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As Dr. Claire Browne and Dr. Enrique “Boardshorts” Guerin leaned on the railing in that final shot of TGD’s 2/15/21 episode, bonding in the wake of all the eye-opening that had gone down in the past couple days at St. B, I thought about Claire’s last lines about “having to make white people comfortable” to get where they were in life (“they”= People Of Color)...
And I thought of all the intriguing, maddening and crucial things in the episode that had little to no representation in the episode’s promotion… and of TDP (That Damn Promo) we did get, which had us #Shea supporters tied up in knots for three long weeks… and I thought, All that hype over a dream kiss that never came close to becoming real, that ultimately served as the comic relief subplot! Shame on you for toying with us, ABC.
But then I thought about the concept of shame itself, and how its presence was felt in so many parts of the episode I’m kind of surprised it wasn’t the actual title… and that’s when TDP made more sense-- albeit in its own, twisted way.
Episode 4.9 was NOT named “Shame,” but “Irresponsible Salad Bar Practices.” We know why now, and don’t worry, I’m still covering all things #Shea (such as they were) in this post, but the episode was also informative, intriguing, greatly upsetting… and from what I can tell, not all viewers would attach those adjectives to the same aspects! Let’s jump in--
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Shame (The Headliner):
Lim’s refusal to address her PTSD sends her to her breaking point
It’s been difficult pinpointing the rise and fall of story arcs this season, in part because of 1) the COVID 2-part season opener throwing things off balance from previous seasonal set-ups, and 2) the staggered delivery of episodes due in part to COVID in real life (5 weeks on, 6 weeks off; 3 weeks on, 3 weeks off). So after Lim shared some pretty dark moments onscreen with Claire (in 4.8 “Parenting”), I kind of expected Lim’s storyline to tread water for a few episodes, with its dramatic climax arriving somewhere around episode 14 or 15. And I kind of pictured that climax to involve a tragic patient situation on Lim’s watch. Yes, I knew Glassman was paying her a Claire-requested welfare check this week, but I thought she might skate through it somehow while her disdain for Claire’s “help” intensified.
She ended up making a “nice save,” as Park called it, but the next time we saw Lim she was returning to her office and staring down an unfilled prescription for sertraline (an anti-depressant). By the end of the episode she’d informed both Andrews and Claire that she’d begun taking it-- a HUGE step, given not only the resistance she’d shared with Claire in previous episodes but her concern about her vulnerability as a rare woman of color in the Chief of Surgery position.
It appears, then, that Lim is on the downswing of her PTSD struggle. I tend to think that will open up some time for TGD to focus on neglected story arcs-- Morgan and Park are at the top of my list, and we’re around the mid-point of the season. Seems a good time for a shift in the momentum.
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Shame of Claire realizing she profiled Zara upon her arrival to the ER...
AND-- Shame of St. Bonaventure in general, via two sets of statistics
Think of Zara’s case as a portal into Black History Month… the kind of Black history that’s more tragic than triumphant.
It started with Claire doing a bit of racial profiling when Zara entered St. B’s ER unit, so right from the start an interesting choice was made (having a fellow black woman doing the profiling). To be honest, I thought her making negative assumptions of Zara might have more to do with her Mom than anything else (a loud, singing, “messy” black woman who appeared to be on something? That was Breeze, in Claire’s mind.) But I see two reasons the writers opted not to go there: 1) it interfered with the very important points they were making, and 2) as it happens, Claire just referenced Breeze in the previous episode, telling Lim she’d embodied her mom when she’d (drunkenly) argued at the bar over Lim’s PTSD management. If she were to see “Mom” in Zara too, it might seem as if Claire still has lingering issues with her late parent. (Which she probably does, but…not relevant in this particular episode.)
Anyway, I thought the Zara story was exceptionally well done. Between the current pandemic, and vaccination efforts for said pandemic, there have been many stories brought to light regarding racial disparity in health care. But it’s not the kind of thing that will gracefully find its way into medical drama scripts very often. (Not that it should have to be done “gracefully,” but suffice to say there’s a fair amount of viewers out there who bristle at something that feels even remotely like a lecture rather than “entertainment.”)
So TGD went with the Go big or go home strategy, and created a story with multiple touchpoints… including:
The aforementioned racial profiling
The pleasure of a POC getting care from an all-POC surgical team (that won’t “talk down to her”)
The fact that doctors are 22% less likely to give pain meds to black patients with the same symptoms as white patients-- a statistic you can also find right here in this Women's Health article from January
A brutally honest admission by the hospital president himself (Glassman) that when it came down to it, ALL the hospitals in the region had low numbers of POC patient satisfaction (But St. B was, apparently, the best of the bad)
A report assembled (offscreen) by Lea, at Claire’s request, which backed up Glassman’s words with the revelation that St. B was systematically under-treating POC “by a considerable margin” with regards to pain management.
Will we ever see a follow-up on this topic on TGD? That remains to be seen. With Claire’s pain management report largely overshadowed by Lim’s discussion of her PTSD, we saw very little reaction to the report itself, and zero indications that it will be a topic at the next St. B board meeting. And the fact that the episode’s dialogue ended on a rhetorical question from Claire --“We had to (make white people comfortable), right? To be here?”-- reminds us how open-ended and ongoing the race conversation is, and has to be.
But with Zara’s story having closure (including as satisfying an ending with Claire as we could realistically hope for), I’d like to think the message has been received by at least a few (thousand? million?) more people.
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Shame (subplot): Shaun is terrified of his “work crush”
(This, as regular readers of this blog know, sparked a firestorm of preliminary speculation and/or debate, both with this post and this follow-up post)
So! How are you feeling about it now? Relieved Lea handled the situation so skillfully? Disappointed that it didn’t open up to deeper drama? Angry that Shaun’s dream kiss with Dr. Cintia D’Souza went on for about 20 freaking seconds (while Shaun and Lea’s physicality for this episode involved nothing more than linking arms as they left the hospital together)?
It all started with Morgan pitching her version of Claire’s Flirting Trifecta while she, Park, and Jordan watched Shaun and Dr. D’Souza from afar. Would Shaun have gotten D’Souza “in his brain” if those three hadn’t teased him about it? We’ll never know, nor will we ever know much about D’Souza at all. But from what we did see, she seemed a perfectly nice young woman who at least found Shaun attractive… and if we don’t want to go so far to say Shaun was instantly drawn to her, perhaps we can agree he was responding (via mild body language) to being found attractive by an attractive woman. That makes sense, right? Let’s pretend it does because I’m moving on…
Next up was Shaun’s DREAM… a.k.a. the only place where “Do you mind if I lower the volume by four output levels?” sounds like foreplay…
Whether you watched the scene or skipped it out of sheer discomfort/dismay, you probably know by now that not only did Shaun dream-kiss the second-year radiology resident, but he kept on kissing her… which (briefly) turned into a horizontal kiss... all the way until D’Souza quietly disappeared, and Shaun sat up, startled as hell, in bed alongside a sleeping Lea.
Why did they do so much with that when an “almost kiss” (with Shaun waking up the moment before it happened) probably would have sufficed? My guess is that director Felipe Rodriguez made that decision, opting for a more languid transition from the dream (and Shaun’s waking from it) to the final scene of the act, which was back at the hospital. And let’s face it… if it were a year ago, and Shaun had a dream about kissing Lea while sleeping alongside Carly, we would have appreciated that sequence to pieces.
(NOTE: the Shea Endgame IG account created a hashtag this week called #WhereIsMySheaKiss, for obvious reasons… if you are on social media and are inclined to raise your voice on the matter, please consider tagging posts appropriately!)
Speaking of Carly, I was surprised she got a mention (first time anyone’s uttered her name on TGD since her final appearance during last year’s “Autopsy” episode). But she was mentioned for good reason-- Shaun was comparing his current situation to his prior one. It was telling the way Shaun asked, with so much sadness, if his attraction to D’Souza meant he was supposed to be with her (instead of Lea). In a totally Shaun way, it made sense to ask the question. But it was also crystal clear that he’s already with the one he feels he’s supposed to be with.
During this scene, did Park win back anyone who wanted to throttle him early in the episode for telling Shaun love and attraction weren’t mutually exclusive? I mean, this time he WAS the one who put Shaun’s initial fear to rest with the assuring “You’ve loved Lea for years…” (In other words… "This is nothing like when you were with Carly, dude.")
Next up, we had Shaun and Lea in the cafeteria (so much for that “nice dinner” Jordan suggested), where Shaun stated his Work Crush as if relieved just to be able to label it. Once he got to describing his dream, Lea cutting him off with an irritated “OK, I get it” was the closest thing we saw to her being upset by what she heard. And as she clarified soon after, there was little reason for her to be jealous when Shaun harbored no real-life intentions towards Dr. D’Souza.
And that plan? Nothing short of delightful. Only in #Shea land would a woman help her man in this way-- especially when it turned out that D’Souza’s cinnamon scent and peculiar affinity for earlobe massage were actually mild turn-ons to Shaun (eek!). But it was D’Souza’s Irresponsible Salad Bar Practices that proved her downfall… the focus that allowed Shaun to manage the “discomfort” that his crush had become.
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Shame of Shaun for having questions about pregnant transgender man Rio, and his relationship with Eli
TGD brings it once again with the unique cases, and as always, Shaun has so. Many. Questions. that he doesn’t filter the way an NT doctor might. Often the script meets this with surprisingly open patients (“That’s okay, I don’t mind questions” after a fellow doctor gives the mildly reprimanding “Dr. Murphy…”), but this time Lim kicked Shaun out of the room the moment he started questioning how a gay man could consider himself “gay” when his partner was still biologically female. It wouldn’t be the only time Lim’s patience with Shaun ran thin this week-- she also brought an abrupt end to his “What makes a man?” wonderings in the ER later in the episode-- and given her own struggles, we could lay this at the feet of the PTSD monster without much argument. But especially in the first scenario, it could also be a sign of things to come for Shaun... less shocked/amused tolerance of his blunt queries, more “go figure it out, Murphy.”
Which apparently he did, affecting him enough to offer the rare apology to Eli on his way to convince Eli to continue supporting Rio, even if he wasn’t in agreement with his choices. That was my favorite Shaun scene of the week, BTW (that didn’t involve Lea I mean). Cynics might see it as a crutch TGD leans on too easily, but I always enjoy it when Shaun finds a way to connect with patients-- and their loved ones-- through his personal ASD struggles.
Curiously, the script paired Shaun’s frustrations with the trans relationship (“If I don’t ask questions, how can I understand?”) with his frustrations over Dr. D’Souza, even seeming to attribute both matters to his brain “not behaving the way he wanted it to.” Ultimately, scriptwriters Sam Chanse and Liz Friedman (about time I actually named them!) decided his questions about Rio and Eli were better left unanswered, at least on a scripted TV series like TGD. Which meant Shaun ended up defaulting to “the kissing dream” twice-- once with Park and Jordan, and again with Lea-- as a way of exhibiting Shaun’s need-to-know without actually delving into more conversation about it.
Interesting tactic, huh? It makes me wonder which came first, frankly… the pregnant trans man storyline, or the D’Souza flirtation? As complex a story as it was, I think it was the former. After all, had Shaun been of the mindset that he needed to kiss D’Souza in real life...well, it’d be a story of its own and we wouldn’t be talking about this the same way. But perhaps Chance/Friedman thought of this the way so many of us did at first glance (Shaun betraying Lea, even with “just” a kiss? No way!), finding instead that his panic over the possibility could serve many purposes… not the least of which was a way to divert away from his Eli/Rio stream-of-consciousness efforts.
Then came along the SHAME of ABC’s promotional department…
And let me just say off the top here that those editors had to work H A R D to find a shot of Lea looking “unhappy” in this episode. The fact that they were able to take this shot of Lea
(from the hilarious “Good news for you, bad news about Dr. D’Souza” scene), slow it down a tad, and turn it into part of their contrived drama? Genius. Seriously.
But as the episode wrapped up, and I was thinking those Shame on you, ABC thoughts I mentioned earlier, I thought about the episode as a whole: In THIS corner, we have a gay couple, one of whom is a transgender man who happens to be pregnant. And in THIS corner, we have a black woman who is not afraid of demanding the care all patients are entitled to… even if it makes white doctors and/or hospital administrators uneasy.
In fact, if you look at the episode synopsis officially released by ABC for the “Irresponsible…” episode, you see a whole lot of careful wording:
Lim is challenged by the unique circumstances surrounding a pregnant patient with an aggressive tumor. Elsewhere, after misdiagnosing a patient, Claire makes a disconcerting discovery about certain practices at the hospital.
Don't ask if they could have been any vaguer with that description-- they couldn't, short of Lim did something and then Claire did something after doing something else.
Why bypass both unique (Rio) and vital (Zara) stories in favor of Lim’s PTSD and Shaun’s much-too-long dream? That’s why I was saying shame on ABC… I thought they’d chosen the easy way out. But as several of you mentioned when I posed the question on Twitter, they probably felt they had to downplay the controversial aspects of the script simply to get it an audience.
One look at the IMDB comments for the episode proves that point:
So over it! How many times to we need to be told the White people are the root of every evil in the world??? So over it.
The election is over. Can we just enjoy a tv show without politics?! I've never seen so much garbage in an episode. Stop talking about race and just see each other as humans without colors.
I've never hated an episode more than this one. Too PC if there's even such a thing. Don't watch this one and wait for the next is my advice.
I get some woke bs but come on man how much can you cram down someone's throat at one time?
I'm ok with shows having a political inclination but this episode only goes to show that if that inclination turns into a plot device itself nothing good comes from it. No subtlety, no nuance, just in your face politics… This is not what made this show great. The only decent part of the episode was Shaun and Lea.
Well, as they say, even a broken clock is right a couple times a day. 🙄
“Irresponsible Salad Bar Practices” was penned by Liz Friedman and Sam Chanse, and while Friedman is a familiar name among the TGD scribes, Chanse is a new voice (you can find out more about her here). She’s a Brooklyn-based writer who tends to focus on theater; with her name now associated with an episode like this, it’ll be interesting to see how often she’s asked to contribute to TGD in the future.
If the general viewing audience is more reflective of the IMDB comments than the ones I’ve made here, well… maybe we won’t go down roads less traveled for a while on TGD.
In which case save that last “shame” for me, and anyone else who hoped for better.
NOTE: if you thought well of TGD’s “Irresponsible...” episode, please consider going to the IMDB site yourself and rating it… it currently has a 4.9 out of 10, which I hear is the lowest in quite some time.
ANOTHER NOTE: The comments within this blog are another great place to share your thoughts on the show/episode/#Shea; whether you enjoyed what you saw this week or not, I’d love to hear from you!
44 comments:
I’m not surprised that 4.09 “Irresponsible…” received the worst rating ever for any episode of The Good Doctor on IMDB.
There are of course the more conservative viewers which were appalled by the topics itself. But even as someone who embraces the message, I doubt the way it was delivered.
“Irresponsible…” was overstuffed – and the unusual length of the title itself is somewhat an icon for that.
Topic 1: racial bias in medicine and how it affects both patients and doctors.
Topic 2: transgender pregnancy and the medical and social problems persons concerned have to face.
Topic 3: PTSD in the workplace and how it affects careers, with special focus on race and gender as contributing factors.
Topic 4: temptation in a relationship.
That’s three high-profile themes in 43 minutes plus a comic relief. In effect, the show had to rush through it and delivered talking points rather than dialogue that evolved naturally and gave the audience time to examine the concepts presented.
Both cases of the week would have been served better if they had been dealt with in separate episodes, combined with a medical case without social and political implications. But instead, topics 1-3 competed against each other for the audience’s attention and therefore canceled each other out to some degree.
In addition, I think the hook for Zara’s case was constructed weakly: the patient presented in the OR in an altered state of mind and reeking of marijuana. This was very similar to 3.05 “First Case, Second Base”, when Claire treated Curtis, a white man (!) who came in intoxicated despite supposedly being sober for over six years.
In both cases, Claire believed the patient (then a white male, now a black female) was lying and without being biased because of her mother or racial profiling there was reasonable cause for her call, because “if you hear hooves, think of horses, not zebras”. The plot about racial bias in medicine would have been more comprehensible if the script had constructed a less ambivalent lead-in.
The transgender case featured two charming guest stars that carried a touching story very well, but their performance and the impact were cut short because the episode had to rush through it in order get to the other plots as well.
The same goes for Lim’s PTSD and how her relationships to Claire and Andrews are shifting because of it. Christina Chang delivered a magnificent performance again, but the pace of the episode left little room to fully appreciate it.
On a side note: this can’t be the end of Lim’s PTSD storyline. Medication is considered subsidiary with PTSD, while various forms of cognitive therapy are strongly recommended as primary treatment. Lim isn’t out of the woods yet.
To make a long story short – episode 4.09 had a lot of ambitions, but it lacked in the execution. It lacked focus.
(Note: since I need some time to write my comments in english, i had written everything below before you posted your great analysis Kelli, i just added a few comments in-between 2 brackets)
So once again ABC fooled us. We could expect that the trailer was at least partly misleading, but this time they outdid themselves. It's not a serious matter, but I find it sad that they 1) used a split-second shot of Lea turning her head while looking seemingly distraught to imply that something bad could happen between her and Shaun and 2) focused a whole trailer on a secondary subplot and made it seem like it would be a big and heavy thing in the episode, casting aside the 2 important plots with the black woman being racially profiled and the pregnant transgender man. I get that ABC may have been afraid of driving people if they showed what the main stories of the episode would be, but they might turn people way if they continue to badly promote the show.(( After reading your post Kelli, it's nice to see how a lot of us had the same feelings of outrage at ABC...)).
Onto the episode...I honestly don't know what to think of it. I liked the topics, the guest actors were great, I loved how Lea handled the whole situation with Shaun having a crush. But some things bothered me:
- racial profiling in the medical area was important to bring up. I had heard about it before, but as a white person, it's something I didn't pay much attention to and wasn't informed about, so in a way it's good that shows like TGD tell stories that help make people aware of such issues.
However I thought it was clumsily done in the episode. To me Claire didn't make any mistake and didn't racially profile her, she made a decision on the spot to save the woman's life after she couldn't find the medicine the patient said she was taking; saying Claire was wrong in not believing her while she was under the influence means that the next time a non-white patient who doesn't seem in their right mind and who would be speaking loudly claims that they take x medicine Claire -or any doctor- should believe them because otherwise it would be racial profiling, and it may not be at the benefit of the patient's health.
So it could have been handled better.
But maybe there is something i missed or didn't understand properly, there are indeed still some words -especially medical ones - that i don't manage to understand so it can skew my comprehension of the whole situation. So don't hesitate to correct me if i'm wrong.
- overall, i thought that they went a bit too far with the various heavy plots in one single episode, it was being shoved down our throat in almost every scene, such as Lim saying to Glassman - the head of the hospital - "says the white guy"; this line could have been said in another episode for example. I usually always welcome this kind of message on the show, but I think it was over the top in this episode. I hope i won't offend anyone by saying this, but i just feel like they could have been more smooth in their approach. Maybe the writing is partly to blame...and the 2 topics may have been better handled if treated in separate episodes ((I see that you mentioned that as well Andreas)).
But i also came to realize lately that I'm sometimes bothered by how an episode has to revolve around one or 2 theme(s) or issue(s), how a character' s personal situation must be linked to a patient's one or/and how a character must overcome a specific issue in every episode, which makes the show sometimes lose subtelty and be constrained by the obligation to have scenes and dialogues that support the theme/topic of the episode. Sometimes it works well, but sometimes it feels forced. I would love it if more things were covered over multiple episodes, such as Lim's PTSD (which i find even more interesting and moving because of Christina Chang's fantastic acting).
- a few things with the crush story and the lack of physical intimacy between Shea:
Ok, it was a dream. But it wasn't necessary to have the radiogist kiss Shaun, and to do so twice! Shaun could have just woken up when she started kissing him. It bothers me especially because that's the kind of physical intimacy i wish we saw between Shaun and Lea.
I don't need to see them kiss in every episode. What i like about this show is that it differs from many shows where characters in a relationship make out often and a lot in the workplace. Shea's relationship is more realistic in that respect. Also, the little touches between them, like interlacing their fingers in 4x05 or Lea holding Shaun's arm in 4x09, the way they look intensely at each other, how they understand each other, etc. shows they are close emotionally. BUT now that covid seems less of an issue, it's time to stop implying that they have a great physical intimacy and show at least just a bit of it. I also think they should try to show that because 1) we saw that ad nauseum with Carly, we know it wasn't deep romantic love and more desire/lust, but it would be good to SHOW some passion, them tenderly kissing and/or softly touching each other while they are at home, just to cement the fact that they also are "in tune" with each other on the physical intimacy aspect. It would also 2) make some fans shut up about how Shea seem to be more friends than a couple and 3) cement the fact that an autistic person can have a loving physical intimacy (because it seems some people are uncomfortable in seeing an autistic man exploring physical closeness with a partner...) But no need to have a full make out session, it's not this kind of show, for that there is Outlander^^
((Note: i'm glad there is a #whereismysheakiss movement!!))
I loved how Lea handled Shaun's crush. The fact that she accepted Shaun's confession, once again showing how she values his honesty, and found a smart (and odd but so funny) way to make Shaun's thoughts about the radiologist go away, but not because it annoyed her but because she was bothered that it bothered him, were testaments to how much she loves him, understands him, and is committed to this relationship. She put any jealousy or fear aside to help him. And loved Paige Spara's delivery in the scene about how to kill a crush, especially the "Which is more puzzling than irritating actually kind of nice which is obviously not helpful".
However i have a question about this: doesn't any of you find it odd that Lea is so secure about the relationship, that she seems to never be worried it can wrong, and that she's the one often reassuring Shaun, such as in this episode or in 4x07 "our relationship won't end in a disaster"? In 4×09, it could have been expected that she shows not necessarily jealousy, but a bit of worry, because given Shaun's autism and his still recent knowledge of love and relationships, and because of what happened in reverse with Lea and Carly the previous season - as Shaun mentioned in the episode - it wouldn't be unreasonable for Lea to fear that Shaun's desires could turn into something more. She knows and trusts that Shaun loves her deeply, but as Shaun said to Lea once: "feelings can change". Unless she manages not to show her fear, or isn't fully conscious of it? In the first half of season 3 she seemed to have no issue at all with Shaun dating Carly and even helped him, sometimes on intimate points (the "touching one thing at a time"), but then we got the elevator scene with Lea and Carly where Lea seemed a bit disappointed in the end, and the famous karaoke scene where Lea weirdly and abruptly comes in when Shaun and Carly are kissing, like if she did it on purpose.
To sum up, i have trouble understanding Lea's emotions or lack of them in regards to jealousy and fear. So i would be happy to read what some other Shea fans think about that...
I believe that we wrote twice "Who wrote this?" during the spare of the episode last Monday. And, in fact, that level of discomfort while watching was almost cringy at some points.
First, I have to really appreciate the topics that were presented in this episode not only because they are important but also because they are real. However, and I agree with Syl and Andreas it was poorly delivered. You can't have such dense topics developed correctly in a 45 minutes episode. You simply can't, it's not right and I'm heavily surprised on how that episode, that script made the cut for this season. How, when they have many people watching the process, no one said "you know what? This is too heavy, love it but let's make it into another episode better"
The current politic situation in USA is stressful, the country is divided and on this maybe Kelli can give us more input but is what the rest of the world sees, and definitely what I can take from those very bad reviews in IMDB.
The storyline of Shea during this episode was, I don't even have the words for it, it wasn't even worth it as comical relief. They brought a sensitive matter, promoted the hell out of it. To leave it as "ohh don't worry Shaun you were dreaming about actually kissing another woman next to your partner, no biggie, everybody goes through that..." Seriously? Yes, Lea's reaction was very good, but didn't you all feel like Shaun kinda went backwards with this? Maybe it was his lack of experience, but I surely felt that he was portrayed like season 1 Shaun, and yes I know he has ASD but he has grown a lot too, and has come to understand many things. So it was odd, unnatural, I didn't like it. It lacked on depth and in storyline continuing. I mean Lea claimed that she wasn't mature enough in Parenting saying that Shaun was. And then we got this? Were they trying to show that it wasn't like that? She was wrong? I don't know, maybe we will find an answer later on.
And don't make me go talking about the dream kiss, I'm so pissed that I can't even describe it. I mean they give us nothing on Shea whatever reason might that be. And then they give us Shaun kissing and enjoying doing it so with another woman? Toy with the audience and then showing us that. Great! ¬¬
Thanks for the mention of the HT Kelli, yeah is made for the laughs mostly but some people of the production are already aware so let's see if it has an impact lol...
Finally, the results of episode 9 deriving into being the most hated episode of all three seasons can cause a bigger impact. If you have noticed they are already applying damaging control promoting Freddie's direction on "Decrypt",he will be also promoting the episode on Monday 22 in GMA so yeah this episode left consequences however not the ones we expected and that sucks. Decrypt looks like the episode to be on the top list of my favorite ones of the series ever and it would be such a shame that for irresponsible decisions they fail on this one. Funny, they blamed the salad when in the end it was the writing to be blamed.
Syl, I just ended my post but I had to write once again to say Thank you! You have described exactly our feelings on the subject of lack of physical contact between Shea. I'm tired of reading people saying that they look like a couple of friends more than a romantic couple. And makes me mad because at some point they are right, they are best friends but they also love each other and while their love is there and you can feel it, you need to portray it somehow beyond that.
As for Lea, yeah, it's all so weird. I guess that when she asked him if he was planning on kissing the doctor in real life and he said not, she relaxed again. I didn't feel like she wasn't worried at first when he started to tell her about his crush but more she took a moment and try to come up with a solution to help him instead. She is secure, is has been Shaun the one doubtful about their relationship at some extend and that is a novelty also. I think that in Decrypt they will expand on Shaun being more supportive and that will give us a better approach on their interactions as couple. Lea opening her heart and allowing him to enter into her biggest fears will be something different so now it will be his time to reassure her.
BTW, the show will enter into a new hiatus, after Decrypt they will show Lim again. We expect more of these for what is left of season. So, be patient.
The Good Doctor has always been a show to comment on contemporary social and political issues. Advocating for the inclusion of autistic individuals, the show had to be. And it was never shy to branch out to other issues like gender, race, etc. But what made the show a stunning success with its first season was the finesse, the subtlety that was employed to weave these issues into a compelling narration about Shaun overcoming challenges.
“Irresponsible…” is far from being subtle, the script lacks finesse (have you ever considered Andrews being a gossip girl?), and it is about everything else but not Shaun (now +Lea) mastering life on his (their) own terms.
Looking at it from an entirely other continent, „Irresponsible…“ feels like an echo of the ruptures in US society at the end of the Trump administration. A land divided in factions that do not longer seek to understand and cooperate but try to dominate each other. Factions that do not exchange arguments but dogmas, short of bullets.
It is somewhat understandable if the writers wanted to make a statement. Yet, a good deed is no excuse for bad screen writing. When the plot with your titular character has so little impact on the episode that it would come off better without it – and you still insist on including it – then something went significantly wrong in your writing process.
Okay so a lot to digest from the episode. I was certainly okay with the themes on the medical side. A relevant issue on quality of care for the black community was a good topic for discussion. And Rio’s story was also a good one.
But I’m focused on Shea. As additional promos leaked I became convinced that the kiss would be a dream sequence in that the initial interaction with Dr. D’Souza appeared friendly, cordial and good natured. It would be way out of character to then have her maul Shaun in the next scene.
But I was correct when I said Jordan and Park’s teasing of Shaun was detrimental to any future professional relationship with D’Souza as Shaun would be self conscious and uncomfortable around her now. I believed Shaun could not process the teasing and he would accept the statements as truth.
I’m okay with the kiss and it’s length and also okay that Shea didn’t kiss at the end. It illustrates a point that even a long kiss with a beautiful young Doctor can’t convey the love of Lea simply interlocking her arms around Shaun and giving him a loving look. That’s the real thing and the other is simply a fantasy or an imitation of love.
So it was refreshing to see Lea defend her territory so to speak and her Man. A tinge of jealousy arises in the salad bar as she scouts her potential rival. And Lea’s determination to crush the crush is a statement from her that she’s going to defend and fight for this relationship as much as Shaun is. So in the end I believe they emerge stronger.
So I agree with you Kelli that the Dr. D’Souza character could’ve been more than a one shot deal. But that was ruined the minute the teasing started as any natural progression of a work or friendship relationship with her. So she’s a footnote for now. But as I said before don’t fret on the lack of kissing the message of the episode kissing doesn’t compete with a deeper and truer love.
This episodes #Shea subplot was so insignificant, that all I’m compelled to write is that it was cute to see Lea get into Shaun’s autistic head and act like him in season 1, making a field study, taking notes and compiling list. To say it with Glassy’s words: she gets him.
That’s it.
And that’s a problem.
Not because the lack of kisses, but because the show took 3 years to build to this relationship and now they don’t make much use of it. Either the plots are petty, like Shaun unwittingly affronting Lea – or they are decisive turning points – like Lea agreeing to move in again – and we don’t get to see the decision-making itself, but only the results.
And other than Shaun’s early romance with Carly, most of it is played as comedy, while Shaun’s struggle with intimacy and sex in season 3 was played as a serious matter (3.13 excluded, but that was understandable, because how to visualize a quest for an orgasm in prime time TV…).
The only episode that dealt with a milestone of the relationship in a serious way was “Parenting” – the 8th episode into the season! The writers will have to beef up their game.
Season 4 has some serious structural problems. Not all of them – like the pandemic – are on the production team. Others, like the introduction of four new characters at once were a risk that did not pay so far.
Nine episodes to build to mid-season. Two episodes for Covid, one episode for introducing the newbies, one to start Lim’s PTSD storyline. That leaves five episodes to develop the new characters and advance the various plotlines towards the mid-season episode that will realign the character arcs for the second half.
That is awfully little time to follow up on Morgan’s career swing and Park’s new start after the divorce coming into effect. There’s also little room to explore how Claire manages her life after a year from Hell (apparently, she simply traded Lim for her mother and Melendez and hopes for salvation by rescuing her).
And between all of that there are the newbies who are currently little more than archetypes that contribute very little to the advancement of the main characters:
- Boardshorts, the freethinker, is teased as Claire’s potential new love interest (which proved quite dangerous so far);
- Olivia, the wallflower, her storyline is either going to fizzle out or blow up in Andrew’s face as a case of nepotism;
- Jordan, the careerist, got soft rather quickly;
- Asher, the seeker for meaning, is simply there.
“Decrypt” hast to turn the tide on season 4.
Should be a warning sign then "Parenting" was the most watched episode this season so far and also the one with the best ratings in IMDB. I think most people want substance on what we see. We want something meaningful and Parenting offered that. I have my eyes set on Decrypt that it will be a turning point (in a positive way) for the rest of the season.
I certainly hope so...
Thank you for this new post, Kelli.
I have to confess that I was unsure to comment about this, because I’m quite disappointed in this week’s episode. But reading the other comments made me realize that I was not alone. It’s a shame (another one to add to your list, Kelli) because after a three-week hiatus we were all probably expecting so much more.
The reason of my disappointment was explained perfectly by Andreas: this episode was poorly executed.
It’s obviously okay that they addressed such important social issues, and it’s no news for the show. They’ve been constantly doing that from season 1.
But I find it that there was too much packed in too short a time. As a result, everything seemed too rushed and loose.
Such important topics like social inclusion, diversity and prejudice should have been explored more in depth to provide a satisfying resolution and to impart any important lessons.
Also, the connection between the patients’ stories and the main characters’ arcs was too weak, sometimes to the point of resulting forced:
- Shaun explored prejudice and questioning inappropriateness in no more than two forty second (or so) scenes
- Claire and Lim’s involvement with the racial issue was totally unsatisfying. I don’t know much about the problem of racial profiling policy in USA hospitals, but Claire’s initial response to the patient in the ER was justified by the situation, in my opinion. If they wanted to tackle that particular issue, they should have come up with a more believable circumstance. And as for Lim’s reaction (“Says the white man”) to Glassman’s offer of help, I find it unprofessional, disrespectful of a long-time friendship (she used to be his resident), and above everything else, wrong in its premise (Glassman is Jewish in origin).
In all this chaos, Shaun’s journey to learn how to set lust and love apart (that could have been an important growing experience) was merely used as a sort of comic relief. I appreciated Lea’s creativity in resolving the issue, because it showed how well she has come to know Shaun’s autistic mind. Her undercover note taking in the cafeteria was fun and reminiscent of season one’s Shaun. But there was nothing more.
Prejudice and diversity were explored also in season 1, but through much more meaningful and proficient means. Just think about episodes like “She” or “Seven Reasons”. The theme was analyzed thanks to the patient of the week, but it was well integrated with Shaun’s evolution and personal story too. At the time, missing Lea, the need to understand the way he was changing and evolving, and his wanting to have a more mature relationship with Glassman, other than the parent-kid dynamic they initially had.
Now, I think that, as far as Shaun is concerned, season 4 has been mainly exploring professional challenges (becoming a teacher; mastering an acceptable behavior in a work environment; Lea in her new role as IT Director) and family dynamics (Lea and Shaun; Lea and Glassman; Lea and her parents; Shaun and Glassman). Similar themes are explored in regard to the other characters too. Just think about Lim’s PTSD, Morgan’s new role within the hospital; Claire’s need to find a parental figure to replace her mother, and so on.
None of this has been impacted by episode 9. The episode itself did not serve any purpose, as far as the characters’ evolution is concerned (apart for Lim’s PTSD).
That was disconcerting, even more so right after an episode as good as Parents, which in my opinion had in it every single element that made this show so successful.
I believe that producers and writers need to be very careful not to make errors such as this one. The audience is becoming very picky. Some people hate the inclusion of politics and social issues in TV shows per se, others are still pissed off by the death of Melendez, and/or Melendaire sinking, then there are the Lea haters, and the ones who are annoyed by the many production hiatus (not considering that there’s still a pandemic!). We are loyal, open-minded fans of the show, and we still didn’t like this episode. My God, I can’t even imagine what other kind of viewers may have thought!
So, it’s a fine balance to maintain.
As a matter of fact, Irresponsible Salad Bar Practices reported the lowest audience ratings so far.
It’s not a time for missteps, and I sincerely hope that starting from episode 10, things will get back on track.
I had similar mixed feelings for the Lim episode as well. It was much more well balanced, of course. Still, even with an outstanding performance from Christina Chang the ratings were quite low.
I think that the episode suffered from similar problems as Irresponsible... Again, it came out after the long Christmas hiatus, and people expectations were probably very high. The plotline involving the PTSD (explored both through Lim and the patient) was very good, but everything else was completely missing. Again, Shaun was heavily misused. His only significant scene was his teaching breakthrough in the amygdala ablation operation. For the rest he was there only for comic relief. Now, I agree that he can be funny on his own right, but you can’t use such a complex, multilayered character just for that. Also, some Morgan-Park fun interaction could be ok, but I think that they went too far with it. They both acted like complete fools at work, and it was their only contribute to the episode.
Again, I believe it’s important for the writers to find an appropriate balance between drama and comedy, and between devoting enough screen time to the protagonist, the other main characters, and the rest of the cast. This could become a serious problem this year, considering how crowded the cast has become, with the addition of the newbies.
I sincerely hope that they will come around, because these are the kinds of mistakes that, if repeated, can lead to cancellation.
I meant Parenting, of course ;)
Well said, Daniela.
And to further illuminate the uneasiness so many of us obviously share, let me add some numbers. Over the last 3 days, I did a little poll in a subreddit dedicated to The Good Doctor with 10.6 k members. The 244 participants voted for some of often heard notions about #Shea. These are the results.
Shaun & Lea’s romantic relationship is…
- mature – they complement each other: 44%
- immature – they act like teenagers: 16%
- doomed – Lea will hurt Shaun again: 21%
- wrongful – Lea does not deserve Shaun: 6%
- a fraud – Lea does not love Shaun: 7%
- a mistake – because of Shaun’s autism: 5%
So, 5% are ableist jerks who believe that autistic individuals should not pursue love at all - that is sad but negligible.
However, after 9 episodes the writers have failed to convince 51% that #Shea is a healthy romantic relationship for their lead character. And the participants either blame the female love interest or do not understand that an ASD/NT relationship may differ in some respects from their preconceived notions of an adult romance.
The writing for this season is troublesome and certainly lacks the quality and care of previous seasons in regard of how it handles the main characters.
I perticipated in your poll, Andreas;)
And I agree about the lack in quality of the writing this season. The quality is sporadic to say the least.
> " “Irresponsible…” is far from being subtle, the script lacks finesse (have you ever considered Andrews being a gossip girl?)"
Personally, I feel that this may be indicative of the familiarity that he now feels with some of his colleagues, and in particular with Doctor Lim. Because, in my opinion, their interactions during this episode harkened back to that playful banter they shared in "Newbies." Which is the episode where they both felt comfortable enough to engage in some trash talk about sports.
But, ultimately, I feel that Dr. Andrews has relaxed considerably over the years. Which, I feel, is a direct result of his character development. After all, if Shaun had brought up shower sex during surgery in season one, I'm not sure that Andrews would have been as tolerant of the conversation then, as he was shown to be in season 4. So, instead of issuing a reprimand in "Uncertainty Principles," Andrews read the room and merely related to Shaun on a peer level.
But, as far as gossip goes, I don't feel that it's too much of a stretch to see Andrews engaging in a bit of gossip if he now considers Lim his professional equal and friend. That is after coming to a new understanding by the end of season 3, and also after sharing at least one off duty drink with her in private. So, given that they have formally transitioned from adversaries to allies, I feel that it's also quite reasonable to assume that he has begun to let his ultra conservative guard down, by allowing himself to say something inappropriate to her when he never would have felt at liberty to say it to someone else.
Also, I'm not sure if anyone else noticed this, but Andrews engages in a bit of cross cultural code-switching, when Zara flirts with him. It was subtle and brief, but definitely there in his inflections as he said: I am a married man and your *'docta.'* Additionally, this may be an indication of how, he too, felt more at ease in a room full of POC characters. Again, letting down his guard and speaking casually when he felt that it was safe to do so.
Furthermore, I would also suggest that this was a brief glimpse of who Dr. Andrews can be in private. Which, admittedly, is it's own form of privileged information, but not to mention a far cry from who he feels he must "present as" in the Board or Operating Rooms.
So, I feel that this is yet another way of raising the question of whether or not it is necessary for black people to change their behavior simply to be accepted by the general population or elite ingroups. That is by putting the burden on minorities to make those less familiar with them more comfortable by adapting to popular norms. Or if the burden should be on the prevailing culture to make things more accessible to outgroups, which may allow them to feel equally welcome as a result.
But, I suppose that there is also a third option to all of this. However, it would require accountability to meet up with grace, somewhere in the middle.
Andrews’ characterization is one of my least concerns right now. The character was just a quick example.
For a show with the premise to represent autism, season 4 has been a huge disservice to the autistic minority so far. The Good Doctor has lost its bearings.
Except for “Parenting” and some quickly resolved supervision, Shaun’s plotlines were played as a sex farce. And while I might be able to explain Shaun’s behavior thanks to my deeper knowledge of ASD, to the untrained eye he increasingly comes across as a pervert who can’t control his urges - and who has - ironically in the contexxt of "Irresponsible..." - to change, so that neurotypicals don't feel uncomfortable!
Furthermore, the lead character of an underrepresented minority is constantly used for comic relief in their own show.
If I wished to see my condition as a mere punchline, I would re-watch The Big Bang Theory. Yet, this is not a show about a character named Sheldon, but Shaun.
Did you see the way Dr. D'Sousa pushed her way in-between Shaun and Lea at the end there. She was literally trying to come between them. And Lea didn't miss that little maneuver, (look at Her face right after that scene...😂), that's why she mentioned the pickles at the end
>"And while I might be able to explain Shaun’s behavior thanks to my deeper knowledge of ASD, to the untrained eye he increasingly comes across as a pervert who can’t control his urges - and who has - ironically in the contexxt of "Irresponsible..." - to change, so that neurotypicals don't feel uncomfortable!"
This is why I find it easy to empathize with you, Andreas. And precisely why I pointed out some of the subtleties put forth by Hill Harper's performance. As a WOC, certain things in this episode just really stuck out to me because of the intimate understanding that I have of being black. And I likened this to your understanding and deeper knowledge of ASD. However, maybe that was a mistake.
But I hope not. Because in addition to that, I must confess to being put a little more at ease by the notion of not being alone, and that I could possibly share a kinship with certain members of the ASD community. Specifically the ones who find themselves in the similarly arduous position of trying to pass for "normal." After all, it seems very similar to the ways in which minorities feel pressured to "tone it down" in order to fit in, too.
Either way, I hate to think that my satisfaction with this episode may have come at your communities expense. But, I hope that one day our communities will be able to unite under a common banner. Perhaps then there will be enough of us to institute change.
Truth be told, Angelica – the show consciously sacrificed one minority for another. As somebody just now pointed out to me on Reddit, episode 9 would have been the perfect occasion to compare how “masking” ones ethnicity is a mark of racism while “masking autism” should be called out to be ableism.
Though, the writers not only chose to ignore the aspect of ableism, they played even into it by having Shaun called out for what is in his autistic nature: asking questions with little regard of social conventions.
Being pressured into masking autism to fit into a neurotypical environments is a huge problem for individuals with ASD. It is required everywhere: while shopping, during job interviews, at work, while dating – the ability to mask or camouflage their identity can have a tremendous influence on what these individuals may achieve in their lifetime.
Though, masking ASD comes with a cost: higher rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidality. Masking is exhausting, potentially leading to autistic burnout; and can erode a person’s sense of identity. Masking can prevent or delay a ASD diagnosis, thus depriving individuals of proper treatment.
Sounds familiar? Claire and Zara were confronted with quite similar hurdles. Yet, all that the screen writers had in stock for Shaun was “reduce transgender people to their genitalia” (making him seem transphobic) and having a work crush.
So, as an autistic individual, I have my problems with “Irresponsible…” – the more, the longer I have the time to distill my alexithymia-clouded emotions into words.
I'm not entirely convinced that it was a conscious effort, simply because implicit racism and prejudice are a thing.
However, I will concede that there were other scenarios that might have been explored and that could have provided a more equitable conclusion had Shaun been positioned closer to the action.
Hi readers! Funny how this episode has generated so much discussion in a direction quite different than we ever anticipated during the 3-week hiatus. As always, I learn so much from reading everyone's POV.
ANGELICA, as a WOC I'm especially grateful for your input. As I've read along, something I keep coming back to is the question of how People of Color are responding to the episode...obviously, there could be as many variations there as for any other demographic, but I found myself wishing my black and brown friends watched the show so we could talk about it.
In doing so, I also wondered if they'd ask outright "Are there any black or brown writers for this show?" because it seems particularly relevant on this one. The diverse cast is fantastic, but it really needs to be complemented by scribes (and ideally, directors too) who can represent story development on a level that, frankly, white writers can't.
For the record, "Irresponsible" is credited to Liz Friedman (white woman, veteran in the industry, and longtime contributor to TGD) and Sam Chanse (Asian woman I think, specializes in theater as I mentioned in the post, and first-time TGD screenwriter credit).
Since the TGD Writers and I follow each other on Twitter, I decided to DM them this morning and ask directly about writers of color on the show.
If they choose not to respond, I might take the time to research the question independently ;)
I'll let you know either way.
AND PLEASE, IF YOU'RE A POC READING THIS- I'D LOVE TO GET YOUR INPUT TOO. Thanks in advance.
I can respect that, Andreas. And yes, masking and code switching seem to be very similar.
Oh yes, it was funny! And up until then, the radiologist seemed to be a rather nice person who happened to be infatuated with Shaun, but in this scene she showed her true colours by passing in-between Shaun and Lea to force them apart, it was such a manipulative and jerky move...It was impressive how Lea remained calm and quickly found a way to turn the tables around. We know she's smart, but it's moments like this one (or like the scene when Shaun drives for the second time and Lea quickly thinks of paralleling the elements of a car with surgery to help him to calm down, or the discussion about "no one is like everyone" 1t the beginning of season 3) which show also how wise and in fact mature she is. It's too bad some Lea haters still can't recognize that she's such a down-to-earth, wise and smart person!
Thank you for your reply Shea Endgame. You're probably right about Lea taking a moment to come up with a solution. I've been thinking about it some more, and maybe she's quite secure because she knows that he'll always be honest with her and she knows he'll never do something behind her back because if something bothered him he would tell her before doing anything hurtful. She clearly set him apart from other guys from the very beginning of their relationship, not because of his autism but because of his honesty, and she even thanked him again for it in Newbies. So his honesty is a big part of what makes her believe more in this relationship than her former ones, it makes her be more trustful (but maybe not completely, as per she said in 4x04?). And in return, it probably gives her a sense of freedom because she can also be very open and honest with him.
However i still wish we could see Lea talk about her feelings to someone other than Shaun, and i thought with Debbie or Morgan. I would love if Morgan and Lea became friends, because deep down Morgan has a good heart and has been shown to be a good listener. If there hadn't been so many characters because of the newbies we would have probably gotten some scenes with Lea and other characters, like during a lunch scene...
As for the lack of physical contact between Lea and Shaun, I'm glad that there are many of us who share the same feelings, in the sense that I know i'm not making things up or interpreting things the wrong way. I feel like even without the covid which derailed the stories and forced to limit the number of scenes with physical closeness (at least at first) and kisses, we still wouldn't have had much more physical intimacy between Shaun and Lea, since going per Shore and Highmore's interviews from early last year, they wanted to not show similar scenes as season 3 in relation to sex and repeated kisses and explore a more mature and serious relationship, so to them more mature and serious = no kisses, and no romantic scenes, that's really a shame.
And i'm also bothered by how they indeed use Shaun as comic relief. And sometimes it's just OOC for Shaun (at least to me but i may be wrong) like for the gift for Lea: he often goes "big" for her, in the previous episode he very quickly comes up with a great movie set up for a date, but for her birthday he can only think of a singing plush frog from a souvenir shop of the hospital?! And in 4x04, it was of course funny at first how Shaun went on one knee to give Lea his bank account password, but the matter ot trust brought up by Lea was very serious and a discussion should have taken place where Lea explained her issues to Shaun before moving in, because it was "resolved" much too quickly and we still don't know if Shaun understood what she meant about trust. Also, and it's probably a detail, but i'd have liked to see them have a talk about the room's layout and most notably the bed; Shaun had indeed been sleeping on a mattress for some time and it can be difficult for him to adapt to changes, so i would have expected to see some reluctance from him to have to switch to a whole bed for his room permanently.
On another note, i'm still hoping for the traditional karaoke session and road trip!
There are still many episodes to go though since there will be 20 episodes this season. Which means there is still room for the writers to do better than the disjointed and sometimes confusing episodes or scenes we've had so far.
Syl, I totally agree, Shaun and Lea are in need of a serious talk; an open heart conversation that would led them to a better understanding of each other. I always imagined them having intimate scenes of them simply sharing a moment watching a movie or discussing something at their home and getting to a consensus together, Lea being open about her feelings not afraid of telling him straight forward how much she loves him and needs him and so the same for Shaun to her. But following that same venue Shaun has been missing important discussions with most of the people he is involved with, and that bothers me profoundly. I think that in parenting we had some of this, at least a glimpse of what could it be but certainly not enough imo. I just hope the writers give his story the follow up it deserves. I know that we have stated the physical contact as main issues (kisses for example) but in the end it goes beyond that. To portray a committed relationship you need to show a little bit of those intimate conversations, some of their interactions beyond meaningless issues but more like every day life situations. Something more domestic if you like. Thanks for the reminder of the discussion about the bed which was a huge fail, Freddie even mentioned the situation in one of his interviews so makes me wonder if some things were directly deleted in favor of other storylines which is valid, the show is not about Shea only, but maybe that's like we said a warning sign that the show is too crowded and they can't provide a great delivery for every single character or situations.
Another thing that rings my bell is that maybe we were expecting something so different with this last episode that the final result was in fact inconsistent and kinda absurd to us. I remember I said that if the writing wasn't right the whole "cheating" "thinking about someone else" situation would turn into a comic relief and a joke. Once again, I'm sad I was right on this one.
Shea Endgame-Vale
Just to let you know: "Irresponsible..." has dropped to 4.7 at IMDB. The worst ranked episodes before were "She" and "Newbies" with 7.1. "Parenting" reached 8.0.
Yes, it lacks domesticity, a window into their daily life and open talks that would give more substance to their relationship. Watching a movie, discussion around breakfast or dinner at home, a fun night at home doing karaoke or any game are also things i envisioned before the season started.
And i also agree with you about Shaun not discussing with Claire, Morgan, Park anymore. I miss the chats, whether it be about an upcoming surgery or about something personal, that they had in their conference room in the hospital or at lunch, I miss the camaraderie. The show has really lacked focus mainly because of the newbies, and some things are taken away from the main characters to give time to them. I watch the show of course mainly for Shea and Shaun and Lea independently, but I would love to see more of Morgan in regards to how she copes as not being a surgeon anymore, more of Glassy and Shaun, Glassy and Lea, Morgan and Claire rekindling their friendship.
I remember indeed hearing Freddie or Paige mention something about the choice of the bed, and if it was really supposed to happen but was put aside for lack of time, it's a good illustration that they don't manage to tell stories properly as they used to, with more substance and depth, with the number of characters they have now. Also it has been visible how much they have trouble to fit everything in, with how some episodes have started abruptly without sparing any second (like in Parenting in which Lea starts talking pretty much right away as the episode begins) or how episodes start right away in the hospital showcasing the case-of-the-week. Furthermore, it seems, from promotional pictures we saw, that they mave have been cutting a part of some scenes quite frequently.
In any case, they really need to go back to focusing more on Shaun, and doing that in a more substantial way. Focusing on other characters is perfectly fine, like Lim's PTSD, but he's got to remain the lead character in most episodes, and the writers should try to give more time to have him interact with all main characters on a regular basis.
One last thing is that although the cases of the week can be very interesting and also serve to bring light on relevant matters, I wish fewer episodes were oriented and dependent on them. Episodes like Island part 1 and 2, Aftermath, Friends and family, were great because they showed characters out of their work life and they focused on Shaun and the 2 closest persons in his life. But even when it's not focused on Shaun it can be interesting, like "Lim". I knew what i was getting into by starting to watch a hospital drama, but i just wish it would be less formulaic, a less routine process, because it can get boring...
That's a shame. I have mixed feelings about the episode, but i still left a good rating because it dealt with relevant matters. It makes me fearful for Decrypt as Irresponsible might have driven people away...Although I doubt that producers and writers would conclude that it's a bad thing to focus on Lea if her episode got average audience numbers, they know with social media and episodes like Parenting that overall people like Shea and Lea, and they know how badly Irresponsible was received and that it could result in fewer viewers showing up for Decrypt. But i would feel sad for Freddie and Paige.
The show doesn't deserve this amount of hate and also doesn't deserve to be punished because of one episode. Smh.
We know that one of the newbies is leaving, and that they will show Morgan and Park's relationship evolving into something more. The second Half of the season has already made some changes as far as we know
The inclusion of Glassy to a medical case also being one of them. Let's stay hopeful, all we can do is keep the show relevant on social media trying to encourage people to watch it. Specially tonight with such a strong episode as Decrypt which we being told to be "intense and awesome".
The show does not deserve hate for one episode, but critique for half a season that forgot about its own premise: representing autism in a respectful manner.
So far, this season served everyone’s interest but the autistic community. It reduced the screen time for autism-related matters, it played autism for poor laughs and worst of it all, it played minority against minority by erasing all what Shaun had learned in “She” just to have an antagonist for the story.
Even as a great fan of Freddie Highmore and Paige Spara, I’m not in a very receptive mood for 4.10 right now.
I've had the impression that in some episodes the new residents have had more scene time than Shaun.
It has been frustrating.
Shaun is the protagonist and as such needs more screen time.
In the previous season,there were several moments of serious conversations between Shaun and Carly. such as the conversation about ''holding hands'', Carly not calling Shaun to the party with her friends, Carly's request about Lea leaving the apartment...
I don't understand,why it has been sparse about that now.
Espeacially since there were enough occasions for getting serious, Melanie...
- Shaun missing Lea during the pandemic: Shaun ghosts Lea and goes to Glassman instead discussing it with Lea.
- Moving in again: Lea holds a monologue AFTER she has come to a conclusion.
- What makes relationships last: Shaun talks to everyone but Lea and presents her with his solution without asking for her opinion, depriving her character of agency.
- Work crush: resolved by aversive stimulus instead of the character reaching a deeper understanding of himself.
Yeah, there is some likelihood for Olivia either getting fired or quitting in the wake of the cyber-attack. The character is featured heavily in the promotional material for 4.10, but is nowhere to be seen in the photos for 4.11.
Olivia leaving might partially explain why 4.09 was overstuffed: immunizing the show against accusations of racism. TGD was already under heavy bombardment for writing off a Latino character and putting WoC Claire through hell.
It looks like I'm the voice of dissent, because I wasn't bothered by the episode. I wouldn't rank it as one of my favorites, but this was a milestone for Shaun: realizing that being in a happily committed long-term relationship doesn't mean that he won't find other members of the opposite sex attractive. Lea's initial reaction to this when Shaun told her was everything I could have hoped for: secure in his love and their relationship and not bothered by his "work crush" to the point that she admitted her own "work crush" on the physical therapist, which initially freaked Shaun out, and then observing Dr. DiSouza long enough to find something Shaun would dislike about her--her irresponsible salad bar practices. At episode's end, Shaun and Lea went home together arm in arm, Lea giving Shaun that soft smile and knowing him well enough to be able to figure out how to ease his discomfort over the "work crush."
TGD has never been a show focused on sex. I was thrilled that we saw Shaun and Lea sleeping in the same bed together.
As for the patients of the week, I understand the lack of specific publicity regarding their cases, because it's a delicate balancing act between showcasing social issues and not being seen as beating the audience over the head with them.
I'm looking forward to "Decrypt" and Lea's finest professional hour.
The worst part of these awfully low ratings is the people out there thinking it's because they killed off Melendez 😠
Even one year later the halls of St. Bonaventure are still haunted by the Ghost of The Hot Attending... 😑
As a point of clarification... below are the Nielsen ratings for the past 4 TGD episodes, according to the TGD episodic page on Wiki. The "rating" (which represents the percentage of viewers among those people watching TV at the time) does not always correspond with the number of viewers ("million")-- case in point, while "Parenting" has the highest rating of these 4 episodes, it's actually "Irresponsible" that had the larger number of viewers.
("Total" number of viewers remains to be seen for both episodes, as DVR viewing is not accounted for here.)
"Lim" 1/11/21/ 0.6 rating/ 4.06 million/ 8.30 million after DVR calcs
"Uncertainty Principale"/ 1/18/21/ 0.6 rating/3.97 million/ TBD on DVR calcs
"Parenting" 1/25/21 0.7 rating/ 4.30 million/ TBD on DVR calcs
"Irresponsible..." 2/15/21/ 0.6 rating/4.40 million/ TBD on DVR calcs
Given how they promoted "Irresponsible" I suppose the higher number of viewers might be attributed to lurid curiosity about Shaun's crush...
I know Nielsens and IMDB viewer ratings are two entirely different things... but the Nielsens (plus DVR viewers) are what are used for advertising rates. In other words, The Powers That Be might not take a harder look at what is and isn't going right with TGD unless the weekly numbers take a consistent slide downward.
Let's see what "Decrypt" does.
Oh, and here's the link for those who want to check out the TGD numbers more thoroughly:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Good_Doctor_episodes
These numbers suggest that the viewers tuned in to watch what was advertised: Shaun & Lea's relationship drama unfolding. If they felt afterwards that they got that is another question.
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