We can already tell that Doc is firing on all cylinders in its second season.
And we were super excited to chat with Doc‘s showrunner, Hank Steinberg, about what we can anticipate from Amy and the crew this season.
So let’s not waste any time! Dive right into our exclusive interview below!
Flashbacks as a storytelling vehicle can be so tricky. How do you strike the right balance in utilizing them to enhance Amy’s story rather than them becoming a crutch?
Yeah, I think the thing that’s great about the DNA of the show is that she’s missing her memories. So that when we use flashbacks, we’re filling in pieces for the audience that inform what’s happening in the present; they give context. And what’s fun is that in those few moments, the audience feels like they’re ahead of her.
And they know things that she doesn’t know, which is fun. And it’s a great opportunity for us to have a counterpoint to also show pre-accident Amy, who behaved in a certain way, and draw that intense contrast to the Amy post-accident, who is a warmer, softer person.
And that juxtaposition is really interesting because the show is so much about identity and how our identity is tied to memory. And how is our identity tied to our past? And can we escape our past?
Can we undo our past? Can we remake ourselves? The flashbacks work because they are so well-defined in the DNA of the show as being organic, necessary, and instrumental.
I love Amy. She’s easily one of the most complex characters onscreen right now. I especially appreciate her story as a woman in her 40s or so, because you don’t really see that much.
However, I’m fascinated by how everyone seems to have their own version of her that they expect her to live up to. And she’s constantly living in the shadow of who she was at one point or another. How will she continue to grapple with that and reconcile with all these different pieces of her this season?
Yeah, that’s a great point. We all have a hard enough time figuring out our identities. All of us, without even missing the pockets of our lives. So, yeah, she’s in this fun house of trying to figure out what her identity is and who she is.
She’s being told that she behaved in a certain way. And so I think she’s saying, “Wow, I never would have thought that I was even capable of that, or manifesting that, or reacting that way to my trauma,” but also being smart enough to understand intellectually that trauma can change people so deeply.
And so she does believe it. And the amazing thing about what Molly has done is that there are not two separate Amy’s.
There’s no “good” Amy and “bad” Amy, the Amy from now and the Amy from then. You see and feel flickers of the harder Amy. You see flickers of them in the present Amy. You see flickers of compassion and warmth in the older version of Amy.
Even underneath the brittleness of the more guarded version of Amy, you still see the flickers of warmth and humanity that exist underneath her. So, it’s a coherent character, and Molly has done a genius job of ensuring that it’s not Jekyll and Hyde, but rather completely integrated.
You ended up answering one of my questions, because what I loved about the finale was that you did see bits of the colder Amy coming out. However, in the premiere, in the flashbacks with Alex and Rosie, you saw the softer side of her, even though she was in a hardened period of her life, clearly still grieving for her son.
And I was going to ask you if that was deliberate or not. I thought that was a fascinating juxtaposition between the two, because people want to put her in different boxes, but they overlay really well.
Yeah, we were very, very carefully crafting that to make sure that it all still felt — so she’s just as arrogant and harsh with the other doctor in that sequence. And so you’re like, I recognize that’s the guarded version. But then with the father, she’s very compassionate and patient.
We were mindful of having Gina say in the present to Jake that when it was a parent with a child, she had a very different bedside manner.
So even though maybe she was arrogant with her fellow doctors and always thought she was the smartest person in the room, and she could even be brutal with her bedside manner with patients, there was a soft spot in her heart for parents with sick children that would bring out that other compassionate side.
And that is a complexity to her character, to all of us, that even in the hardest versions of her, there were soft underbellies.
And Jake says the same thing to her. He says, “I know everybody told you how awful you were, but I thought you were worth it once I got underneath.” Because you are wondering what Jake fell in love with beyond everyone else?
But she showed Jake something that was still there, but harder to reveal, harder to access. And for some reason with him, she was able to let go. And maybe if she hadn’t gotten to the car accident and gotten more deeply involved with Jake, maybe she would have healed, and she would have become warmer, more generally, we’ll never know.
That’s an interesting thing to think about and potentially explore in seasons five and six. But yeah, it’s the fun of the show. It really makes the show so fun and dynamic. It’s a great part of the concept.
Speaking of Jake, I love that we got to see more layers to him in the premiere. And it felt like the reality of Amy’s medical condition was very sobering for him, and just her being drawn to the past. There’s just a lot going on with her right now that he can’t fully process.
So, can you tease a bit on what’s coming up between those two with their relationship?
The thing about Jake is that there was an infidelity by his wife. And so, that’s what broke up his marriage. It’s a very hot point for him to feel betrayed. He’s particularly not someone who’s going to have an easy time letting Amy off the hook for that.
And he’s also in such a tenuous position with her. ‘And who am I to you now? Am I just your rebound? Am I just your security blanket?’ And even if she protests that, does he believe it?
There’s an emotional sophistication to him that is really smart and great for the character, as well as the strength that he carries.
Amy’s protesting, ‘ No, no, I want to be with you. ‘And he’s going, ‘I know you say that, but I’m not sure that you really know. And I can’t sign up for that until I know if I’m sure that I’m safe.’ He’s not saying, I don’t want to be with you. He’s saying, ‘I want to be with you, but I don’t think you’re here.
‘I don’t think the Amy I fell in love with is actually here. And I don’t think that you’re ready. And I think you want to be ready, but that doesn’t mean you are.’ And so, that’s really fun, and adult and complicated and complex, but it also means that he’s vulnerable too.
If she can show him over a number of episodes or an amount of time that she’s there and available, he’s not closing the door, which makes it an interesting place for the audience to be in and for the character to be in.
It is such an interesting development and probably one of the more mature love triangles I’ve seen on screen, so I love it. Of course, on the flip side, there’s Michael; they agreed to boundaries, but they may still struggle with that. Could you discuss that a bit and what we can expect?
Of course, his marriage to Nora, as well. Babies aren’t Band-Aids. So, I’m sure there will be some conflict there as well.
Yes, that’s the great complexity of that side of that triangle, that they had a good marriage. It wasn’t a perfect marriage, like any marriage, but they had a very good and solid one.
The death of their son just destroyed it. He moved forward. Now Amy’s back, and she initially has this knee-jerk reaction, ‘I want you,’ but he’s got this whole other life. And he’s also a good man who is about to have a family with another woman.
And even if there’s a part of him that, on the most visceral sense, is drawn to Amy, he knows it could really destroy his life and, for better or worse, his vision of himself, of who he is.
“Am I the kind of man who leaves my wife ten minutes after the baby’s born?” I don’t think he can even contemplate a version of himself walking around in the world that’s doing that, even if he wants to go to Amy.
The same way Humphrey Bogart’s going to put Ingrid Bergman on the plane to go with the other man, Michael’s not going to abandon his wife in that moment, even if it’s about his own sense of himself and who he is.
And even if being ethical and moral is, we’ll have to explore whether it is too much a part of his personality, you know? Should he be more primal? That’s an interesting question, but Amy also knows that about him.
That’s one thing, even though she doesn’t remember the eight years, she’s known him for 20 years before the memory loss, and she knows who he is. And she’s not going to be the person who rips him away from his new child. Especially when she knows what that child will be for him, it’s a son.
Right, of course.
So these are all the things, it’s like trying to do the right thing versus what feels right. And that’s what being an adult is, right? Sometimes you do the thing that feels good in the moment.
But then, after a while, if you don’t do the thing your heart wants, will you end up unhappy and resentful anyway? It’s very tricky. And Amy’s obviously really torn because she also knows she feels a genuine pull toward Jake.
Yeah. She can feel something new and vital. And there’s also that, like the new and the vital versus the comfortable, you know.
Familiar, of course, yeah.
Comfortable, familiar intimacy of someone who knows you through and through, and those two things are such different kinds of love, and they’re both really powerful.
I’m also curious about Michael professionally, because he has put his neck out a lot recently. And he’s probably, I can anticipate maybe some more conflict with the board. Will we dig into that more this season?
Well, that was the fun thing about the premiere episode: not just putting Amy in this state of an extremist, but also Michael. Yes, you paid attention. He made some decisions there that might come back to be problematic for him.
As did Jake. I mean, they lied to everybody about that heart. And so, TJ’s shot, Sonya’s going to have big feelings about why all this happened. It’s kind of Amy’s fault, in a way, indirectly. So that’s the fun thing about the launch of the premiere.
It had so many potential storylines. And one thing I am excited about — I know you’re probably exhausted — is that we’re having a super-sized season, which gives you the chance to explore many of the other characters in more depth. Is that the approach you’re taking?
Well, yes, it allows us to develop all the Amy storylines and let them breathe properly, I think, and evolve in a sophisticated, complicated way, rather than feeling rushed.
And it obviously gives us a lot of real estate to get into the other characters and really round out the whole world around Amy in a great way. We have an amazing cast of characters surrounding her, and we want to tell their stories.
And their stories will complement her journey really well. And so it’s a great opportunity. It’s going to be tiring, but we’re halfway through now, and I’m like, ‘wow, okay, we’re going to do this!’ I mean, two months ago, I was like, ‘I’m going to die.’ But now we’re like, ‘okay, we’re going to do this.’
You can see the finish line.
It’s right there. Yeah.
Yeah, that’s the one part I was worried about, too. When I heard the news, I thought, ‘Yes, renewal,’ and then I realized, ‘Oh, wait, that’s a lot.’
But with so many characters, I figured you guys could really dig in more, and even in the premiere, I loved Amy and Julie. Of course, TJ getting shot, there’s definitely going to be an adjustment period and things to get through with that. I’m sure.
Big time. Yeah, no, that’s the fun of it. And we have a great, great cast.
And you want to just build that world out. You know, we want to go seven seasons, eight seasons, nine seasons. So, you know, Molly’s gonna get tired.
Everyone on our site loves Doc. Even all the fans, like the people who comment, always discuss and dissect the show, which is always so much fun. It’s probably one of my favorite shows in quite a long time.
Thank you so much. That’s really, really gratifying.
And just as a final question, what can you tease? Like, what can people look forward to this season? Do you have any lasting words for all the devoted fans on what to expect?
I think people are really going to get into the fact that she’s starting to regain some memories in small bits, which are very mysterious and tantalizing, and will open up a whole new level of storytelling for us.
Right, the tank. I was like, the tank? And I’m already stressed out about that. Gina is already hesitant, and I usually follow her.
Exactly. You know to follow Gina. She’s like the grounding force.
Like, always follow Gina. She’s like the calm in the storm. I’m like, ‘ Oh no, she’s worried.’ Is that where Felicity Huffman comes in a little bit, too?
Yes. Felicity is a new leader and has a complicated relationship with Amy. Is she an ally? Is she gonna support Amy? But it’s a very cool dynamic.
–This interview was edited for length and clarity–
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