bright white shoes with his dark uniform!!!!  I couldn't take my eyes off them!

I'm also skeptical of the heavy drinking on the shore leave.  Not all passengers leave the ship, so I would think at least one medical person would stay on board. 

I liked the goofy couple who had multiple medical emergencies.   

[KaveDweller]

I want to like this show because of Joshua Jackson, but the pilot had lots of issues. The one nurse admits he is in love with the female nurse and so the doctor (both of their bosses) publicly makes a move on her? It is kind of dickish on multiple levels.

I also feel like they can only have so many medically emergencies on the ship without it seeming like the worst cruise line ever.

I will give it another shot though.

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, Frost said:

I liked the goofy couple who had multiple medical emergencies.

Rachel Dratch always goes all in. 
Last year's opening 2 episodes of 9-1-1 took place on a cruise, also with B plots involving a similar couple.

The show was like a slightly-lighter hearted White Lotus.

 

 

1 hour ago, KaveDweller said:

The one nurse admits he is in love with the female nurse and so the doctor (both of their bosses) publicly makes a move on her? It is kind of dickish on multiple levels.

Like an homage to Don Johnson?

But to be fair to the Doctor character, when he offered to team up with the nurse guy, the Nurse said he preferred every man for himself, because of a low proportion of men to women.

 

 

Just noticed:

Quote

Phillipa Anne Soo is an American actress. Soo is best known for originating the role of Eliza Hamilton in the Broadway musical Hamilton, a performance which earned her a nomination for a 2016 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical and a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album in the same year. She also originated the role of Natasha Rostova in the off-Broadway production of Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 in 2012 and the title role in the Broadway production of Amélie in 2017.

She also attended a neighboring high school the same years as my daughter.

Edited September 27 by shapeshifter

[txhorns79]

 

15 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

The show was like a slightly-lighter hearted White Lotus.

I was thinking like a more upscale Love Boat, if the doctor was the star of the show. 

[Nacos for Rufus]

I don’t know if I’m just used to slow-burn series, but this felt like too much was packed in. I felt like the characters needed a chance to breathe. Nice to see Joshua Jackson back, though…😍

Edited September 27 by Nacos for Rufus

[Irlandesa]

2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

But to be fair to the Doctor character, when he offered to team up with the nurse guy, the Nurse said he preferred every man for himself, because of a low proportion of men to women.

There's a difference between not working with one another to find people to have sex with and actively asking someone you manage a question about whether or not they're in love with the other person you supervise...and less than a minute later putting moves on that other subordinate. 

That's doesn't come off as we're young and horny so every man for himself; it comes off as a direct power move.

I never suspected the guy trying to flirt his way onto the ship would have my favorite lines of the episode. But then it weirdly was all good at the end.

1 hour ago, txhorns79 said:

I was thinking like a more upscale Love Boat, if the doctor was the star of the show. 

And yet during the goodbyes, it all felt so cheap compared to the Love Boat which at least managed to look bright.

2 hours ago, Frost said:

I'm also skeptical of the heavy drinking on the shore leave.  Not all passengers leave the ship, so I would think at least one medical person would stay on board. 

Right. I've never been on a cruise before but from what I understand, they're working all the time.  And I also thought cruises ran all year round.  I didn't get the "season" bit.

I was bummed they didn't say where they were going.

I don't know if I'll watch this but I do look forward to the gay cruise.

[CeeBeeGee]

I rather enjoyed this. It's nice to see Pacey and Sonny again. I worked on a cruise ship for nine months as an entertainer and it's always interesting to explore the life again.

I found the male nurse irritating af. His reflexive bristling was annoying. That said, it wasn't exactly cool of the doctor to make a move on the female nurse right after male nurse confessed his crush.

 

2 hours ago, Frost said:

I'm also skeptical of the heavy drinking on the shore leave.  Not all passengers leave the ship, so I would think at least one medical person would stay on board. 

They must have other medical staff that didn't come ashore (and that we haven't yet met), for exactly the reason you point out. I'm not sure if every line does it this way, but we had something called portmanning. When we pulled into a port, at least one third of the staff had to remain on board in case there was an emergency.

 

2 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

But to be fair to the Doctor character, when he offered to team up with the nurse guy, the Nurse said he preferred every man for himself, because of a low proportion of men to women.

He's not wrong about that. But it's more like 10 men to every woman. It's because so many departments are heavily or wholly male (laundry, engineering, most of the officers). The amount of attention you get--welcome and unwelcome--as a woman is unreal. I honestly kind of hated it.

[OLynn33]

1 hour ago, Irlandesa said:

And yet during the goodbyes, it all felt so cheap compared to the Love Boat which at least managed to look bright.

The Love Boat was also shot on a real ship at least partly. I think that's what's bothering me with this show is the fake sets even though they are elaborate. It makes the ship feel small. 

The goofy couple man/actor was on Everybody Loves Raymond. 

I'm looking forward to finding out the Captain's backstory like he's an ex Navy Seal or something. If Don Johnson took this role I have faith something good is coming. 

[EtheltoTillie]

This is like House meets Love Boat. It was pretty awful. 

[FnkyChkn34]

Well hello, Dr. Pacey.  I'm here for it.

Was the show cheesy and unrealistic?  Yes.  But was it nice to see Joshua Jackson back in a light-hearted flirty role, looking hot?  Also yes.

This seems like a smaller cruise ship that maybe sails out of somewhere in California?  I know that the largest ships that stay in the Caribbean, for example, all have morgues on board.  They plan for people to die.  Unfortunately, that's required with the average clientele - old people.  So if we see weird medical maladies that are far fetched every week, I'm okay with that.  Reality is most likely way more boring and depressing.  

[Raja]

12 hours ago, Frost said:

I have a bone to pick with costuming.  The captain should not be wearing bright white shoes with his dark uniform!!!!  I couldn't take my eyes off them!

On the uniform level I was surprised by the black tie but not formal uniforms at the dinner. 

 

11 hours ago, Nacos for Rufus said:

I don’t know if I’m just used to slow-burn series, but this felt like too much was packed in. I felt like the characters needed a chance to breathe. Nice to see Joshua Jackson back, though…😍

It reminds me of old school TV when full seasons were not produced before the first was broadcast. So everything was pushed forward to drop the goodies before a cancellation order came. The penis fracture and alternative sexual pleasuring methods in the first half hour fell right into that. The leads almost hooking up however gives you nothing to look forward to.

Its not a stay up until 11 show to catch live like old school would have demanded but right now catching up on Hulu sometimes during the week is fine.

10 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

  And I also thought cruises ran all year round.  I didn't get the "season" bit.

I was bummed they didn't say where they were going.

My first thought was that too. I just think of it as Captain Massey had rotated back to command relieving the other officers to go on leave.

For the we can't do a surgery here scene the Nurse Practitioner mention Puerto Vallarta. So I guess Mexican cruises like the Love Boat.

8 hours ago, OLynn33 said:

I'm looking forward to finding out the Captain's backstory like he's an ex Navy Seal or something. If Don Johnson took this role I have faith something good is coming. 

They are so overused I would want anything but a Navy SEAL. Being Ensign Pulver  on a supply ship running into Vietnam is good enough and the way characters used to be done before Magnum PI

[Raja]

4 hours ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

This seems like a smaller cruise ship that maybe sails out of somewhere in California?  I know that the largest ships that stay in the Caribbean, for example, all have morgues on board.  They plan for people to die.  Unfortunately, that's required with the average clientele - old people.  So if we see weird medical maladies that are far fetched every week, I'm okay with that.  Reality is most likely way more boring and depressing.  

Giving the show a second watch with my partner it looks like the AI for the captioning missed in hearing the Spanish names. I think they are definitely on a Mexican 7 day  cruise route. Judging by the buildings in the background at the home port I am thinking from San Diego rather than Los Angeles/Long Beach.

For The Love Boat call backs the biggest problem is even though Captain Massey knows his entire crew besides the security at the home port and the lifeguard they got cheap and not giving other actors speaking parts. It especially caught me with the entire medical staff on the rescue boat when a lifeguard had already been introduced.

Edited September 27 by Raja

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, Raja said:

The leads almost hooking up however gives you nothing to look forward to.

Really?
Isn't "almost" the most effective romantic plot hook?

 

2 hours ago, Raja said:

not a stay up until 11 show to catch live like old school would have demanded but right now catching up on Hulu sometimes during the week is fine.

Ditto.

 

2 hours ago, Raja said:

Being Ensign Pulver  on a supply ship running into Vietnam

I would like that for Captain Don Johnson's character, but probably the advertisers' target audience wouldn't be able to relate.

[Crashcourse]

I liked the pilot, but I wasn't a fan of the doctor and nurse hooking up so soon, and I don't want to see a love triangle.  I hope to see more of Don Johnson in future episodes.

Edited September 27 by Crashcourse

[Raja]

13 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

I would like that for Captain Don Johnson's character, but probably the advertisers' target audience wouldn't be able to relate.

Just spare us the pirate attack where Crockett has to use his very particular set of skills acquired over a very long career 

6 minutes ago, Crashcourse said:

I liked the pilot, but I wasn't a fan of the doctor and nurse hooking up so soon, and I don't want to see love a triangle.  I hope to see more of Don Johnson in future episodes.

There is no triangle the other nurse was little brother, work subordinate zoned long before the doctor arrived 

[Crashcourse]

7 minutes ago, Raja said:

There is no triangle the other nurse was little brother, work subordinate zoned long before the doctor arrived 

Little brother is still interested in the nurse, so it remains to be seen if he'll compete with the doctor for her.

[Chaos Theory]

Less Ryan Murphy more Shonda Rhimes but in a bad way.   Maybe better put if Ryan and Shonda Rhimes had a baby that inherited all their worst traits.

So so much wrong with this.  And I am not even nitpicking.   I hate it when people nitpick.  “That’s not how that machine works….took me completely out of the show.”   I just think the show should have avoided the obvious romance and focused on the rescue stuff.    Plus I like the concept of “work like a captain.  Play like a pirate.” And would actually like to see more of that.   
 

if this is a glorified romance I am tapping out.  

[KaveDweller]

15 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

Right. I've never been on a cruise before but from what I understand, they're working all the time.  And I also thought cruises ran all year round.  I didn't get the "season" bit.

Some locations may have times when cruises don't run. I did an Alaskan cruise and those only run in the summer because of weather. This cruise seems to be tropical, but maybe they take a break for hurricane season or something? Or just have a break for staff to be able to see families.

[Crashcourse]

27 minutes ago, Chaos Theory said:

if this is a glorified romance I am tapping out.  

Same here.  I hope they don't go there because this show could have good potential.  They could have good plots not only on the ship, but also at different cruise stops. 

[Raja]

3 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

Some locations may have times when cruises don't run. I did an Alaskan cruise and those only run in the summer because of weather. This cruise seems to be tropical, but maybe they take a break for hurricane season or something? Or just have a break for staff to be able to see families.

The ships themselves are too expensive an asset to remain idle for crew rest. The concept known to US ballistic missile submarines of a Gold crew and a Blue crew with one crew on patrol and the other ready to take over the boat when they return to get it back on patrol should be in play here. Of course it plays against the "our ship" ethic the nurses are pushing if you think there are other doctors and nurses saying the same about Odyssey.

Captain Massey and that his medical team would be on leave while Captain Stuben and Dr. Bricker had their cruises on the Odyssey Princess 😉. And on that disembark and welcome the new passengers on board day the officer teams would trade places. Meanwhile most of the crew would be on both cruises as their contracts normally would run on a different schedule like the new guy folding towels being new to Captain Massey, but perhaps a veteran of the last cruise.. 

In the show Captain Massey welcomed his doctor of a 7 day cruise with "Singles cruise" next week and NP Morgan named dropped two Mexican  resorts during the show Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo.

[Irlandesa]

10 hours ago, Raja said:

There is no triangle the other nurse was little brother, work subordinate zoned long before the doctor arrived 

They wouldn't introduce the fact that both the doctor and the nurse had various forms of romantic or sexual feelings for the nurse practitioner if geometric shenanigans weren't in the plans. 

10 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Isn't "almost" the most effective romantic plot hook?

"Almost" is only effective with some anticipation. That's either done with explosive and immediate chemistry, which I don't think these two had, or build-up, which is hard to do in a little over half an episode.

13 hours ago, Raja said:

It reminds me of old school TV when full seasons were not produced before the first was broadcast. So everything was pushed forward to drop the goodies before a cancellation order came. The penis fracture and alternative sexual pleasuring methods in the first half hour fell right into that.

The funniest part about the penile fracture is I do think it was meant to be somewhat titillating and "edgy" but they took an almost professorial approach to it that made it kind of boring.  It went something like:

• Diagnosis of a penile fracture
• Explanation of what that was
• Explanation of what is happening inside and what immediate care it needs.
• Detailed explanation of the specific sexual positions and activities that cause the injury.
• Bonus personal backstory

 

11 hours ago, Raja said:

It especially caught me with the entire medical staff on the rescue boat when a lifeguard had already been introduced.

Good catch.  It's also a very small regular cast.  If the show wants to do soapy drama, as it appears it does, then they're going to be limited unless they had more regular characters. 

[Soapy Goddess]

I enjoyed the show. I don't care where the ship sails from, what the itinerary is, and what the size of the ship is for that matter. All I know is that it held my interest and I get to see Don Johnson back on my TV again.

 

[LaDuchesse]

It was ok. I will watch because I’m always happy to have Pacey on my screen and in anticipation of watching the car crash that all Ryan Murphy shows become eventually. At first, I thought the direction given to Joshua Jackson was to be Cary Grant. Then I thought, no … it was more like be George Clooney. Then I realized George Clooney has been doing Cary Grant all along. Not complaining about any of that though. Love all three. 😉

[Soapy Goddess]

3 minutes ago, LaDuchesse said:

It was ok. I will watch because I’m always happy to have Pacey on my screen and in anticipation of watching the car crash that all Ryan Murphy shows become eventually. At first, I thought the direction given to Joshua Jackson was to be Cary Grant. Then I thought, no … it was more like be George Clooney. Then I realized George Clooney has been doing Cary Grant all along. Not complaining about any of that though. Love all three. 😉

Did Nip/Tuck crash & burn? I don't think so, but mileage varies.

I definitely agree JJ's portrayal is more Clooney.

[circumvent]

I thought it was awful, even by current TV standards. 

Ships don't send their staff in fancy speed boats to a beach to build a bar and have a party. This is just ridiculous. I don't expect the show to portray the real abuses that happen between the companies and their employees, but the party segment was pathetic

Just wait for an explosion, an epidemic, a hostage situation, a fire, the captain being unable to perform and the doctor saving the day, all the days. Or the nurse practitioner, she is just too perfect. Of course, at some point one, of more of them will be at the brink of death.

Did I forget any recycled material of shows like this one?

[Raja]

9 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

It's also a very small regular cast.  If the show wants to do soapy drama, as it appears it does, then they're going to be limited unless they had more regular characters. 

It is so small you would expect the bigger names to come in as guest of the week The Love Boat style. I am watching Las Vegas in broadcast order as it finally came to streaming and watching the extended NBC crossovers with Crossing Jordan cast visiting the Montecito.. If 9-1-1 had not done their Poseidon Adventures you would almost expect the Disney shows to start sending folks to their heavenly vacations on the Odyssey.

With the medical staff established  they still need to find their Isaac's and Julie's not just have extras watching the bigs dancing at the crew party

1 hour ago, circumvent said:

Just wait for an explosion, an epidemic, a hostage situation, a fire, the captain being unable to perform and the doctor saving the day, all the days. Or the nurse practitioner, she is just too perfect. Of course, at some point one, of more of them will be at the brink of death.

That they gave us a before show contagion/epidemic causing the previous doctor to be fired and the lead doctor  already on the brink of death as COVID Patient Zero in Connecticut I am thinking that they won't go there. 

[Babalu06]

19 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

Some locations may have times when cruises don't run. I did an Alaskan cruise and those only run in the summer because of weather. This cruise seems to be tropical, but maybe they take a break for hurricane season or something? Or just have a break for staff to be able to see families.

I was confused by the “new season,” too. As far as I know, ships might reposition to another itinerary, but I don’t know of any that would take a hiatus from sailing unless they were being refurbished.

I was kind of offended by the crew’s beach party because how stupid do they think we are? Multiple expensive speed boats taking staff to a private beach with high-end libations and medical professionals drinking fairly heavily when they’ve got to be ready to face medical emergencies in a few hours?

I hope people watching this don’t book a regular cruise expecting this level of luxury!

Despite (and maybe partly because of) my issues, I thought the pilot was fun, I like the cast, and I’ll definitely continue watching.

 

 

[Cigale]

I was not interested to continue watching this show until I read about this theory:  https://tvline.com/lists/doctor-odyssey-max-dead-alive-covid-coma-dream-theory/doctor-odyssey-homer-influence/

[iMonrey]

19 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

Less Ryan Murphy more Shonda Rhimes but in a bad way.   Maybe better put if Ryan and Shonda Rhimes had a baby that inherited all their worst traits.

LOL, very well put. I thought this was pretty bad. The medical exposition was cringe-worthy, the dialogue was bad, and the doctor hooking up with the nurse on Day 2 was a horrible idea. 

Quote

I was not interested to continue watching this show until I read about this theory: https://tvline.com/lists/doctor-odyssey-max-dead-alive-covid-coma-dream-theory/doctor-odyssey-homer-influence/

It's an interesting theory but I think it's far more likely that this was just very badly written.

[Raja]

5 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

LOL, very well put. I thought this was pretty bad. The medical exposition was cringe-worthy, the dialogue was bad, and the doctor hooking up with the nurse on Day 2 was a horrible idea. 

Like the pre show contagion and near death of a major cast member With Captain Massey warning "Doctor Odyssey" about what's acceptable  I am starting to think they just put it out to get it out of the way. Hunter and McCall did it in their run back in the 80s, but only by telling us it happened in the past.

[DanaK]

I enjoyed this overall. I'm sure there are nits to pick comparing things to real life, but eh, who cares, except, where's the rest of the medical staff? The 3 main ones can't be doing it all themselves.

[Dowel Jones]

I was not interested to continue watching this show until I read about this theory: https://tvline.com/lists/doctor-odyssey-max-dead-alive-covid-coma-dream-theory/doctor-odyssey-homer-influence/

 

Or maybe the entire staff was laid out during the offscreen epidemic and they're each having their own dream sequence, each of them getting an dedicated episode.  We could have fun with this.

[Attatude]

Who is the target audience for this show? It’s not me.  I will give it one more week before bailing.

[Raja]

53 minutes ago, Attatude said:

Who is the target audience for this show? It’s not me.  I will give it one more week before bailing.

Judging from coments Love Boat + the Pacey/Joey ship + Don Johnson as boss with a Royal Pains like doctor 

[Raja]

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

 

It's an interesting theory but I think it's far more likely that this was just very badly written.

The question is at what point did they think of Tommy's snow globe or Bob and Emily in bed

[KLovestoShop]

I’ve been on more than 100 cruises, so I’m probably looking at this with a very critical eye, not having anything to do with production values, but with how the crew behaves/works.  Believe me, you rarely, if ever, see the ships medical staff out and about in civilian clothes——always in uniform while on the ship.  The medical staff has to be easily recognizable by passengers.  And the Captain doesn’t wear a tux on formal nights, but either dress whites or blues.  Always in uniform.  This is the same for the medical staff
 

As for the “ship”, I just looked up what ship they used and found out that they didn’t film on any ship at all.  Everything is done on massive sound stages in Los Angeles.  If they need any outdoor shots, they filmed them at various seaside places/beaches around LA.  
 

Despite the fact that I was really looking forward to this show, I’m going to do a hard pass.  

[KLovestoShop]

10 hours ago, DanaK said:

I enjoyed this overall. I'm sure there are nits to pick comparing things to real life, but eh, who cares, except, where's the rest of the medical staff? The 3 main ones can't be doing it all themselves.

Even on the behemoth cruise ships with 5000 passengers, the medical staff is usually 4 nurses and 1 doctor.  Assuming this ship has under 1000 passengers, having 3 medical personnel is about right.  

[Soapy Goddess]

17 hours ago, circumvent said:

Ships don't send their staff in fancy speed boats to a beach to build a bar and have a party. This is just ridiculous. I don't expect the show to portray the real abuses that happen between the companies and their employees, but the party segment was pathetic

Have you seen Below Deck??

[circumvent]

18 hours ago, Raja said:

That they gave us a before show contagion/epidemic causing the previous doctor to be fired and the lead doctor  already on the brink of death as COVID Patient Zero in Connecticut I am thinking that they won't go there

If the writing had been better in the pilot, I would agree with you . With the information I have about the ability of the writers to be original in a not absurd way, there is no doubt in my mind that they will go there

 

1 hour ago, Soapy Goddess said:

Have you seen Below Deck??

What is that?

[Raja]

49 minutes ago, circumvent said:

 

What is that?

Below Deck is a reality franchise following the crews of super yachts around 

[FnkyChkn34]

18 hours ago, KLovestoShop said:

Even on the behemoth cruise ships with 5000 passengers, the medical staff is usually 4 nurses and 1 doctor.  Assuming this ship has under 1000 passengers, having 3 medical personnel is about right.  

Plus, I would think that many of the other staff - lifeguards, absolutely, but probably also a bunch of the officers - all know basic CPR and can help out in a true disaster emergency.  

[KLovestoShop]

34 minutes ago, FnkyChkn34 said:

Plus, I would think that many of the other staff - lifeguards, absolutely, but probably also a bunch of the officers - all know basic CPR and can help out in a true disaster emergency.  

Unfortunately, cruise ships don't have lifeguards.  There have been a few instances where people have drowned in cruise ship pools. 

[Raja]

54 minutes ago, KLovestoShop said:

Unfortunately, cruise ships don't have lifeguards.  There have been a few instances where people have drowned in cruise ship pools. 

But of course the Odyssey only has the best of the best staff, you think that they just  fold towels near the pool 😉 and Captain Massey did have a lifeguard taking care of business before the medical staff got to the couple at the pool.

[LaylaGirl]

On 9/28/2024 at 9:44 AM, Cigale said:

I was not interested to continue watching this show until I read about this theory:  https://tvline.com/lists/doctor-odyssey-max-dead-alive-covid-coma-dream-theory/doctor-odyssey-homer-influence/

I read this before I watched the pilot, and I think there might be something to it. Don Johnson never interacted with anyone but crew members. He never spoke to a passenger and no passenger spoke to him. The lighting and music when the doctor first came on board had a very religious vibe to it. There was lots of bright light coming from above and he was back lit a lot.  And that room with all the vials and such was very strange. I'm going to keep watching for Don Johnson - but I am very curious to see where this goes.

[FnkyChkn34]

13 hours ago, KLovestoShop said:

Unfortunately, cruise ships don't have lifeguards.  There have been a few instances where people have drowned in cruise ship pools. 

Maybe ships don't have them in real life, but wasn't that a lifeguard that was tending to the husband while they all waited for the medical staff to get there?  I think the Odyssey does have them... 

[Cementhead]

On 9/28/2024 at 12:49 PM, Dowel Jones said:

I was not interested to continue watching this show until I read about this theory: https://tvline.com/lists/doctor-odyssey-max-dead-alive-covid-coma-dream-theory/doctor-odyssey-homer-influence/

I was going to stick with this silly show for a few reasons:  it's nostalgic Love Boat meets Fantasy Island vibe appealed to me, glossy productions from Ryan Murphy are always fun eye candy with great visual appeal and Don Johnson, because why not?  I miss the days of 80s-90s television when you could easily find something light & fluffy to tune into to indulge yourself for an hour a week.  Not everything has to be Dexter or Game of Thrones.

All that said, the only thing I am even less interested in watching aside from "it was all just a dream" tv, is anything having to do with COVID, so I am out at the first inkling I get that this theory is true.  Thank you for sharing.

[chaifan]

OK, let me preface this by saying I watch a lot of bad tv.  I like cheesy shows, I like fluff.  But holy hell, this is so bad it's unwatchable, even from a hate watch standpoint.  I got maybe 20 minutes in and turned it off. 

The dialog is awful.  Like first year film making class awful.  That whole speech the captain gave to the doc the first night at dinner about how his crew is "the best of the best".  ugh.  There's nothing that establishes this cruise line as anything other than slightly above the ordinary.  If it were an ultra expensive, elite cruise line, then maybe they get "the best of the best".  But here, no.

I feel so bad for Phillipa Soo.  What a remarkable waste of talent.  oooh, a female professional with a giant chip on her shoulder, pissed because she got passed over for some cowboy with a giant ego.  Nope, never seen that on screen before.  yawn.  I really thought the doctor was going to pursue the male nurse, the way the scene in his room started out.  And then I realized he wanted to buddy up to find women?  eww. 

I'm not familiar with Joshua Jackson.  He reminds me a bit of Peter Krause, but I like Krause a lot more.  Don Johnson has never been a great actor, so I expected little, and he delivered little. 

I like the theory posted above that it's all just a dream or heaven/hell or whatever.  But it still wouldn't make me go back and finish Ep. 1. 

[Featherhat]

On 9/28/2024 at 7:53 PM, Attatude said:

Who is the target audience for this show? It’s not me.  I will give it one more week before bailing.

It feels like it's supposed to be a bit like those USA "blue sky dramedies". People who like Grey's probably. 

I thought it was okay and I'm actually interested in the COVID theory, although my guess is all we'll ever get is hints and maybes if the show lasts. 

I think JJ did okay as a charming doctor type and the nurses were fine. I'm actually surprised that a show like this has such a small series cast these days, although that does leave some leeway for recurring crew as and when needed. 

I have no problem with romance on TV shows, it's a part of life. It's often not written particularly well though. IF you're going to do a pilot hook up you either need really hot chemistry, some hook like "oops found out I accidentally banged my boss now what?" or to make it clear it was a one and done thing. This show only half way had the boss part (since both parties knew) and it was pretty meh and very unprofessional to do. 

I'll watch for another ep since I kind of appreciate a fairly breezy, unrealistic drama right now but I can't say it grabbed me in the way I was hoping it would.

[Elizzikra]

I thought it was awful. I like Joshua Jackson and I LOVE Phillipa Soo but they are both wasted here. There was really nothing of Ryan Murphy in the first episode. When we saw that the Doc had COVID, I was sure we would discover that he was dead and the ship was some form of heaven/purgatory/etc. But there should be something in the first episode that establishes that premise a little more concretely.

So far this is the Love Boat if Doc was the star. Fine, I suppose, but thus far, this just seemed poorly written and poorly acted. I might follow along with the forums to see what it turns into but I am really not even interested in watching episode 2.