‘Best Medicine’ Season 2 Premiere Recap: Martin’s Biggest Secret Is Finally Out

Spoiler Warning: This recap contains spoilers for Best Medicine Season 2, Episode 1, “Be Careful What You Fish For.”

Best Medicine is back for Season 2, and Dr. Martin Best didn’t get much time to settle back into life in Port Wenn before everything got wonderfully weird again. The premiere, “Be Careful What You Fish For,” picks up a few months after the Season 1 finale and wastes no time dealing with the biggest problem hanging over Martin’s head: his secret blood phobia.

After Glendon reported what was happening inside Martin’s practice, Martin is now being monitored by the Maine State Medical Registry. The monitor has yet to find anything serious enough to use against him, but her presence means Martin knows someone is watching his every move. Considering this is Martin Best we’re talking about, being watched and judged all day is pretty much his personal nightmare.

Things are changing for Louisa as well. She has decided against Mark’s offer to have a baby together as friends, believing that arrangement would become too complicated. Louisa still wants to become a mother, though, and she plans to pursue that dream herself.

Unfortunately, fertility treatments are expensive. In addition to becoming the school principal, Louisa has picked up extra work, including shifts at the Salty Breeze, as she tries to make her plans financially possible.

Meanwhile, Eden is preparing to return to Boston and questions why Martin is still hanging around Port Wenn. Martin may not spell it out for her, but come on now. Louisa is standing right there.

Port Wenn Welcomes Judith and Immediately Gets an Explosion

The premiere introduces Judith, played by Andrea Martin, an old friend of Sarah’s who recently left the hospital after being treated for bilateral pneumonia. Judith also happens to be a dedicated smoker who apparently has no intention of letting something as inconvenient as needing oxygen stop her.

That combination goes about as well as you would imagine. Judith causes an explosion at her home and then manages to create another dangerous situation while staying with Sarah. Martin becomes increasingly frustrated with her refusal to take her health seriously, while Sarah reminds her nephew that being part of a community sometimes means helping people even when they make it extremely difficult. And Port Wenn is nothing if not a town full of people determined to make Martin’s life difficult.

Martin Rescues a Mermaid

The episode’s main medical mystery begins when Martin and Sarah spot a woman dressed like a mermaid struggling in the water. Martin jumps in to rescue her, but once she is brought to safety, it becomes clear that something is seriously wrong.

The woman, Cecilia, struggles to speak clearly and eventually suffers a seizure. Martin later determines that exposure to a toxic algae bloom contributed to her symptoms. Cecilia also has a skin condition that causes the skin on her legs to become thick and scaly, something she has spent much of her life trying to hide.

At first, Cecilia claims that she works as a performer on a cruise ship and simply fell overboard. Mark eventually discovers that she is actually the subject of a missing-person report after disappearing from a party boat. Cecilia finally admits that she had been drinking with friends and went overboard, but what hurts most is realizing that nobody apparently noticed or cared enough to stop the party and search for her. Martin begins to wonder whether Cecilia actually fell from the boat at all.

Before anyone can get a clear answer, Cecilia climbs to the top of the lighthouse.

Martin Finally Tells Port Wenn the Truth

With Cecilia standing high above Port Wenn and convinced that everyone will judge her because of her skin condition, the town gathers below and tries to convince her that she has nothing to be ashamed of. Eventually, residents begin calling out their own uncomfortable truths to show Cecilia that everyone carries something they would rather hide. Louisa opens up about her fertility journey, and that is when Martin makes a choice nobody expected him to make.

Instead of waiting for Glendon to expose him, Martin publicly admits that he has a blood phobia. Just like that, the secret that drove so much of Season 1 loses much of its power because Martin revealed it himself. Even better, he didn’t do it simply to protect his career. He did it because telling the truth might help Cecilia feel less alone.

Most of Port Wenn barely seems bothered by the revelation, which somehow makes the entire thing even sweeter. Martin has spent all this time terrified of what would happen if people knew, only to discover that the town accepts him anyway.

Sarah, however, is understandably hurt. Her issue isn’t Martin’s phobia; it is realizing that he could tell practically the entire town before trusting her enough to tell her privately.

Mark ultimately reaches Cecilia at the lighthouse and sits beside her while everyone below is distracted. Their interaction also hints that Best Medicine may already be setting up a new romantic possibility for Mark this season.

Where Does This Leave Martin and Louisa?

After everything settles down, Louisa congratulates Martin for being brave enough to reveal something so personal. Martin returns the compliment, and once again these two look at each other like everyone except them knows exactly where this relationship is going.

Martin’s confession removes one of the biggest secrets standing between him and the people of Port Wenn, but it doesn’t suddenly solve everything. The medical registry is still keeping an eye on him, Sarah feels betrayed, and whatever is happening between Martin and Louisa remains very much unresolved.

Still, the Season 2 premiere pushes Martin somewhere important. The doctor who spent most of Season 1 doing everything possible to keep people out finally allowed an entire town to see one of his biggest vulnerabilities.

For Martin Best, that might be bigger than any medical breakthrough.

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