Blair Underwood returned to Doc in the season 3 premiere on Tuesday, September 22, but Ben showed up with a different look. The change was visible right away, and it had nothing to do with the story being told on screen.
Underwood said shaving his facial hair was required for another project he could not discuss. He said the look was mandatory, and Doc was open to it, with the production adjusting around the change instead of building it into Ben’s return to Westside Hospital.
That matters because Ben’s return is not just a cameo or a cosmetic reset. He was introduced at the end of season 2 as someone from Amy’s past, and the season 3 premiere gave viewers a glimpse of the moment that confirmed the two had once been romantically involved. The added wrinkle is that Ben is arriving inside a new love triangle with Amy and Jake, which makes every detail around him feel like part of the setup.
Underwood has already said Ben and Amy’s relationship in the early days was “very hot and very spicy.” He also made clear that Amy is “in the clear,” because the relationship happened after her divorce and before she had a connection with Jake. In his telling, Ben was there first, and the pair would sometimes spend weekends together, in a relationship that was sporadic but repeated because they both enjoyed it.
The off-screen part of the story is less romantic and more practical. Underwood said he does not spend much time worrying about the larger mechanics once he walks into an established show. He trusts the writers and producers, takes care of his part, and leaves the rest to the people steering the series. That is why the clean-shaven change could be absorbed so easily: Doc had room to work with him rather than force the look into the plot.
There is still a long way to go. Underwood said he has not filmed half of the episodes from season 3 yet, which means Ben’s return is only beginning to unfold. He has the broad outline of where the character is headed, but not every secret. For viewers, that leaves the most important question not about his appearance, but about where Ben fits as the season moves forward and the triangle with Amy and Jake keeps tightening.
