STATE OF THE #SHEA Part 2: Fracturing up "Fractured"

I mentioned in my first post about The Good Doctor/Team #Shea that I was a professional writer; what it actually says on my business cards is ‘Freelance Writer/Producer”. I’ve worked in TV and/or video most of my adult life, but like many in the field, my work has primarily been at a local/regional level (for TV) and in a non-broadcast capacity (for video). In other words, I’m nowhere near the big league-writers represented by the WGA; never been near the production staff of a scripted prime-time drama. But all that said, I can’t help but watch and listen to a show like TGD with different eyes and ears than an average, passive viewer.

For instance… on a later-in-the-week viewing of “Fractured”, I decided to make a list that itemized and timed every scene of the show. (That's me trying to get my "producer" hat back on.) Here’s a summary of the findings of which I was most interested:

+                  There were approximately 33 different scenes, with a total running time around 41:05. (I forgot to break the show up by “Acts”… I’ll do that next time.) Most scenes ran anywhere from :30 to 2:30; I think this is true of most TGD episodes. The big exception in this episode was the final sequence between Shaun and Carly (SIGH), which was 3:25.

+                 Number of those scenes dealing directly with Shaun’s Lea-or-Carly dilemma: 10. This included the “flake” conversation with Morgan, as well as Shaun’s meltdown in Glassman’s office.

+                  Number of minutes of “Fractured” featuring Lea: 4:31

(Almost all was in the first 2 scenes; the “pulse” scene was only 1:33)

+                  Number of minutes of “Fractured” featuring Carly: 8:13

Almost all the other scenes I classified as Case A (the opioid addict refusing meds) or Case B (the drug mule guy)… of course Claire and Claire/Melendez had a few isolated scenes too.

The biggest bummer for me with “Fractured” is clearer to see with this scene-by-scene breakout. And believe it or not, it wasn’t about Carly’s moving-out request (which I expected), or even Shaun’s so-called declaration of love to her (which I did NOT expect, and will discuss in more detail soon). My biggest problem with the episode was Lea’s lack of screen time. It’s not that she had any less time than has probably been allotted to her on the first nine episodes of the season, but given all that went down on the “Friends & Family” week—where she was probably able to pick up all the time that might normally have gone to Carly—“Fractured” felt like a big step backward in that respect.

Not that TGD Writers had a lot of choice—I get that. It’s a medical drama, not This is Us or A Million Little Things. Only about 1/3 of a typical TGD episode is set aside for personal storyline development, and in this case, the front-burner romance gets most of the minutes for that. Maybe it’s worth it, knowing that Lea’s name was mentioned/kicked around/cried over in much of the time Shaun and Carly spent together in this particular episode. But let’s face it: Lea needs more time in front of TGD viewers, especially the most skeptical and/or outright #Sharly fans, if she’s to convince us that she’s anywhere on the road to loving Shaun as much (and in the same way) that we know he loves her.

From those 10 scenes that addressed Shaun’s current “situation” came plenty to love… maybe a little to not love so much… and a whole lotta mental note-taking. You may not need these things pointed out, but even if you know them backwards and forwards… consider the rest of this post your bonus Validation Station.

(NOTE: I’m skipping past Shaun’s exchange with Morgan)

SCENE 1… The morning after (Shaun/Lea)

What I didn’t love: I must confess that I’d built this scene up in my head over those 6 weeks a few different ways, including showing us Shaun waking up in Lea’s arms and how he reacted to that… Lea waking up in Shaun’s arms (imagine them turned the other direction from the way they were scene in the final shot of “Friends & Family”)… and though it would’ve probably been inappropriate given the reason they spent the night together, I even toyed with the possibility of one of them having a romantic dream about the other before the wake-up. (Shame on me, but raise your hand if you went there too.) Anyway, the more I thought of the possibilities the more I thought OK, now you’ve jinxed it, they’ll never start this show like that. And, in fact, they didn’t. Booo. Also, sorry.

What I DID love: Or at least I found it noteworthy… When Lea wanted to talk about what happened, she ended it by suggesting they keep to themselves that she’d spent the night there because “people might get the wrong idea”. Seems to me that, had this been a year ago, she might have been more concerned that SHAUN would get the wrong idea, and have gone out of her way to carefully explain that she was just doing what any friend would do. It’s a little thing as far as the dialogue goes, but it seemed fairly important to me.

SCENE 2… The gas station (Shaun/Glassman/Lea)

What I DID love: Pretty much the entire scene, from the way Shaun looked over his shoulder at Lea before spilling the “slept together” beans at Glassy’s feet all the way to Lea coming out with the Mallomars. I mean, people.... she brought the self-proclaimed Mallomar lover (and his Mallomar lover-in-training) their goods, and she wasn’t even in the episode that featured the Mallomar hunt last season! And she did this immediately after Glassy said Shaun needed to decide what he wanted, and soon! Do we not know a sign when we see it??

I also couldn’t help but think Glassy’s “sometimes you can tell more about people by what they DO than what they SAY” (paraphrased) was the writers’ way of indicating Glassy might be getting ready to see Lea in a new light. Surely we’ll get more clues on that soon, perhaps even Monday. (She and Glassy have GOT to be having a conversation soon, right?)

SCENE 5… Shaun’s first convo with Carly since getting back

She was pissed, first and foremost, and if she was feeling sad or worried for Shaun’s “loss” (relatively speaking) of his dad, it was hard to tell. Perhaps they did this to underscore the Carly-only-thinks-about-Carly vibe that many have talked about. I mean, they could have had her come running out of pathology the moment she saw him, offering whatever condolences and hugs you offer your abused/abandoned/autistic boyfriend at a time like that. But as it happens, Morgan seemed to convey more emotion and sympathy that Carly did. Oof.

SCENE 17… The Elevator

My goodness, whoever assembles the official ABC promos for TGD is a tricky devil. They had me convinced Shaun was going to exit the elevator without answering Carly’s burning question about Lea—which, upon watching yet again, is interesting.  I’m not clear on why she was prompted, at that point, to ask it in the first place. Makes me wonder if a scene was deleted… I guess we can assume Shaun did indeed text Carly (as Lea and Glassy requested) before they left, so she knew Lea was invited. But was she making “something you’re not telling me” leap about Lea all by herself? Hmmm.

Anyway, it was mighty impressive that Shaun found a way to take is “it felt… different” confession from earlier in the episode and turn it into an “It is different…” in a way that made sense, but kept Carly protected from his so-called struggle over which woman to pursue.

SCENE 19… the Pros/Cons w/an Andrews assist

The Pros/Cons list was pure Shaun, but it was also purely superficial—which is why he probably sought additional advice from Andrews. To me, Andrews repeated a lot of the same kind of “that’s what it’s like when you first fall in love” stuff that Glassy and the Uber driver discussed last season when the topic was on the table. But since the “makes my heart beat a little faster” is not meant to be taken literally, it was of little use to the highly literal-minded Shaun. Nonetheless, who did Shaun do his heart-rate check with? It wasn’t Carly…

SCENE 20… LEA’S ONLY OTHER SCENE

Boy, there wasn’t much to this. The main thing I wished was that it was longer. Not even gonna lie that I wanted Shaun to have his head on Lea’s shoulder or something by the time his experiment concluded, but I suppose that would be out of character!

Three little things I loved: 1) That Lea said “Hey, You” rather than his name… more endearing, more familiar. 2) That Lea, confused as she was by Shaun’s behavior, simply asked a playful/curious “what’s up…???” rather than be irritated. And 3) That Shaun was clearly disappointed his experiment didn’t work. Which is to say that he was hoping his pulse would skyrocket in her presence. (Yeah, buddy, I was too. Would sure make this whole thing a lot easier… I shouldn’t date you anymore, Carly… I have proof!)

Not much to say about the cafeteria scene with Shaun/Carly, and what can be said about the big Glassman/Shaun hug scene that hasn’t already been said?

So that leaves that final 3 minutes and 25 seconds, and I’ll get to some thoughts on that—as well as some wishes for the “Mutations” episode—in the next post.

If you’ve got a “Mutations” wishlist, I’d love to hear it in the comments!