What? Morgan was the one with all the empathy?
Normally, she’s making snide comments and generally being a selfish, entitled pain in the butt.
But somehow, on The Good Doctor Season 3 Episode 7, she understood 12-year-old Charlie’s plight, while Claire could barely stand his attempts to experience life before his surgery.
The dynamic between Claire, Charlie, and Morgan was interesting, especially because Claire and Morgan seemed to have switched roles.
Claire was irritated with Charlie’s escape from the hospital and kept insisting they had to go back right now, while Morgan wanted to indulge every one of Charlie’s wishes.
For some reason, Morgan couldn’t seem to help giving in to Charlie’s whims.
She and Claire were so clearly on opposite pages about this that I was surprised Charlie didn’t ask Morgan what she thought when Claire put her foot down about returning to the hospital.
Of course, Claire’s insistence they go back and then her big speech about how everything will someday suck less if Charlie keeps living made an impact on him, even if he didn’t admit it.
That’s why he was looking for Claire after he woke up.
Charlie: Can I –
Claire: No.
Morgan: Better be quick.
Claire: What?
Morgan: We’re giving a sad, nearly blind kid a few more moments in the sun. We could get an award for this.
But Morgan allowing him to have one last day out probably also had an impact.
Did anyone else think of Scrubs when Morgan flashed her breasts at Charlie? I vaguely recall an episode where Elliot did the same thing for a patient.
Anyway, that was weird, even if Charlie did want to see a naked woman, and I didn’t quite get how that made him ready for surgery.
Nevertheless, even that was Morgan attempting to have empathy. And then afterward she gave Claire some tough love, too.
If she keeps this up, I might have to revise my longstanding opinion that her character is pointless and annoying!
As for Claire, Morgan is right: if she doesn’t get a handle on things, she’s going to become a permanently cynical and depressed person.
Claire’s original caretaking personality might have come from having to take care of her mother when she was a little girl. But after her mother’s death, she’s gone in the opposite direction, cutting herself off from everyone.
That is not good, and for some reason, nobody but Morgan seems to have noticed.
Morgan: How did your talk with Charlie go?
Claire: He wants to be left alone.
Morgan: YOU want to be left alone.
Claire: And yet, here we are.
Morgan: Come on; 12-year-old facing impending blindness. That’s Claire catnip. You have to talk to him.
Claire needs to get it together. Too bad nobody is putting effort into forcing her to confront her pain that Lim was putting into checking on Melendez.
As many viewers predicted, Melendez has started down the path of second guessing himself and blaming himself for his patient’s death on The Good Doctor Season 3 Episode 6.
His argument with Park wasn’t THAT different from the arguments he and Andrews both usually have with Shaun. But his emphasis on playing it safe was overdone, and Lim was right to be concerned.
I still find Lim and Melendez to be a boring couple, but Melendez’s insistence that Lim permitted him to do the surgery because of their relationship was an interesting take.
That surprised me, and I’m not sure if there’s any truth to it or not.
Either way, Melendez and that big bottle of vodka doesn’t look like a good combination.
It’s bad enough that Claire has gone down the path of drinking and sleeping with random men. One alcoholic per season, please.
I’m a freak too. People used to call me that too because I am not neurotypical. And for a long time I was alone. And sometimes that felt easier because it is hard to be around people when you are not like them. But now I have Dr. Glassman and a female roommate and a girlfriend who is only annoying some of the time. If you are cured, you can be outdoorsy, or you can stay inside and have phone sex. It’s your choice.
Shaun
Meanwhile, it was so good to see Shaun make a connection with somebody.
Sure, he struggled to understand why Carly wanted him to text her, but he excelled at helping Tara feel less alone and like she deserved a chance at a normal life.
It’s too bad Andrews wasn’t in the room while Shaun talked to Tara.
Andrews is always insisting that Shaun lacks the social skills necessary to be an effective doctor. But this time, Shaun’s reactions were perfect.
That was especially heartwarming after his recent difficulties while leading surgeries.
Shaun clearly does better without Andrews (or anyone else!) pressuring him to act like a neurotypical surgeon.
Tara ignored his quirks (like constantly telling her the chances she’d die of an infection) and encouraged him to keep trying to connect with Carly, while Shaun opened up about his feelings of isolation to help Tara feel less alone.
It was all beautiful to watch and probably helped save Tara’s life.
Tara: Dr. Murphy, will you sit with me?
Shaun: What do you want to know?
Tara: Nothing. I just wanted someone to be here in case I croak. That’s probably all your annoying girlfriend wants too. To know you’re there.
Shaun: Carly is in good health and not likely to die anytime soon.
Tara: Some girls have all the luck.
It was almost ironic that Shaun couldn’t figure out what he was supposed to say to Carly after being able to talk so eloquently and easily with Tara.
If only someone had suggested he tell Carly about his day and ask about hers, he would have had a LOT to say.
The most annoying story of the week award goes to Glassman and Debbie.
Debbie was right when she pointed out that Glassman continually freaks out around her.
These two are always either arguing endlessly about something or having sex, and they’re never on the same page for long.
The best solution would be for the two of them to sit down together and discuss how Glassman wants to run the clinic and how Debbie can help, but that would require too much maturity for them.
What did you think, The Good Doctor fans?
Which story tugged at your heartstrings the most?
Is Melendez on his way to becoming an alcoholic?
And who else is shocked that Morgan was as empathetic as she was?
Share your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget you can watch The Good Doctor online if you missed anything.
The Good Doctor continues to air on ABC on Mondays at 10 PM EST/PST.
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