The Good Doctor – Islands, Part Two

By starrymag | January 22, 2018

By: Jessica Wolff

 

 

Jenny Kunkler (Emily Hinkler) stirs awake to the relief of Dr. Claire Browne (Antonia Thomas). Claire tests her on her awareness, and she does what’s asked. Jenny asks how Katie Kunkler (Elizabeth Hinkler) is doing, and Claire tells her she hasn’t woken up yet. Outside Claire, Dr. Ko (Necar Zadegan), Dr. Neil Melendez (Nicholas Gonzalez), and Dr. Marcus Andrews (Hill Harper) discuss why Katie is in a coma.

 

Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) arrives and offers to run the test on Katie. Melendez and Andrews yell at him for taking time off without permission. He tells them that he’ll ask for permission the next time he goes on a road trip with his girlfriend. Melendez is angry that Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff) told them he had a personal crisis, but Shaun tells them he did. He responds that a road trip isn’t a personal crisis, but assigns Shaun and Claire to run the test on Katie.

 

Melendez calls out Glassman for lying to him, and tells him that he spoke to Shaun five minutes ago. Shaun and Claire don’t find anything unusual on the test until Shaun zooms in and finds a potential problem. As he asks for a different angle, Claire asks him about his trip. Shaun tells her he kissed Lea (Paige Spara), and that Glassman is mad at him. He refuses to elaborate, and they see that Katie has restricted bloodflow to the brain.

 

Glassman asks to speak to Shaun, and explains to him that Melendez was angry about his absence. He asks Shaun why he ran away, but he insists that he didn’t run away. Glassman explains that he did, and asks if the trip helped. Shaun says it did, and gives him his two weeks notice. As Mrs. Kunkler (Kerry Sandomirsky) gets Jenny some ice chips, Jenny becomes disoriented in her bed. Mrs. Kunkler offers to get a doctor, but Jenny explains she was dealing with being alone for the first time in her life.

 

An attorney (Robert Moloney) hands Jessica Pereton (Beau Garrett) a wrongful termination suit for his client, Dr. Jared Kalu (Chuku Modu). Jessica however doesn’t believe the lawsuit will hold up in court, but the attorney tells her to continue reading. As the team debates what to do about Katie, Shaun combs through his textbook memories and makes a suggestion. Ko supports the decision, despite the potential risks. She asks Shaun if he wants to assist, and he agrees before asking Melendez for a letter of recommendation.

 

Shaun assists Ko with the surgery, and she makes a comment about him making other people nervous. She clarifies that they’re nervous because he is gifted, and gives Shaun instructions. The beeping begins and they realize that Katie’s artery is damaged, causing them to stop the operation. Jenny asks to see Katie despite Andrews’ objections. She tells him that he doesn’t understand, but Andrews tells her to focus on healing.

 

Claire and Melendez examine Jenny’s heart, and find that it has gotten worse. The team realizes that Katie’s heart was doing the work for Jenny’s heart. Melendez tells them that they won’t be able to find a donor in time, but Shaun suggests using Katie’s heart to save Jenny. Despite Melendez pointing out that Katie is still alive, Ko supports the idea, believing that Katie won’t wake up. Claire argues that she might still wake up, but Ko insists that Jenny needs a new heart that day.

 

They explain the situation to Mrs. Kunkler, confirming that Katie has no chance of waking up. She asks for more time, but Melendez tells her that Jenny will die that night if they don’t give her a transplant. After confirming that the termination won’t be painful for Katie, she signs the papers giving her consent. Andrews asks if they should tell Jenny, but Mrs. Kunkler insists that Jenny can’t know the truth.

 

Melendez shows Glassman the glowing recommendation letter he wrote for Shaun. Glassman asks if he thinks Shaun will survive at another hospital, and Melendez responds that he doubted his ability to survive at this hospital. Melendez insists that he doesn’t want to stand in Shaun’s way of getting what he wants, despite his objections to the decision.

 

Jessica shows Allegra Aoki (Tamlyn Tomita) the evidence Jared’s attorney presented that a white doctor was not fired for doing the same thing that Jared did. Aoki asks Jessica if she really believes that she’s racist, and Jessica asks why Jared wasn’t given the same leniency. Aoki argues that the white doctor was very talented, but Jessica finds fault with the argument. Aoki tells her to settle the case. Claire rides with Glassman in the elevator, and asks about Shaun’s letter of recommendation. Glassman admits that he’s struggling with signing the letter, and Claire tells him that Shaun thinks he’s mad at him before suggesting he sign as a show of support.

 

Mrs. Kunkler says goodbye to Katie before they unplug her life support. However, Katie stabalizes and Andrews suggests that she’s not ready to go. As the team debates what to do, Shaun use his textbook memories to suggest reconjoining them. Ko supports the idea, and the rest of the team comes around to it. Jenny is furious that Mrs. Kunkler tried to kill Katie, but Mrs. Kunkler explains that Jenny will die without a new heart. Andrews tries to convince Jenny, but she believes that Katie will wake up and refuses to use her as a life support machine.

 

Outside, Claire suggests that they return Katie to Jenny’s room overnight to help Jenny make her decision. Andrews suggests that it could backfire, but Claire convinces him after telling him they have nothing to lose. Shaun helps Lea pack, and she shows him an autographed baseball signed by Hunter Pence. He mentions that he’s moving his residency to Pennsylvania, and she asks if he’s following her. He insists that he’s doing it because he wants his own life, and she suggests that needing help isn’t a bad thing.

 

As they fold laundry, Jessica suggests to Melendez that they take a trip and makes fun of his slow folding. He challenges her to a race, but they soon wind up on the bed. Melendez tells her that she’s the only good thing about his day before kissing her. Jenny looks over at Katie and moves to be closer to her, holding her hand. Later, Jenny tells the team that she felt Katie’s heartbeat and approves the surgery, believing that having Katie’s heart will mean that she will always be with her.

 

During the surgery, the team stitches Jenny and Katie back together and Ko tells Jenny she did great. Glassman asks Shaun why he chose Hershey, PA, and Shaun tells him that Lea’s moving there. Shaun tells Glassman that he doesn’t like candy bars, when Glassman tells him that Hershey makes good ones. Glassman tells Shaun that he realized that he brought him to San Jose because he thought Shaun needed him. He signs the letter of recommendation, but tells Shaun he doesn’t want him to go, promising that he’ll back off if he stays.

 

As the team realizes that the operation isn’t working as expected, Katie wakes up. She calls out to Jenny, who assure her that she’s right next to her. Melendez tells Claire and Shaun to run tests on Katie as Jenny and Katie hold hands. Ko tells Mrs. Kunkler of the development, and tell her that they can’t explain it. However, Mrs. Kunkler believes that they’ve always needed each other. Andrews tells her that Katie regaining consciousness makes it difficult for her to share her heart with Jenny and that need to find a donor as soon as possible.

 

Jared refuses the settlement offer from his attorney, insisting that he doesn’t care about the money. His attorney argues that the settlement money covers his salary, but Jared only wants his job back. Claire asks Shaun if he’s moving for Lea, and if she knows that. Shaun replies that Lea knows he’s moving, but that she doesn’t know it’s for her. Shaun admits that Lea makes him happy, and Claire tells him that she’s going to miss him. The lab tech (Nelson Wong) expresses concern about Katie’s test results and Shaun realizes that Jenny is killing Katie.

 

The team rushes to reseperate the twins, and Katie tells Jenny that they can’t do this. Jenny tells her they have to, but Katie insists that they’re in this together. Jenny loses consiciousness and Katie sobs as the team works to revive her. Claire goes to Mrs. Kunkler in the waiting room, and informs her of Jenny’s death. She asks about Katie, and Claire asks for her help to convince Katie to let them separate her from Jenny. Melendez tells Mrs. Kunkler that she’ll give them some privacy and she tells Katie that they have to let go of Jenny. Katie insists that she won’t let them separate them, but Mrs. Kunkler tell her to look at Jenny before declaring that she can’t lose both of her daughters.

 

Jared tries to talk to Andrews about the case, but Andrews makes it clear that he doesn’t approve of his reinstatement. He points out that his argument was sound, but Andrews tells him that he stepped over the line and compromised his integrity. Andrews tells him that misrepresenting racism sets them two steps back. Melendez gives Jared instructions as they start the operation. Later, Katie wakes up and Mrs. Kunkler pulls up a blanket when Katie complains about being cold.

 

Shaun tells Glassman that he spoke to Claire and hands back the letter of recommendation. Glassman puts the letter in his drawer, and Jessica tells Melendez that she wants to break up. He asks why and she tells him that she loves him, but that she can’t hold him back from having kids. Melendez reminds her he was willing to compromise, but Jessica knows he will eventually resent her. He tries to argue that he won’t, but she tells him that she knows it will happen and that he’s going to be a great father.

 

Before she leaves, Lea gives Shaun the signed baseball and has him promise he will  bring it back when he visits her. He promises and says that he likes Hershey. She reminds him he’s never been, but he says that he likes because she’s there. Lea asks permission to put her arms around him and he obliges. She asks him if he’s a good doctor, and that she thinks he is before kissing him. Shaun takes the ball out of it’s case and places it next to the photo of him and his brother.