Oh, Doc’s love triangle is about to get messier. You can feel it in the air.
We had a delightful hour as Doc Season 1 Episode 8 makes some headway with developments in Amy’s life.
Our girl passed her boards and is officially a doctor (again)! She and Richard smoothed things over, and her secret relationship with Jake is out in the open.
When an hour delivers many positive outcomes, there’s a sense of foreboding that something else is approaching.
That’s the feeling I had in the pit of my stomach as the hour concluded, and we only had two installments remaining in the first season.
I’ll make my plea again for FOX to renew the show. It’s become comfort food for the soul with the perfect amount of drama.
I want to spend more time with these characters because, as enjoyable as the series is, we still know little about most of them.
Doc does a lot with this short season. I’d even argue they burn through storylines too quickly for the sake of wrapping them up in a tight season.
But ideally, in the renewal I’m manifesting, we’d get a slightly bigger season order so the series can flesh out its stories and characters.
During this hour, we learn a lot about Amy and Richard in the past and present, and it’s fascinating.
We heard about the two’s friendship, but “Man Plans” goes the extra step of showing bits of that bond, too.
Thus far, Doc has framed Richard as the antagonist. He made a fatal error, covered it up, and tried to undermine Amy at every turn to keep his actions a secret.
But just as Doc Season 1 Episode 7 adds context to Miller so he doesn’t serve as a one-dimensional “villain,” this hour builds on that to reveal his and Amy’s journey as friends.
It was surprising to see he was with her on that day when Michael told her about her son’s death.
One minute, these two were chatting it up, suggesting they were long-time friends who welcomed the idea of their pre-teen children potentially falling in love down the road, and the next, Amy heard the worst news in her life.
Miller genuinely appeared concerned about Amy and wanted to be a friend. However, as we’ve learned, she built walls around her heart and started shutting him and everyone else out.
In the moment, it felt like he should have given her grace and not approached her about her brush-off earlier.
However, the colder and more distant Amy became, the more it impacted their friendship, and one could see how hurt Richard was and how their bond progressively worsened.
Pre-amnesiac Amy was not easy to be around, and it’s refreshing that the series isn’t afraid to explore that during the flashbacks.
Doc doesn’t make apologies for Amy with the scathing flashbacks. And it’s unflinching boldness in the face of allowing a complex woman to be messy, complex, and even unlikable, which is admirable and a rarity.
It gives us the space to empathize with many of the other characters every bit as much as Amy, even some of those we may not care for on the surface.
Amy was not kind to Richard in the aftermath, and the chasm between them expanded when she poured her energy into becoming chief to distract herself from the pain of losing her child.
She also threw her weight around in the position, staying on Miller hard. It’s apparent to us now that his son’s diagnosis profoundly affected him on the job.
It’s an interesting juxtaposition to show his encouragement to Amy to take time when she faced a family crisis and his failure to do the same. The contrast in how one thrived, and the other declined due to that choice further highlights their skillset and fuels the tension more.
Amy’s greatness never takes a hit, whereas Richard never quite measures up. It’s not even an indictment of him as a doctor; it’s just the truth.
Richard is human enough and has the ego to take that to heart and struggle.
Working together on Francine’s case was the perfect way to move them toward a friendship again, which will make the Dixon conflict more complicated than ever.
Francine’s case was heartbreaking. It’ll be one of the more memorable medical cases of the season, and the emotional stakes were high as well.
Her pre-frontal cortex dementia is a devastating diagnosis, leaving her precious little time alive and of sound mind and the newfound awareness that her father wasn’t a horrible man after all, but he suffered the same.
The case aligned well with Amy and Richard, with Amy’s TBI, her behavior disrupting her relationship with Richard, and the theme of making amends, second chances, and forgiveness.
But no matter what she and Richard have placed behind him, his glowing recommendation, and his acceptance of her relationship, the Dixon situation lingers, and the consequences are inescapable.
There’s no diverting this train now that Julie is in the know. By now, if Richard should want to face the music.
Jake’s case also aligned well with his personal life. The rom-com element was fun, and Liz’s assistance was endearing and amusing.
I can’t fault her for falling for the Hallmark display during the case. It was ripe for rom-com comparisons.
It was plain as day that Wes’ best friend was in love with him while he was fawning over Olivia. Everyone could’ve predicted that she was the person who wrote the poem about him a decade ago, not the aloof popular girl.
Jake’s disinterest and, at times, annoyance with the whole thing were a bit bizarre, but it was probably because it hit too close to home.
Ironically, Jake still didn’t realize that his patient’s love triangle reflected his life twice over. He’s in two different love triangles without even knowing it.
On the one hand, the situation reminded him of himself, Amy, and Michael and what they were doing, especially after Michael called him to the office.
However, all the advice he gives to Wes’ friend is trippy when he doesn’t realize how similar he is to Wes.
He mentioned how friendship is often the foundation of a great love story, which proved reassuring to a woman who acknowledged how complicated it is to decipher romance and move to that next step out of a friendship.
However, his heart eyes for Amy have always blinded him from seeing Sonya has feelings for him. The previous hour put Sonya’s feelings for Jake into perspective once we learned what she endured.
Jake is a genuinely great guy. He can’t get any better. From all we know about him, he’s practically perfect.
He probably makes Sonya feel safe.
He does the same for Amy as she navigates her life again despite not remembering it. It’s what she said when she confronted Michael and opened up to Richard.
Jake is this port in the storm for Amy, and, of course, it’s beautiful, especially for those who love the pairing.
On the flip side, it’s why I have reservations about the state of their relationship right now. Amy doesn’t actually remember her five-month-long relationship with Jake, only that they had one then and that he’s comforting her now.
They’re not the same, and it’s an unusual circumstance that has Jake all-in on his romance as if he’s picking back up where they left off, and Amy clinging to something that feels comfortable because that’s how it was before.
Amy is trying to cling to anything solid from her life before, and the most consistent thing she has is her friendship with Gina (which she has at least had for many years) and Jake.
Jake probably knows it deep down, which is one of many reasons he struggled so much during this installment. I appreciated his attempt to do the noble thing by taking a break and waiting until Amy secured status again, etc.
It was a swoon-worthy, noble, romantic gesture, and again, Jake is just … the perfect guy. In a sea of flawed characters, he’s as ideal as it gets. It contrasted well with Michael’s actions and further cemented the stark difference in Amy’s dynamics with both.
But as common as the sentiment is, I can’t bring myself to judge Michael harshly either. Two things can be true at once. He was visibly jealous and hurt, especially when he saw Amy and Jake together. He realized how serious Amy’s feelings were for Jake and that she was willing to risk it all for him.
However, his position regarding his concerns about Amy’s career was valid. He probably should’ve called both Jake and Amy to his office instead of only speaking to Jake.
Everything he expressed, even when you removed the bias in his feelings, was on point.
We’ve learned that Michael has spent the past eight years frequently standing between Amy and the board. Professionally, he’s frequently put his neck on the line for her, and she didn’t make things easy for him.
If he’s been slaying dragons in the board room to the point that it impacts his own standing, Amy and Jake’s continuing in secret is less than ideal.
If Richard and Amy had not worked on that case together and settled things between them, Richard would have used that against Amy in his attempts to thwart her.
The board would also jump at the chance to ruin her when she was a problem for them before and after her amnesia. She hadn’t passed her board recertification yet, either.
From Michael’s perspective, it wasn’t the right time to do any of that, even if he had separated his feelings about Amy and Jake dating. His frustrations were valid, and Jake knew he couldn’t argue against it either.
Of course, now that things worked in their favor, Michael has to deal with the unspoken things; the relationship isn’t an issue professionally, but he’s hurting from it personally.
He’s not in the position, given he’s married and has a child on the way, but Michael never stopped loving Amy, even when they fell apart. Seeing her return to the woman he always knew before has made it more complicated for him.
Now, his Amy is in love with someone else. Their final scene together screams that there is unfinished business there.
Oh, the drama, my friends!
Over to you, Doc Fanatics.
Are you happy Amy and Jake are out in the open now?
Do you think Amy and Jake jumped back into things too fast?
Is there still something there with Amy and Michael?
Which case did you enjoy the most? Are you happy Amy passed her board? Sound off below.
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