The Good Doctor – Point Three Percent

By starrymag | October 30, 2017

By: Jessica Wolff

 

Kevin Wilks (Jesse Moss) goes home to his father, Mr. Wilks (Brett Rice).  Wilks tells him that he’s five weeks late, and Kevin stops him from closing the door.  He tells him that he can explain, and Wilks reminds him that he missed his mother’s funeral.  Kevin embraces him and tells him that he has his cell phone.  Wilks tells him that he has to answer it and storms off.  Kevin hears a crash in the house, runs inside to find his father struggling to breathe on the floor.

 

At the hospital, Dr. Neil Melendez (Nicholas Gonzalez) is shocked that Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) is on time, asking if he slept there or used a teleporation device.  Shaun replies that he used the teleportation device and explains that he’s figured out that people respond to dumb questions with sarcasm.  Melendez tells him, Dr. Claire Browne (Antonia Thomas) and Dr. Jared Kalu (Chuku Modu) that their patient, Wilks, had a serious allergic reaction.  Claire asks why they are doing a surgical consult, and Melendez explains they’re examining his severe abdominal pain.

 

Shaun is distracted by the sight of a boy that looks exactly like his brother, Steve Murphy (Dylan Kingwell).  Melendez, Claire, and Jared go over the results of Mr. Wilk’s tests, and Jared suggests that that he has pancreatitus.  Melendez isn’t convinced that the condition is that severe, and Jared tells him that he’ll order more tests to figure out his condition.  Shaun explains to the boy, Evan Gallico, that his broken arm will heal quickly.  He asks where his parents are, and Evan explains that they are on their way and remarks that he broke his arm tripping on a school field trip.  Shaun remarks that he thought it was caused by a more serious accident, but Evan explains that he’s clumsy.  He checks his eyes and asks Evan if he fell on his head.  Evan asks if he has brain damage, and jokes that it would explain his bad grade.  Shaun confirms he’s joking and tells him he’s ordering a test.

 

Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff) notices Evan as Shaun orders the test.  He comments to Shaun that he looks like Steve, but Shaun doesn’t react much.  Glassman is surprised that Shaun isn’t disturbed by the uncanny resemblence, but Shaun reminds him that Steve is dead.  Kevin explains to Wilks that he missed the funeral because he fell in love with a woman in Thailand with a heart condition.  Wilks tells him not to insult his intelligence, and that he could have called.  Claire and Jared inform Wilks that he has a lesion on his pancreas and that they need to do a biopsy to determine the severity.

 

Shaun runs the test on Evan, who makes a joke.  After confirming it’s a joke, he explains to Evan that he has autism.  Evan asks if Shaun knows anyone who died, and he tells him about his brother.  Shaun asks why he’s had so many brain scans, and Evan tells him that his parents have nosophobia.  Shaun flashes back to his younger self (Graham Verchere) listening to Steve trying out words as he reads a dictionary.  In the present, Evan asks him if he’s married or has a girlfriend and Shaun tells him that he likes a girl named Lea.

 

Melendez comes in and asks why he’s giving a broken arm patient a brain scan.  Shaun points out on the scan that Evan has a brain tumor.  Shaun goes to speak to Evan’s parents (Samantha Sloyan and Michael Muhney) and informs them of the tumor.  Evan’s parents inform him that Evan was already diagnosed with bone cancer, and ask to see him.  Shaun gives them the room number, and Mrs. Gallico tells him that Evan doesn’t know about his diagnosis.

 

In the cafeteria, Shaun questions whether Evan has a right to know the truth.  Glassman argues that he’s a minor, but Shaun believes he’s able to handle it.  When Glassman suggests that his parents might have a reason, Shaun argues that maybe they are the ones that shouldn’t be told.  Glassman asks what’s wrong with Evan enjoying the rest of his life, but Shaun is confident that Evan wants to know.  He asks if Steve would want to know, and Shaun flashes back to Steve complaining about their father catching him looking at his birthday present.  He says that he hates surprises, and tells Shaun that his honesty is refreshing after he tells him what his present is.  In the present, Glassman tells him there’s nothing they can do.

 

Shaun asks Claire for her help, explaining that he needs someone to lie for him.  Kevin appoaches Jared and tells him that there’s something he needs to tell his father and asks if he is dying.  Jared tells him they don’t know yet, and Kevin explains that he and his father have a strained relationship.  Jared gives him his father’s room number and he goes to him.  Claire tells Evan that he needs pins in his arm, and Evan questions why.  She talks to him about his arm, while Shaun observes.  As they prepare Wilks for his biopsy, Claire tells Jared about Shaun’s strange request.  Jared tells her about his talk with Kevin, and that he believes that Kevin lied to his father about something.  He mentions he didn’t ask about it, and Claire tells him that it’s not hard to be a human being and that a lie is a stone in the heart.  Wilks goes into anaphylictic shock and they rush to help him.

 

As Shaun works on Evan, he asks whether Claire is Lea.  Shaun insists that she is his colleague, but Evan tells him that he saw the way he was looking at her.  He denies it and Evan asks why he called her in as a consult.  Though he explains that she’s better at talking to people, Evan declares that he sucks at lying.  Shaun asks how he knows when to lie, and Evan tells him to tell the truth when people need to know things.  Shaun asks about if the truth would hurt them, and Evan replies that some can and some can’t.  Shaun asks how he can tell the difference, and he explains that if they still like you afterwards, than they can handle it.  Shaun blurts out that he has cancer, and Evan replies that he knows.

 

Evan explains that though his parents told him he was fine, he knew they were lying and that he looked up his symptoms to figure out his condition.  He assures him that he’s not afraid of dying, and Shaun asks if it’s because he believes he’s going to heaven.  Evan tells him no, because then he would have to believe that God made him sick.  He asks where he met Lea, and Shaun tells him that they met in a hallway.  Evan makes fun of him for the simple story, and Shaun tells him that she’s his neighbor.

 

Jared and Claire tell Melendez that Wilks had a more severe allergic reaction, and Melenedz concludes that he’s allergic to whatever is in the cyst.  Claire asks Shaun if he’s looking for loopholes to save Evan, as he examines Evan’s test results. He mentions to Claire that Evan is okay with dying.  She doesn’t believe it, but Shaun insists that people would be happier if they accepted death.  Claire checks Wilks’ results and rushes to Jared to inform him that the cyst is filled with tapeworms.  Jared shows her that he has an undetected cyst on his brain.

 

Jared shows Glassman the scan of Wilks’ brain and asks for his help.  They show the scan to Wilks, who asks how he got tapeworms in his head.  Jared and Glassman explain that the cyst burst due to sudden movement, and Wilks suggests to Kevin that his hug triggered the first reaction.  Jared explains that he accidentally ruptured the second during the biopsy.  Glassma explains that a third rupture would be bad, and tells him that they’ll need to remove all of the cysts in surgery.  Jared assures Wilks that Glassman is the best neurosurgeon, and Glassman explains that they’ll have to take off the top of his skull.  Wilks is horrified, but Glassman assures him that things will be fine.  Shaun does research on Evan’s condition and uses his textbook memories to declare that Evan doesn’t have cancer.

 

Shaun waits for Melendez as he pulls into the parking lot and informs him of his findings.  He explains that his symptoms line up more with another condition that can be falsely diagnosed as cancer.  Melendez asks about the biopsies in Evan’s file, and Shaun believes that they could be false positives.  Melendez reminds him that the chance of two false positives is .3 percent, and testing again might give false hope.  Shaun tells Glassman his theory and that it’s worth the risk to test again.  Shaun suggests not telling Melendez what he’s doing, and Glassman is not happy about the ethics violation.  He tells him not to tell anyone and tells him what to say instead.

 

Wilks tells Jared that he tried to pass the family grocery store business to Kevin, but he left.  Jared tells him that he walked away from his family business because he wanted to do his own thing.  Wilks tells him that he and Kevin were inseperable when he was younger.  Jared tells him that Kevin is there now, but Wilks tells him that Kevin ditched him when he needed him.  Jared tells him that holding a grudge is a stone in the heart.

 

Shaun tells Evan that he’s checking his bone marrow, and Evan asks why.  He tells him what Glassman told him to say, but Evan can tell that he’s lying.  Shaun explains his theory, but they can’t tell his parents because he doesn’t want to get their hopes up.  As Shaun is about to start the test, Evan’s parents arrive and asks what he’s doing.  Evan lies that Shaun was giving him a painkiller, but Shaun tells him the lie isn’t believable.  Shaun explains that Evan might have been misdiagnosed, but his mom is horrified that Evan knows the truth while his father calls Shaun insane.  Despite Shaun’s attempt to explain, Evan’s father kicks him out of the room as Evan starts coughing up blood.

 

Shaun offers Melendez his assistance, but Melendez tells him that he’s too close to the case.  As Melendez and Claire operate on Evan, Glassman joins Shaun as he observes.  Glassman tells Shaun that he has to learn how to lie, and confirms that Shaun is in trouble unless he is right.  Shaun believes that it’s not a big deal if he’s wrong, but Glassman tells him that false hope is cold.  Jared asks Kevin if he talked to his father, but he admits that he doesn’t know how.  As he explains the severity of the surgery, Jared asks Kevin if he’s comfortable lying to him through that.

 

Jared wheels Wilks into surgery, and Kevin confesses that his girlfriend wasn’t sick, but she dumped him.  He tells him that went to Thailand because he was worried that he wouldn’t be able to fill Wilks’ shoes.  Wilks doesn’t say anything, but gestures to Jared to wheel him away.  Melendez successfully finishes the operation on Evan, but Claire calls him over and asks him to look at something.  In the waiting room, Shaun notices a man holding a get well card and flashes back to himself giving Steve a recycled birthday card.  He give him a present, a copy of To Kill A Mockingbird.  In the present, Melendez informs Evan’s parents that Evan’s surgery went well, but he found proof of Evan’s cancer.

 

Glassman operates on Wilks, and works to pull out the cyst.  The procedure is successful, and Jared compliments him.  Evan wakes up and his parents tell him that everything is fine.  He asks about the cancer, and tells them that he’s known about it for some time when they try to lie.  Evan’s father apologizes, but Evan tells them that it’s okay because he will end up with his dead relatives.  Kevin tries to talk to his father, and admits that he misses his mom.  Wilks holds out his hand and Kevin takes it.

 

As Shaun stands over Evan, he flashes back to standing over Steve after his fall.  In the present, Evan asks if the the coast is clear and then thanks him.  Shaun admits he was wrong, but Evan isn’t mad.  He feels guilty about giving him false hope, but Evan admits that it felt good.  Shaun asks for a favor and Evan allows him to read a passage from Steve’s book.  In the past, Shaun sits by Steve, grabs the book and realizes that he was almost done with it.  In the present, Shaun finishes reading the rest of the book and thanks him.  He leaves the book with Evan, taking the bookmark with him.