State of the #SHEA Part 10B: This "Autopsy's" Wake

The weekend before the “Autopsy” episode of TGD aired, I ran a little Twitter poll asking which character viewers thought would end up spilling the beans to Lea… not just about Shaun and Carly breaking up, but WHY they broke up.

For BOTH parts of my poll question, the majority of votes went to... Morgan. (Not that surprising; the “world-class biotch,” as Lea called her, has been on a roll as her R.A. symptoms worsen.)

But as we’ve seen by now, Morgan wasn’t involved at all. She might come in next week thinking Shaun’s still with Carly, for all she doesn’t know. But she definitely didn’t tell Lea anything.

Who did, then? Glassman? Cafeteria gossipers? Shaun himself, via (the most succinct) text message? We’ll never know, and it doesn’t matter. With “Autopsy”, the most important details of Shaun and Lea’s story came in that final scene… and if anything had to be cut from the show to make time for it (more on that in a minute), fine.

About that little hospital #Shea scene… 

I know it wasn’t much—at least this time, they definitely made up for it later—but Shaun’s first attempt at professing his love for Lea served as the sole opportunity to initiate the transition to come. When she first saw him entering the office, it was sorta kinda business as usual for her as she slipped her headphones off: “Shaunie! You poor thing! I’m so sorry about you and Carly…”

But after he said “I want to tell you how I feel” (followed by that silence, supplanting the courage for which he was still searching), everything about her approach to the conversation changed: she got out of her chair, walked around the desk, gave him her full attention, and said the very sort of thing, in the very sort of manner, that a girl who’s secretly been pining for a guy for quite a while might say: “Carly made a huge mistake. You’re a wonderful man, Shaun. Probably the most wonderful man I have… ever… met.”

Which is a clear upgrade from something best friend/good time girl Lea might say (“Carly’s an idiot. You’re a great guy! Wanna go get a burger in the cafeteria so I can eat your fries while you tell me all about it?”)

That’s why I think she had to know what was coming at that point. And it was almost like she was trying to turn it into the unqualified moment she knew it just couldn’t be…

SHAUN: Lea?

LEA: Yes, Shaun?

SHAUN: I’m not with Carly anymore because… I love you, Lea.

LEA: You know what, Shaun? I love you, too.*

Shaun took off before putting his second line into the universe, but the look on Lea’s face—one of many incredibly nuanced expressions via Paige Spara in this episode—said The next time won’t be a drill. I’d better be ready for this.

(*Yes, I know I’m totally stealing Glassman’s line from when he and Shaun were talking in the car. That’s because it’s sweet to think of a world where it could have been that easy.)

That brings me to something that didn’t come up like I thought it might: how quickly Shaun apparently came to terms with the truth of Carly’s words. It’s hard to know how much time had passed when we reached the opening of “Autopsy”, but apparently not enough for the breakup to be common knowledge (Shaun first brought it up with Melendez and Park just before Jane Doe’s death). And although the episode’s title could have parlayed directly into Shaun and Carly—a “what went wrong?” and/or “why does she insist I love Lea?” sort of thing—there was no need. He knew.

But what do you think about how long Lea has known… both that he loved her, and/or that she loved him back? Has it simply been building from the early seasons? Or is it part of what she’s realized since moving out of the apartment, and seeing Shaun dedicated to another woman? With as little time as has been given this season to continue Shaun & Lea’s story, any telegraphing of key elements has been kept to a minimum… at least, that was the case until Shaun and Carly reached the pinnacle of their relationship (in “Sex and Death”).

That changed within the first 15 minutes of the next episode (“Influence”), when Shaun and Lea met for a lunch that was free of Carly-talk, instead introducing Lea’s “been re-evaluating everything” undercurrent. Well, the larger part of it—quitting her job—was the big ripple of that moment. The undercurrent might have been a reckoning of her true feelings for Shaun… something I was hoping we’d see for ourselves when I was making guesses about the “Mutations” episode …but as we all know by now, Lea’s end of that deal got next to no attention at all. So unless we’re ever treated to a scene of Shaun or Lea reflecting on how they finally crossed over into Loveland, the backstory might be left to viewers’ imaginations permanently.

Three Lea-free scenes from “Autopsy” that fed into the last one…

1)               

1)     The “detective work” with Park, which hit a wall in the worst way when Shaun’s (this case)-can’t-be-over approach landed him briefly in a jail cell. The sequence of scenes tapped into Park’s cop background like we haven’t seen in a long time, and although we didn’t witness any on-the-road conversation between them (just how were they able to get from San Jose to this snowy suburbia-looking place, anyway?), Park obviously created an outlet for Shaun to push his “distraction” of a case as far as he could…

The Parade... 

... is definitely over

    






2)     …Until the sequence with Carly. People can gripe about Shaun’s insensitivity in his request of his now ex-girlfriend, but I’ve also seen it noted that his ASD likely kept him from fully understanding the impact of his actions. On the other hand, I admit there was a part of me that said Hey, she gave him a directive last week in her parting words that he can’t possibly handle easily… let him ask whatever he wants! But then, in the back half of their conversation, she did the above-and-beyond-the-call words of encouragement when he admitted his fear: “Think of how far you’ve come with me. How scared you were… how brave you were.” I know Carly’s able to see this entire situation as a blameless sort of matter, but it takes a certain sort of courage of her own to send him on his way like that. And while she never did return Shaun’s “I love you” as far as viewers know, she was clearly caught in a moment between Shaun’s “I love you, Carly…” and “But you’re right, I love Lea more.” 

(You LOVE me???)

But... I love Lea more.

(Ah. Well, then, never mind.)

        
         (Shaun’s words were also a good way to signal the audience that while he had not been insincere back when he first said the words to Carly in “Fractured”, his feelings for Lea were indeed another matter entirely.)

3)     Of course, any scene with Shaun and Glassman is golden—even when they’re just sitting in Glassman’s car for most of it. Once Shaun explained Carly’s request of him, both men were nearly silent except for that one word from each of them: “Oh.” 

       
        And all I really wanted to note about this scene was how powerful the sound of a single vowel can be. Glassy’s known Shaun’s feelings forever, it seems; Shaun had just uncovered them in all their glory for perhaps the first time in his life—I say that because of his acknowledgment that he probably would have to sever his friendship altogether if Lea didn’t love him back. The way each man recognized what was on the line so simply… what a moment. Especially for those of us who have ever been in such an all-or-nothing situation ourselves. Schiff and Highmore for the win yet again!

IT’S GREEN APPLES AND BAGS OF CHIPS

I’m not sure how many viewers are still trying to measure up #Shea vs. #Sharly side by side—especially in a claim that Carly had no problem dating an autistic man, so why does Lea?

But a side-by-side simply can’t be done.

Here’s why: although they briefly were colleagues, Shaun and Carly virtually started from zero with their romance (evidenced both in his carefully rehearsed ask for the date and in their so-called “disaster” of said date at the start of this season). Every step of progress, big and small, emerged from that starting point.

Meanwhile, Shaun and Lea are starting from, well, whatever number it is when you’ve already been

          Neighbors

          Flirty neighbors

          Road trippers who kiss, drink, and sing karaoke together

          Roommates

          Parents of Hubert the Fish

          Parents of Albert the Fish

          Best friends and confidantes

          And NOW, officially, after almost three years…two people in love.

So while it’s true that Carly seemingly had no reservations about dating a man like Shaun, their relationship simply cannot be compared to what Shaun and Lea’s might be. With all the miles already logged… well, Shaun may have only been thinking “boyfriend,” but Lea had the bigger picture in mind. How could she not?

DETAILS, DETAILS (about that Confession Scene)

A fellow #Shea shipper, Sonya (@gl1tterycake), had this very noteworthy observation of Shaun in the moments that followed Lea’s plea for him to tell her what was on his mind:

… you see him kind of draw himself up a bit, like he's proud and totally at ease with what he has to tell her. In that exact moment, he is not remotely scared to say what he wants and needs to say.

Another note in this incredibly noteworthy scene: If you’ve read other posts of mine, you know I’ve frequently tracked the actual minutes devoted to a TGD scene, particularly one involving Shaun and Lea. This game-changer of an exchange clocked in around 3:30 from start to finish—at least a minute longer than the average (I think the last time I timed such an extended scene was, interestingly enough, Shaun’s “I love you”/recommitment to Carly in “Fractured”).

And that’s not even the most amazing part. Again I reference the TV Line interview with Highmore and Spara, which details not only how the scene was originally supposed to end, but the unprecedented way it evolved from there.  

To think they did all this, and then underscored the entire scene with, well, no “score” at all! Much as I love most every music choice used on TGD, you can never underestimate the power of silence… and that’s how they presented this one. As a result, every shaky breath and every voice break resonated even louder. If this was Freddie Highmore’s call (and since he directed, I imagine it was, at least in part), consider it just one more tremendous contribution to a most pivotal episode of this show.

(Thanks for reading, spread the word, and be sure to leave your thoughts and/or questions in the comments. Or tag me on Twttter (@KLBSt8ofSk8).)

State of the #SHEA Part 10A: This "Autopsy's" Wake

So it wasn’t about keeping things platonic.

And it wasn’t about things happening too soon after his breakup with Carly.

It was much more challenging than all that, and suddenly it was RIGHT THERE, between Shaun and Lea, in that beautiful apartment-with-a-fireplace that they once shared in what now seem like much easier times.

She really did say it

The fleeting moment of joy before...

... her eyes dropped, and she knew she couldn't avoid the "why not?" anymore

For a couple minutes past The Confession Scene last night, I was rather stunned on the surface of that conversation. If I was talking to my TV as the scene unfolded (and maybe I was, you can’t prove anything, hush), it’d have gone something like this:

(I’m paraphrasing the convo here, so don’t hate me for not getting it verbatim):

SHAUN: I love you, Lea. I want to be your boyfriend. (woo! He said it this time! Good job Shaun!!)

LEA: I love you too.

(Um… as in LOVE-love??Really???)

(Wait, she’s not finished.)

(I don’t care. She said it. He heard it. The world has changed!)

LEA: But you know me… I’m selfish, I’m so so needy. I’m a mess!

(OK, if this is the “BUT”, a lot of us saw this coming. She’s scared. “Scared” is manageable.)

LEA: How can I lay all that on you?

(OK, this is where he says something encouraging…)

SHAUN: You don’t think I can handle those things about you? I think I can.

(Atta boy, Shaun. You got this.)

LEA: But… I’m such a challenge for ANYONE… and you’re… YOU.

(Um…)

You need things a certain way, work a certain way…

SHAUN: Is it because… I have autism?

(Um, NO. No it isn’t. Of course not. Tell him that isn’t it, Lea.)

LEA: (Says nothing; gets more visibly upset)

(Dammit, Lea, this is NO time to be silent.)

SHAUN: I can’t be your boyfriend because I have autism?

(Hey LEA? Correct him. Correct him right now. Hurry up. The show’s about to end.)

SHAUN starts to react; LEA continues to break down in tears.

(WHAT? No! Noooooooo!)

LEA turns and walks out the door, leaving Shaun standing in that same spot as he watches with a tear running down his cheek. AGAIN.

(But this is no damn good! Help! TGD Writers, whyyyyyyyyy?)

As the smoke cleared a couple minutes later… and I de-briefed with a couple of my #shea shipmates… I got it. And felt a lot better. As in My goodness, they’re definitely in it to win it better.

If you spent half a minute on social media last night, you know that the fury toward Lea came quickly. I didn’t grab any of those quotes this time; you know the drill: everything from “Hah, knew she’d reject him again, maybe the #Shea shippers will finally shut up” to “I was supportive of Lea, but not anymore, she’s dead to me.”  And looking at Paige Spara’s Instagram this morning, it had all the earmarks of a TV actress being put through the social media vitriol wringer. (Not Jasika Nicole-level vitriol, to be sure, but it’s there.)

But as I keep reading, I saw the “Lea sucks” bandwagon pulling away… separating from not only the steadfast #Shea crowd, but some very lovely Twitter threads of insight…  

"Lea did not break his heart. She loves him too. She said what a lot of people are scared to say because they don't want to hurt their feelings... y'all want Lea to say all the right things but truth is, a lot of people get nervous about dating someone with a disability." -- @CreativeCandra

"I faced a similar situation with an old friend who I had feelings for and they happened to be autistic... I ultimately decided that I couldn't be with them, not because of his autism, but because I was scared of messing it up... scared I would be too clingy, and push him away..." --@lexucons

"Everyone is terrified of being in a relationship... but first you need to find yourself in order to work things out... they're not gonna be in sync right away! It's unrealistic; they've got to work at it and if they do love each other then they will find a way to figure it out in time."-- @Ulisesluna697

And then, as I was hoping would be the case, came this TV Line interview that includes both FreddieHighmore and Paige Spara “dissecting” The Confession Scene. If you haven’t read it yet, please do—it’s as validating as it is encouraging.

... The most wonderful man she's ever met

What I’m realizing today is the reason we were initially blindsided by Lea’s revelation: she has been so even-keeled and accepting of Shaun’s ASD from the start. More than many other characters on the show, it’s been said. Some even watched the “Friends and Family” winter finale and thought it was Lea, not Glassman, who was helping Shaun through his crisis the most—and that was before she spent the night in his room, holding him as tight as she could until he stopped shaking.

She continued in that role as his romance with Carly progressed, leading many viewers (myself included) to speculate on how much Carly might ultimately be unwilling/unable to accept Shaun as he is, while Lea had always done so.

One huge catch to that is coming clear now: Shaun and Lea’s bond, as tight as it is, has never really been tested. Not like that. And if two neurotypical “best friends” find it scary to cross the bridge that leads them to become lovers, just imagine what it’s like for these two.

On second thought, that’s part of the problem… we can’t imagine this collectively for Lea and Shaun, because they can’t help but come at this from two different directions. In his mind, the hardest part of finding love with Lea may have been the revelation itself. In hers, it’s absolutely anything and everything that comes after that.

I think maybe we, as viewers, have thought about it the same way Shaun has. This makes sense, as he’s the titular character and just about everything on The Good Doctor is seen from his point of view.  Lea, for her two-scenes-a-week, still manages to possess a wealth of characteristics that have proven to be the yin to Shaun’s yang over the past 3 years. What she DOESN’T seem to possess is good experience in a long-term romantic relationship.

Surely Lea knew what was coming
when Shaun walked away that first time?

Does that mean it can’t work for them? Of course not.

Did anyone really think things between them were going to magically come together in one episode? (Not if you’ve been watching the same TGD I have.)

How much longer might it take before Shaun convinces Lea (or, more to the point, Lea convinces herself) to take whatever that next step will be? (Well, there are four episodes left in season 3 and the promo shots already tell us that Lea will be featured next week…)

Because that door has been opened, that bell has been rung, the elephant in the room has been addressed. Whatever metaphor we want to go with, the result is the same: Shaun and Lea’s relationship is upgrading to something more even more endearing to #Shea fans than it ever has before. There’s probably going to be even more tears along the way, more frustrations, more times we just want Shaun to kiss Lea already and convince her of all they can be.  (Yes, of course I know they’ve already kissed twice. But in light of recent events, those days of Season 1 seem incredibly innocent and long-ago now.)

I know I’m here for ALL of what’s to come. Are you?

(To be continued… so, so, SO much more to talk about!)

Thanks for reading, spread the word, and be sure to leave your thoughts and/or questions in the comments. Or tag me on Twttter (@KLBSt8ofSk8).

State of the #SHEA Part 9: Some Shelter from the pre- "Autopsy" storm

#Shea fans, it’s only Saturday as I write, but this Monday’s “Autopsy” episode of TGD already has me emotionally drained.

Actually, let me rephrase that: the social media buildup to this Monday’s “Autopsy” episode already has me emotionally drained. How about you? Are you as weary as I am of certain words and phrases that keep popping up, be it in synopses, or articles, or plain old garden variety speculation that screams more doom and gloom for Dr. Shaun Murphy?

So I’m gonna try and make this more of a restorative post, because I think we could use it right about now.

Because I’m still feeling a lot better about things in the wake of “Unsaid”, but at the same time, I continue to carry the angry burn left behind by “Mutations”. Because I have numerous guesses as to what will go down on Monday night—as may you—but am still fearful that the ones I think work the best will somehow vaporize as possibilities the minute I type them out. Because I’ve been encouraged again this week by what seems to be an overwhelming majority of like-minded TGD fans, but as the week progressed (more on this in a minute), the anti-Lea fans started showing their claws more…

Lea is the worst.

I've always thought Lea is insecure and manipulative at best…

I don't know if Shaun loves Lea but I know Lea does not love Shaun. And I really disliked her behavior this week. It's like she makes Carly do all the work to get Shaun to place where he is okay dating then she sweeps in. Idk. I don't like her.

ENOUGH. I’m lighting a candle, I’m grabbing some hot chocolate, I’m putting on my mood music… you’re invited to do the same. Let’s see what we can come up with here.

WHAT WE KNOW:

+      Carly broke up with Shaun after witnessing with her own eyes “the something” that Shaun and Lea have between each other.

+      Carly told Shaun that despite what he says or believes, he loves Lea and should tell her so (because she thinks Lea loves him too).

+      Shaun (of course) didn’t understand where this was coming from, and looked quietly shattered as Carly walked away.

+      Lea, as of last episode, was aware that Carly had some jealousy issues… but surely, after karaoke night, presumes all is well.

OH, and a note about the final scene from “Unsaid” that I neglected to mention last time… this was yet another thing I got wrong!  I anticipated Carly issuing an ultimatum to Shaun; turned out she spared him the Lea-or-me choice by making a decision of her own. And with that, the writers both humanized Carly further (perhaps silencing a few of those calling her shrill, annoying, insecure, possessive, etc.)… and provided some much-needed validation to #Shea fans by having Carly notice sparks between BOTH Shaun and Lea. No easy task. Also, thanks. Progress counts!

WHAT WE’VE BEEN TOLD ABOUT “AUTOPSY”

+     Via an interview with FreddieHighmore, who is directing as well as starring: "It feels like a sort of climactic, meaningful episode that (includes) the payoff for lots of different things that have been set off over the course of the season."

+      And about that line in the synopsis—Shaun’s going to make an emotional confession (to Lea) that may not generate the results desired--  Highmore had this to say: “It's a scene that I'm really proud of. Paige did such a wonderful job playing the scene and it's always a joy to act opposite her. There's this sort of horrible truth that the episode ends on that hopefully will feel surprising, even though it's not entirely conclusive."

WHAT WE'VE SEEN SO FAR OF "AUTOPSY"

+      Shaun’s emotions are everywhere BUT happy, satisfied, content… all the things he’s probably associating most with Carly right now.

+      Carly is standing by what she told Shaun about breaking up.

+      Lea we’ve seen, but not heard from via the promos.

+      Presumably, the scene from which we’ve seen only stills—at the apartment Shaun and Lea used to share—is where the emotional confession takes place. You can see some of them here in this post.

Meanwhile, I’ve been scrolling Twitter’s hashtag thread for TGD in search of the some hints (for #Shea fans in particular) that we’re still gonna be OK after Monday night. It seems an odd thing to be doing, given the support that bloomed up again the day after “Unsaid” aired (10 minutes of scrolling resulted in pro-Lea fans outnumbering pro-Carly fans 80% to 20%, same as several polls have shown)… but the speculation that Lea’s going to further crush the pieces of Shaun’s already shattered heart is mighty depressing.

For reasons I mentioned in my previous post, such guesses seem overly-simplistic. And while the phrase “horrible truth” (from Highmore’s interview) seems rather hyperbolic to me—childhood cancers are a horrible truth, most personal revelations aren’t—I have trouble linking the she’s-just-not-that-into-you vibe with the word HORRIBLE.

So in the midst of trying to keep a level head this week, I took that page of brainstorms I worked on upon first glance of THE PICTURES… crossed out more than half of those ideas, since they were irrelevant in the wake of the Shaun/Carly breakup… and added several more that might be able to skew to “horrible truth”…

1)      Shaun realizes he never loved Carly, but chose her out of his fear of being alone (and without anyone to sleep with). This could muddy his ability to proclaim/believe in love for Lea… and/or cause him to resent her because he’s now without his sexual partner. He might ask her to leave him alone/cut off contact for a while.

2)      Despite any feelings he and Lea might be able to admit to each other, his lingering feelings of loss over Carly keeps him paralyzed from moving forward. Lea says “It’s too soon right now, but when you’re ready, I’ll be waiting.”

3)      Lea doesn’t believe he loves her; in fact, she feels a bit used. How can he make her move out of their apartment, then try to date her on the rebound as soon as things go south with Carly? Does he value their friendship THAT little? Shaun isn’t prepared to explain anything, and gets upset that his declaration isn’t enough for the results he seeks. The two of them part without a resolution.

She walks away...

4)      While Lea doesn’t turn Shaun down flat, she tells him she needs to process all this and that she needs time. When this fails to make sense to Shaun—he needed to figure it out right away, why can’t she?—Lea suggests she spend some time out of touch while she “processes”.

Um, wait, is she coming back? (Or is Paige just returning to her mark for another take??)

5)      He loves Lea and she loves him too… but… more than ever, both are terrified of making a mistake from which their friendship could never recover. So they decide to spend some time out of touch with each other while attempting to deal with their respective issues. (Hopefully any “time out of touch” situation = no more than 1 or 2 episodes)

6)      He loves Lea, but she insists she loves him only as a friend… and the two come to that dreaded impasse. Or, they mutually agree that Carly was flat-out wrong, and they are not in love. So there! BFFs forever. End of scene. In both cases, I have no idea where the writers would go from here. With Lea’s new job at St. B, and the karaoke, and Carly’s decision, it’s hard to believe the momentum gained over the past couple episodes would simply fizzle to one of these options. 

Those half-dozen possibilities stem from me running Shaun/Lea flow charts in my head, trying to create all the if/then possibilities and knowing I most likely won’t get close to the real thing. There are variables I left out, too: Does their former roommate status factor into any decisions? Do previous conversations about them as a couple resurface? Does anything about Shaun’s ASD and ability to communicate (or not) impact what is decided... for instance, will his delayed ability to realize these feelings on his own make them seem insincere to Lea?

And while I did not entertain the option of a full-on happy ending for the confession scene (because even I won’t dream that big yet), I think it’s important to remember that the stills that ABC releases to the public for a given TGD episode are rarely a full representation of what goes on in a given scene. Last week we got a slew of fun-loving karaoke bar shots to admire ahead of “Unsaid”, but absolutely nothing that would have prepared us for that final 30 seconds.

And on a related note, about this upcoming episode titled “Heartbreak”… yes, it’s got everyone (especially #Shea fans) freaking out all over again, presuming perhaps that Lea’s official decision about them will be delayed until that episode. But here’s what I wonder: even a Tweet directly from the official account of TGD already described Shaun this week as “having his heart shattered into a million pieces” by way of the breakup with Carly in “Unsaid”. Is the plan really for the already emotionally frail Dr. Murphy to suffer a one-two punch in his love life? I suppose it’s possible, but there are many different kind of heartbreaks one encounters in life… and many different characters on TGD to which “Heartbreak” might apply. Still waiting for the synopsis on that one, by the way… meanwhile, the March 3 synopsis (for“Fixation”) is available NOW. (And no, neither Carly nor Lea is mentioned in that one.)

I hope I was able to provide a little oasis this time around on your trek through the social media desert! Whether you want to lend support to one of the ideas presented here, or have one of your own to share… tag me on Twitter @KLBSt8ofSk8, or share in the comments! Everyone hang in there… Monday’s coming…

State of the #SHEA Part 8: When All is "Unsaid" and Done

I couldn’t help it—I had to get to writing as soon as I could!

Now, ABOUT LAST NIGHT…

+      Lea was EVERYWHERE and I loved it. (More than 2 scenes + talked about in multiple scenes= “everywhere”)

+      The seeds for Lea’s epiphany were sowed (or sowed further, if you count her comforting Shaun in “Friends & Family” as the first big one), and that was encouraging. The cafeteria scenes, the elevator, the karaoke slo-mo.  It was all there.

+      Lea’s boyfriend in the karaoke scene didn’t have any lines… hell, he didn’t even have a NAME! I consider this a plus.

+      I have mixed feelings about the PDA part of the karaoke bar scene. Shaun’s reaction to it being Lea out there making out on the dance floor didn’t seem to be tinged with any sort of jealousy—launching into how “Lea always uses protection” was a hilarious reaction, to be honest. But on the other hand, when Carly declared a need to conduct her own PDA “experiment” and Shaun had trouble focusing, eyes opening and closing throughout—was he having difficulty because Lea was nearby? Or because he saw her approaching out of the corner of his (open) eye? Or was it simply because he’s NOT comfortable with PDA?  Seemed like it could be a mix of things. Or not.

Shaun wiped his lips post-PDA attempt in Lea's presence

+      As for the KARAOKE itself… even before the slo-mo shot started, how could anyone not love that?  Rapid-fire sing/rapping “Super Bass”? Lea and Carly trading verses? Shaun stealing the show from both of them? Shaun mispronouncing Nicki Minaj’s last name? (Wonder if that was a Freddie Highmore error that they decided to go with…?) I hope it was as much fun to execute as it was to watch. One for the ages.

Shaun doing air drums at the very start of the karaoke sequence

+      Now, let’s count the many ways I got my guesses from my previous blog post wrong…

       1) It wasn’t a double-date arranged by Shaun, but a happenstance run-in at the same bar. (Wish we knew whether it was Shaun or Carly who invited Lea and Nameless Guy to join them at the table…)

       2) While Shaun & Lea’s karaoke history surely weighed in on the storyline overall, there was no direct mention of it… and I’m still left wondering if Carly knew anything about their pre-roomie history. (Probably a moot point by now, but still…)

      




3) Claire’s apparently too busy with her own issues and relationships to even know Lea’s working at St.B, so once again it was Morgan who offered up her two cents—make that two hundred cents—about Lea’s “dominant” nature. (It’s OK, she and Lea got plenty of snarky moments out of it… kind of tough to believe we’d never seen them share screen space until yesterday, but it’s true)

      4) Lea’s Nameless Guy didn’t seem to mind Shaun & Lea’s karaoke moment enough to call her on it… in fact, in maybe the most random moment of the whole show, Nameless Guy was actually shaking up and uncorking champagne as Shaun and Lea spun into their own world up there on the stage. It suddenly felt like Shaun and Lea had won the Daytona 500.

The one thing I predicted that DID work out, though not at all as I expected …"something transpiring on the double date to indicate that spark between Shaun & Lea… whether Carly takes note or not."

     1) Um, yeah… she took note!  (More about the breakup scene from "Unsaid" next time)

Props to TGD director Mike Listo for creating this excellent (though heartbreaking) shot 

     

 2) My completely #Shea-biased opinion? Whether it was added in by the director of “Unsaid”, or already in the script (most likely the latter, as it was maybe the most crucial part of the story)… by drawing out Shaun and Lea’s lost-in-their-own-world moment with slow motion, with the lights bright, the music fading into the background as an increasingly stunned Carly looked on… they took that spark of #Shea and underlined it, highlighted it, drew a circle around it with a big red Sharpie. And with that, I started to think (for the first time since "Friends &Family")... wow, they just might be on our side after all.

Now, just a little bit ABOUT NEXT WEEK (“Autopsy”), which I will post more about as we get closer to airtime…

The summary copy of the show includes the line When Dr. Shaun Murphy makes an emotional confession, the result may not be as desired. It’s got us all in fits already, and many are bracing for impact with thoughts of Lea crushing him further with a complete inability to feel as he feels. Here’s what I’m doing with this so far:

+  I think the results Shaun “desires” next week are a clear-cut understanding of where to go from here with Lea. (Well I also think he wants things to continue as they have been with Carly, but I REALLY don’t think he’s gonna get that.)

+ That said, I don’t think he’s gonna get clear-cut from Lea. The only way that could happen, MAYBE, is if she had consciously been pining for him this whole year. She hasn’t. But that doesn’t mean she’s gonna pat him on the hand and say Shaun, didn’t we cover this way back when we first became roommates? They’re not where they were then.

+ In fact, since Lea’s clueless enough about Shaun’s love to believe it when Carly told her in the elevator that Shaun doesn’t think of her that way… let’s see, what does she have to work with again?         

      A) Having to leave her great apartment (and bestie/roomie) because he felt that the need to please his girlfriend superseded his relationship with Lea

     B) The knowledge that Shaun and Carly have broken up (I presume she’ll know by next week)… like, JUST broken up.

    C) The awareness that Shaun is dealing with a LOT (for anyone experiencing their first breakup, let alone someone with ASD), and feels lonely, and desperate… maybe even desperate enough to put their friendship on the line for what might feel to her like a rebound romance.

You see where I’m going with that, right?

One more thing for now… Shaun’s realization of his true feelings might come sooner than Lea’s, but not without a fight. Maybe a “fight” along the way with Lea; after all, he may resent her on some level (especially when she doesn’t magically fall into his arms) because he blames her for Carly’s decision. And most definitely he’s still fighting himself on the idea. Remember that he’s been all about compatibility this season with Carly, from the binder of questions he asked on their early dates to he frequent declarations lately of being “very compatible sexually” (Yep, still not gonna ask about that).

So-- even if he can admit love for Lea, he may balk at first (and second, and maybe third) about how “it doesn’t make sense”...

Which, with any luck at all, will lead him to perhaps his best relationship lesson yet.