The Good Doctor – Fixation

By: Ujjyani Banerjee

Morgan (Fiona Gubelmann), Andrews (Hill Harper) and Park (Will Yun Lee) attend to Wes Keller (Harold Perrineau), a 49 year old man who got his arm pricked by cactus out in the woods. Wes is tachycardic and his wound has turned septic. He is accompanied by four young and worried boys. After failed attempts of contacting Shaun (Freddie Highmore), ever since he got rejected by Lea (Paige Spara), Glassman (Richard Schiff) approaches him in the ER hoping to have talk over breakfast or dinner. Shaun declines and soon admits to being hurt. However, he is not too worried as he will still get to hangout with Lea. Shaun is confident that he’ll be able to overcome his issues. The resident soon joins Melendez (Nicholas Gonzalez) and Claire (Antonia Thomas) to check on their new patient, Alice Gottfried (Ever Carradine). After giving birth to her daughter, Alice has been unable to walk without tripping. She has chronic fatigue and nausea, too. Nobody in the last five years has been able to give her a diagnosis. With her entire medical history and reports at their disposal, Alice hopes to get an answer this time. Claire stumbles upon an old friend Dash (John Patrick Amedori). Melendez notices how happy she looks! Morgan and Park learn that Wes has hepatitis and had a drug abusive past. He explains to the young boys how bad choices effect life. Morgan wonders if they can leave, but Wes reveals how he trains these at-risk emancipated boys on “survival training” and “responsibility” out in the wild. Suddenly, Wes starts to sink. His wound infection has effected his aortic valve and he needs emergency surgery.

Melendez, Claire and Shaun brainstorm over Alice’s case. Shaun asks Melendez as to how he managed to get Dr. Lim (Christina Chang), a former friend, to fall in love with him. Melendez thinks it a very natural feeling and having been friends with her he already knew what pissed her off. They are interrupted by Kellan (Ricky He) who’s come to meet his dad. Shaun rudely asks him not to interrupt their “important”’ discussion, but Melendez lets the boy know that Park is in surgery. Claire is amused after witnessing Shaun’s rudeness, but to Shaun it was important as it would help him focus on the medicine better. He soon circles on Alice having Intracranial hypotension as her labor-induced intracranial pressure built-up might’ve created a spinal fluid leak. He suggests confirming it by performing a lumbar puncture. Claire is unsure as a misdiagnosis could turn things fatal, but Melendez approves Shaun’s idea. Shaun asks Claire to do the procedure alone and rushes to take care of a personal matter. Lea gets home urgently upon Shaun’s request only to witness how he un-alphabetized his food cans and hung the toilet paper “incorrectly” as per her liking. Shaun’s obsession with wanting to make things work pisses Lea off as it wasn’t even an emergency that needed her to drive home from work. Shaun realizes that he should’ve waited until evening.

Wes’s surgery is underway. Andrews realizes that the man will have permanent heart damage. Park feels bad as a simple cactus got in the way of Wes’s path to redemption. Morgan finds Wes’s wilderness retreat insufficient in terms of redemption against his spotty past. She thinks Wes went overboard trying to be a hero to the boys. Lim summons Park urgently. It turns out that Kellan and one of Wes’s boys, Max (Luke Slattery), were caught vaping pot inside hospital premises. Park is mad at Kellan. Shaun returns to check on Alice only to learn that Claire was right. Alice is deteriorating. As the residents try stabilizing her, the husband Owen (David Cubitt) and daughter Ruby (Alix West Lefler) arrive. While Morgan advises dietary restrictions to Wes we see Lim come in to inform him about Max’s antic. Suddenly, the doctors observe that Wes’s limbs are swollen and his urine output is low. Owen begs Alice to stop ruining the perfect life they built for Ruby in her forever quest to find a different diagnosis. Puzzled, Claire and Shaun learn that Alice has already been diagnosed with the “untreatable” Idiopathic Dysautonomia. Shaun notices that Alice is sweating for no reason. He suggests checking for adrenal tumors.

Park has a talk with Kellan in his car. He wants to know what caused this reckless behavior. Kellan gets a panic attack. Park calms him down and learns that vaping helps him beat the frequent attacks. Morgan drives out the boys from Wes’s room and is disgusted to find one of them watching pimple-popping videos. After they are gone, Andrews lets Wes know that he has renal failure. Except for continuous dialysis, a transplant is the only option left. Unfortunately, his past records would keep him from being a priority to UNOS. They decide to contact Wes’s family. During Alice’s MRI we watch Claire explain to Shaun how Owen was correct in pointing out that always being non-complacent could lead to heartbreak. Shaun finds giving up meaningless when someone’s already heartbroken. The residents soon focus on the MRI and observe a bright spot in the medullary space which implies higher uptake of radioactive material, hence overproduction of adrenaline. Alice’s adrenal gland itself is acting as a tumor.

Wes is on dialysis under Morgan’s supervision. While talking about how close the boys are to him and how overprotective they are of him, he suddenly gets a heart attack. Morgan calls Code Blue. Melendez, Shaun and Claire inform Alice that she has Bilateral Medullary Adrenal Hyperplasia. She would need steroid replacement therapy, but it comes with adverse side-effects; the best option is to let it be as the condition is neither fatal nor progressive. Owen concurs but Alice is adamant to do the surgery. Owen gives her two options of either living with her condition or getting the therapy done all alone as he and Ruby would leave. Shaun accuses Owen of blaming Alice for being sick even though she’s just trying to make things better. Melendez apologizes on behalf of Shaun as it’s not his decision to make. The doctors leave but Shaun witnesses Alice agreeing to not do the therapy as she cannot imagine leaving her family. Morgan and Park inform Andrews about Wes’s failing heart which is too weak to handle the fluid volume shifts of standard dialysis. Andrews asks the residents to check with UNOS and Wes’s family as he doesn’t have much time left. Melendez finds Claire staring at recipe cards that Kayla left for her through Dash and soon learns that Dash asked her out. Claire is unsure as she’s scared of hurting him in the process. Melendez reminds her how happy she was seeing Dash that morning and that she should go out with him. Park gets dinner for Kellan and apologizes for being harsh earlier. He reveals that he informed Jenny who is now worried. They have decided to get him therapy. Kellan feels that he’s being pawned off but Park is helpless as his son has remained distant for so long. Kellan blames his dad’s erratic working hours. Park realizes that Kellan’s anxiety is from the unsettled relationship that he and Jenny share.

Shaun is trying to find Alice a better solution, but Morgan keeps distracting him with gross noises while watching pimple-popping videos. Shaun asks her if she prefers calls over texts and whether she likes surprises. Morgan gets irritated by Shaun’s “research.” It turns out that he’s researching the most selfish person he knows after being rejected by Lea who claimed her own neediness and selfishness as the real culprits. Morgan keeps the iPad on the table. It is still playing that gross video. Shaun stares at it. Morgan advises him to be with someone who embraces his Autism, too. Suddenly, Shaun gets an idea and and rushes to Melendez’s office. Both doctors catch Alice and her family in time to confidently present Shaun’s new inventive surgery of squeezing out the hyperplastic medullary part like popping a pimple instead of removing both of Alice’s adrenal glands. The family looks relieved and they give consent. Max approaches Morgan to learn about Wes and realizes that the condition is deteriorating,.He reveals that he and the rest boys got tested; he’s a matching donor. A meeting is arranged. Lim appreciates Max’s generosity but he is underage and cannot be a living donor. Max reminds them that he’s emancipated. Even after Park and Andrews lay down all side-effects of losing a kidney, Max remains adamant. He has seen many hardships and doesn’t think this will be too much to handle. Moreover, he cannot let the person who saved his life time and again die this way.

Melendez allows Shaun to lead Alice’s surgery. Having popped multiple pimples in the past, Claire walks Shaun through the gland-popping technique. Andrews, Park, Morgan and Lim discuss Max’s offer. While the first three vote yes for Max, unfortunately Lim objects. She discloses everything to Wes from Max offering to donate his kidney to her disapproving of the transplant. According to her, Max has a good heart but right now he needs grownups to have his back. Wes understands. He asks for one last favor. Lim meets Max in the prayer room and lies to him that his kidney is not a match. She blames serum crossmatch. Max is heartbroken and breaks down. Lim offers her shoulder whilst fighting her own guilt. Shaun, Melendez and Claire check on Alice after her surgery. They ask her to get up. Not only does Alice walk successfully, she even picks Ruby up in her arms. Lim watches on as Wes summons all the boys in his room and gives them knowledge about star navigation.

Dash and Claire have a date night at her place. They enjoy eating burnt food and joking on how pathetic cooks they both are! Lea finds Shaun waiting for her as she leaves for the day. He insists on them going on a date and wants to be given a chance to fix things, just like he saved Alice. Lea says no. She’s sick of him trying to fix every problem and reminds him about how his autism would remain unfixable. She lets him know, once and for all, that they will never ever work together. Shaun looks aghast. Without saying another word, he walks home.

Upon reaching his apartment, Shaun hangs the toilet paper the way it used to be. He looks defeated.