The Good Doctor Episode 8 aired on November 20th, on ABC.
Written by real life doctor, David Renaud, and directed by our favorite Sheriff, Nestor Carbonell, this week’s episode was strong–the writing was solid, the story line intense, and the acting off the hook.
Apples
The episode opens with Shaun’s neighbor Lea coming over to complain about the landlord. While she’s there, she eats Shaun’s shiny, green apple—the apple that Shaun wanted. How rude.
Shaun now has to go to the store to buy more apples. While he’s there, an armed man robs the store. The man demands that everyone put their hands up, and Shaun complies. But when the robber wants Shaun’s billfold, poor Shaun panics. He doesn’t know how to both keep his hands up and give the robber his billfold, which is in his pocket. Shaun begins to pace, and the robber shoots. The bullet misses Shaun, but hits a young woman behind him. The store owner jumps the robber, and shoots him.
Back at the hospital, the others have heard about the shooting and that Shaun was there, but they don’t know if he’s okay, and the anxiety on their faces is evident as the victims arrive. The young woman is taken out of the ambulance first, then the shooter, and then Shaun hops out. To Claire’s relief, it appears he’s okay.
But is he really okay?
The young woman’s date, who was with her in the store, says that it’s all Shaun’s fault. If Shaun had just given the guy his billfold, his friend wouldn’t have gotten shot.
More Tough Choices
Difficult choices and moral dilemmas are something we’ve come to expect from the show, and this week is no exception. As Melendez is working on the victim, Dr. Lim and Claire are attending to the shooter, who has a Nazi tattoo on his chest. Everyone has noticed it, most of all Claire. And when the decision is made to get the shooter into OR before the victim, Claire doesn’t like it one bit.
Dr. Lim has not missed Claire’s reaction, and in the OR, the tension escalates to the point that Dr. Lim demands that Claire leave her OR. Claire tries to argue, but finally leaves. She’s not off the hook, though. After the surgery, Dr. Lim assigns her to watch the patient in recovery. Claire complains to Melendez, who tells her to do what Dr. Lim says.
Of course this is not going to be easy for Claire. The shooter agitates her, starts mouthing off his racist remarks, really pushes her buttons, and for the most part Claire remains calm and cool. Until he says something about her mother, and let’s just say never make someone angry who has a needle in your arm. Ouch.
Later, the patient has an emergency and Claire ends up saving his life. Mission accomplished, Dr. Lim tells Claire she saved a life, and then adds, “Too bad it was a Nazi.” Yay for Dr. Lim.
Not a Causal Relationship
Dr. Glassman is worried about Shaun. Shaun assures him it’s not his fault, the shooting was not a causal relationship. Pacing doesn’t cause shootings, if it did, every time someone paced a shooting would follow. He later tells the victim’s boyfriend the same thing, when the guy admits that he was trying to ditch the girl and it was his fault she was in the store. Lying does not cause shootings, if it did, every time someone lied, a shooting would follow.
Dr. Glassman presses Shaun, tells him maybe it was a little bit his fault. Shaun doesn’t want to hear it. He knows he didn’t cause the shooting, but deep down inside it seems like he was struggling with his actions and how it led to the woman getting shot.
Shaun returns to his patient, who gets worse. She’s dying, and Shaun thinks it’s her heart, but Jared thinks she’s bleeding somewhere. Dr. Melendez goes with Jared’s theory. Good thing, because Shaun was wrong.
In the OR, they can’t determine where the bleeding is, but Shaun follows the injuries and helps Melendez locate the bleed. Shaun says he was wrong about her heart, and Melendez says yes, he was, but he just made up for it by finding the bleed. Shaun tells Jared he did a good job.
Maddie
In a scene between Dr. Glassman and Jessica, we discover more about why Dr. Glassman worries so much about Shaun. It seems that Dr. Glassman had a daughter named Maddie who died, and he feels as if he didn’t do enough for her. Jessica, who was a friend of Maddie’s and spent a lot of time in the Glassman home, knows that he’s worried he’s not doing enough for Shaun, either, and she assures him that he’s helping Shaun.
The episode ends after Lea gives Shaun another apple. Shaun opens up to Lea, and tells her that he made a mistake and someone got hurt. She hugs him, and even though Shaun doesn’t like hugs, he accepts her embrace.
My favorite quote from Episode 8:
You’re the only honest guy I know. ~ Lea
I would love to hear your thoughts on Episode 8. How do you think Shaun really felt about the shooting? And what about the choice to take the shooter to OR ahead of the woman he shot? Do you agree with that choice? Would you be able to push your feelings aside if you were a doctor and had to treat someone that was so violent and so clearly racist?
The Good Doctor returns November 27th 10/9C on ABC.
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