Tonight on NBC their new medical drama “The Good Doctor” airs with an all new Monday, September 25, 2017 episode and we have your The Good Doctor recap below. On tonight’s The Good Doctor season 1 episode 1 as per the ABC synopsis, “Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore), a young surgeon with autism and savant syndrome, relocates from a quiet country life to join the prestigious St. Bonaventure hospital’s surgical unit. Alone in the world and unable to personally connect with those around him, his only advocate, Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff), challenges the skepticism and prejudices of the hospital’s board and staff when he brings him in to join the team.”
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Tonight’s series premiere of ‘The Good Doctor’ begins with Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) perfectly placing down his scalpel, brushing his hair in perfect place then returning to the mirror and messing it up before he puts on his jacket and heads out the door. He follows a white line only he can see from the front porch, walks through a field and visualizes children playing around a school bus in a junkyard; a soccer ball lands at his feet and he has flashbacks to when he was being bullied and beaten and his friend took on everyone abusing him.
He gives the ball back and travels by bus to San Jose Airport, where he stands and absorbs all the sounds and noise around him. He holds a piece of cloth in his hand as an accident occurs and a young boy falls to the ground bleeding, someone rushes over claiming to be a doctor and out of no where, he tells him he is killing the boy; the doctor disagrees so Shaun tells him he would be in the right place if his patient was an adult, but he is a boy and he needs to put the pressure higher up. Shaun walks up and takes over, realizing he has glass in his belly but says he will be fine and introduces himself as Dr. Shaun Murphy, a surgical resident at San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital.
At the hospital, Dr. Horace Andrews (Hill Harper) talks about autism, describes it to his colleagues and asks if it sounds like he is describing a surgeon? Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff) says he isn’t “Rain Man” as he is high functioning and capable of living on his own and managing his own affairs. Aaron asks if it is necessary to have a special meeting with the Board of Directors, questioning his hiring of a doctor with autism.
He is told to stop taking this so personal and Aaron is reminded that it is his hospital but the money it takes to run it comes from the foundation she controls, so they are ordered to play nice. Aaron is told to justify his decision for slipping him past the board. Aaron says he met Shaun Murphy when he was 14 years old and yes he does have autism but she also has savant syndrome, having genius skills in several areas. He sees and analyzes things in ways none of them could comprehend; which are assets for any doctor, particularly a surgeon. Andrews plays it off that Aaron hired him because Shaun is like a son to him, but Jessica Preston (Beau Garrett) silences him with a crude comment.
While Dr. Jared Unger (Chuku Modu) is rudely woken by a doctor who is in search of Claire Brown (Antonia Thomas) because Dr. Neil Melendez (Nicholas Gonzales) wants to operate on a patient but Claire hasn’t gotten the consent forms done; as soon as she walks out, Claire pops up from under the blankets and says she is just a bitch because she doesn’t like him. He feels its silly that they are hiding their relationship but she admits they don’t have a relationship, they have sex but if he wants people to know he is screwing her, she tells him to go for it.
Meanwhile, back at the airport, Shaun realizes the boy’s veins are “popping” in his one arm, again the doctor doesn’t believe him as he explains the left arm is in distress and asks if someone has a sharp knife and when no one has one he tells the other doctor to start CPR as he is going to stop breathing soon and walks away.
Claire meets with the patient and asks him to sign the consent, when he tells her he isn’t scared she said he should be and begins to explain how they are going to cut his chest open, stop his heart, repair it and then restart it. He says he wants a second opinion, but she continues to ramble about how he is preparing to say goodbye possibly forever to his children. She says she is telling him all this because she can’t deal with lies, so if he is honest, she can help him. He finally admits he is scared.
Shaun walks up to a security guard and asks for a knife, when he scoffs at him Shaun says he needs a narrow tube, high proof alcohol, tape; the guard wishes him luck with that but says he is not going to give him a knife. Shaun says its a medical emergency, and asks for the knife he sees at the top of the sharp objects bin; so when the guard refuses again, Shaun grabs it and runs but is tackled by two other guards as the first one calls him an idiot. The boy’s mother rushes up to them telling them Shaun is trying to save her son’s life.
Dr. Melendez tells Claire that their patient’s problem is in his heart, not his head; she says he not psychologically ready for surgery but Melendez says he is physically ready and tells her to get the consent as he is prepping the OR right now. He leans in and says he is her superior, she says that doesn’t mean she is wrong; he says maybe not but she needs to act like she is wrong. She asks him to let the patient wrap his head around what is happening. Melendez asks Unger if he can get the form signed and hands him the paperwork when he says yes. Unger tells Claire he will do it because Melendez is his boss and she is just the one he is screwing.
Shaun returns to the little boy, as everyone watches in awe and wonder while he works. He envisions what he has to do and makes an incision while the parents watch in terror. The doctor is impressed that Shaun created a homemade one-way valve and says Shaun saved his life; people clap as the parents hug Shaun.
Aaron calls Shaun, who hasn’t arrived yet. He tells Jessica that what she said was disrespectful and a mistake, when she made that comment about Andrew’s nephew. He reminds her that the only reason she was in the room is because her grandfather founded the hospital and she should fear the board of directors. She tells him to not make this debate personal because if he does, he will lose.
In the ambulance, Shaun is happy they are on their way to the St Bonaventure Hospital. He observes the parents holding their boy’s hands and he has flashbacks of petting his rabbit while his father complains that he can’t act like a normal human being, he says this is the third school he has been removed from and he doesn’t blame them because as parents they can’t handle him either. He grabs Shaun’s little face and shouts, demanding to know what Shaun did this time, when he gets no response he hits him and throws his rabbit into a wall as his brother looks on. Shaun gets distraught when he notices the boy’s ECG changed and the EMS worker makes fun of him, telling the parents he is just concerned about the 20 year old equipment while traveling in a vehicle going 40 miles per hour.
Dr Melendez works with Unger, when Claire notices something white, wondering if its his lung. Melendez learns he was exposed to TB when he was younger and says its an abscess that is going to explode, shooting puss into the air, he begins to crash as they struggle to save him. The surgeon is informed of the 8 year old boy on his way in and tells Claire he doesn’t need her, the patient will be fine and sends her to deal with the trauma patient coming in.
As Claire takes in the new patient, Shaun doesn’t have any ID but is insistent that it is his heart; she says he is fine and if he doesn’t contain himself she will have him removed from the building and she rushes off to the OR, when Shaun attempts to run after her, security locks him out of the hospital.
In the operating room, some of the surgeons are impressed with how Shaun saved him, still having no idea who he is. Claire suggests having a ECG done on him, but the surgeon says based on his stats his answer is no, wondering if he missed anything and Claire says no. Shaun tries every door to get into the hospital but security stops him at every entrance, as he stands in the pouring rain. Shaun looks up and remembers hearing the doctor, Aaron say the rabbit is dead and a young Shaun says everything smells different when it rains. Aaron suggests they bury the rabbit and Shaun gets upset saying the rabbit cannot go to heaven because he needs him there; his brother promises nothing like this will happen to them again as they are not going home, they have each other and that is all they need.
Back in the boardroom, Dr. Andrews says they cannot have a surgeon who doesn’t communicate, he needs sympathy and empathy, questioning if Dr. Murphy can do that when he cannot even be relied upon to show up for a job interview; he wants to know if there are any other young surgeons that don’t have his issues, Aaron tells him no and they should hire him because he is qualified and because he is different, reminding him how long ago it was that they wouldn’t hire a black person nor a woman. He says if they hire Shaun they give hope to those people with limitations, so they feel they have a shot. Andrews and Aaron continue to be on opposite sides of the issue.
During the operation, the surgeon feels something has changed and something is different. Claire admits there was this “weird guy” who kept insisting the boy needed an ECG; when his stats drop he orders the team to do an ECG and tells Claire to come with him to find the weird guy. Dr. Melendez asks Shaun why the ECG and he stutters; Claire asks him why but while he is explaining they get a call that the ECG is normal and they just wasted their time. Shaun begins to visualize everything again and Claire tells him to come with her.
Shaun and Claire are shown the ECG results and Shaun asks to see them over and over; Unger says it looks normal to him but Shaun tells him there is a deformity in the right atrium. He is told even if he is right it wouldn’t manifest there; but Claire defends him saying it could happen by a glass shard flowing through to his heart. The surgeon believes her and orders to work on it.
The board of directors vote on whether they should hire Dr. Shaun Murphy but before the vote is final, the receptionist bursts in and tells them to look on any media site and it shows that Dr. Shaun Murphy saved the boy and apparently he is one of their doctors. They learn the boy is in OR 2 and Dr. Melendez isn’t sure he will make it. Aaron and Jessica watch from the observation room and he tells her he isn’t always going to be there to protect her because everyone loses eventually.
They watch Shaun as he intently watches the operation and he regresses back to when him and his brother live in an abandoned bus. His brother says their mother loves them but she knows its better for them to live this way. Shaun asks his brother for a television, but he reminds Shaun that they are poor but he presents Shaun with a tool box, with toy tools and Shaun immediately grabs the scalpel and back in real time he rubs his hair and unwraps the toy scalpel from the cloth in his pocket. In the OR, Dr. Melendez tells Dr. Browne she was right.
Aaron joins Shaun in the cafeteria, saying he saved that boy’s life and Shaun says his name is Adam and he is hungry. Aaron tells him the board reconvenes in 45 minutes and asks Shaun to stay there until he gets back; Shaun agrees, thoroughly enjoying his food.
Aaron speaks to Melendez who says thankfully there is a cure for time and stupidity called experience and Shaun suffers from a bad deficit. He says he would like his help and when he doesn’t think he will get his help; he wants to know what the story is with this kid (Shaun) and why its so important for him, reminding him making things personal is a sure way to screw things up. Aaron walks away and Melendez asks Jessica if she is proud or disappointed, she doesn’t want to pick either and they kiss.
Claire sits with Shaun, feeling he is curious about the place and the people but Shaun says Aaron gave him a map of the place and he found out the rest online. He wants to know why she was rude to him when they met, then nice to him the second time and now trying to be his friend. He wants to know which time was she pretending; they are interrupted by Aaron who informs him that the board room is ready.
Dr. Andrews returns furious because the decision was already made and Aaron says if he proves to be less than excellent… Andrews continues to complain and Aaron says he would love to make him happy and hire anyone who never makes a mistake; He asks if Aaron can accept that he will make mistakes none of the rest of them will make because it won’t be him who pays the price. Aaron says if Shaun doesn’t live up to everything he knows he can do, he will be immediately released and he will resign his position as President of the hospital. The board asks to hear from Shaun before they decide his fate.
When asked why he wants to become a surgeon, Shaun goes back to his youth and talking to his brother and a bunch of the boys broke into a garage, where they are climbing over an old vehicle, his brother loses his footing and falls far below onto the concrete floor; Shaun looks down in utter disbelief.
The board is getting annoyed that Shaun wasn’t speaking but then he talks about the day the rain smelled like ice cream, his bunny went to heaven in front of his eyes and the day the copper pipes in an old building smelled like burnt food, his brother went to heaven in front of his eyes. He couldn’t save them and it was sad that neither of them had the chance to become adults and experienced life events like having children and loving them and he wants to make that possible for other people. With tears in his eyes he says he would like to make a lot of money so he could have a television.
Everyone shares glances and Dr. Shaun Murphy is welcomed to San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital and they are very proud to have him. They shake hands and everyone claps. Aaron tells Shaun that Dr. Melendez’ team is going into surgery if he is interested; Shaun rushes out of the room and gets into scrubs and with a smile on his face he enters the OR as Melendez helps him with his mask and gloves. Melendez calls in Shaun “Murphy” who gets to see the piece of glass that was killing Adam. He looks at the scalpel and remembers his brother telling him to never forget he is the smart one and can do anything and he is proud of him. Melendez says he is a nice kid but its literally true that this is his first, he is obviously very smart but doesn’t belong there so as long as he is on his team all he will ever be doing is suction. Shaun takes it in stride saying he saw may surgeons in medical school and he is better, and could learn a lot from him. He says he is very arrogant, and asks if he thinks that helps him a good surgeon or hurts him as a person; and wonders if it is worth it.
THE END
