The Good Doctor S2 E4
Everybody has baggage, and our favorite surgeons deal with theirs in S2 E4 of The Good Doctor, a strong 10 on the tissue worthy scale.
Good Memories Are Like a Beautiful Song …
… but the bad memories can haunt you, as Dr. Glassman found out when his deceased daughter, Maddie, showed up last episode. At first, things were all nice and sweet, but now Maddie wants to talk about what happened when she died. Glassman didn’t want to go there, but Maddie insisted. She said that she hates him, that she died hating him. Apparently, their relationship fell apart, she blamed his work and all the time he spent with Shaun (there’s something bugging me about that, but I’ll come back to it later), but he blamed the drugs that Maddie was using. Her mom wanted her to go to rehab, but Glassman says he wanted to help her, he wanted to be the hero for his little girl and save her. One night, when her mom was gone, he found Maddie high and he’d had enough. He locked her out of the house, and that’s the night that she died.
While all of this is going on, Shaun has come in and found Glassman talking to Maddie. He believes Glassman is having hallucinations, a complication from the surgery, and he tells his doctor (after promising that he wouldn’t). They bring Glassman a sleeping pill, which he fakes taking because he knows if he takes it he won’t be able to see Maddie anymore. Finally, as he pleads with his daughter, saying, “I’m sorry” over and over and over, the doctor rushes in and they inject him with something to make him sleep. As he fades away, he tells Maddie he loved her and she holds his hand and says that she loved him, too.
Later, Glassman tells Shaun that maybe it was just his subconscious lying to him, telling him that Maddie loved him, but Shaun says that he always tells the truth. Glassman has finally found some sort of peace with the death of his daughter.
When to Let Go
With two different patients this week, the surgeons tried to help parents make some heavy decisions, but their own pasts get in the way.
A young girl, “Kitty”, is a climber who has broken her neck, and it’s not her first accident. Surgery can fix her, but she likely won’t climb again. Reznick (what’s up with that braid on top of your head, girl?) suggests another surgery option which would allow her to climb again. Kitty, of course, wants this option, but the parents do not want her to be able to continue the climbing, and feel that their daughter is some kind of thrill seeker and that her life is in danger. Reznick and Lim both feel it’s the girl’s decision because she is 18 years old, but Claire, influenced by the situation with her mom and the fact that she did nothing to intervene, takes sides with the parents. She gets a social worker involved who decides that the parents are right. The girl then says she doesn’t want to see them anymore. Claire eventually tells Kitty’s parents that her own baggage has been influencing the advice she was giving them, but they still stick by their decision. After the surgery, Claire assures Kitty that her parents only did it because they love her, and she says that she knows.
The other patient is an “intellectually disabled teen” who had an accident and has a piece of a fence lodged in his shoulder. His mother is disappointed when he is released later, saying she was hoping for one night alone. Seems her son is more than she can handle. His father already left and she’s trying her best to care for him. When she comes back later with an injury herself that requires surgery, it’s revealed that her son did it. She is torn about whether she can continue to care for him or if she needs to give him up so that others can take better care of him.
Shaun relives one of his foster parents (played by the awesome Brooke Smith ), who seemed to be tough on him, but I feel like she was just dealing with crap of her own (she found out that she was dying). He tells the woman that if she gives her son up, he won’t hate her, he’ll just be scared. And this brings me back to something that was bugging me … if Dr. Glassman spent so much time with Shaun that Maddie felt ignored by him, how come Shaun went through all those foster homes? Why didn’t Glassman just adopt him? Makes no sense to me, and I think it’s something the writers need to address.
Park tries to encourage the woman to do what she needs to do, but Melendez isn’t having it. He instead tells her she will find the strength to keep going. But after Park has a little talk with him, Melendez goes back to her and tells her that if she gives up her son people won’t like it, some might hate her for it, but she might have to do it because of her love for her son. Melendez, Park, and Shaun watch through the window as the mom tells the boy and he of course gets angry and cries. I gotta tell you, guys, that scene almost did me in. As a mom, it tore me up. I just could not imagine the pain of having to come to that kind of a decision.
Later, Melendez pays someone a visit—it turns out he has a sister with a disability, and she is living in a group home. She wants to know when she can go home but he tells her she has more fun there. A very sweet and wonderful scene, played so authentically by Nicholas Gonzalez—it’s easy to see why we all love Dr. Melendez.
Islands in the Stream
Shaun didn’t do much doctoring this episode, he spent most of it trying to fix his relationship with Lea. She’s still mad at him and is trying to find a place of her own. Shaun gets advice from Melendez (if an apology doesn’t work, walk away), Park (go big), and a nurse (be nice). When a doughnut doesn’t work, he tries to be helpful and shows up when Lea is looking at a 2 bedroom apartment that she can’t afford, saying that he has found her an apartment. Lea freaks out and calls him creepy.
Later, Lea tells Shaun that she’s upset because he didn’t even want to know what happened in Hershey, or why she came back. To be honest, I didn’t either.
Shaun then tries to go big and recreate their road trip with some disco lights and karaoke playing their song, Islands in the Stream. Lea isn’t impressed at first, but Shaun confesses to her that he doesn’t care what happened in Hershey, but he cares that she cares what happened. I guess this was what she needed because she wants to give the song another try. And that’s when Shaun announces that he has rented the 2 bedroom for the both of them as he goes off singing Islands in the Stream—Shaun is so cute, and after that really heavy episode it was nice to have a lighthearted ending.
Oh, and we found out what happened to Kenny. He was arrested. Hallelujah.
What did you think of Episode 4? How far did you make it before you had to reach for the tissues?
The Good Doctor takes a break next week but returns October 29th, 10/9 C, on ABC.