TGD Season 4 in Review: 25 Standout Scenes (and Lines)

 

You’re ready to talk about Season 5, aren’t you?

Yeah, I know. We’re two months past the season finale now, and less than two months from Monday 9/27 (the date that ABC is publicizing as TGD’s Season 5 premiere). Time to look forward, not behind… right? Well for the most part, I agree. And to that end, we are going to start talking more about THE WEDDING (!!!!)

... in the next post.

Because there are just a few things I still want to highlight about The Good Doctor’s 2020-21 season, and most of them I’ll likely cover with this piece. Thanks to the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games that just concluded-- I’m a big-time Olympics fan, if the fact that I wrote an entire book about a Winter Olympics mainstay (figure skating) wasn’t a tip-off for you-- I’m inspired to present this collection of my favorite S4 #Shea moments in a results-oriented format. 

I know this will only scratch the surface of all the #Shea moments we got to experience this past year, and in fact it’s wild to think that I devoted three posts last summer counting down #Shea’s best pre-couple roommate moments (here they are, in case you’re interested)... and this season we may have gotten more #Shea scenes than in the first three seasons combined! But I’ve whittled (??) it down to just (???) 25 noteworthy clips, featured below.

Big shoutout here to the YouTube channel known as Shaun The Good Doctor… I don’t know if its administrator reads the blog or not, but you can find just about every #Shea scene you’d ever want in that video library (plus a lot of very fun edits), and I was grateful to find what I needed there. Especially when a lot of the ABC-released clips this season tended to showcase multiple TGD scenes in a single link.

🥇🥈🥉🥇🥈🥉🥇🥈🥉

The categories in THIS “Olympics” are as follows… 

#Shea scenes (under 1 minute 45 seconds)

BRONZE MEDAL 🥉: 

“Drive away! Drive Away!” (From 4:11 “We’re All Crazy Sometimes”)

Admittedly, this homage to Starsky and Hutch is anything but deep and dramatic… which is exactly what I love about it. I hope the writers continue to find room for a #Shea caper like this one now and again… whether the end result is Lea announcing a pregnancy or not. 

SILVER MEDAL 🥈:

“It’s my fault if we get bugs”  (From 4:17 “Letting Go”)

Shaun’s silent communication at its finest. Well, unless you count the most heartbreaking scene in “Dr. Ted,” which you won’t find in this collection of videos as I can’t see “rewarding” a clip that is so excruciating for some to watch. But these final moments from “Letting Go,” with Lea rambling her depression and guilt over the miscarriage, is most riveting to me when Shaun gently but firmly takes her by the shoulders. It’s as important as the hug that follows, somehow.

GOLD MEDAL 🥇:

“Will you marry me?” (From 4:20 “Vamos”)

(a technicality; this clip is 2:23 but the Shea part is only 1:40)

How could I go with anything else??

--

The “also-rans”... (think of these as clips that were up for a medal too, finishing 4th or 5th)

“Maybe you’re a more mature person than I am”…  (from 4:8 “Parenting”)

A thoughtful, revealing scene that led to Shaun’s pivotal conversation with Lea’s parents.

Shaun helps Lea with baby Isabella (from 4:20 “Vamos”)

The shortest scene on my list, devoid of dialogue but full of emotion and importance.

🥇🥈🥉🥇🥈🥉🥇🥈🥉

#Shea scenes, 1:45 or over

BRONZE MEDAL 🥉:

“I am canceling Date Night” (from 4:5 “Fault”)

It was waaay too short of a Date Night (and we’re still holding out hope for a deleted scene from this sequence in the S4 DVD package), but a lovely way to get them out of the apartment (in a COVID-cautious manner, no less) AND showcase the not-so-selfish side of Lea that we already knew she possessed (even if she didn’t).

SILVER MEDAL 🥈:

“We’ll raise her to be strong.” (from 4:14 “Gender Reveal”)

So much to love here that it almost was my gold medal pick. Shaun’s doula surprise, their combined wishes for their unborn daughter verbalized, the loving words, the tender kisses… 

GOLD MEDAL 🥇:

“Are we really doing this??” (from 4:12 “Teeny Blue Eyes”)

… but, of course, it was in this scene that Shaun and Lea made the decision that kept us on the roller coaster for the next four episodes. One small step for #Shea, one giant leap for the couple that supposedly was not going to make it past the first half of the season.

Also-rans:

“Maybe now isn’t the right time” (from 4:12 “Teeny Blue Eyes”)

AND

“Even looking at your blue eyes breaks my heart” (from 4:19 “Venga”)

Two dark (literally), sad scenes that rocked us in their respective episodes but clearly cannot by on my podium because… well, because I said so. (But I’m certainly glad we have enough happy moments to make the podium rounds.)

🥇🥈🥉🥇🥈🥉🥇🥈🥉

#Shea handling ASD-related conflicts

BRONZE MEDAL 🥉: 

“Not a compliment!” (From 4:3 “Newbies”)

It was an early skirmish and kind of a silly one; Shaun’s first time in the dog house of #Shea land. But it was also a great example of how the “brutal honesty” of one on the spectrum can dent an ASD/NT relationship… and also how it can pound that dent right back out. 

I also LOVE the way Paige Spara delivered the “Not a compliment” line-- a classic example of how Lea refusing to pander to Shaun’s disorder.

SILVER MEDAL 🥈:

“...and.that scares me more than anything” (From 4:13 “Spilled Milk”)

Clocking in at three minutes, this scene-- which takes place the morning after Shaun and Lea’s “you don’t feel anything for our baby?!” argument-- is surely one of the longest they had in S4. It starts with Lea’s confession that Shaun’s disconnect could lead to long-term resentment on her part. Then it pivots to something with the potential for joy, as Shaun obliges her request for him to “talk to the baby”... but then we all collectively sink back in our seats as it becomes clear that Shaun’s medical background + ASD is still working against Lea’s hopes, and her disappointment is palpable. 

It’s tough stuff to deal with, but I’m glad they gave the show took time with that scene, allowing viewers to not only absorb it more completely but to appreciate the closing scene (when they both hear the heartbeat for the first time) all the better. 

GOLD MEDAL 🥇: 

“You always know how to fix things” (From 4:10 “Decrypt”)

I’m giving this scene the gold because it went a couple different ways with the ASD/NT issues and did both brilliantly. In the first part, Lea is desperate to get words of approval from Shaun that he cannot deliver; when she realizes the analogy she’s set up doesn’t work for Shaun (“I don’t know what you want me to say”), she backs off, decides she’s asked too much of him, and (kindly) vows to figure out her dilemma alone. But then Shaun sees an opportunity to explain his actions in a previous scene in a way that not only gets him off the “you don’t respect me” hook she’d hung him on, but gives Lea what she wanted in the first place… approval. And best of all, her approval ultimately comes from within.

Also-ran:

“That is my guy” (From 4:14 “Gender Reveal”)

I kept this just off the podium because the ASD/NT clashes, while quite present, were also resolved quickly thanks to solid communication.

“…This is for the purpose of me having sex with you.” (From 4:7 “The Uncertainty Principle”)

I might’ve put this one on the podium if Lea had been less respectful of Shaun’s shower sex concerns… been more selfish… and just gone ahead and planted a kiss on him before he could protest. Just sayin’.

🥇🥈🥉🥇🥈🥉🥇🥈🥉

#Shea one-liners:

BRONZE MEDAL 🥉:

LEA: Vaccines don’t cause autism, Mom… wanna talk about religion now?

(From 4:8 “Parenting,” written by Patti Carr)

SILVER MEDAL 🥈:

SHAUN: I don’t like your body because it’s excellent, I like it because it’s yours.

(From 4:3 “Newbies,” written by Thomas Moran and David Renaud)

GOLD MEDAL 🥇:

LEA: Shaun, our relationship will not end in natural disaster.

SHAUN: It did begin in one. 

(From 4:7 “The Uncertainty Principle,” written by Doris Egan)

Also-rans:

SHAUN: We want to keep our coordinates close to each other for the rest of our lives.

LEA: We certainly do.  (From “Uncertainty”/Egan)

AND...

SHAUN: I searched ‘eating meat near me,’ which was a mistake…

(From “Parenting”/Carr)   

(Note: I kept this off the podium because I’m not sure it translates as funny in other languages. For those who don’t get the humor: “eating meat” can be construed, in English, as slang for fellatio.)

🥇🥈🥉🥇🥈🥉🥇🥈🥉

#Shea with a supporting cast member

BRONZE MEDAL 🥉: 

Mock meet-the-parents dinner with Glassman and Morgan (from 4:8 “Parenting”)

Part endearing, part hilarious, part revealing… all in ways quite different from the actual dinner Shaun and Lea had with the Dilallos. Even if Debbie should’ve been there instead of Morgan… or Morgan should’ve had more lines… I think of it fondly.

SILVER MEDAL 🥈:

 “Stop bagging” (w/Sofia and baby Isabella) (from 4:20 “Vamos”)

Lea made it around the most important corner of her life to date in this scene. What’s not to love?

GOLD MEDAL 🥇:

Phone call w/Pam Dilallo (from 4:17 “Letting Go”)

When these two are too heartbroken to talk to each other with ease, an ill-timed phone call from Mama D proves cathartic for Shaun… and re-breaks the ice for both of them.  For me it’s a stunning highlight of Doris Egan’s script for this episode. 

Honorary medals… both from 4:8 “Parenting”

Shaun and… Lea’s parents

 

Lea and… Glassman

No explanation needed on either of these, I presume…

OK, so here’s where you get to tell me what you agree with, what I missed… and before you wonder “what about ‘best kiss’ or ‘best handhold’ let me assure you that it would have taken me another two days (at least) to get this posted if I tried to rank either of those!

But by all means, submit your suggestions 😉