Doctor Odyssey can take this offbeat route if it is renewed for season 2

The medical drama series Doctor Odyssey aired its first season of 18 episodes between September 26, 2024, and May 15, 2025, on ABC. Created by Ryan Murphy, Jon Robin Baitz, and Joe Baken, the show's premise deals with the medical staff working on a cruise ship called the Odyssey. The series is produced by Byron Crawford, Franzis Müller, Donna Nitti, and Tracy Taylor.

The main cast includes Joshua Jackson, Don Johnson, Phillipa Soo, and Sean Teale. Furthermore, Jacqueline Toboni, Marcus Emanuel Mitchell, Rick Cosnett, and Laura Harrier round out the show's supporting cast.

Doctor Odyssey's plotlines have given rise to the purgatory theory, which states that Max is in a coma since contracting COVID-19 in 2020 and the entire series is seemingly nothing more than his hallucination.

The show's official synopsis, as per Rotten Tomatoes, reads:

"Max is the new on-board doctor for a luxury cruise ship where the small but mighty medical team navigate unique medical crises and each other, miles from shore."

Disclaimer: This article contains the author's opinion and fan theory.

The next potential installment of Doctor Odyssey can focus on the purgatory theory

A still from Doctor Odyssey (Image via Instagram/@doctorodyssey)

Ever since the start of Doctor Odyssey, fans have floated the purgatory theory as a possible plot twist in the medical drama series. As per the theory, Dr. Max Bankman has been in a COVID 19-induced coma since 2020, as he's patient zero in the United States. Moreover, he has hallucinated the events of the series while recovering from the virus.

The series has not directly linked its storylines to the purgatory theory. It has, however, hinted that things may not be as they seem. The show's dreamlike quality, its unrealistic medical emergencies, and outrageous romantic situations seem more rooted in imagination than reality. Also, the ship's captain Robert Massey has called Odyssey 'heaven' in multiple scenes, lending credence to the theory.

Comment byu/nomnomsquirrel from discussion inDoctorOdysseySeries

Expand Post

Moreover, the show's future remains uncertain as the second season has not been renewed, as of this writing. What is certain is that the show will not be returning in the fall of 2025 because its time slot on Thursdays on ABC is given to another Ryan Murphy series, 9-1-1: Nashville. If the series is renewed for another season, then the purgatory theory might be an excellent way to revive the plot.

Joshua Jackson, who plays Dr. Max Bankman, told Vulture that he's all in on the purgatory theory. In the interview released on April 3, 2025, he said:

“I think it would be hysterical because then you could do crazy things. Are we in Dante’s Inferno? Do we go through the seven circles? Are we in purgatory one season, then it’s hell, then we’re in heaven?”

What is the latest update on season 2 of Doctor Odyssey?

On March 20, 2024, ABC gave Doctor Odyssey a rare straight-to-series order. As reported by Deadline, the show debuted with an impressive 13.6 million cross-platform views in its first week. However, viewerships dropped significantly over the course of the 18-episode season.

As the show's future hangs in the balance, the President of Disney TV Studios, Eric Schrier, told Deadline on May 1, 2025, that only Ryan Murphy can make the final call about season 2:

"That decision ultimately lies with Ryan Murphy, whether Ryan wants to continue to do it, and he feels like there’s stories to tell that he feels confident in," he said.

Furthermore, the President of Disney Television Group, Craig Erwich, elaborated on why the series is not a part of the fall 2025 schedule. On May 13, 2025, he told the same media outlet:

"Doctor Odyssey isn’t currently on our schedule. Ryan’s really busy. He’s doing a lot with us. 9-1-1, 9-1-1 Nashville, All’s Fair (for Hulu). So we’re just continuing that creative conversations with him."

Viewers an watch all the episodes of Doctor Odyssey season 1 on Hulu.

About the author

Deepti is an entertainment writer at Sportskeeda. She comes with more than 6 years of experience in the creative writing field and has written extensively for the entertainment and travel domains.

She holds a degree in Chemistry, but her true interest always lay in the creative field. A passion for reading from a young age fueled her desire to make a career change later in life and take up writing as her profession.

Apart from reading, her hobbies include watching movies, listening to music, and going to the beach. In her free time, she can be found looking up reviews of new and old films to add to her watchlist. She also enjoys watching foreign language films that help expand her knowledge base regarding different cultures around the world.

Asked to describe herself, she would promptly mention that she is a die-hard Swiftie and enjoys nothing more than listening to Taylor Swift songs on loop while writing.

Know More

Edited by DEEPALI