What ‘The Good Doctor’ Finale Means for Season 3
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the Season 2 finale of The Good Doctor, “Trampoline”]
In the Season 2 finale of The Good Doctor, fans were hit with a bunch of major moments in the episode’s final minutes..
In the penultimate episode on March 4, Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) was fired from San Jose St. Bonaventure by Daniel Dae Kim‘s Dr. Jackson Han. But all is made right in the finale when Dr. Marcus Andrews (Harper Hill) calls for a vote to remove Dr. Han as chief of surgery and subsequently reinstate Shaun.
Thankfully, the vote is in Shaun’s favor as Dr. Han is ousted, and Dr. Lim (Christina Chang) is dubbed the new chief. The new position could prove to be a challenge for the recently outed couple of Dr. Lim and Dr. Melendez (Nicholas Gonzalez), and their power dynamic is likely to be explored when the show returns.
As for Dr. Glassman (Richard Schiff), he ends the episode with a new fiancée — Debbie (Schiff’s real-life wife Sheila Kelley) finally says yes after leaving him without an answer in the middle of the episode. Meanwhile, Shaun enters uncharted waters when he asks Carly (Jasika Nicole) out and receives a resounding yes to a dinner date.
So what does it all mean for Season 3? Series showrunner David Shore revealed that, while the writer’s room hasn’t begun working on Season 3 yet, they do have some idea of what’s next — particularly for Lim and Melendez’s relationship.
“I think it absolutely will affect it, and that’s what we’re going to have to explore,” Shore told Entertainment Weekly about the couple’s new balance of power at work. “As they say in that scene, either one of them resigns or they break up. Or, the third choice, which they don’t mention in that scene, is that they go back to lying to everybody. Choices have to be made and certainly, certainly it’s going to affect their relationship. That’s where the fun happens.”
Shore also addressed Shaun’s big moment with Carly. “That’s something people his age do all the time, but it is huge, it is momentous, and it is significant. In terms of what we were thinking, I want to explore all those landmarks that happen in all our lives as we grow up and just explore it through his eyes, which really aren’t that different, ultimately,” he said. “So I think next season, that’s going to be a lot of what we’re looking at — his social life and him growing as a man who wants to be loved.”
As for the return of Dr. Han, we shouldn’t hold our breath. Shore revealed that the arc is over for guest star (and executive producer) Daniel Dae Kim, but he is open to having him come back at some point if it works with the story.
The Good Doctor, Streaming now, Hulu
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