The Good Doctor – Trampoline

By starrymag | March 17, 2019

By: Jessica Wolff

 

 

Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) talks to the other guy sitting at the bar, Zack Cordell (Greg Calderone). Shaun asks why he’s sad, but Zack brushes him off. Shaun comments that it’s fun to drink with someone who’s fun, and tells Zack he isn’t fun. Zack approaches him and tells him to shut up. Shaun refuses and Zack shoves him to the ground. Zack falls over after kicking Shaun and is knocked out. Shaun gets up and sees blood pooling from Zack’s head.

 

Jenny Waring (Jill Morrison) talks to Dr. Neil Melendez (Nicholas Gonzalez) and Dr. Audrey Lim (Christina Chang) about their relationship. She questions if they see that a relationship between coworkers could possibly go wrong and tells them she’s going to interview them separately to ensure that the relationship is consensual.

 

An EMT (Juliana Wimbles) brings Zack in, telling them that Shaun has made a suggestion for diagnosis. Dr. Claire Browne (Antonia Thomas) finds Shaun sitting in the ambulance and tells him to come inside. He tells her he can’t, as he’s not a doctor there. She assures him he’s still a doctor and tells him they need to know what happened. Shaun lies that he found him like that and follows Claire.

 

Melendez asks Lim how the meeting went and she confirms that they are approved. Claire questions what they’re talking about and everyone in the room watches as Lim and Melendez kiss. Dr. Morgan Reznick (Fiona Gubelmann) and Dr. Alex Park (Will Yun Lee) examine Ida Guelph (June Squibb). She observes that Morgan isn’t wearing a wedding ring and tells her that gays can get married and have children. Morgan doesn’t correct the assumption and tells Ida that Alex is wearing a ring when he isn’t married.  Alex explains that he and his wife are rekindling their relationship and Ida is happy for him. He tells her he has a son and she continues asking questions. Morgan finds that her surgical incision is inflamed and declares they need to keep her for more tests.

 

Dr. Marcus Andrews (Hill Harper) raises concerns about how Dr. Jackson Han (Daniel Dae Kim) handled Shaun’s firing. Han asks if he’s ever known anyone else on the spectrum, insisting that giving people responsibility they can’t handle can be devastating. Andrews argues that Shaun has continued to prove himself, but Han insists they didn’t give him any real responsibilities. Han argues that he’s the first one to challenge Shaun and that he failed.

 

Claire checks on Shaun, who insists he’s fine. She sits with him and tells him that it’s important to remember that they’re not defined by one thing. Claire tells him he’s a good friend and a good person and asks what he wants. Shaun tells her he wants to be a surgeon and she asks what else he wants. He asks what she wants and she answers that she wants her life to matter, to have fun and to fall in love. Shaun comments that he thinks he’d be a good father, but admits he doesn’t know how to fall in love.

 

Later, Shaun approaches Claire and offers her pretend chocolates and flowers and she receives them. He compliments her hair and she thanks him before complimenting his shirt. Shaun starts to ask a question but stops. Claire urges him to say the words and he freaks out about how it could go wrong. She tells him that the girl he’s asking out will say no, telling him that he’s going to experience both falling in love and heartbreak multiple times in his life. Claire tells him he’ll also lose his job again and that he’s already become stronger but Shaun doesn’t believe it.

 

Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff) approaches Debbie Wexler (Sheila Kelley), telling her he’s cancer free. She tells him his coffee is free and he gives her a toy version of a classic car. He says for her to open up the hood and she finds a ring inside. Glassman tells her he wants to commit, but she tells him she didn’t mean marriage. He explains he’s been through hell and is ready to live, but she rejects the proposal.

 

Ida tells Morgan and Alex about her marriage and family, explaining to Alex there’s still time for him to have more children. After Morgan and Alex determine they can send her home, Ida declares that she can’t feel her fingers. Dr. Carly Lever (Jasika Nicole) gives Claire the test results and tells Shaun she wishes he was back in pathology. Shaun admits that he doesn’t wish he was back in pathology.

 

Claire examines the test results and suggests Zack fell and hit his head. Shaun tells her that there was something wrong with his gait, and she reminds him he told her that he found him unconscious. She asks what happened, reminding him that he never lies. Shaun pauses before suggesting that Zack has a neurological condition that needs to be tested.

 

Morgan and Alex update Melendez about Ida, but Alex believes she’s making her symptoms up. He points out that she noted the symptom after she was told she could go home, but Morgan disagrees. Melendez advises them to run the tests and Morgan compliments Melendez on his relationship with Lim, telling him they’re a good match.

 

Shaun goes into the bathroom and pulls up his shirt to examine the bruise on his abdomen. He starts to cough and soon after brings a vial of blood to Carly. She reminds him that he doesn’t work there and he lies that it’s about Claire’s patient. Carly points out that the sample isn’t properly marked and Shaun tries to take the sample back. She catches on, asking what the patient’s symptoms are and promising to expedite the test when he tells her they’re coughing blood.

 

Morgan and Alex run tests on Ida and she questions if they think she’s making it up. Alex tells her he does and she admits he’s right. She admits that her fingers are tingling and Alex tells her it’s a symptom of old age. Ida offers them a story about how she was able to save her daughter with her persistence and refusal to listen to the doctors telling her she was going to die.

 

Carly gives Shaun the test results and Shaun admits the condition is trauma-induced. She tells him that he needs to get “the patient” on medication and writes him a prescription. Alex tells Ida that there were no issues found in the tests and Ida apologizes for wasting their time. Morgan points out that there’s bile in Ida’s tube.

 

Shaun visits Zack, looks at his chart and asks why he’s sad. Shaun tells him he’s sad and confesses that he skipped a job interview to be at the bar. He declares he doesn’t want a new job and asks why he can’t just be sad.  Shaun figures out that Zack needs immediate treatment, but is unable to get out the full diagnosis before he collapses to the ground. Zack calls for help and Nurse Dalisay Villanueva (Elfina Luk) rushes to Shaun.

 

Claire explains Shaun’s condition to Lim as he lies unconscious in a hospital bed. She says that Zack is responsible for his condition. Andrews argues that Shaun helped save another patient today, but Han asks how he can trust a doctor who doesn’t reveal that he’s injured. Han questions if he’s only allowed to do his job when he agrees with him and Andrews asks what happened to the other person he knows on the spectrum. Han replies that the person died, but reminds him that Andrews is paying him for his judgment. Andrews questions his decision to hire him and Han suggests he’d look like a fool for firing him now.

 

Morgan shows Alex the test results and he suggests another one he’d like to try. He goes to Ida’s room, telling her that it’s important for a doctor to use all their senses. He opens her tube, smells the bile and tastes it before declaring that it’s a vegetable shake. Morgan tells Ida she’ll be discharged.

 

Claire goes to see Zack, who tells her he’s been calling for two hours. She tells him she was helping Shaun, commenting that somebody beat him up. Zack tells her what Shaun told him before he passed out and Claire asks what he said. Lim and Claire try to figure out what Shaun meant by the word trampoline and Lim questions whether Shaun was wrong. Zack starts crashing and they rush to help him.

 

Claire suggests waking up Shaun to ask about Zack’s diagnosis, but Lim tells her it’s not a good idea. Melendez agrees they shouldn’t risk Shaun’s life and they try to figure it out themselves. However, Claire points out that neither Melendez nor Lim’s suggestions sound like trampoline.

 

As Zack sleeps, Claire observes him for an extended period of time. Villanueva interrupts her and Claire asks her where Shaun was standing and the condition of the blinds at the time, explaining that she’s trying to recreate Shaun’s experience. Villanueva adjusts the blinds and Claire requests a step stool.

 

As they visit Shaun, Lea Dilallo (Paige Spara) asks why Glassman can’t get Shaun his job back. Glassman admits that he’s only one vote, declaring that Shaun needs to take the hits and keep going. He tells her that Shaun likes her, mentioning that he’s glad that Shaun’s first rejection will be from someone who cares about him. Claire stands on the step stool and observes Zack. After a couple of tries, she is able to process the situation like Shaun and diagnose Zack.

 

Shaun wakes up and asks Glassman why he’s in his room. Lea tells him he’s in the hospital, but Shaun tries to get out of bed to help Zack. Claire explains to Shaun that they were able to save Zack and that Zack had misheard the diagnosis as trampoline. She tells him Zack is stable and Glassman urges Shaun to rest. Morgan shows Alex Ida’s history, telling him that Ida’s daughter actually died and she and her husband split up not long after. They help Ida to her chair and Alex apologizes as they roll her out.

 

Andrews checks on Shaun and asks about him missing a job interview. Shaun tells him he likes working there, but Andrews tells him they can’t change things. Andrews says they need to face reality, but Shaun replies that Steve always told him that people label things as reality when they want you to do things that are wrong.

 

Glassman advocates for Shaun to the board, declaring that he made Claire a better doctor by getting her to look at a problem through his eyes. He tells Han that Shaun may not communicate like them, but he does communicate and inspire. Han welcomes Glassman back to the board, but insists that he fired Shaun for being irrational and unable to control his emotions. Han insists the issue is whether he is able to control his staff and that he can’t work there if he doesn’t. Andrews declares that Steve was right, siding with Glassman. Allegra Aoki (Tamlyn Tomita) argues that he doesn’t have the vote, but Andrews points out that he has the power to fire people under his supervision and declares Shaun isn’t ready to move on.

 

Melendez and Lim discuss Han’s firing, realizing that it means there will be a new chief of surgery. They discuss the issues it would bring to their relationship and Lim suggests they could both turn the offer down or break up. Melendez tells Lim that their relationship has been good but that it’d be crazy to turn the offer down. He tells her that he advocated for her to get the job, and the phone rings. Lim kisses him before taking the call.

 

Lea comes home to find Shaun dressed in a nice suit holding real chocolates and flowers. He tells her he got his job back and asks her if he looks nice. She says yes and Shaun walks past her out of the apartment. Glassman knocks on Debbie’s door, telling her he knows what he wants. She argues that he doesn’t love her, but he tells her that he knows her. He declares that he wants to spend the rest of his life with her using a car metaphor. Glassman asks her to marry him and she says yes and kisses him.

 

Shaun goes to a house and knocks on the door. Carly answers and he compliments her hair before showing her flowers and chocolates. He struggles, but manages to ask her out. Carly says yes and Shaun takes the flowers and chocolates with him as he skips away from her house.