Cold, callous and abrupt. These adjectives describe Dr. Amy Larsen (a sensational Molly Parker), Westside Hospital’s Chief of Internal Medicine. Amy stands at the center of Fox‘s new Minneapolis-based medical drama “Doc.” Based on the Italian series “Doc – In Your Hands” (which is inspired by a true story) and adapted to television by Barbie Kligman, the show is a fascinating analysis of medicine, human nature and how medical providers’ personal and professional lives are often interconnected. A narrative examining loss, grief and fresh starts, “Doc” carves out a distinct lane for itself in a genre that frequently feels repetitive and overdone.
When audiences meet Dr. Amy Larsen, she’s not wearing a white lab coat, but rather is lying unconscious in her overturned vehicle, her head against the crushed glass of her window. She’s rushed into surgery and analyzed by a slew of her colleagues, including her best friend, psychiatrist Dr. Gina Walker (Amirah Vann). Though Amy makes a full recovery physically, a traumatic brain injury leaves her with partial retrograde amnesia. When she awakens, the last eight years of her memories have been erased, and what surrounds her is a life she hardly recognizes.
After asking for her family, Amy is shocked to learn she and her loving husband, Dr. Michael Hamda (Omar Metwally), are now divorced. Furthering her confusion is her strained relationship with her teenage daughter Katie (Charlotte Fountain-Jardim), whom she last recalled seeing at age 9. Moreover, it becomes increasingly clear to Amy that her reputation at Westside precedes her. Most of the nurses avoid her; she is no longer close friends with Dr. Richard Miller (Scott Wolf), who was named interim chief following her accident, and the only people who seem to tolerate her are first-year resident Dr. JT Coleman (Patrick Walker) and chief resident Dr. Jake Heller (Jon-Michael Ecker), who has major McDreamy vibes. In a flashback sequence, Jake defends Amy’s terrible bedside manner to a miffed patient, asking, “Do you want a great doctor or a warm and fuzzy one?”
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After being discharged from the hospital, Amy begins navigating a world she doesn’t remember and tries to reconcile her past with her present. She starts unpacking all the pressure points and situations that made her the distant and unrelenting maverick who frustrates her peers, family and patients. Still, even amid all of this, Amy’s story is only one layer of “Doc.” Across the 10-episode first season — all of which were available for review — the series also offers insights into the personal lives of nearly all Westside’s healthcare providers. Episode 7, “Secrets and Lies,” is exceptional and follows Dr. Sonya Maitra (Anya Banerjee) as she struggles to treat a patient and work alongside a slowly recovering Amy, who once told her she wasn’t cut out to be a doctor. The episode delicately tackles the emotional and physical trauma of rape and sexual assault, examining how it permeates the lives of survivors.
In scenes from before and after her brain injury, Parker is nuanced in her depiction of Amy. Always competent and doggedly determined to find a solution for her patients, it’s engrossing to watch her reconcile the woman she knows herself to be and the woman who strikes feelings of annoyance and ire in those around her. Moreover, as she struggles to regain her footing at the hospital, learning to trust her gut, shadowing colleagues who were once subordinates and studying to retake the medical boards, the audience can see how her coping mechanisms, including retreating and defense, evolved into insensitivity and self-inflicted isolation.
While “Doc” has plenty of health mysteries and issues that the Westside staff solve throughout the season, the show also unpacks the humanity of doctors and nurses without diving into hysterics and melodrama. The series’ measured tone allows the richness of the characters and the dialogue to shine, even though much of the narrative is laden with medical jargon.
Hospital dramas will likely always be a staple on television. However, having a wholly unique and nuanced perspective in this specific type of setting is rare. With Parker leading the charge, “Doc” hits all of the traditional beats while offering a fresh depiction of an exceptional doctor deeply wounded by the trials of life but given a second chance to do things differently. While we can never undo the damage adversity and major life events cause to ourselves and others, there are ways to mend, repair and begin healing.
“Doc” premieres Jan. 7 on Fox, with new episodes dropping weekly on Tuesdays.