The Good Doctor continued October 30, on ABC, with the team at St. Bonaventure Hospital facing a night of trauma.
A horrific bus crash brings multiple victims to the ER. Our favorite surgeons appear to be a bit off guard at first, including Dr. Murphy, who seems paralyzed, but quickly snaps out of it and comes through with his brand of creative and quick thinking heroics.
We then follow the stories of three of the trauma victims.
FAKE LEG
A groom to be, on the way to his wedding, has a mangled leg and the only options are amputation or death. Dr. Browne comes up with a brilliant idea (Melendez argues with her that it must have been Shaun’s brilliant idea)—replace the whole femur with a titanium femur, made with a 3D printer. The bride to me is all for it, but when the man’s parents find out that there’s a 10% risk that he won’t make it, they tell him to amputate the leg. And since the man isn’t conscious, and the parents are the next of kin, the decision is theirs.
But not so fast. Jessica brings in a judge to make the call. Who knows best what the patient would want? The bride, who tells the parents their son is a recovering addict, or the parents, who reveal their own hurtful secret: their son cheated on his fiancé. When Shaun discovers that the man’s leg is clotting, they need a decision, and the judge gives the final call: go ahead with the titanium femur.
The surgery is a success and the man, his bride, and the parents are all happy.
AQUAMAN
Meanwhile, Dr. Kalu tends to a burn victim, a woman who has suffered massive burns on her chest and left arm and is worries about how she’s going to look now. Dr. Kalu has trouble connecting with her until he has a talk with Claire.
Later, Jared tells his patient she qualifies for an experimental treatment, where Talapia skins are placed on the burns and will save her from skin grafts in the future.
In the end, Jared does the procedure himself. “You look good, tough, like Aquaman,” he tells her, and we later find out that he made a financial donation in order to get the Talapia skins for his patient. Dr. Kalu is becoming a real sweetheart.
MISSING
Dr. Clair Browne has discovered that one of the victims has been left behind at the crash. She races back to the scene and finds the woman and drills a hole in her head at the crash site to save her. Unfortunately, Claire screws up the intubation, which ultimately leads to the woman’s death.
Claire is obviously heartbroken, and Dr. Glassman takes some time to offer his support. He tells her a story about a terrible mistake of his own, and though Claire is devastated, he tells her she must find a way to go on.
NO FLASHBACKS
I noticed in this episode there were no flashbacks. After the last episode where Shaun cared for the patient who looked like his brother (both parts played by the fantastic Dylan Kingwell) it felt like the lack of flashbacks was hinting that Shaun had moved on, but then there’s talk of weddings and love, and in the end Shaun declares to Dr. Glassman that he doesn’t want love. He loved his bunny and he loved his brother, and now they’re both dead. Dr. Glassman offers him pancakes, and Shaun accepts. He’ll take the pancakes, but not the love.
My favorite line from this episode, in a sad kind of way:
“I don’t understand why having someone to love is so important to everyone.” – Dr. Shaun Murphy
The Good Doctor returns in two weeks with a brand new episode on ABC.
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