We’ve reached such a turning point in one of Doc’s most widely discussed arcs of the series.
The revenge arc that Hannah orchestrated against Amy may finally reach a head during Doc Season 2 Episode 11, as the FBI is called in after things have escalated beyond her control.
And not only were we fortunate enough to score TWO exclusive clips from this highly anticipated hour (as well as Scott Wolf’s directorial debut on the series), but we got to speak with the talented actor behind controversial figure Hannah herself, Emma Pfitzer Price.
Price was a Doc fan before she even stepped into this role as Hannah. You can tell how passionate she is about the series by how eagerly she dove into unpacking the nuances of her character and how these complicated dynamics play out onscreen.
And make no mistake, Price is cognizant of the impact Hannah has on the fandom. However, she also enjoys playing darker, more complex roles.
If there’s ever any fear that the strong reactions to Hannah could catch up to her, she dispelled it pretty early in our conversation with her infectious enthusiasm for the character and what drew her to the role.
“Oh my gosh… I am so interested in characters who are really complicated. And I saw that in Hannah, the audition side …. we saw that with the initial interview.
“Then you get to see where she goes. And that really, really attracted me. I also love the idea of playing an antagonist. It is really refreshing because your job as the actor is to humanize what they’re doing and to justify it,” she shares.
“And it’s hard. It’s difficult work sometimes because people are quick to judge and to cancel. And I’m really interested in telling stories that are challenging to tell,” she adds.
“When you’re watching Hannah manipulate Amy, it’s hard to watch, and it makes people upset. So humanizing that and understanding why Hannah is going about it in this kind of immature way is really cool work to get to do.”
And the upcoming episode finally starts to humanize Hannah and fill in some of the gaps.
The hour will also highlight the complexities of Hannah’s dynamic with Amy. What’s been fascinating amid all of this is that viewers are essentially watching Hannah try to actively destroy a woman whom she would otherwise admire.
Amy has a nurturing quality with Hannah, which makes it harder for us to process what is playing out.
As the hour teases a version of Hannah spiralling out of control, still reeling from that tragic loss during Doc Season 2 Episode 10, it’s none other than Amy who is the one who offers comfort.
In our exclusive clip, we see evidence of that as Amy quite literally gets down to Hannah’s level to offer comfort and support.
She connects with Hannah, understanding that they both are familiar with loss.
It’s an emotional moment, but alas, knowing the truth and Hannah’s role behind it also adds an edge to the scene that’s difficult to watch. Price agrees and understands the stakes in that.
“Episode 11 brings it all to a head because you see Hannah and Amy sharing the frame,” she muses.
“There are so many scenes of you seeing the two of them side by side, and you’re almost yelling at the TV. God, if you all could just, Hannah, if you could just, talk to her!
“Have a real hard but real conversation with her, because there’s Amy in another story, or if Hannah had chosen differently, and in dealing with this grief and her anger — because I do think it is a decision — Amy could have been an amazing mentor for Hannah.
“And they actually have so much in common,” she hits the nail on the head, echoing viewer sentiment. “These are two women who have dealt with immense grief and loss. And they both sort of did the same thing.”
Price is very aware that Hannah and Amy have a shared experience with grief and even handle things in somewhat similar ways. But some of Hannah’s motivations are rooted in generational differences in how she processes things.
“Amy pre-accident subliminated all of it and suppressed it. And it sort of came out in this vindictive way. She had bad bedside manner, and people say that she was really hard to work with.
“Hannah sort of doing the same thing because she has suppressed all of that, that grief and trauma. She’s just, it feels better for her to just be antagonizing.
“It helps her like scratch, that is a temporary fix. These little digs at undermining Amy and her authority. It kind of feels — you see Hannah kind of gives these little smirks when something goes right,” she says.
“Yeah, it’s infuriating. But there’s an ID complex there. It feels kind of good. Hannah’s Gen Z. There’s this instant gratification of, ‘Oh, like I got her!’ That felt good. But they’re just these temporary band-aids. And that’s not what’s going to heal this loss.”
It’s been a shame, because I brought up that if Hannah hadn’t gone full villain in our eyes, she’d be a really capable doctor.
“Up until episode 10, all of Hannah’s manipulations are sort of inconsequential. She gets away with it.
She’s still able to be a great doctor. But when, and I guess it’s important to remind audiences that when we hack the metadata, it’s because I told my brother I’m done with this, and I want no more. And while that hack is supposed to erase all of the history of Charlie and my work.
“But then, when that hack results in losing a patient, now there is a serious fatal consequence to Hannah’s actions.
And so in episode 11, you see that present that real-time trauma of her seeing the ICU, and she keeps flashing back to losing this bright young kid. But then she also has the PTSD, which we see in her flashback of losing her father and the really traumatizing way that she finds him.”
We’ll have more with Emma Pfizer Price as she unpacks Doc’s latest episode in a post-mortem interview.
And, of course, we’ll be back with a full review and recap of this pivotal hour.
Doc returns with an all-new episode tonight at 9/8c on FOX, following an all-new Best Medicine.
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