The amount of piano music is unsettling in this episode, but luckily, as the strings rise up, so does your hope for young Evan. This episode follows two story plots- Kevin and his estranged father, and young Evan, with the broken arm. The issue is young Evan looks identical to Shaun’s younger brother, Steve. Dr. Glassman actually had to do a double take and pause.
Source: American Broadcasting Company for The Good Doctor.
Shaun begins to care for the boy, and finds out he has cancer, stage 4. Incurable, with only a year to live. He was diagnosed 7 months ago. His mother and father know, but do not tell him. Shaun approaches Claire, needing advice about how to lie to someone, when you can’t lie at all. As she said, “A lie is a stone in the heart.” Shaun, over the past few episodes, has always had issues lying to the patients, and he is not getting any better. Even though he has been practicing, Evan sees through his lies right away, and calls him on it. And Shaun did what he does- Blurts out what is on his mind, and tells the boy he has cancer.
He already knows. He put 2 and 2 together, and figured it out shortly after his diagnosis. But, Shaun starts pouring over the old files, hoping to find something they missed. And, after a few nights of using the ‘teleportation machine’, Shaun thinks he found a solution- A simple disorder that could be mistaken for osteoporosis, easily treatable, but as he talks with Dr. Melendez, because of the biopsy, the chances it is that disorder is .03%. Still, Shaun proceeds, and tries to get the lumbar puncture to test for the other disorder without telling Evan’s parents. Of course, his parents walk in just as Evan starts coughing, blood escaping from his mouth and sending the whole room into a panic.
Source: American Broadcasting Company for The Good Doctor.
But, enough of Evan. Let’s switch to Jared and Claire’s case- a man with what they think is pancreatitis, but started showing allergic reaction symptoms to… something. The man’s son had just arrived from Korea, so the doctors think in might have something to do with it. A scan picked up 4 masses, and a biopsy instantly triggers an allergic reaction in the man. Once they stabilize the man, Jared realizes the masses are actually tapeworm sacs, and the man is having an allergic reaction to the sacs leaking. The only way to save him is brain surgery. Luckily, Dr. Glassman happens to be a great neurosurgeon, and finds the case absolutely fascinating.
The son and father have issues communicating, using the mother as a way of bonding. But, since her illness, and passing 5 weeks before the episode, the strain between the two seem broken. Even though Jared has issues with relationships and talking, he tries to get the two to talk, mentioning how his father is about to have brain surgery, and there might be complications. As they wheel the man into surgery, the son, Kevin, finally breaks down, and says he has been with a woman who was married. After dating her, he thought she would leave her husband, but 5 weeks ago, she broke it off with him instead. The son didn’t want to follow his father’s footsteps, because he was a failure. I am not sure about you, but most days, I feel like that more often than not. Did I make the right decision? Would my father be proud of what I have done?
The thing about why I love The Good Doctor is because of the emotional connection you develop with the characters. These situations, we may never be in, sick, in the hospital, dying from cancer, but the moments- Lying to protect our loved ones, making our parents proud, and most of all, growing with each moment, adapting with each lesson, and just trying to be a better person, and do the right thing. And… sometimes, things don’t work out perfectly. Let’s go back to Evan…
Source: American Broadcasting Company for The Good Doctor.
It seems Evan, because of his illness, had a clogged artery. They had to do open heart surgery, but because of how sick he was, his heart was under a lot of strain. Luckily, Dr. Melendez was able to move the obstruction, and Evan would be fine. Unluckily, while his chest cavity was open, they saw irrefutable evidence of the osteoporosis. Evan had only a few more months to live. He comforts his parents, admitting he already knows, and comforts them by lying, telling his parents he will meet deceased loved ones on the other side, even though he told Shaun he doesn’t believe in God.
The Good Doctor lets the doctors fail just as much as they succeed. Very few shows are so honest about real life, but more importantly, the doctors are growing. San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital is a training hospital after all.
Lets talk shop! Two diseases are covered in this episodes, a man with an allergy and a boy with cancer. With the man, he was having a severe allergic reaction to something, causing anaphylactic shock. In the man’s case, it seemed his airway was closing up, which can be life threatening. The problem is- what was triggering such a reaction? It seems he had tapeworms, but they were still in the eggs, yet to hatch. He had an allergic reaction because when his son hugged him, it caused the egg to break, and he came into contact with what he was actually allergic to. We also got to see the coolest thing- brain surgery! To remove the sac, they had to make it float up, because fiddling with the brain could cause serious damage.
With the cancer, holes begin to develop in the bone. Because of how brittle the bones are, even a simple trip can cause multiple fractures. It also means he would been added support in the healing process, which is why he needs hardware installed in his arm. Most kids have strong bones, most more likely to bend instead of breaking. The problem is with broken bones, things can drift around internally. Bone marrow, blood clots, even bone slivers. We saw it happen, his heart becoming clogged from embolism. Untreated, he could have passed away. There is no cure at stage 4, and I am sorry, but it would seem Shaun lost Steve a second time.
I hope to see you all next week, and until then, stay shiny!
