Fall TV is finally here, and it feels like a comfort and a reacquaintance with a dear friend.
If Doc Season 2 Episode 1 didn’t do anything else, it reminded me of how special this wonderfully heartfelt, complex, messy, and real series is.
Amy Larsen is one of the most compelling characters on television, and it’s a genuine pleasure to continue this journey with her.
Somehow, the premiere managed to be understated in some aspects, while explosive in others, and that’s the exact type of thing that Doc does incredibly well.
The premiere places us a day or two later, after the events of Doc Season 1 Episode 10 left viewers spiraling.
In the context of the show and that timeframe, it’s not even the relationship drama that makes that intense — it’s the medical drama!
On one shift, Westside had to deal with the chaotic, drama-filled train crash and all that ensued. Before they could reasonably do a load of laundry, they were back at the hospital dealing with a full-blown hostage situation.
Bless all of them for that alone!
However, the case with Alex and Rosie was a strong way to reintroduce us to these characters, while also highlighting many of the series’ themes. It also teases how the sophomore season will likely build on what it started and dig deeper into the other characters.
Alex returning as this person who has strong feelings about Amy, but she didn’t remember, was a great way to restructure her attention and what will take precedent.
Amy has had a rough adjustment period to living with a TBI and such severe memory loss. Her attempts to make sense of who she is now versus the past she remembers and that which she doesn’t, have been harder on her than we could ever truly know.
Alex was another example of how her past can come back to haunt her, and how terrifying it is when she can’t even understand why it’s coming in the first place.
I appreciated how this series uses flashbacks as a storytelling vehicle to not only add context but also show how Amy is struggling in the present.
Regardless of the timeline, Amy is a confident, self-assured badass who knows a great deal. However, her memory loss often causes her to doubt herself.
She can’t trust her own brain and memories, and when that happens, she loses every semblance of control she usually has, which can severely impact how she approaches her job.
The troubling aspect of Amy’s warning to Alex and Rosie against the transplant six years ago is that Amy must continually reconcile with the extent to which her “coldness” affected her medical practice.
As the hour progressed, she was less confident in the idea that if she convinced Alex not to go through with the transplant, it was for a good reason.
Amy can’t drown out the noise. It’s difficult for her to navigate her life in the present, when everything about her past clashes with each other, and it’s all people can cling to and recall.
She has internalized how “awful” she was to others to such an extent that Amy now approaches every situation from a position of remorse and apologizes before even entering a room.
The allure of Michael is so strong because he’s so familiar. She feels a great deal for Jake, but she can’t recall any of it, which also makes navigating their relationship challenging.
She’s in a constant identity crisis as she struggles to piece together all the many sides of her into one beautiful, brilliant, complex being.
By the end of the hour, it’s as evident as ever that Amy’s primary goal is to do what she possibly can to regain her memories so she can finally feel whole again.
Even if it’s like piecing together a mosaic, it’s less fractured than what she’s dealing with now.
One of the best moments of the hour was when she expressed that much to Gina as she begged Gina to put her in the tank.
She can walk around in the same hospital and live the same life as best as she can, but she’ll always be out of sorts until she gives this a shot.
For Amy, it’s worth the risk.
I love how this also reaffirms yet again that Amy is a risk-taker, and how that contrasts with her motivations when it came to Alex and Rosie.
Six years ago, she knew the transplant would be futile, but as a recently grieving mother, she wanted Alex to cherish his time with Rosie and still have hope.
Gina noted that Amy took a more cautious approach with cases involving children after Danny’s death, and we’ve certainly seen how that loss can motivate and affect her during the job.
Alex’s comment about needing her to talk to him from the perspective of a doctor, not a mother, was a striking quote. But it’s also because part of what makes Amy so great in the first place is that she’s a doctor with empathy.
She can lead with both.
Nevertheless, Amy’s intentions were good, but the situation with Alex was a prime example of why it’s sometimes more important to tell people the truth.
He likely would’ve handled it better in that moment, and false hope can be dangerous in the long run, as the hostage situation proves.
The hostage takeover was an intense affair, especially regarding TJ’s touch-and-go status. But it fell into the background as everything else took precedence.
I wish we could’ve had some of the surgical procedure on TJ shown to elevate the stakes of his shooting.
But the small moments between Amy and Julie were endearing, and it made me look forward to more of their dynamic unfolding. Julie was one of Amy’s biggest “haters” during Doc Season 1.
Her expressing how much she respects Amy and likes and misses her badasery was a great moment because it’s a small gesture that allows Amy to slowly start moving out of this place of having to apologize for her existence so much.
It was also nice to see the vulnerable side of Julie, her fear — her children.
The prospect of the season getting to delve into so many of the characters more is one of the things that’s worth looking forward to most, and it’s clear that Doc Season 2 is off to a promising start.
Alex taking people hostage was a solid event that has already set other arcs into place.
It changed the dynamic between Amy and Julie, and it was also essential in allowing Gina to stop giving Amy the silent treatment. Hopefully, the two will have a more in-depth conversation later to unpack their issues.
Surely, TJ will embark on his own arc as he recuperates from this harrowing experience and tries to move forward, especially given the nature of his injury.
The incident is what sparked Amy’s memories again, and now she’ll be determined to push herself further (and maybe to her limit) to pursue any chance she has at piecing her life together.
It’s also interesting to see how this affected her dynamics with Jake and Michael.
Jake is understandably heartbroken and upset, while still sympathetic and compassionate, and that’s the type of thing that one just always enjoys about Jake.
I loved the point that he made to Amy. Because for me, Amy and Jake embarking on a romantic relationship this early in the game, when she can’t even remember the first one, is messy and was bound to be confusing, hurting both of them.
However, what he said about Amy running to Michael when she was upset is astute. Amy was upset about Richard and everything that had happened, and what was natural to her was seeking out Michael.
Jake has every right to be hurt that they’re in a relationship, and he’s still not her first person, when she’s always been his.
Everything has changed for Amy and Michael. It’s inappropriate, and like many fans surmised, their scene together in that office was one of closure.
I was also happy that Michael initiated shutting it down, not because Amy wouldn’t do the same, but because he catches a lot of flak when I’ve always felt he tries more than he’s given credit for.
They have a special connection and always will, and they mirror this a bit later when you can tell he wants to approach her and Gina to talk about the baby. His instinct is still to talk to Amy.
However, they’ve had to establish some boundaries. Will they keep them? I’m not sure, but it’s something.
Jake and Amy still need to have a deeper conversation about where they stand and the state of their relationship, but what’s great is that even at his most frustrated, Jake still never backs down from how much he cares about and values her.
They can be great together, just maybe not at the moment.
Meanwhile, Michael has more pressing problems to attend to. His work is exhaustive and stressful.
My mind was spinning over the fact that this poor man had to navigate a potential health scare for his son and his wife in active labor with a full-on hostage situation and organ drama a few floors away.
He handled it much better than one could expect, but Michael always feels like he’s just a hair’s breadth away from pissing off the board to the point of no return, and it’s always worrying.
However, he’s even closer to losing Nora.
It was probably the first time she had been sympathetic. Yes, she knew the man she married and what his job entailed, but that’s still not enough to have prepared her for not having this special moment together as a family when she delivered their baby.
Her labor and delivery couldn’t be just theirs, and for a woman who is still struggling with the fact that she doesn’t get any firsts or things that are uniquely “theirs” because their marriage has always lived in the shadow of his and Amy’s, it’s likely tough on her.
It’s challenging to envision how that relationship can endure, even with a newborn in the picture. Babies aren’t band-aids; if anything, they exacerbate all the problems.
The season premiere gave us enough to tease where the season could go and what the series can explore. But more importantly, it was just great to be back at Westside with these characters again!
Other Thoughts
- Loved that “Her Heart” applied to both Rosie’s literal heart and Jake talking about Amy.
- Jake connecting with the donor family over faith was such a great moment. I’m manifesting this to be the season of Jake.
- Do you think there will eventually be conflict between Michael and Katie because he keeps things from her to protect her? It seemed like something they deliberately telegraphed for a reason.
- Jake and Sonya’s hug was sweet, but he really does treat her like a little sister. Will Sonya ever catch a clue? Oof, it makes her crush so hard to watch.
- TJ is such a sweetheart for trying to support Amy and defuse things with Alex.
- I still love Gina and Michael’s dynamic. They really do feel like family to me.
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