‘Doc’: Could Felicity Huffman Return as Joan in Season 3?

“The good news is on this show, even if somebody dies, you have flashbacks, right?” Doc executive producer Barbie Kligman told TV Insider while discussing the Season 2 finale. That bodes well for Felicity Huffman, whose Joan Ridley died (off-screen) after the dying doc used up everything she had left in her to save Amy (Molly Parker) during the hospital lockdown after a hemorrhagic fever outbreak. And yes, the hope is that Huffman returns.

“While the plan is Joan was a series regular for one year, I would imagine, and it depends on where we go in the room and what story feels right to tell, but I would hope we would be seeing Felicity again, now and again,” Kligman said.

Huffman is all for that, noting that it’s up to Kligman and executive producer Hank Steinberg. “We’ve talked about Joan coming back and being the ghost that haunts the halls of Westside,” she shared with TV Insider. “Sitting in, going, ‘You should connect those two things because I think that’s going to work’ in the operating room.”

And, of course, judging Michael (Omar Metwally) for how he’s taking over her job. “This is how you decorated your office?” she quips.

Related

'Doc' Season 3: Cast, Premiere Date, More Details

Because the producers knew from the start of the season that Huffman was always going to be a series regular just for this one year, “we arced out [her story] that way,” Kligman said. “It wasn’t a situation where you’re like, Felicity’s got to go. It was literally the character of Joan was going to come in, have a tremendous impact, and then I think as soon as we decided she was sick, you want to play that off. But there is a strength and dignity to going out on her own terms.”

Joan doesn’t actually die on-camera; she’s last seen in hospice care with her family by her bedside.

“I think actually seeing her expire on camera wasn’t necessary. We know it’s coming. And I feel like we just decided to give Joan the dignity to … You know how when someone you love, a lot of times, they wait for you to leave the room for that actual moment where they go to the other side. They want you to be there before they go. They want you to say goodbye. They want to say goodbye. But for the actual moment, the death rattle moment, sometimes they don’t want anyone there. And I feel like that’s what we did,” Kligman explained. “Joan was sort of going off strong into that good night having given everything she had to save Amy. And now she gets to be with her family, which is what she needed to do for the end. And it can be a more bittersweet thing than a depressing thing.”

Do you want to see Felicity Huffman return as Joan in the future? Let us know in the comments section below.

Doc, Season 3, TBA, Fox