How The Good Doctor season 2 can avoid sophomore slump

Let’s be honest: The sophomore slump is something that you have to be concerned about with just about any show within the TV industry. Anytime that you get off to a tremendous start, there is of course a certain degree of fear that goes along with it that things will eventually crash back down to earth. With some shows, they find a way to rise to the occasion; however, with some others they stumble in their attempt to have lightning strike twice.

When it comes to The Good Doctor on ABC, we are looking at a show that seems to be already thinking forward. They have made some changes to the cast and seem to be pressing onward with the intention of taking some of the elements that they think are the most interest, including having Lea in Shaun’s life and making the St. Bonaventure Hospital as competition as it can be by keeping Morgan around. They’ve established who Shaun is as a character now and also raised the stakes to another level courtesy of the arrival of Dr. Glassman.

Now that we have said all of this, what else is there to be done in order to make The Good Doctor even more of a success? Most of it starts with the characters and getting to the emotional root of who they are and what makes them tick. Understand some of what motivates them and what they care about the most in life. If you are giving your actors the room to deliver great, interesting material, it is pretty hard to fathom you having any significant stumbles after the fact.

Beyond the characters, the next real order of business here is continuing to find the right balance. While we do love getting to see little pieces of Shaun’s story here and there, this is still a medical drama. The intrigue in watching it comes courtesy of seeing how Shaun handles difficult situations on the job. Don’t dive so much into the personal side of things that you forget about this.

Finally, the last part of the equation is simply this: Find ways to keep people guessing without relying solely on that to tell your story. This was what made season 1 so great — the big reveal of Dr. Glassman’s cancer was stunning, but it never felt as though it was just for the sake of creating a “moment.” It was organic to the characters. Any surprise that comes has to be in the established framework of the series. Luckily, we do think that David Shore is the right person to steer a second season. After so many years of doing House, he knows a thing or two as to how to keep a series fresh.

Related – Be sure to check out some more discussion on the series’ future

What do you want to see on The Good Doctor season 2? Be sure to share in the comments below!

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