‘The Good Doctor’ Season 3, Episode 19 ‘Hurt’ Recap: Collapse

Nothing has prepared me for this week’s episode of The Good Doctor. From start to beginning, it was just one unending nervewracking ride. And to think that this is just part one of the finale. In fact, nothing has made me this anxious and terrified for everyone since “Quarantine.” And this time, the stakes are just as high. Both doctor and civilian lives are in danger above and underneath the rubble. And in addition to that, careers might just be ending. So, without further ado, let’s get into this week’s episode of The Good Doctor.

Aftermath

In the first part of the finale of The Good Doctor, Melendez (Nicholas Gonzalez), Glassman (Richard Schiff), and Lea (Paige Spara) are in a cancer fundraiser at a local brewery owned by one of Melendez’s former patients Marta (Lesley Boone). Suddenly, while Marta’s wife Noreen (Kim Hawthorne) was giving them the tour, the ground starts shaking bad. The brewery immediately starts falling apart. Brewing tanks fall around Lea trapping her as the floorboards underneath her collapse. And at the same time, the ceiling breaks falling on Melendez. When he comes to, he finds Glassman with a dislocated shoulder and Noreen fine. Lea is nowhere to be found.

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At the hospital, Lim (Christina Chang) immediately assembles the staff. And she sets out with Claire (Antonia Thomas), Shaun (Freddie Highmore), and Park (Will Yun Lee) to help in the rescue of the victims in the brewery. Arriving at the scene, Shaun immediately finds out that Lea was also there and goes rogue to find her. He jumps straight through the floorboards without waiting for the rescue team and crawls through the dirt in search of Lea.

While making his way, Shaun’s subconscious appears to him through his brother Steve. And he condones the situation saying that though Shaun might save Lea, it wouldn’t get her to fall in love with him. Still, Shaun perseveres and follows the woman’s voice through the rubble. When he reaches the voice, however, it isn’t Lea.

Instead, it was a woman named Vera (Marin Ireland) who was impaled on the shoulder and leg. After a consultation, Lim gives the go signal for Shaun to treat the shoulder. As for the leg, they’d have to wait for the rescuers. Lim also tells Shaun to keep his walkie talkie line open.

The Wrong Find

While waiting, Vera and Shaun talk about their love lives. Apparently, Vera was only at the fundraiser in hopes that her ex would get back with her. After hearing Shaun’s own story, Vera makes a promise. “If we get out of this alive, let’s promise to move on,” she tells Shaun. “You can do better than Lea.” After a moment’s hesitance though, Shaun says he’s not ready to move on.

At that point, Lim has already found Lea. And she handed over her walkie talkie to her so Lea hears every word of Shaun and Vera’s conversation. Back to that, Shaun tells Vera that he always knew he was going to be a good doctor. But, he never knew he could be the person he is today without Lea.

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“But until I met Lea, I never knew I could drive a car, or enjoy music, or sing karaoke, or take tequila shots… or fall in love,” he says. “I don’t want to stop being the person I am with her. Lea makes me… more. But I don’t make her more. If I did, then Lea would want to be my girlfriend.”

Suddenly, an aftershock follows up. And the pipes near Shaun and Vear bursts. As Shaun reports to Lim and begs them to hurry, their sub-basement spot starts filling with water.

Now, we know Shaun will survive. The question with this is how will Lea react to everything she’s heard. With everything that’s happened in the recent episodes of The Good Doctor, I’m not sure I still want her to be with Shaun. Their relationship is a hella lot complicated. And I have yet to understand Lea’s real reasons. It is a brilliant move on the writer’s part though.

Dire Needs

On the other hand, Melendez is also in dire condition. Claire found bruises on his body. But, Melendez insisted on getting them checked later on. Besides, he was also distracted by Marta’s condition. The brewery owner was stuck. However, they couldn’t move her because they risked paralyzing her. With no other choice, Melendez suggests they do an operation right then and there.

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Noreen immediately protests but, Marta is set on it. While operating though, Marta starts losing too much blood. Fortunately, Claire finds an ingenious way to keep pumping her blood back to her. In every medical show, you’d find doctors creating complicated tools out of things they just find in the scenario. And as convincing as it is even here in The Good Doctor, you’ll still wonder if it was really possible to do such a thing. Anyhow, Claire’s little invention allows Melendez to successfully finish the operation. After completing the procedure though, Melendez throws up and passes out.

Connections

Also in a dire condition is Park’s patient Casey (Bentley Green). The kid, who was the same age as Park’s son, is stuck under a bar. And after investigating, Lim finds that the boy’s spinal cord had been severed. There was also no femoral pulse. Only the bar pinning him down was cross-clamping his aorta. And if they lifted it, he would immediately bleed out.

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Despite that, Park has bonded with the kid. And he determinedly tries to convince Lim to try and save Casey despite the odds. Lim accuses him that he is letting his emotions get the best of him but, she agrees anyhow. Although Lim was right, it’s also one of the best storylines I’ve seen for Park in The Good Doctor. After that confrontation with his son, this was a punch to the gut, especially that Casey had the same issues with his dad like Kellan. And Park pulled through comforting the kid despite the situation.

Sacrifice

Meanwhile, back at the hospital, surgeons and doctors were running low. So, Morgan (Fiona Gubelmann) who was 48 hours fresh out of surgery for her hands was put in charge of triage. Andrews was already overseeing the ER. And Glassman was busy with surgeries.

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Despite her general attitude, Morgan is actually pretty good at the job. Still, though, her ulterior motives get in the way. At one point, she almost misses the right diagnosis for a patient. At first, she thought the girl was only suffering from back pains due to falling. But, Nurse Petringa quickly caught on that the girl might be pregnant. Not just that though, the girl has an ectopic pregnancy. And she needs a surgeon fast before her fallopian tubes would rupture. Unfortunately, given the situation, no surgeon is available. And in the end, Morgan decides to do the surgery herself. In doing so, Morgan not only risks the function of her hands but also her entire career.

The Good Doctor continues next Monday, March 30th, with “I Love You” at 10/9c on ABC.