‘Doctor Odyssey’ Episode 11: Don’t Bet Against ‘9-1-1’ Star Angela Bassett During “Casino Week” Crossover

What to Watch

Can we get Angela Bassett‘s Athena Grant from 9-1-1 on Doctor Odyssey every week?

Every fan of Bassett’s high-stakes ABC show knows that Season 7 began with Athena and Bobby (Peter Krause) nearly escaping the clutches of death (and Poseidon) when their honeymoon cruise ship was highjacked, flooded, and then overturned in the middle of the ocean. The drama unfolded over the course of a three-episode premiere and left even the most frequent of sailors questioning if they wanted to step aboard a ship anytime soon.

Flash forward to February when ABC announced that Bassett’s character would be boarding The Odyssey for a special crossover episode, leaving any good and vigilant 9-1-1 fan to ask: How the hell is Athena getting on that ship? Well, it wasn’t by choice.

At the beginning of the episode, Max (Joshua Jackson) discovers our LAPD sergeant locked in a closet on the ship with a maid who she found in distress while searching The Odyssey. After being let out, Athena explains that she has to get off before the vessel departs, to which Max tells her that they are already half an hour from the port. Hilariously — because these two sister shows know exactly what they’re doing — we then see a rapid montage of shots from the last time Athena was on a boat, including nearly drowning while holding Bobby’s hand. Now that I think about it, it’s not that hilarious, my girl has PTSD bad.

As for why Athena got on the ship in the first place, it all connects to a heist she was working with the feds on. Athena tells Max the cops were tipped off to a person targeting the ship’s vault and after arresting their main suspect during boarding, she went to track down his bags, concerned there would be safe cracking software inside. That’s when she found the maid and, being the good samaritan she is, offered to help. Take note, kids, it never helps to be a good person. We later come to find out that it was Clyde who closed the door on Athena!

She decides that rather than use one of the ship’s tenders to make it back to land, she’ll wait three days to reach Aruba and fly back from there. Captain Robert (Don Johnson) even gives her the keys to the suspect’s room and Avery (Phillipa Soo) brings an entire rack of dresses for Athena — who does not have anything to wear aside from her uniform — to try on. As Kelly Kapoor from The Office once said: “Fashion show, fashion show, fashion show at lunch!”

Phillipa Soo in 'Doctor Odyssey' Episode 10
Photo: ABC/Disney

At this fashion show, we also meet an elderly woman (Debra Mooney), who is cruising on The Odyssey with her young grandson. While taking a break from trying on dresses, the ladies notice that Avery has not touched her glass of champagne, leading them to ask how far along she is and whether or not she intends to go forward with the pregnancy. She explains that she is still deciding and they tell her to take her time as it is a major decision. Athena also gives us one of the sweetest moments of the show thus far, reminding Avery that no matter what she chooses, it’s the right decision for her.

Down in the ballroom, casino week is now in full swing, and that includes medical mishaps plenty. There, we meet Daphne (Jade Pettyjohn), a young passenger in late-stage heart failure who boarded the ship as a last hoorah. While Avery and Tristan (Sean Teale) try to reassure her that a heart could come in time, she shares that she just wants to have one final pleasure cruise.

As Athena continues searching for two other suspects she heard are still on the ship, the group realizes that it is not the safe the thieves are after, but rather the expensive items brought on board. The realization occurs as one passenger has an allergic reaction to her supposedly real necklace, which has been switched out with a fake made of nickel. Athena, remembering that the older woman she met earlier had sparkles on her hand, quickly pieces together that Bonnie and Clyde are the grandmother and grandson and have been forging precious jewels.

Joshua Jackson and Angela Bassett in 'Doctor Odyssey'
Photo: ABC/Disney

As the pair of crooks attempt to enter rooms after setting off the smoke detector, Athena catches them in the act and promptly takes them into custody. Even better, the feds send out a helicopter to pick them up and get Athena off the ship. It works out perfectly, too, as Daphne has gotten news that a heart is waiting for her back in LA, giving her just enough time to hitch a ride with Athena and arrive for the life-saving surgery… I’m not crying, you’re crying!

As for Avery’s baby on board, a decision has finally come for The Odyssey’s nurse practitioner. After some back and forth — and a declaration from Max that he is “all in” — Avery announces that she is planning to keep the pregnancy and have the baby. Don’t ask her what that looks like aside from the immediate future because she doesn’t know, though. That will simply have to be explored in another episode!

The first 11 episodes of Doctor Odyssey are currently streaming on Hulu. New episodes air Thursdays on ABC at 9 p.m. local.