The Good Doctor – Tough Titmouse

By starrymag | October 21, 2018

By: Jessica Wolff

 

 

Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) buys Lea Dilallo (Paige Spara) a donut in am attempt to make amends, and asks what she’s doing that day. Lea tells him that she’s looking for an apartment and mentions that she hates apartment hunting. Shaun suggests she move back to her old apartment since Kenny got arrested, but Lea doesn’t think being Shaun’s neighbor is a good idea. She reminds him they had a big fight, and that a donut isn’t going to resolve it.

 

Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff) reminisnces with his hallucination of Maddie Glassman (Holly Taylor) as he lies in his hospital bed. Maddie tells him she misses him, and Nurse Dalisay Villanueva (Elfina Luk) asks who he’s talking to, telling him that he can have medication to help him fall asleep. Maddie tells him that she’ll go away if he sleeps, and Glassman refuses the medication.

 

Dr. Neil Melendez (Nicholas Gonzalez), Shaun, and Dr. Alex Park (Will Yun Lee) look after a special needs patient with a piece of wood lodged in his shoulder, Mac (Isaiah Lehtinen). As Shaun observes Mac playing with his stuffed zebra, he flashes back to hi younger self (Graham Verchere) being taken to a new home. In the present, Shaun hands Mac his zebra as he’s rolled into surgery.

 

Dr. Claire Browne (Antonia Thomas), Dr. Audrey Lim (Christina Chang), and Dr. Morgan Reznick (Fiona Gubelmann) take in a patient, Kitty (Leah Lewis), from a helicopter that injured herself mountain climbing. As they close Mac’s surgery, Shaun asks how he finds a new friend, explaining the situation with Lea. Park advises him to go big to get Lea back, Melendez suggests that Lea isn’t worth his time, and JL (Teryl Rothery) suggests that he just be nice to Lea.

 

Maddie tells Glassman that she only has great memories of him, asking why she can’t remember the other memories. Glassman suggests that they never want the good memories to end, but Maddie tells him there’s more they should talk about, such as the real reason she’s there. Shaun reports to Mac’s mother, Nicole (Lesley Fera), that the surgery went well. Melendez notices that she isn’t excited when he tells her Mac can go home that day, and she admits she was hoping for one night without him.

 

Kitty’s parents (Kimiko Gelman and Keong Sim) rush to her, and Claire tells them that the proposed surgery will limit her movement. Kitty asks if she’ll be able to climb again, and Morgan tells her she won’t be able to at the same level. Kitty remarks that they should have left her on the mountain to die, and Morgan suggests a riskier surgery that will allow her to eventually climb again. Despite Kitty’s eagerness for the riskier surgery, her parents refuse to let her do it.

 

Nicole confesses that taking care of Mac is stressful, and Alex suggests a residential facility with trained professionals to take care of him. She refuses, explaining that she’s all he has left since his father abandoned him. Melendez suggests that Mac would have difficulty transitioning to a residential facility, and Shaun flashes back to meeting his new foster mother, Sybil Meeks (Brooke Smith). Sybil is upfront about her nature and tells him that his room is on the left. In the present, Shaun admits that Mac would eventually get used to the residential facility.

 

Kitty’s parents explain that Kitty keeps injuring herself, and Kitty declares that she’s not an adrenaline junkie and that she feels alive when climbing. Kitty’s father tells her they want her to live, but Morgan reminds them that Kitty is eighteen and is able to decide for herself and Kitty chooses the riskier surgery.

 

As Glassman argues with Maddie, Shaun asks who he’s talking to. Glassman denies Shaun’s suggestion that he’s suffering from psychosis. Maddie calls him out for lying to Shaun, and Glassman responds to her. Shaun takes the opportunity to ask his advice with the Lea situation, and threatens to tell the doctor about his hallucination when he tells him he can’t help. Glassman yells at Maddie when she talks to him, and admits to Shaun he’s talking to Maddie before asking him to keep it a secret. Shaun agrees, but Maddie reminds him that Shaun can’t keep a secret, telling him they need to talk about her death.

 

Claire questions if allowing Kitty to have the risky surgery is the best idea, and Lim advises her to not get involved in patient’s lives. A real estate agent shows Lea a two-bedroom apartment, and Lea falls in love with the fireplace despite knowing she can’t afford it. Shaun arrives, and Lea asks what he’s doing there. He tells her he found an apartment for her as she said she hated apartment hunting. However, Lea tells him she doesn’t need his help. Kitty’s parents threaten to declare her mentally incompetent if she goes through with the risky surgery, and Kitty is horrified.

 

Maddie accuses Glassman of avoiding her, but Glassman tells her that she never listened to him. Dr. Chesa Dulay (Agam Darshi) confronts Glassman about his hallucinations, and Shaun tells him he kept his secret for thirty minutes. Glassman tells her he’s just tired, and Dulay forces him to take the sleeping pill. He takes it, but spits it out once she and Shaun have left. Maddie comments that he’s willing to risk his life to finish their conversation.

 

Dr. Trudy (Linda Darlow) questions Kitty about her mental state, but she thinks this is ridiculous. Kitty’s mother reminds her she wanted to die on the mountain, but Kitty insists that everyone takes risks. Kitty’s mother reminds her of the time she took sleeping pills, and Kitty tells her it was a reaction to being dumpted on Twitter. Nicole returns to the hospital with a cut on her hand that she claims she injured it through a window. As Melendez rolls Nicole away, Mac gets upset and hits Shaun before he is restrained.

 

Claire and Lim argue about which surgery to do for Kitty as Trudy listens. Morgan suggests Claire’s hesitancy to do the risky surgery is about not being able to stop her mother from her risky behavior. Trudy tells them she has enough information to make her decision, and Mac apologizes to Shaun for hitting him, asking what he thinks about in difficult situations. Shaun flashes back to Sybil forcing him to go to school, telling hm ‘tough titmouse,’ when she assesses he doesn’t want to go due to a tough teacher. In the present, Shaun tells Mac ‘tough titmouse.’

 

As Trudy rules in favor of Kitty’s parents, Glassman confronts Maddie about her always being high or out when he was home. Maddie insists he always had time for Shaun, but Glassman reminds her that Shaun has special needs. She tells him that she had needs too, but he insists that she always turned him away. Glassman asks what happened to their relationship, and she replies that he is to blame. He tells her that he always loved her, but Maddie tells him that she died hating him. Glassman considers taking the sleeping pill, but can’t do it.

 

Lea comes to Shaun’s apartment to see that he’s set up karaoke, but she turns the machine off. She breaks down telling him that she gave up everything to go to Hershey, but that it all fell apart. Lea accuses him of not caring before she walks out that. Melendez reports to Nicole that the sugery went well, and Alex tells her they know Mac caused her injury. She tells them it was the window, but Alex shows her Shaun’s bruise from Mac hitting him. Alex tells her she needs to find a place for Mac, but Melendez tells him it’s not their call. Alex tells her there’s no shame in admitting that she needs help, but Nicole insists that Mac will hate her.

 

Shaun flashes back to Sybil telling him that needs to leave, explaining that she’s dying. He replies by saying ‘tough titmouse,’ and Shaun assures Nicole in the present that Mac won’t hate her. Melendez tells her that he hopes she finds the strength to keep going, and Nicole thanks him. Kitty tells Claire to tell her parents that she never wants to see them again. Alex tells Melendez of his experience with a special needs kid, insisting that Mac needs a doctor and tells Melendez to encourage Nicole to let him go.

 

Melendez joins Claire on a balcony, and Claire questions how they’re supposed to give advice without dragging their baggage into it. He suggests that their baggage informs their advice and gives them wisdom. Claire questions if he’s mixing up baggage with experience, but admits that she wouldn’t be up there if she knew the answer.

 

Maddie confronts Glassman of forcing her outside on the night she died because she was high, and tells him she hoped he would come back for her. Glassman tells her he thought she would go to Jessica’s house, and asks how she could do that. He breaks down, telling her he died that day, and his yelling gets Villanueva’s attention.

 

Claire goes to Kitty’s parents, telling them Kitty doesn’t want them there when she wakes up. Kitty’s father is confident she’ll eventually change her mind, but Claire tells them about her own experience and admits that she would have lost her mother if she had forced her into treatment. She warns them they might lose Kitty forever, but Kitty’s parents are confident they’re making the right decision.

 

Glassman begs Maddie to look at him as Dulay orders the nurses to give him a sedative. He tells Maddie that he should have held on to her, and admits he was wrong to not send her to rehab. Glassman tells her he wanted her to love him again before apologizing. Maddie takes his hand and tells him she loved him too as he falls asleep.

 

Melendez tells Nicole that there will be people that will criticize her decision to give Mac up, admitting that they don’t understand. However, Melendez suggests that she needs to give him up because of her love for him. Kitty wakes up and Claire tells her the surgery went well. Claire insists that her parents did this out of love, and Kitty replies that she knows. Melendez, Alex, and Shaun watch as Mac gets upset upon hearing Nicole tell him that he’s going to a residential facility. Shaun flashes back to saying goodbye to Sybil, admitting he’s scared. Sybil tells him ‘tough titmouse,’ but cries after Shaun leaves.

 

Glassman wakes up and Shaun assures from his bedside that he’s not a hallucination. Shaun asks if seeing Maddie was therapeutic, and Glassman tells him that Maddie said she loved him. Glassman admits that he might have just been telling himself that, and Shaun assures him that he always tells the truth. Melendez visits his sister, Gabi Melendez (Brenda Isabel Santiago), at a residential facility. She excitedly tells him about her puzzle, and asks if mom and dad are coming. Melendez tells her they can’t and that she has way more fun there than at home.

 

Shaun comes home to find Lea packing. She thanks him for letting her crash, and tells him that she’s booked an airbnb. Shaun asks her what happened in Hershey, and she asks if he cares. He admits he doesn’t, but tells her he cares that she cares. Lea asks him if he wants to sing karaoke, and Shaun excitedly agrees. During karaoke, Shaun tells her that he rented the two-bedroom apartment she was looking at for them to share.