Aahana Swrup
Season 2 of ‘Best Medicine’ kicks off with a strange new mystery in town. Dr. Martin Best is still dealing with the looming threat of his license suspension when an unexpected stranger washes up on the town’s shore. The stranger, dressed in a mermaid costume, has a rare condition, a speech impairment, and flight risk tendencies. Consequently, resident Sheriff Mark Mylow inevitably finds himself looking into the stranger’s past and how she ended up in the coastal town. On the other hand, Sarah tries to support her friend, Judith, as she’s forced to seriously quit her unhealthy smoking habits. Nonetheless, the feat proves to be easier said than done. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Doc Martin Rescues a Mermaid From the Sea
In the aftermath of season 1, Martin has a lot on his plate. He’s currently under review from the medical board as he faces the threat of potentially losing his license. His ex, Dr. Montgomery, is still in town, helping Louisa in her attempts to have a baby. Meanwhile, the tension between the school principal and the local physician over their unresolved romance remains. Yet, Port Wenn’s chaos stops for no one. On a visit to his aunt Sarah at the docks, Martin spots a woman drowning in the ocean near the coast. Once he jumps in and rescues her, he realizes that the stranger is dressed in a mermaid outfit, complete with the tail. As this is happening, Sheriff Mark assesses his unsuccessful love life and wonders if the fairytale romance is simply not in the cards for him.
Naturally, news of a mermaid in town challenges this notion. At the clinic, once the mermaid finally gains consciousness, she begins speaking, but only through strange noises. The seizure that follows shortly thereafter compels Martin to believe elevated sodium levels are to blame for her behavior. However, before he can put her on IV fluids, the mermaid disappears from the clinic. Fortunately, she doesn’t stay missing for long and is found in the Salty Breeze’s pantry. Afterward, Martin quickly realizes the reason why the mermaid keeps running away. The mermaid, who finally regains normal speech and introduces herself as Cecelia, has a rare skin condition, Ichthyosis. This condition causes dry and itchy skin, which has led to the development of scale-like features on the skin of her legs.
Judith’s Addiction Leads to Two Explosions in a Day
While Martin is dealing with the mermaid situation, he also finds himself juggling another complication. Sarah’s friend Judith has recently been diagnosed with double pneumonia. As a result, she now needs to carry an oxygen tank around. This proves to be a problem because of her severe cigarette addiction. Since the tank can never be near an open flame and Judith always has to carry it around, the risk of an explosion remains high. That is, until the older woman finally manages to kick the old habit and quit smoking cold turkey. Unsurprisingly, quitting doesn’t prove to be an easy endeavor. In fact, moments after Martin sets her up with her oxygen tank, she manages to blow her living room up by lighting up a cigarette.
Fortunately, despite the explosion, Judith herself manages to survive the incident. However, she now needs a place to crash since her own home is destroyed. The Salty Breeze turns her away with fake excuses of no vacancy since the inn can’t risk the high probability of another explosion. In the absence of any other solution, Sarah ends up opening her own home to her friend. She also undertakes various safety measures, including searching Judith for any smokes, and constantly leaving her in the company of a revolving door of babysitters. When Martin learns about the arrangement, he’s understandably livid at his aunt for risking her own safety. Shortly thereafter, Judith ends up proving his point for him by trying to light up another cigarette and blowing up her friend’s guest room.
Port Wenn Embraces Cecelia, and Martin Confesses a Truth of His Own
Once Cecelia is back on her feet, she’s put in a room at the Salty Breeze. Initially, she claims to be a mermaid impersonator, working aboard a cruise ship, who fell overboard after having one too many drinks. Nonetheless, Mark realizes that her story doesn’t check out. There has been no news of a person falling off a cruise ship near the town. Instead, someone did file a report about an individual falling overboard from a party ship. Cecilia, who is struggling to make sense of the small town’s perpetual kindness, admits that she lied about the situation because she was embarrassed. Yet, it’s only when Mark talks to Martin about the situation that he realizes the stranger could be lying about something else as well. The medication she’s currently on makes it unlikely for her to get drunk enough to have such an accident.
The young woman has been bullied and socially ostracized for her skin condition her entire life. The people in her life cared so little about her that no one has even come to check up on her after she disappeared from a party ship. As such, the possibility that Cecelia jumped off the party boat becomes much more probable. Once Martin and Mark come to the same conclusion, they rush to find her, only to discover she has run away from her room at the inn. This launches a town-wide search for the stranger, who is eventually found at the lighthouse, likely contemplating another suicide attempt. Fortunately, Mark, with the help of the rest of the town, is able to talk her off the proverbial ledge by disclosing embarrassing secrets about themselves. This also ends up paving the path for Martin to finally disclose the truth about his own blood phobia to the entire town.
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