The Good Doctor – Believe

By starrymag | March 3, 2019

By: Jessica Wolff

 

Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) gets ready for his day, and questions why Lea Dilallo (Paige Spara) made him pancakes on a weekday. She explains that they are fresh start pancakes, but Shaun tells her he doesn’t want a fresh start. Lea tells him she’s proud of the way he’s handling his transfer, but Shaun walks out of the apartment.

 

Dr. Neil Melendez (Nicholas Gonzalez), Dr. Claire Browne (Antonia Thomas), and Dr. Morgan Reznick (Fiona Gubelmann) explain the details of surgery to Pastor Clarence (Spencer Garrett). Clarence confirms he is in pain, but refuses Melendez’ promise to alleviate it through spinal fusion, telling them he deserves it. Melendez warns him the procedure will be trickier without the spinal fusion, but Clarence explains that the pain is God’s punishment for killing someone.

 

Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff) rings a bell to much applause at the cancer ward. Dr. Alex Park (Will Yun Lee) and Dr. Audrey Lim (Christina Chang) examine Sadie Barnes (Kelsey Crane), who explains she got a headache while climbing. At Jess Barnes’ (Natasha Calis) urging, Sadie tells them that she had a premonition of her death prior to the climb. Lim cuts Alex off before he can express his skepticism, promising that they’ll run some tests.

 

Shaun puts his brother’s scalpel in his locker and goes to the pathology department, where Dr. Carly Lever (Jasika Nicole) greets him. She gives him a tour of the lab, and he is excited by a special printer in the lab. Carly lets him play with it, and tells him that they’re the detectives while surgeons are just beat cops.

 

As Melendez and Morgan discuss the surgery, Claire tells them that the whole thing is ridiculous. She explains that the person Clarence “killed” was a mentee that committed suicide. Melendez questions if she wants to override Clarence’s religious beliefs and Morgan questions if she wants to override all religious people’s beliefs because she doesn’t agree with them. Claire suggests they have a duty to tell Clarence the true dangers of not doing the spinal fusion, and Melendez thinks it’s a good idea.

 

As they run the test on Sadie, Alex remarks how ridiculous the unnecessary test is. Lim tells him a story from med school about a woman who insisted she was going to die and kept returning to the hospital. Upon seeing the test, they determine that Sadie has a tumor. They tell Sadie and Jess the diagnosis and the sisters break down.

 

Claire attempts to warn Clarence of the dangers of not doing the spinal fusion, but Clarence insists it’s what God wants for him. She questions why he’s getting treatment if he believes God wants him to have cancer, and that if it means everyone who has cancer is being punished by God. Claire asks if God is punishing an eight year old who has cancer, and Clarence replies that God gave her cancer to inspire. Clarence tells her about how he ignored his mentee’s call before he killed himself.

 

Alex visits Shaun in pathology, asking him to run a test for Sadie. He asks Shaun how he’s doing, asking if he’s happy there. Shaun changes the subject, and Alex advises Shaun to tell Dr. Jackson Han (Daniel Dae Kim) how he feels if he isn’t happy. Shaun asks if he needs the test results immediately and declares he’s going for a walk when Alex says he doesn’t.

 

Lim defends Shaun to Han, declaring he should be a surgical resident. Han agrees that he was a good resident, but says that Shaun will never be a great surgeon due to his communication issues. Lim argues that they can help him, and points out that she knows Shaun better than him. However, Han refuses to change his mind, suggesting her view of Shaun is distorted because she likes him.

 

Melendez, Claire, and Morgan work to remove the tumor from Clarence, and rush to save him when a complication occurs. As Clarence wakes up, he gets angry that his pain is gone. Claire tells him that they injected anesthetic after the complication, and warns him that doing the surgery without the spinal fusion is dangerous. Clarence insists they try the operation again and Clarence’s wife (Diana Pavlovska) questions if he really thinks God wants him to die. However, Clarence continues to demand they try again.

 

Carly tries to talk to Shaun about a case, but Shaun is stuck on Sadie’s case and suggests that her diagnosis is incorrect. Shaun wants to talk to Lim, but Carly tells him that their work on the case is done and they need to move on. He declares he’s going for a walk, but she tells him he can’t go to talk to Lim. She asks if he’ll be able to move on, but Shaun tells her he’ll try very hard to next time before going to talk to Lim.

 

Claire visits Han and he asks if this is her standing up to a supervisor once again. She shows him a list of cases she put together where Shaun was the one able to come up with the idea to save the patient. Han asks if she thinks he hates Shaun, and Claire suggests he’s biased against Shaun. However, Han continues to insist that Shaun can’t be a surgeon because of his autism, arguing that he found a place for him in the hospital to utilize his skills.

 

Glassman goes to talk to Debbie Wexler (Sheila Kelley), telling her that he’s done with chemo and wants to celebrate. He asks if she’s free, and she tells him she’s busy that night. She shoots down his suggestions of other times they can meet, telling him she’s seeing someone.

 

As they operate on Clarence, Morgan asks Claire about her beliefs about God. Claire tells her that her family wasn’t religious, and Melendez tells them about his family’s beliefs. Melendez tells them they’ve reached the point of the previous complication, and tells them to tread carefully. After Morgan removes the tumor, her measurement proves that the tumor has mysteriously shrunk from its initial size.

 

Shaun looks at Sadie’s brain scan, telling Lim that he doesn’t agree with her diagnosis. Lim tells him he shouldn’t be there, but Shaun tells her he’s not interacting with patients. She tells him that two radiologists confirmed the diagnosis, but Shaun points out an anomaly on the scan and tells her that he wants to talk to the patient. Lim tells him not to approach the patient or Han, and Shaun questions if she would let him talk to Han if he was Claire. She admits she probably would, and he asks if she thinks Han made the right decision transferring him. However, Lim tells him she doesn’t.

 

Morgan shows Claire and Melendez evidence that Clarence’s cancer is going away on its own, and Melendez insists there has to be an explanation. They debate possible explanations, and Morgan asks what they should do next. Claire is skeptical that God is fixing him, and Melendez tells them they should monitor Clarence to figure out what is curing him.

 

Glassman visits Shaun, and Lea tells him that Shaun has been organizing their cans for two hours. Shaun explains that he’s alphabetizing them, and denies something is wrong. Soon after, Shaun blurts out his concerns with Sadie’s diagnosis and his frustration at being unable to do anything about it. He asks Glassman to help him become a surgical resident again, but Glassman tells him he can’t do anything anymore and that he has to stand up for himself.

 

Shaun tells Nurse Dalisay Villanueva (Elfina Luk) that he’s doing research on Sadie, and she tells him she’s asleep and Jess isn’t around. He goes into her room and looks through Sadie’s purse as Sadie sleeps. Shaun is caught by Han, who demands to know what he’s doing. In Han’s office, Shaun argues that he didn’t speak to Sadie and Han tells him that this proves his decision to transfer him was the right one, questioning if he’s going to have to fire him. Shaun presents his theory that Sadie’s condition is caused by a worm in a food he found in her purse. Han admits the theory is plausible, and promises they’ll run a biopsy to test it.

 

Morgan and Claire tell Clarence the surgery went well, and he questions when they’re starting chemo. They tell him they want to run some more tests first, and Clarence and his wife question why they’re doing it after the surgery. Morgan explains that his cancer seems to be going away on its own, and Clarence and his wife are thrilled.

 

Glassman answers the door and Debbie tells him she lied about seeing someone. She tells him they’re not a good match, but Glassman insists that isn’t true. Glassman argues with her and she reminds him that he pushed her away last time. He tells her it’s not an issue anymore and that he wants to celebrate specifically with her. She tells him she has fun with him, but that they also need to be able to support each other during the bad times as well. Glassman argues that he’s not asking them to get married but Debbie leaves, assuring him he’ll beat the cancer.

 

Morgan tells Clarence and his wife that they can’t find a scientific explanation for his recovery. Clarence’s wife declares it’s a miracle, and Claire tells Clarence there’s no reason not to do the spinal surgery anymore. Clarence demands they run more tests and insists there must be an explanation. Claire quotes a bible verse, and Clarence comments he didn’t think she was a believer. She tells him that it’s unlikely that God has singled him out of everyone for a divine message.

 

Claire tells him a lot of people get cancer, but it’s rare that it goes away on its own. She tells him he has to forgive himself, and he agrees to the spinal fusion after his wife tells him that his pain does no one any good. As they perform the spinal fusion, Morgan questions Claire’s lie that she never went to church. Claire tells her she was trying to avoid the conversation, and tells her that losing her faith was like losing a loved one.

 

Han looks at the test results and tells Shaun to follow him. They go to Sadie’s room and Han informs her that the initial diagnosis was wrong. He explains she has a worm in her brain and that it’s treatable. Han introduces Sadie and Jess to Shaun, telling them that he is the one who found the abnormality in the test. Sadie asks Shaun if she can give him a hug, but he refuses. Outside, Han compliments Shaun on his work and Shaun agrees his work was excellent. Shaun tells him that he doesn’t want to be a pathologist and tells him that he needs to make him a surgical resident again. Han is glad to see he is able to advocate for himself, but tells him that he made the right decision, arguing that he could be a great pathologist.

 

Morgan and Claire tell Clarence that the surgery went well. Clarence admits that he’s scared, questioning if he disobeyed God. Claire tells him to have faith, explaining she lost her faith because she didn’t have a miracle to help through the dark times. As Lim and Alex operate on Sadie, Shaun watches from above holding his brother’s scalpel.