Doctor Odyssey Needs To Give Avery A Personality — Stat!
Doctor Odyssey's orca attack is rather poetic: Just as a pod of killer whales known to organize according to a matriarchal structure rocks the boat, the ABC sudser's primary female character begins drowning in her own abstraction.
Picking up after last week's power outage, Thursday's episode sees the medical staff calling for an evacuation of its shark-attack victims in order to continue their care. As the most experienced nurse, Avery prepares to travel alongside her patients in the middle of the night to seek refuge — and electricity. But as she packs her bags, Max steps in and urges her not to go — she's pregnant, after all! "It could get rough out there," he warns.
To which Avery replies: "It's starting to sound a little bit like my body, your choice."
Despite Doctor Odyssey's best effort, Avery's entire personality revolves around her male counterparts' perception of her, and her present pregnant condition. Her motivations, desires and beliefs haven't become concrete or specific beyond the "my body, my choice" slogan. What her choice actually is remains elusive. Avery has demanded time and space to think over her future, but her actual feelings or opinions about her pregnancy are a mystery. Viewers never get to see Avery explicitly weighing her options — abortion is only ever implied and birth is some far-off concept.
While the series does seem curious about engaging in a deeper conversation about gender and sex, much like our killer whales, it's circling in the dark. Take the conversation between Avery and Brooke (played by Adrienne Palicki) later in the episode. When Avery asks for advice on succeeding in medical school, the doctor delivers cursory words of wisdom about navigating sexism in the workplace. "As a woman, they'll push you into gyno or pediatrics, which is great if that's what you want to do. If not, say so," she says.
If we are to believe Avery is a smart, capable woman already working in healthcare, shouldn't this be an obvious fact? Aren't most women in STEM acutely aware that sexism pervades the workforce? Plus, haven't all of us women had some groundbreaking experience in our youth that has forced us to realize the downfalls of our own femininity? (Mine was when my elementary school arch nemesis told me girls can't play baseball!) Let's give Avery the benefit of the doubt — she clearly understands what she's up against as a pregnant woman pursuing a career in medicine — and offer her some more meaningful exchanges.
Doctor Odyssey has already tried to solved its Avery problem by infusing the back-half of Season 1 with stronger female characters — this week's Adrianne Palicki and 9-1-1's Athena Grant in next week's crossover, to name a couple. But why can't the series invest more in the nurse we already have? It's time ABC realizes that Avery is no goldfish lost at sea — she is a boat-rocking orca!
What's your take: Is Avery drowning on The Odyssey? Head to the comments to make your case!