Note: This story contains spoilers from “Doc” Season 2, Episode 3.
“Doc” found its newest chief of internal medicine in Dr. Joan Ridley, and she’s not afraid to ruffle feathers to achieve greatness.
After first introducing the surgeon played by “Desperate Housewives” alum Felicity Huffman, the latest episode — titled “New Blood” — followed as Joan made a big impression on her first day in charge at Westside Hospital. That included kicking off a two-month trial period for every employee in which she’ll determine who is good enough to stay on the payroll.
“This hospital keeps sort of stumbling and not being as excellent as it could be,” Huffman told TheWrap. “This is about turning to your team and saying, ‘We’re going to the Super Bowl … if you’re up for it, great. If you’re not, go play on a different team.’”
Episode 3 also brought a new layer in Joan and Amy’s relationship via flashbacks, wherein viewers learned that Amy had been there for Joan as she learned of a serious diagnosis before the accident that stole Amy’s memories.
However, Amy herself still doesn’t remember this news, which Huffman said makes keeping the secret a whole lot more interesting — adding that the diagnosis twist added “jet fuel” to her performance.
“The way [co-showrunners Barbie Kligman and Hank Steinberg] wrote it, Joan is not struggling with her disease. She’s using it to move forward,” she shared. “She takes the job so she can stop her restless wandering and concentrate on something bigger than the disease, and doing what she does best, which is making people be excellent.”
“I think the disease frees her,” Huffman added. “It allows her to be blunt with people, not because she’s mean or a ball buster, but because it gets results.”
Those layers within Joan’s character are at the center of what drove Huffman to take on the role on “Doc,” the actress’ first series regular role since “Desperate Housewives” and being part of ABC’s “American Crime” anthology ensemble.
Unlike Westside’s previous chief of internal medicine, Dr. Richard Miller (Scott Wolf), Joan also stands plainly by Amy’s side in her recovery journey — even if her methods are different from those of Amy’s other allies. Joan views Amy’s medical prowess as the key to her recovery, as well as a gift to the world that is worth preserving beyond the titular doctor’s complicated personal life.
“A lot of this series has been about turning to Amy and going, ‘You were really harsh before. You were awful before.’ Joan is the one person that has gone, ‘Wait a second, you were excellent before. You were a genius,’” Huffman said. “If a man had been in that position, they wouldn’t focus on whether they were nice or not. They would focus on their performance … Joan is 100% in Amy’s corner.”
“Doc” airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Fox and streams the next day on Hulu. Season 1 is now streaming on Netflix.
