The Good Doctor episode 17 review: The quest for a smile ends in sadness
The Good Doctor episode 17 started off in a way that many others have, and that is with Dr. Shaun Murphy deciding yet again to go against the grain when it comes to the treatment of a patient.
In this case, it was a young woman who was coming in for one purpose and one purpose only: Undergoing a risky procedure for the sake of giving her a proper smile. While the other doctors, thinking perhaps in part with the bottom line in mind, realized that this could be the right move for them, there was a resistance on the part of others. They came to the conclusion instead that there weren’t too many risks associated with the operation and they could go through as planned. Shaun almost convinced the patient to not get the operation, but once insurance agreed to cover most of it and her father wouldn’t be on the hook too much, she decided to go through with it.
Then, Shaun was proven right in the most terrible way possible. The operation turned out to be extremely dangerous and it appeared as though she was going to be braindead. It wasn’t until an analysis into the anesthesia proved that there was going to be a way to bring her back and have her be okay in the end.
Despite everything that this patient of the week went through, the smile at the end almost made it worth it — almost. It’s still hard to move past that she was almost going to die. Still, this is another example of a well-crafted case-of-the-week story and something this show does very well.
Related – Want to see what’s coming on the finale for The Good Doctor?
While the other case at the heart of the episode (a case of intentionally-mistaken identity with two women who had their own share of problems — including one with an especially tragic end) proved compelling, we were most intrigued by the two different plotlines impacting the personal lives of a couple of different characters. With Jared, for example, he was able to enlist Shaun’s help in order to ask out a woman who was at one point his patient. Shaun took over her case, which allowed Jared to overcome what would have been otherwise an ethical issue.
Meanwhile, who else enjoyed Shaun playing matchmaker for Dr. Glassman and the hospital barista? They didn’t actually have as much in common as Shaun thought, but that actually didn’t matter in the end as they had great chemistry. It’s too bad that a devastating twist coming up rocks it terribly.
The big revelations
For starters, Kenny is officially a terrible person. He basically stole Shaun’s TV to hang out with some of his friends — and also took his pizza. Meanwhile, Jared got accepted in Denver! Does that mean that he is officially leaving? We don’t want to lose Chuku Modu from the cast!
Perhaps the saddest one of all, though, was seeing some very troublesome signs from Dr. Glassman while out with his new date — something that led, in turn, to an ambulance. Judging from the preview, it’s not good for Glassman, and it has us equally worried for the brilliant Richard Schiff.
CarterMatt Verdict
Basically, The Good Doctor is building towards an epic finale, one that makes it clear that there are many surprises, both good and bad coming in the end.
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