That Was A Great Bait-And-Switch

Doc star Jon-Michael Ecker has opened up on season 1’s cliffhanger ending and what this means for his character moving forward. Based on the Italian series Doc – Nelle tue mani, follows Amy Larsen, a chief of medicine who struggles to resume her medical career after a brain injury causes severe memory loss. The Fox medical drama debuted in January 2025, and Doc season 2 has already been renewed. One of the prominent plot points of the season 1 finale saw Scott Wolf’s Dr. Richard Miller suspended for his cover-up of a medical error Amy had been investigating.

In an interview with ScreenRant, Ecker gave his views on the Doc season 1 finale’s cliffhanger ending, claiming that the writers did a great job, and praising co-star Wolf’s portrayal of Richard. He discussed the juxtaposition between Richard’s underhanded behavior and prickly personality, and his desire to save his career and family, calling it a great bait and switch. He went on to say he’d be happy to see Richard return and was looking forward to the next episode. Check out Ecker’s comments below:

I think he is definitely redeemable. The writers did a great job, and I had so much fun talking to family and friends that would be like, “I just don’t like that Richard character.” Scott (Wolf) is amazing at what he does, but the character was just so unlikable at the beginning. Then, as the episodes go by, you’re slowly like, “Oh, I get it. He made a mistake and he’s trying to save his family and his career.”

It’s like, “It doesn’t justify it, but he has some redeeming qualities,” and I think that was just a great bait-and-switch that the writers did there. But is it excusable on a professional level? I don’t know how they’ll do that, if they can do that. I would be stoked to see a way to do it, because I had a lot of fun working with Scott. But I don’t know. I’m as curious to read episode 11 as everybody else.

The New Season Has a Lot Of Ground To Cover

Doc season 2 has been officially renewed, but there has been no timeframe given for when the new season might go into production. The focus now will be on writing and finalizing the scripts for season 2, and making sure they capture the tone and essence of season 1. Considering Doc‘s renewal comes with an increased episode count, which will see season 2 run 22 episodes, there are many directions the medical drama could go in season 2, and Richard could well play a prominent role.

Richard’s attempts to gaslight Amy into thinking she was responsible for the patient’s death reveal a lot about the character, which is why the finale’s cliffhanger worked so well.

It’s unconfirmed what story direction the writing team might choose with Richard, but there are several likely routes that the show could take. As the comments made by Chicago Fire star Ecker allude to, it is difficult to see how Richard can get out of this professional situation, and his suspension might even result in his dismissal. Season 2 could follow him after being fired as he seeks to rebuild a career, appeal his punishment, or he might be reinstated.

Our Verdict On Doc’s Richard Cliffhanger

There May Be A Feeling The Character Is Getting What He Deserves

Richard was highly unlikable at the start of the show and already had a prior history with Amy investigating him before her accident. Richard’s attempts to gaslight Amy into thinking she was responsible for the patient’s death reveal a lot about the character, which is why the finale’s cliffhanger worked so well. It sought to humanize Richard, whilst also showing he was deeply flawed and unprofessional, and it should set up an interesting dynamic for the next season of Doc, where I don’t think we’ll have seen the last of Richard.