There was so much delicious drama during this installment!
My feelings about Joan, new memories, and so much more are all over the place after Doc Season 2 Episode 3, and the season presents some new challenges for many of the characters, but especially Amy.
When it comes to the Amy and Joan dynamic, however, it’s probably essential.
I love this series and its ability to keep me glued to the screen. While it’s a solid medical drama in its own right, it’s the vitality of the characters that makes this one of the most enthralling series airing.
Not every show appreciates the art of creating wonderfully complex, enriching, and entertaining characters anymore, but Doc does that.
Doc isn’t afraid to let its characters be human. They’re flawed, messy, confusing, endearing, infuriating, lovable, loathable, and so much more. But it never feels gimmicky or contrived.
No character is perfect because, as humans, we’re an imperfect species. And that’s where this show succeeds in capturing the nuances of that, bringing to life what makes us human and that experience onscreen in a way that endears and endures.
I will never tire of the fact that Doc is fearless in allowing Amy to be an incredibly challenging character who is still worth rooting for despite that. In that sense, it allows us to love her for all that she is and isn’t.
Because goodness was Amy completely on one during this installment, particularly with that case!
My heart ached for Claire. She was battling Hep B, and because it’s not something that had her life immediately at risk like other things, it allowed doctors to take this “wait and see” mentality with her.
So, it resulted in her seeking treatment in a whole other country, which is something that has become quite common. Medical tourism seems controversial on its surface, but when you consider how abysmal American healthcare is, if you can find a way to get better treatment elsewhere, why wouldn’t you jump at that opportunity?
An ambulance ride to the hospital can bankrupt a working-class person. In contrast, for the same amount, they can travel across the globe and receive a comprehensive workup, as well as any necessary medication, and potentially even have money left over for snacks.
But I digress. The series introduced this notion, but it wasn’t something that came without a bunch of judgment, which was nice. Where it got dicey, however, was that Claire’s health vastly improved with this experimental trial, but her inability to make it for her treatments would’ve gotten her kicked out.
Claire’s frustration was valid. But then she did something outrageous, having a courier bring her the stem cell treatment directly to the hospital, and hoping her friend could help inject her.
The whole thing put Amy in a position that she shouldn’t have been in, but the thing about Amy is that she probably would’ve gotten into this mess anyway.
It’s what she does now — a total maverick as a doctor, especially in this amnesiac stage of her life and career. It’s not a boundary she isn’t willing to push for the sake of a patient and what she feels is right.
Yet, I audibly groaned when she went ahead and injected her with these stem cells, and then I shrieked when Claire started coding later and Amy told Jake what she had done.
Amy Larsen is exhausting. She’s beautiful, brilliant, and the best doctor in the joint, but that can mean very little when she goes rogue.
Because her greater good is so narrowly focused that she doesn’t consider the consequences, she jeopardizes everything in the pursuit of saving one patient.
On a larger scale, every time she puts the entire hospital in jeopardy with sme of her actions, that’s thousands of patients and staff she’s endangering in the long term.
Poor Jakey looked like he was going to have a coronary. Then Amy did something so diabolical that I had to giggle — she played into their relationship amid his wanting to ream her out.
Amy Larsen is so self-absorbent and manipulative, and I say that as just a basic oversation of this character, not even a criticism, because these are the type of delicious flaws that make her such a damn great character.
Doc is never afraid of letting Amy be crappy, and it’s so genuinely refreshing as we’re still trying to come from underneath this urge to make female characters in particular either too perfect or downright unlikable.
Amy was thrilled to recall that Jake had told her he loved her the day of the accident. It reaffirmed that the TMS was working as it should, but it also gave her the type of memories she wants and she’s fighting for.
Because so much of her desire for these memories is to be able to remember Jake and reassure him in the way he needs, so that they can be together without real issues or conflict.
But she also takes full advantage of the fact that he loves her so much that he’s always protective of her. It’s instinctive for him to cover for her or not push back too much.
She totally takes for granted his feelings for her. As hot as their makeout session was, I’m glad he called her out on that and stopped for now.
Jake needs and deserves his space and boundaries, but it was still so cute how expressive he was when he realized that her memories were really returning. That hopeful expression? He really is such a goner for Amy!
Which makes this whole thing with Sonya so awkward. I wanted to yeet myself from the room when she excitedly offered him game tickets, and he declined and looked at Amy.
Sonya still irks my entire soul, and she was once again being so damn catty with her snide comments to Amy. But I still felt awful that Amy spilled the beans about Sonya’s crush.
Nevertheless, where Jake did get to shine further was in choosing the new intern. I’m excited to see how she factors into storylines, and she was such a great pick compared to the others with their obnoxious egos.
Joan has set things up so that she appears efficient at her job, providing the entire staff with what they need or want, and presents them with opportunities to thrive.
It actually makes little sense that Jake didn’t get to be a Chief resident in action because both Amy and Miller like to control things and have their hands in everything.
That Jake can evolve as a doctor in a new way under Joan’s tutelage (she is, after all, Amy’s mentor) opens the door for some rich stories and possible conflict.
Her performance review announcement would instill fear in people, yet also inspire them, and someone as competitive as Sonya would thrive under that.
And it may place people on a fair playing field, which is something that many of them don’t feel that they have, because many still feel Amy gets special treatment.
The same installment pokes at how Amy does get to capitalize on or take advantage of her connections. Joan is one hell of an obstacle to prevent Amy from doing that, but while I still don’t trust Joan and she has her own motives, I love that her actions and words here ARE rooted in something substantial and necessary!
Again, Doc is coming through with great characters that have layers!
I love Amy, but I also think she needs a reality check. We witnessed her play this game with Gina, Michael, Jake, and Joan during this installment, and it’ll be interesting to see how she tackles the job when Joan won’t let her do that.
Because on paper, everything that Joan is saying to Amy is spot on and valid. The problem is that flashbacks reveal she has her own motives. Joan has MDS, and there’s a chance she could develop leukemia.
She’d be unable to perform surgeries, and we know from her negotiations with Michael how much she loves performing surgeries. It’s her life.
It’s fascinating that in the flashbacks, she broke down and told Amy this, and pre-amnesiac Amy’s immediate response after saying they’d get through it was to discuss how Joan would have to stop doing the thing they love.
This ticking time bomb regarding Joan’s health is a fascinating addition to the fray because it significantly shapes who she is, both individually and in her dynamic with Amy.
It’s no wonder Joan seems put off by the idea of Amy’s memories returning. She doesn’t want Amy to recall that and expose her because Joan loves the job too much to have to give up an aspect of it.
Amy and Joan’s dynamic is fascinating because it’s clear that Joan is almost like a mother to Amy. As discussed in the comments, Joan appears to have a connection to Amy that helps stoke her ambition and career.
With Joan, Amy most likely never had to feel apologetic about prioritizing her job over romance, family, or anything else.
It’s interesting to hear that Amy told Joan about Jake because we know she didn’t share that relationship with Gina. Clearly, there are many unspoken issues between Gina and Amy that we have barely scratched the surface of, and it does make you wonder what may have caused the rift.
Gina also doesn’t hide how she feels about Joan while acknowledging that Joan is good to Amy, at least. Even if maybe not to others? She also suggested that Joan has always been more indulgent and more interested in Amy’s career than in her family life.
Speaking of family life, what’s interesting is that Michael is another person who cares about Amy but has mixed feelings about her memories returning.
Presumably, his insecurity in hearing this news via Katie is that there’s a fear that Amy could go back to blaming and hating him. Of course, there’s always the chance that something else is brewing there — there’s still a lot about Michael and Amy’s marriage that we don’t know.
Did he step out at some point?
And things with Nora are still off-putting. This poor woman has not done anything to me at all, but she hasn’t done anything for me as a character either. I don’t feel bad for her much, and she bugs me to no end.
It often feels like she’s the one to bring Amy into things to get mad.
While it does suck that Michael clearly still harbors feelings for Amy, and he always will, she’s been his family for 20 years, and she’s the mother of his children, and a colleague, so that’ll never go away — it also doesn’t feel like a time where that wasn’t obvious.
I struggle to make sense of how deeply Nora got into this relationship with this level of grief, messiness, and unresolved issues. How did Nora and Michael get here? WHY did they ever get here?
The hour also had TJ being the absolute best, and I love that for him. He was having such a tough time, and my heart went out to him.
But in his time of darkness and struggles, he was able to help Kevin, and that entire arc warmed my heart.
I especially loved how he made Kevin respect himself as someone who joined the military even though he was only in it for six weeks.
It’s clear that in many ways, Kevin felt like a fraud, and that didn’t help with him processing being an amputee.
TJ has this beautiful, sympathetic streak that makes him a phenomenal doctor and person, and I love seeing him with patients. Sonya is right about him not having a hero complex but just being a hero.
But I appreciated him trying to become more self-aware, regardless. TJ just always makes me smile!
This episode had some of everything, and I’m so eager to hear your thoughts on it. So, if you enjoyed this review? Help us out.
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If you like our Doc coverage, check out Brilliant Minds and Chicago Med content, too. If you enjoy commentary from yours truly, I’m also covering High Potential this season, Chicago PD, and NCIS: Sydney, and there are plenty of editorials and opinion pieces about any number of topics that may pique your interest!
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