The Good Doctor – Empathy

By starrymag | December 2, 2018

By: Jessica Wolff

 

 

Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) visits Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff) in the waiting room and asks for his driver’s license. Glassman refuses, but Shaun argues that the memory test proves that he’s not fit to drive. Glassman gets angry at Shaun for not keeping the test between them, but Shaun insists that Blaize needed to know. Shaun threatens to tell the DMV, and Glassman reluctantly hands over his license.

 

Dr. Neil Melendez (Nicholas Gonzalez), Dr. Claire Browne (Antonia Thomas), and Dr. Morgan Reznick (Fiona Gubelmann) tend to George Reynolds (Tyler Ritter), informing him that he’s having a stroke caused by the medication he’s taking. As Shaun and Dr. Alex Park (Will Yun Lee) tend to Billy Cayman (Mason Gooding), Alex offers to fix his cratered forehead in addition to the required surgeries. Billy is excited by the prospect, but Shaun argues that it’s not medically necessary and expensive.

 

Melendez, Claire, and Morgan speculate that George is lying about his reason for taking the medication, and Claire suggests that he’s gender-transitioning. Melendez argues that he needs to find an alternative medication, or else he’ll keep having strokes. Shaun continues to argue against repairing Billy’s forehead, but Alex argues that it would help improve Billy’s life and suggests that Shaun doesn’t have empathy for Billy. However, Shaun replies that empathy is a bad reason to fight for someone as it limits who he prioritizes.

 

George insists he needs to continue taking the medications, and Morgan asks him to tell them the real reason he’s taking them. Claire urges him to tell the truth, and George tells him he’s taking them to suppress unwanted sexual urges. Allegra Aoki (Tamlyn Tomita) tells Dr. Marcus Andrews (Hill Harper) that there’s a betting pool on who will be named chief of surgery and urges him to make a decision. She advises him to spend more time with the candidates and that she’s scheduled his announcement in two days.

 

Morgan informs Claire that George has been released, and Claire goes to look for him. Morgan asks about her concern, and Claire tells her that her research shows that George is most likely attempting to suppress sexual attraction to children. They see George driving away on bus, and Claire determines there’s nothing they can do.

 

As Alex takes bets on the new chief of surgery, Shaun asks the group if empathy is necessary to be a good doctor. Claire argues that it can impact decision-making, but Morgan insists that Claire is just saying that to avoid hurting his feelings due to empathy. Morgan argues that telling the cold, hard truth is the most empathetic thing, and Shaun admits that empathy is difficult for him, questioning if that makes him a bad doctor. Claire argues that everyone has strengths and weaknesses, and Morgan declares that making people feel validated is Claire’s strength.

 

George is brought back to the hospital and the EMT explains that someone tried to castrate him. Claire determines that he did it to himself, and George declares that he’s a monster, confirming her suspicions of his attraction to children. Morgan tells him his castration attempt was unsuccessful and George begs them to finish the job.

 

Later, Morgan argues they should castrate him but Claire reminds her that he hasn’t acted on his urges yet. Claire suggests they should get him psychiatric help, but Morgan questions whether that will work. Andrews, observing the discussion, asks Melendez what he plans to do. Melendez argues that castration to prevent a crime isn’t ethical and sides with Claire.

 

Alex talks to Billy in the MRI, and Shaun argues that empathy is bad because Billy’s movement during answering the questions is affecting their ability to get good imaging. Alex argues that he’s making Billy more comfortable and continues talking to him. Billy talks about his family, and Shaun determines that Billy needs emergency surgery on his diaphragm.

 

As Dr. Audrey Lim (Christina Chang), Shaun, and Alex operate on Billy, they argue about fixing Billy’s forehead. Lim tells Alex that she’s not convinced by his argument, and Shaun questions if it’s due to her lack of empathy for Billy. Lim tells him it’s because she agrees with him, but adds that empathy can be a powerful motivator. She then asks them in a whisper is Andrews is still observing her, and Shaun confirms he is.

 

Morgan tells George that they can’t castrate him without psychiatric clearance, but George argues that it’ll take too long. George tells her she has no idea what it’s like to live with these thoughts and he hates himself for them. Claire promises to start immediately, but George refuses psychiatric treatment. Shaun asks Glassman how he feels about not having a driver’s license, and Glassman tells him he’s pissed. Glassman gets mad at him for repeating his words, but Shaun insists he’s trying to understand his feelings. Glassman tells him about his first car and how he loved the freedom it provided, adding how angry he is to have that freedom taken away.

 

Lim tells Melendez that they need to tell Andrews to back off, arguing that he’s impeding their ability to work. Melendez agrees with her, but doesn’t want to jeopardize his frontrunner status. Lim argues that she’s the frontrunner, and that she’s the better candidate. Shaun tells Billy the surgery went well, and Billy asks when they’re going to fix his forehead. Alex tells him it’s not going to happen, and Billy tells them that his father bashed his forehead with a baseball bat.

 

Shaun insists that he’s going to be a good driver as he prepares for a lesson with Lea Dilallo (Paige Spara). Lea tells him to go, but Shaun hesitates. She instructs him to close his eyes and visualize the parking lot, and Shaun lists everything in the lot. Lea encourages him to start the car and tells him to open his eyes once he starts driving. As Melendez, Claire, and Morgan discuss what to do about George, Melendez tells Andrews to leave using Lim’s reasoning and Andrews leaves.

 

Shaun lists common driver mistakes as he and Lea drive on the road. Lea tells him to turn ahead and Shaun slows down as he debates the use of the bike lane with her. The cars behind them try to get around him and Shaun stops as he’s overstimulated by the honking of the other cars.

 

Claire insists they need to help George, but Melendez argues that the red tape blocking them prevents them from making a wrong decision. Claire suggests that she fill out the paperwork and stating that castration is their only option. Morgan agrees with Claire, but Melendez refuses to let her falsify documents and tells them to move George where he won’t disrupt other patients.

 

Alex continues to argue that they should repair Billy’s forehead, and Lim questions if his judgment is being clouded by the number of kids he sent to juvie. He argues that Lim’s desire to impress Andrews is clouding her judgment, and Shaun suggests they use a breast implant to fix Billy’s forehead, arguing that the method would make it more economical. Alex argues that Billy gave them verbal consent for the procedure, and Lim tells Shaun to acquire the implant.

 

Claire and Morgan wait until George finally passes out before taking him to the operating room. As Melendez prepares for surgery, Lim comes in and confronts him about using her argument to tell Andrews to back off. Melendez argues that she didn’t have the guts to confront Andrews herself and they argue over who is the better candidate. Lim tells him there a lot of people who have underestimated her before leaving the room. As they are about to begin the surgery, George’s condition turns critical and they rush to help him.

 

Shaun hands Lim the implant and she inserts it into Billy’s forehead. Lim asks for her updated odds in the betting pool, and pus a hundred dollars on herself. Billy’s pressure starts dropping and they rush to help him. Aoki asks Andrews about Lim and Melendez, and Andrews compares both of them to himself. She tells him that nobody will be as good as he thinks he was, and reminds him that his issue is with decision-making. Shaun restarts Billy’s heart and he regains pressure before they restart surgery.

 

Melendez determines that George will die if he loses any more testosterone, and that they can’t perform the castration. Lea tells Shaun she’s figured out a way to help him drive, using an analogy that compares driving to surgery. Shaun is skeptical, but Lea reminds him that unexpected things happen in surgery as well and Shaun starts comparing the events. Morgan and Claire tell George what happened, and Claire promises they can try again after the psychiatric evaluation. George tells them he understands, and that it can only be done their way.

 

Lea encourages Shaun as they try driving on the road again. Shaun successfully makes the turn but is thrown off when a soccer ball rolls into the street. He swerves and hits a trash can before declaring Lea was wrong about his ability to drive. Shaun insists that driving is not like surgery due to it’s unpredictability due to human error. Lea reminds him that learning about surgery was about more than just operating, and tells him that he mastered it. She points out that he was able to avoid a car crash, and he compares the soccer ball to a dropped surgical tool, declaring that he can drive.

 

The staff gathers around to hear Andrews announce that he will retain the chief of surgery title, and Shaun is excited about winning the betting pool. Shaun and Alex show Billy his forehead, and he is pleased with the results. Alex tells him it was Shaun’s idea, and Shaun explains the procedure. Billy thanks him for saving his life, but Shaun declares it a mistake since he almost died. Claire finds that George is gone and she and Morgan run outside to see him step in front of a bus. Lim joins Melendez at the bar, admitting that she encouraged him to confront Andrews as a way to gain a competitive edge. Melendez admits that she was right about them needing to stand together.

 

Alex asks Shaun why he changed his mind about the forehead, realizing he did it due to empathy. Shaun insists his idea almost killed Billy, but Alex shows him proof that Billy nearly died due to not taking his medication, declaring that Shaun saved his life. Morgan tells Claire that she’s sorry about how George’s life ended, but that she isn’t convinced that the world isn’t a better place without him. Shaun and Lea drive to Glassman’s house and Shaun tells Glassman that he can drive. Lea tells him that Shaun is doing well, and Shaun drives Glassman to his radiation appointment.