Just when Doc fans thought the romantic twists on the show couldn’t get wilder, the season 2 finale threw a new wrinkle into things! What does this mean for season 3?
Caution: This article contains SPOILERS for the Doc season 2 finale
The Doc season 2 finale continued to push the strange love triangle between Amy (Molly Parker), her ex-husband Michael (Omar Metwally), and fellow doctor Jake (Jon Ecker). To keep it straight, Amy and Michael divorced after Amy was broken by the death of their son, with Amy then having an affair with Jake. However, due to a car crash, Amy lost all her memory of the past decade, so she still thought of Michael as her love even as she and Jake renewed their on/off affair.
The two-hour season 2 finale had the staff of Westside Medical put to the test when a deadly virus broke out. Among the patients was the sister of Dr. Ben Grant (Blair Underwood), who stepped in when the virus infected many, including Amy herself. Tragically, Amy's mentor Joan (Felicity Huffman) succumbed to death after overexerting herself helping.
The doctors were able to save most of the patients with Amy recovering. In the aftermath, she told Jake she knew he had feelings for his ex-girlfriend Rachel while also telling Michael they couldn’t live in the past. So it seems like Amy may be single for a bit.
But the final scene introduced an unexpected twist. Earlier, Ben had told Amy they had met at a medical conference in 2022, which, of course, she didn’t remember. Yet the audience saw that this was actually more with Ben watching a video Amy had sent him, revealing the pair had been in a relationship, which Amy called the best she’d felt since her divorce.
Speaking to TV Line, co-showrunner Hank Steinberg revealed that the writers had been planning a turn like this since the series started.
“We always thought it would be interesting if she had some sort of torrid thing with a married man, that was an emotional reaction to leaving Michael, that she never told Gina. We were always holding that in our back pocket, and when we thought about introducing a new character, that idea conjoined with creating the backstory for Blair's character. We loved the idea of bringing in somebody who remembers [he and Amy] had a thing, but she doesn't remember, and how that would play out."
So the love triangle has now become a square, and with Underwood becoming a series regular for season 3, what does this mean for the show?
The finale had Michael offering Ben a spot at Westside, which Ben seemingly turned down, but it looks like he’ll change his mind with Underwood joining the show. Which means there are more interactions between Ben and Amy and the question is whether that will once more stir memories in Amy’s mind of their true past.
The key issue is that Ben remembers it all while Amy doesn’t. This isn’t like with Jake, who felt it was better that Amy didn’t fully remember them together but was drawn to her. Ben knows Amy far better than she suspects, and the question is whether he’ll use that to assert some control over Amy or maybe manipulate her.
Ben seems like a great guy, going out of his way to help patients and respecting the other doctors. However, the revelation of him and Amy puts him in a new light as someone keeping a huge secret from his former lover. Steinberg admitted those questions will play into season 3.
"I want the audience to be asking those questions about what they should make of him. The fact that, so far, he knows [his and Amy's past] but hasn't told her — it's going to be fun to bring him in. He's going to have a very different energy than everyone else on the show."
Amy will still be dealing with the fallout of her relationship overhaul, Joan’s death, and those nagging missing memories. Yet the idea that she’s now working with a lover she has no memory of being with adds yet more drama to a show already packed with it. That makes the wait for Doc season 3 more exciting as the medical drama heats up.
Doc is streaming on Hulu.
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