The Good Doctor – Stories

By starrymag | November 25, 2018

By: Jessica Wolff

 

 

Dr. Audrey Lim (Christina Chang), Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore), and Dr. Claire Browne (Antonia Thomas) tend to a couple of crash victims, Dawn Williams (Christine Horn) and Todd Williams (Reggie Austin). They determine that Dawn has internal bleeding, and Shaun explains to Todd that they need to take her to surgery. Shaun snaps Todd’s hip back into place as Todd begs him not to let Dawn die, as she is his everything.

 

Dr. Morgan Reznick (Fiona Gubelmann) and Dr. Alex Park (Will Yun Lee) explain the proposed operation to Finn Tilley (Elliot Sancrant). Finn discusses his symptoms, and Morgan determines that he has low reflexes and they have to run some tests to figure out the cause. As Lim and Claire operate on Dawn, Shaun comes in and tells them Todd’s request. Claire finds an internal rupture, and they work to save her.

 

Morgan tells Finn’s parents (Elyse Levesque and Marc Valera) that Finn has some kind of infection. Alex asks about Finn’s vaccinations and Finn’s mother tells him that Finn has never been vaccinated. Morgan argues against their decision to not vaccinate, but Finn’s father insists they’re too risky. Alex stops Morgan before she accuses Finn’s parents of endangering their child, and she asks to speak to him outside.

 

Outside, Alex explains that he’s trying to gain their trust so he can change their views on vaccinations. Morgan suggests they send them away, but Alex reminds them of their oath to do no harm. She tells him a story of a friend who refused to vaccinate her kid and ended up dying. Alex expresses his sympathy but tells her that they still have to help Finn. Claire tells Todd that Dawn will be fine, but that they couldn’t save the pregnancy. Todd is confused as he had a vasectomy ten years ago, insisting they made a mistake as Dawn isn’t the type to cheat. Claire explains that a vasectomy doesn’t start failing after ten years, and Shaun bluntly tells him that it’s more likely the baby is someone else’s.

 

Allegra Aoki (Tamlyn Tomita) tells Dr. Marcus Andrews (Hill Harper) that Claire is being courted by other residency programs. Andrews denies that she’s leaving, but Allegra tells him she is the one reaching out to them. Andrews tells her he’s not responsible for Dr. Neil Melendez’s (Nicholas Gonzalez) decision to kick Claire off his team, but Allegra warns him that having two minority residents leaving the program so close to each other would look bad for the hospital.

 

Alex tells Finn’s parents the story Morgan told him, claiming it as his own. He implores them to reconsider their stance on vaccinations, and Morgan reports that though Finn doesn’t have polio, she’s requesting an MRI. Finn’s father tells them that his opinion on vaccinations hasn’t changed. Dr. Marina Blaize (Lisa Edelstein) questions Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff) about his symptoms, but he denies that he has memory loss. He downplays his previous memory lapses, but Blaize questions what he gains by lying. Glassman continues being difficult, and Blaiize asks if he would let his patients treat him this way. He continues arguing with her and she tells him to leave, but he comes back because he forgot his hat.

 

During the MRI, Morgan calls out Alex for stealing her story. She argues that stories don’t change minds, but he argues that people are more compelled by fear than reason. He challenges her to a bet where the loser has to buy the winner their preferred alcohol, and she agrees to the wager before they see that Finn has two spinal cords. Melendez explains Finn’s condition to his parents, and they agree to the operation upon hearing that he risks being a quadriplegic.

 

Dawn questions how she could be pregnant, insisting that she would never cheat as Todd is her everything. She makes a suggestion and Claire agrees to test Todd’s sperm count. Finn’s mother approaches Alex and tells him that she and her husband have decided to vaccinate Finn. He promises to start right away and texts Morgan that he won the bet. Morgan asks how much Alex’s preferred alcohol costs, and Andrews tells her it costs five-hundred dollars a bottle.

 

Andrews asks to join Claire, and talks to her about the situation with Melendez. Claire reminds him that he’s the one who told her to be more assertive, and that she still believes she made the right decision. He tries to convince her to stay, telling her Melendez will take her back. She assesses that he hasn’t talked to Melendez about it yet, asking if he’s coming to her because he believes she’s the path of least resistance. Andrews tells her it’s because she’s a resident and urges her to speak to Melendez to keep her job. However, Claire tells him she has nothing to say.

 

Alex gives Finn his first vaccination, but Finn collapses as he tries to stand up. Finn tells him that he can’t feel his leg, and Alex declares they need to operate now. As Shaun checks on Dawn, and she insists she loves Todd. However, she comments that Shaun looks young for a doctor and kisses him. Shaun pulls away, and Dawn insists she was just thanking him. Shaun reports to Lim and Claire that Todd’s sperm count is zero and asks if he has to tell him that Dawn kissed him. Claire argues that the kiss could be considered assault, and Lim asks Shaun if he wants to file a report. Shaun says he’ll think about it, and Lim advises him to not tells Todd about the kiss yet.

 

As Melendez, Morgan, and Alex operate on Finn, Todd angrily walks past Shaun as he tries to give him his test results and confronts Dawn about their nearly empty bank accounts. He asks her look him in the eyes and deny she cheated or stole money, but she is unable to and apologizes. She explains that she wasn’t able to stop, and Todd walks out. Shaun asks Dawn why she married Todd. Dawn insists she loves him and that he’s the best thing to come into her life. He asks why she kissed him, and she admits it was a mistake. Shaun observes the movement of her arm and declares that he knows the cause of her kissing him.

 

Andrews argues that Claire’s idea was a bold move, but Melendez reminds him that Claire broke protocol by going around him. Andrew advises him to show leadership by forgiving Claire and not looking like an ass. When Melendez doesn’t answer, Andrews tells him that it will be harder to promote him to chief of surgery if he doesn’t. Shaun presents Lim his theory that Dawn kissed him because she has a tumor affecting her decision-making ability. She is skeptical, but tells him to test his theory.

 

Morgan and Alex check on Finn, and they notice that his temperature and heart rate are rising. Claire is skeptical that Shaun will find anything as they test Dawn, suggesting that she cheated because she wasn’t happy. Shaun tells her he left home when he wasn’t happy, and questions why Dawn didn’t leave. Claire tells him that sometimes even the people they love hurt and betray you, and points out that Dawn’s scan shows no tumor. Shaun comments that the world is sad and complicated, but he wishes it wasn’t.

 

Shaun shows Dawn that the scan proves she’s a liar, and Dawn insists that her marriage with Todd was good. Claire observes the conversation and asks Dawn to draw the face of a clock. After she does it, they see that the drawing inaccurate and Shaun declares that she does have a tumor. Glassman approaches Shaun and asks to speak to him. He tells Shaun that he might have memory loss and asks him to test him. Shaun tells him to come to his apartment later to test his memory.

 

Morgan and Alex tell Finn’s parents that Finn has a staph infection and that he’ll have to go back into surgery. Alex assures them this has nothing to do with the vaccination, and Finn’s father is shocked that they vaccinated him. Finn’s mother admits she asked Alex to do it, and Finn’s father is offended she made the decision against his wishes.

 

Claire explains the tumor and treatment to Dawn and Todd, and Shaun tells them that that the betrayal was medical. Dawn tells Todd she’s been donating the money to charities, and Todd asks if she really couldn’t say no to anything. He asks how many affairs, and Dawn admits there were four. She tells him she regretted them as soon as they were over and Todd walks out.

 

Finn asks Alex why his parents haven’t visited him together, and realizes that his father didn’t know about the vaccination. He asks Alex to talk to his parents, blaming him for his parents’ separation. Melendez goes to speak to Claire, and Claire apologizes for undermining his authority. However, she tells him that she doesn’t mean it and that she knows he’s only there because of Andrews. She tells him that she’s apologizing to give him cover to make him look good, and Melendez welcomes her back.

 

Claire tells Todd they removed the tumor, and is glad he didn’t leave the hospital. Todd tells her he’s glad Dawn didn’t die, but doesn’t know if he can forgive her. Claire questions if he’s ever been attracted to people outside his marriage, and he replies that he’s never acted on it. She explains that Dawn acted on every temptation, but the fact that she never tried to leave him proves that she was never tempted to.

 

Alex approaches Finn’s father and tells him a story of a marriage that fell apart due to broken trust and that the husband no longer sees his kid. Finn’s father tells him that he’s had enough of his stories, and asks if the story is even real. Alex tells him it isn’t, and Shaun tells Dawn that her tumor is gone before asking if she wants to kiss him. She tells him she’s not going to despite wanting to, and Shaun declares it a good sign. Todd visits Dawn, taking her hand, and Shaun declares it a good sign as he and Claire observe.

 

Morgan finds Alex moping in the locker room, and advises him to go to a bar. Alex tells her he’s going to the gun range with his three guns, and Morgan asks if she can go too. He asks if she’s going to talk, and she promises she won’t. Glassman visits Shaun, who gives him a memory test by asking who gave him the furniture in the apartment. Glassman struggles and Shaun asks for the name of his brother, showing him his picture. Glassman is offended by the implication that he doesn’t know and tells him that the name is Sam. Shaun tells him it’s Steve and that he’s losing his memory.