“Doc”: Personal and medical crises blend beautifully

All season, “Doc” has been piling up high-stakes, life-and-death stories.
But in its season-finale (shown here) — 8-10 p.m. Tuesday, April 14, on Fox — it manages to top that. Personal and medical issues interlock neatly.
That’s always at the core of this show. It started with a potent personal story about Dr. Amy Larson (Molly Parker), then thrust her into hospital crises.
Now that peaks. The less you know about the specific plot, the better; instead, here’s some background.
Amy is a brilliant doctor, but her world stopped when her young son died. She lashed out at colleagues, patients, her husband and more.
Then she barely survived a car accident. Eight years of memories were wiped away; she didn’t realize her son is dead … and her husband had divorced and married someone else … and most of her co-workers disliked her.
The first season saw her making some amends … and realizing that Dr. Richard Miller had lied, to make her look guilty of his mistake. Now the second season has added more; key characters include:
— Michael, Amy’s ex-husband. Once desk-bound, he has returned to hands-on work as chief of internal medicine.
— Joan, the former chief. She’s Amy’s friend and a brilliant surgeon, reluctantly retired because of the onset of a debilitating disease.
— Jake, a doctor who is Amy’s lover. His ex-wife Rachel is an out-patient.
— Richard, now disliked by everyone — especially Amy and Liz, a nurse whom he browbeat into lying for him.
— Sonya, who joins Amy in sharing Jake’s old spot as chief resident.
— TJ, Sonya’s lover and an emerging surgeon with a military background. And others including Gina, Amy’s friend and therapist.
These people make mistakes — personal, mostly; medical, occasionally. But they’re also (with the exception of Richard) good people; in most cases, we end up rooting for both sides of an issue.
In this season-finale, “Doc” does lean on a cliche — the patient or family member who gets in the way. But mostly, it’s a terrific episode, boosted by guest stars — Blair Underwood as a visiting surgeon, Judd Hirsch as a patient on his 90th birthday.
Hirsch actually turned 91 last month, but convincingly plays a younger man.