Good news first: Jared’s rejoined the team at St. Bonaventure.
It seems silly for him to have to start all over again as a first-year resident, but if it gets him back on canvas more or less permanently — Jared will be recurring for the rest of the season – I’m all for it.
The Good Doctor Season 6 Episode 15 featured one of the saddest stories the series has had in a while, so Jared’s return helped balance things out.
I was hoping Jared would react to the many changes at St. Bonaventure since he left. It has been four and a half years, and significant changes have occurred, especially Melendez’s death and Claire’s leaving.
Since Jared and Claire dated for a while, he should have some feelings about her being gone. It would be even better if Claire came for another visit so the two could come face-to-face!
Fortunately, Jared’ll be around for a while, so there’ll be plenty of time for him to react to these changes.
Asher: Why did you leave St. Bons?
Shaun: He was fired for attacking an attending that harassed Claire and then he sued the hospital.
Asher: Oh, you’re that guy. I heard Andrews isn’t your biggest fan.
Jared: I’m surprised he let me in the building.
His reintroduction was fairly effective. Jared and Shaun picked up their friendship where they left off, and Andrews let go of the past.
Andrews partially hoped to get a big donation from Roland. Still, he and Jared more or less made peace with each other, though they may need to clear the air later.
Roland’s story was strange. He came to the hospital because he was attacked by a tiger, only for Jared and Shaun to conclude he had a tapeworm in his brain that needed removal.
Did they run tests to confirm this? They should have; Roland’s symptoms matching up with the rare parasite infection wasn’t enough for a diagnosis!
It felt like they were doing this on Shaun’s say-so. While Shaun is brilliant, he’s not infallible. Let’s not have any more brain surgeries without confirming Shaun’s theories via imaging, please!
Roland’s case was mainly a vehicle for Jared to realize he missed doing surgery. That put Shaun in an interesting position.
Even though he’s an attending, Shaun often needs advice. But this time, he was the one serving as a mentor to Jared.
Is this the first time Shaun has ever offered career advice to a fellow doctor? This feels like a huge milestone for him!
He did for Jared what Glassman has done for him in the past. He questioned whether Jared was fulfilled in his new position and encouraged him to think about what he wanted.
Of course, Shaun being Shaun, he did it in his characteristically blunt matter and initially upset Jared. But sometimes, you need to shake up someone’s world to get them to make the right decision.
Besides, Shaun made up for it later — did anyone else get teary-eyed when Shaun said Jared wasn’t a failure?
Morgan and Jordan had one of the most tragic cases yet, so Jared’s feel-good story helped stop the hour from being completely depressing.
The Good Doctor usually features miracles. Even the four-year-old stroke victim on The Good Doctor Season 6 Episode 14 got a happy ending!
Not this time. Shockingly, Sonia didn’t get a last-minute miracle; she had to terminate her baby, or the infection would kill them both.
Even after Sonia agreed to the procedure — and by the way, she was so groggy I wasn’t sure she was competent to consent — I was expecting a last-minute miracle, like the baby being further along than anyone thought and able to survive in an incubator.
In retrospect, that would have been unrealistic and diluted the power of this story, but I wanted it anyway.
This story did a great job of making some salient points about abortion without descending into preachiness.
Lim: I was in college and not ready to be a mother. I was scared and relieved. It was a medical procedure I had a long time ago that I am at peace with now. Most women are.
Jordan: That’s because it was your choice, just like it was my choice. Sonia should be allowed to make her choice.
Morgan: We can’t help patients choose death.
Anti-abortion advocates often paint abortion as a form of birth control that women choose on a whim. But it’s often an agonizing decision. Sonia, for example, had to give up a baby she loved and wanted because of a rare condition that would kill them both.
In addition, the freedom to choose abortion includes the freedom NOT to choose it. Sonia didn’t want to terminate her pregnancy until there was no choice. She tried to fight for her baby as much as possible and was willing to die so that her baby could live.
Even though Morgan hated that choice, Sonia had the right to make it.
Morgan shouldn’t have been surprised that Anthony wanted to honor his now-comatose wife’s wishes even though she was dying. Sonia had been adamant about what she wanted; that meant something, even though Morgan thought it was a foolish choice.
Although I didn’t miss the annoying banter between Park and Morgan, I’d have liked his take on this case . Instead, Park was treating the man who stole his wife from him.
Park’s story seemed silly. Another doctor should have taken Joe’s case from the get-go since Park had a personal relationship with him.
How could Park be objective regarding the man who blew up his marriage?
Park: I don’t have to treat you.
Man: But you will. You’re not a quitter. You fought hard for your marriage. I always admired your persistence, and sometimes hated it. Looking back on my life, I don’t like the view. I hurt a lot of people. That’s the real reason I came here. For forgiveness.
Joe’s insistence that Park treat him was ridiculous. He could have done that without insisting Park be his doctor if he wanted to make amends.
We also need to talk about that last scene.
Shaun getting sued sets up the backdoor pilot for The Good Lawyer. But who’s suing him?
Is it Roland deciding he hates everyone because Jared isn’t working for him anymore? Or does this have to do with a different case?
What did you think, The Good Doctor fanatics? Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know.
Don’t forget you can watch The Good Doctor online.
The Good Doctor airs on ABC on Mondays at 10 PM EST / PST.
Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on Twitter.