Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for Doctor Odyssey Episode 7.

Last week, Doctor Odyssey finally gave viewers what they had been begging for by consummating the simmering chemistry between Max (Joshua Jackson), Avery (Philippa Soo), and Tristan (Sean Teale). But, a threeway doesn’t necessarily mean we’re getting a true throuple. Episode 7, aptly titled “Oh, Daddy!”, sees the crew of the Odyssey returning to form with another theme week, and this time it’s Gay Week! After last week’s devastating wedding episode, the crew is long overdue for a bit of merriment aboard the cruise ship.

Among the gaggle of bears, otters, and cubs that the Odyssey welcomes aboard is Captain Massey’s (Don Johnson) own brother, Craig (John Stamos), who is in his very own throuple with his partners Bryan (Cheyenne Jackson) and Riley (Johnny Sibilly). That introduction is a real surprise for Captain Massey, who just thought his brother had finally found “the one,” but Avery seems to be quite intrigued by the prospect of that dynamic. I wonder why!

The episode kicks off with an utterly hilarious and distinctly “made by Ryan Murphy” conversation, as the crew quizzes Captain Massey about all the terms and phrases he might encounter during Gay Week. This also includes hearing Don Johnson call Joshua Jackson a “daddy,” which is a categorically accurate statement. But, more amusingly, Captain Massey utters the phrase “serves the house boots down, mama,” which should warrant at least six more seasons of Doctor Odyssey.

Captain Massey’s Brother Hits Rough Seas in ‘Doctor Odyssey’ Episode 7

Throughout the first few scenes of the episode, Captain Massey drops little details about his brother to both Max and Avery. Namely, there’s a ten-year age difference between them, which meant he basically raised Craig while their mother was absent and their father worked. Craig has also been sober for fifteen years, a fact that Captain Massey is quite proud of, considering he spent a lot of sleepless nights worrying that his brother might not live to see another day. Captain Massey and Avery also talk about how cool he was about his brother’s “throuple” situation, and Avery seems to be getting a feel for how the Captain might react to another throuple brewing under his nose. Despite being on the older side, Captain Massey is surprisingly progressive and open to whatever makes people happy. Something he’s learned from his brother over the years.

Shortly after Craig and his partners arrive aboard the Odyssey, it’s quite apparent that something is wrong with him. He acts erratic and, quite frankly, drunk during dinner the first night, nearly spoiling the Captain’s surprise that he hired Craig’s favorite drag queen Marcia (Caldwell “Bob” Tidicue) to perform. Craig is adamant that he isn’t drinking again, and accuses his brother of taking issue with his relationship, which is very obviously false. Craig bails on the table, in favor of watching Marcia perform Chappell Roan’s catchy hit “HOT TO GO!” but disaster strikes. Marcia is, evidently, too hot to go. Her wig catches on fire, leaving her with a burnt head.

Interestingly enough, Marcia’s head injury ends up paralleling Craig’s in the latter half of the episode. After continuing to behave erratically, Bryan finally intervenes. The pair discuss getting Craig into rehab once the cruise is over, but Craig remains adamant that he hasn’t been drinking. Craig tries to prove to Bryan that he is totally okay and ends up slipping on the ladder to the pool slide, giving himself a pretty nasty head injury. Naturally, Max runs blood tests on Craig as soon as he is admitted to the medical bay. It turns out he has the blood alcohol levels of someone who has been drinking—a lot.

While Captain Massey and Craig’s partners don’t believe him when he continues to insist that he hasn’t been drinking, the captain decides that he should follow the old adage of trusting a patient. After searching their suite, Max discovers that Craig has been taking a PPI for his acid reflux, which happens to have a bizarre one-in-a-million side effect: auto-brewery syndrome. Essentially, every time Craig took his prescription, his body turned the sugars into alcohol, thus causing him to become intoxicated.

Related Your Favorite ‘Doctor Odyssey’ Throuple Is “Hot to Go” In New Episode 7 Sneak Peek “Oh, Daddy” airs on Thursday, November 14, and features guest appearances from John Stamos and Bob the Drag Queen.

‘Doctor Odyssey’s Threeway Goes Away
Image via ABC

After the high of last week’s reveal that Max, Avery, and Tristan were finally taking the plunge into the way of the three, this week puts the kibosh on those plans. At least for now. Doctor Odyssey hasn’t really known what to do with Avery over the last seven episodes, but it seemed like things were finally turning a corner now that she was on a level playing field with both of the men. She seems excited about the prospect of the throuple, especially after watching Craig and his partners, and it honestly makes sense for who she is as a character. She has an innate need to be wanted, and having two partners who want her probably sounds like a dream. The problem is, she has two partners who want her and no one else. During one of the first medical mysteries of the episode, Max and Tristan lock horns in front of the patients, which sets Max off. At the end of the day, even though there is a complete lack of HR on the Odyssey, Max is an authority figure, and Tristan and Avery are his subordinates (the not fun variety).

The pair of patients come to them looking jaundiced, throwing up, and with questionable liaisons that lead Tristan to immediately diagnose them with a contagious disease. Max is fairly convinced that it isn’t something as dire as that, but because of Tristan, they have to tell the captain that they could have a case of Marburg virus on their hands. If they did, the cruise ship would become ground zero for the next highly contagious virus and there would be no coming back from that. Luckily, before Captain Massey has to turn the ship around and ruin all the fun, the patient reveals that he and his partner have been on a “sweet potato cleanse” for weeks. In addition to overdosing on sweet potatoes, it also appears that they picked up a nasty case of mono, which is manageable.

After this situation, Max decides that he cannot pursue the throuple because he and Tristan end up at odds with each other and that jeopardizes the lives of patients. In fact, it’s not just that: he doesn’t want to share his partner. He wants to be with one person, who he loves, and have a family one day. Avery is, reasonably, crestfallen by this revelation, but still determined to make it work. She convinces Tristan to talk with Max about pursuing the throuple in hopes that they might be able to talk to each other man-to-man. It almost seems like this could be the launching point for Max and Tristan to be more active participants in the dynamic, but that just isn’t in the cards for the erstwhile throuple.

At the end of the episode, Tristan completely chickens out on discussing the situation with Max, and reveals to Avery that he’s in love with her, and only wants her. He tries—quite badly—to compare their relationship to his habit of overindulging on his favorite foods as a child, but it doesn’t really make a lot of sense. The point remains, like Max, he doesn’t want to share Avery. What a shame that Avery isn’t going to get what she wants, after all. Somehow, men are always the weakest links when it comes to throuples. We can only hope that Tristan’s real issue is that he’s not yet ready to admit that he wants Max, too. But he’s not there yet.

‘Doctor Odyssey’ Is Coming Out With Even Bigger Twists
Image via ABC

One of the minor subplots of Episode 7 is the adorable couple who mistakenly booked their babymoon on the Odyssey, thinking that all of the activities for Gay Week’s “mothers” and “daddies” were geared towards expecting parents. While they’re barely in the episode, they do become friends with their tablemates (the over-indulgent sweet potato twinks) and even become new parents at the end of the episode. During Marcia’s grand return performance of Diana Ross’ “I’m Coming Out,” their baby decided to come out too. The episode wraps things up with the trio delivering a healthy baby, with Max very clearly feeling some kind of way about parenthood. It’s not as though he hasn’t talked about his dreams of children and white picket fences in the last three episodes or anything.

Max really should be careful about what he wishes for because next week’s mid-season finale is about to make someone a daddy. During the quick tease for Episode 8, Avery reveals that she’s pregnant, and given what went down last week, Max is either earning his daddy status or Tristan is getting an upgrade from being a twunk. Either way, it’s going to be a long time until March if next week ends on a cliffhanger.

The mid-season finale of Doctor Odyssey airs next Thursdays at 9 PM ET on ABC. Catch new episodes next-day on Hulu.

Maybe the throuple was the friends we made along the way.ProsEpisode 7 was one of the better episodes for Avery, as it seemed like she really had something that was driving her take what she wanted, regardless of the outcome.After last week’s depressing episode, Episode 7’s storyline was surprisingly upbeat and fun.John Stamos was a great guest star, and since he’s playing the Captain’s brother there’s ample room to bring him back. ConsWhile tonight’s verdict on the throuple is unlikely to be the final verdict, it does feel like the series doesn’t know what to do with its characters.Max and Tristan both wanting the same thing feels a little too easy of an out.

Release Date September 26, 2024 Main Genre Drama Seasons 1 Expand

Stream on Hulu