On a dark, rainy morning in late July, I pulled into the parking lot of Best Medicine’s sound stages in the Hudson Valley region, where a handful of journalists and I were invited to tour the charming interior sets of Port Wenn.
Before the New York area was put on tornado watch, we’d planned to spend a gorgeous summer day along the Hudson River watching the cast of FOX’s medical dramedy film pivotal scenes from Season 2’s epic Crate Race episode. Though the unexpected weather prevented our sneak peek at the ambitious town event that showrunner and executive producer Liz Tuccillo (Sex and the City, Divorce, Sweetbitter) is “most excited about” in Season 2, she, EP Rodney Ferrell (Stick), and Best Medicine’s cast still had tons to tease about the show’s highly anticipated sophomore season, which airs Tuesday, September 22 at 8:00 p.m. ET on FOX after a special Sunday premiere.
When we last left the feel-good comfort watch — based on the hit UK series, Doc Martin — Port Wenn’s local physician Dr. Martin Best (Josh Charles) learned his medical license was in jeopardy for having his administrative assistant Elaine (Cree) take blood to help him manage his cripling hemophobia. On top of professional setbacks, Martin was also in the midst of navigating the return of his ex, Eden (Eliza Coupe), and his feelings for Louisa (Abigail Spencer), who was considering having a baby with her ex, Sheriff Mark (Josh Segarra). Before Season 1 wrapped, Greg (Stephen Spinella) and George (Jason Veasey) had also tied the knot, and Aunt Sarah (Annie Potts) found “sea urchins for miles” that could make the entire town rich. So what does Season 2 have in store?
“We’re about five months later. The town’s just rolling in it with the uni explosion. People are making money. People are happy,” Charles explained. After a long day of filming, Best Medicine’s leading man invited reporters to chat in his trailer, where he decompressed by loosening Dr. Best’s tie, kicking back on the couch, snacking on Mike and Ike’s Jolly Joes, and spending quality time with his sweet, sleepy dog.
While keeping Martin’s blood phobia a secret was a core component of Season 1, Season 2’s premiere finally sees him share that vulnerable side of himself with the town in epic fashion. “The health board is breathing down his neck. They satisfied some of it by getting Elaine a license, so she’s able to do certain things now. But Martin is on this probationary period. They’re sending monitors, and the idea of having somebody look over his shoulder for things he could do blindfolded is frustrating,” Charles said, teasing the arrival of Parker (Jack Cutmore-Scott), a “charming and friendly” overseer.
With his medical career in jeopardy, Eden is determined to help him overcome his phobia so the two can get back to their lives in Boston. “I think he’s happy with her. They are similar in a lot of ways, and there’s a real awkwardness to their relationship. Neither of them really knows how to communicate,” Charles reflected, noting that “laughing like a little school kid every day” with the “brilliant” Coupe is “the dream.”
Despite palpable tension between Eden and Port Wenn’s locals, Charles understands why Martin defends her. And as Season 2 progresses, Coupe finds humanity in her complex character. “I think Eden respects him, values him, and listens to him in a town where very few people seem to on a daily basis. She puts him on a little bit of a pedestal, and I think that feels good to him,” Charles explained. The catch? “Obviously, he has feelings for Louisa that he’s not always fully conscious of, or he’s trying not to be.”
As expected, Louisa’s IVF and motherhood journey will be a big part of her journey this season. “I think [Season 2 is] about discovering what happiness means to Louisa,” Ferrell shared during our chat at Aunt Sarah’s inviting kitchen table. “There’s a lot of things spinning in her head: ‘Do I have a baby? Do I have a baby on my own? Is it okay to have a baby on my own? Does it mean I’m giving up happiness with someone that I could love and spend my life with? Or can I have both?’”
With her school expected to close and expensive IVF costs to cover, we’ll also see Louisa take on extra work on top of her new job as principal, including shifts at the Salty Breeze. Her answer to Mark’s generous co-parenting offer is revealed in Episode 201, but whether he’s fathering her child or not, she’ll be putting herself out there again romantically this season.
“She can’t just be sitting around pining for Martin for a whole other season,” Tuccillo passionately proclaimed from a director’s chair in the newly built set of a cozy, nautical guest room at The Salty Breeze. Much to Martin’s dismay, the new love triangle in town will involve his monitor, Parker, who has “sparks” with Louisa. Despite new relationships and romantic detours, however, Tuccillo thinks, “Louisa is the love of his life… And they really are meant to be together.”
“I don’t think any of us have to worry that there’s still something there,” Ferrell echoed, shouting out Spencer and Charles’ incredible co-star chemistry. The EP lovingly noted that Martin is “a little bit of a mess,” so for the fan-favorite will-they-won’t-they dynamic to evolve, Martin will have to make significant personal progress in Season 2.
Meanwhile, Tuccillo confirmed that the lovable but lost Mark will “be looking for love in all the wrong places this season,” though “hopefully he’ll get a win by the end of the season.” We’ll also see the lighthearted sheriff engage in soul-searching as he ponders his purpose in town. “I think when he steps outside of his relationship with Louisa, he’s like, ‘I’m the sheriff of this town. Am I taken seriously? What am I doing with my life? Am I ultimately happy just being the small-town sheriff? Is it okay that I sleep with people and don’t really settle down?” Ferrell teased.
While some sets like Louisa’s principal’s office and Sally’s (Clea Lewis) pharmacy were largely covered in tarps, and the town’s vibrant new pink and green beauty salon was still under construction, the remarkable attention to detail, thoughtful set dressings, and warm lighting made the sound stage feel like a real home.
Carefully selected books lined characters’ shelves. A stack of hand-addressed mail was piled by her Aunt Sarah’s door, thick-rimmed reading glasses were stashed throughout her rooms, and her kitchen crevices were filled with goodies — from wine and junk drawer essentials to a tub of Maldon Salt and more.
In Martin’s home office, medical supplies lined the shelves, while a colorful keyboard, viral squishy toys, and lots of notes about upcoming appointments like “Josh Charles (for the rash)” give Elaine’s desk character. But it’s the immaculately dressed Salty Breeze — complete with outdoor deck, stone fireplace, fully stocked bar, thoughtfully selected knickknacks, wall decor, plus kitchen and walk-in fridge — that took us on a mental vacation to Maine.
Just as the restaurant is the hub of Best Medicine’s interior sets, it became the heart of the show’s small seafaring town in Season 1. So it’s no surprise that Spinella and Veasey, who play The Salty Breeze owners, were upped to series regulars ahead of Season 2 following Greg and George’s heartwarming finale wedding.
“To me, selfishly, it felt like it wasn’t just a wedding for Greg and George. It felt like the show was saying, ‘We really like you, Stephen and Jason, enough to do this and write this,” Veasey said, still wearing Jason’s Salty Breeze apron while chatting in Doc’s waiting room between scenes.
“[The show] championing inclusivity is fantastic… My younger self would never have thought I’d be involved in a gay TV wedding growing up,” Veasey continued. Spinella, sitting beside him wearing a Salty Breeze shirt, excitedly jumped in, adding, “And an interracial, intergenerational, gay couple. We’re like triple transgressive!”
The Salty Breeze’s Uni Tasting Menu spotted on tables featured five courses at $250 per person, so the couple will undoubtedly spend a chunk of Season 2 navigating the surreal success of the uni boom. But Tuccillo promises a funnier, deeper dive into their lives, too.
“We’re gonna be seeing different, wonderful colors of their relationship,” the showrunner teased. “George might get sick for a minute. Greg might get deeply insecure. A family member of George’s might come to town and stir things up. Greg might do something shady, and George will be furious with him.”
Elsewhere in Port Wenn, Elaine will be navigating next steps post-Juilliard rejection as her boyfriend Al (Carter Shimp) preps for New York. When asked if Best Medicine would ever follow the two to the city, everyone got intriguingly cagey, but even if we don’t witness the trip, it sounds like Elaine is headed to The Big Apple.
“We are upstate. We’re so close to the city, so who knows? But Al and Elaine are cute as ever. Season 1 was defined by a lot of big declarations and relationship milestones. In Season 2, they’re established and settled in their relationship, so we get to see them be a little bit sillier, looser, more domestic, a little more mature,” Cree said.
If Conn has anything to say about it, she and her “long-lost sister” Potts will have some love stories to look forward to, as well. “Maybe Geneva and Aunt Sarah do a dating service. Oh my goodness, that would be pretty crazy,” the 75-year-old Grease star said, stressing how thrilled she is that this delightful comedic role — one that films in her home of New York — found her five decades into her career. “My heart is pounding with just gratitude for this job, for my health. I had a real bout with some kind of autoimmune [issue] towards the end of the COVID [pandemic]. I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t walk. It took me six months of rehab. And I’m talking, I’m walking. So gratitude is an operative word. I’m very happy to be here.”
With another stacked guest star lineup in store, Season 2 premieres with Andrea Martin’s Judith, Aunt Sarah’s stubborn friend whose love of smoking becomes a serious safety hazard. Ferrell also teased a Brooklyn pizza truck owner named Gina, who will steal business from The Salty Breeze. And Doc Martin’s Martin Clunes is set to return as Dr. Robert Best later in the season.
“I really think that it’s so important for Martin Clunes to come back to this show as Martin’s father, because we’re dissecting Martin’s original wound. So having him come back to really talk about Rosemary again and unpack things — I think it’s really important to remind everybody who Martin is, and how he became who he is,” Tuccillo said.
From a mermaid (Ellen Soraya Nikbakht) mysteriously washing up on shore in the premiere to passionate Revolutionary War reenactors, magicians coming to town, the big Crate Race, and more, there will be no shortage of exciting, quirky events and medical cases this season. And yes, The Salty Breeze karaoke nights will return, with Segarra bravely grabbing the mic once again as several real-life karaoke haters in the cast pray they’ll never have to step up to sing.
With an increased 14-episode renewal order and the recent “Netflix bump” that Best Medicine’s EPs were buzzing about days before the show was added to the streaming platform on August 4, hopes are high for Season 2. Though Ferrell teases that, in mirroring our set visit weather, “By the end of the season there may be a storm — something that happens that disrupts this comfortableness people are growing accustomed to.”
For now, though, Best Medicine is all sunny skies and whoopie-uni pies.
Best Medicine Season 2, Episode 1 premieres Tuesday, September 22 at 8:00 p.m. ET on FOX.
