39 Differences

"39 Differences"

Episode Information

Season 6

Episode 13

Overall 107

Airdate:

February 13, 2023

Viewers:

3.09 million

Writer:

David Hoselton & Tristan Thai

Director:

Cayman Grant

Episode Chronology

Preceded by:	Followed by:
"365 Degrees"	"Hard Heart"

"39 Differences" is the thirteenth episode of Season 6 of The Good Doctor. It is the hundred-and-seventh episode overall, and aired on February 13, 2023.

Synopsis[]

Shaun and Lea clash over their parenting styles and worry about what will happen to their relationship when their child is born. Meanwhile, Dr. Lim must find a way to save the damaged lungs that one of her long-time patients has been waiting for.

Plot[]

The episode starts with Shaun putting their unborn child on the waitlist for a nursery. Lea points out that Shaun is thinking too far ahead. The topic moves to Glassman and how sad he has been. Shaun had not noticed before Lea mentioned it but Glassman has been too quiet lately.

At the hospital, a boy (Ricky) is brought in with a nail lodged in his foot. The parents ask Shaun to give them a second opinion because they don’t trust Perez and Asher. The dad is focused on being safe while the mom wants their child to be allowed to have some fun. Shaun agrees that the nail is can be safely removed by Asher and Perez.

As Perez removes the nail, the parents keep arguing. Shaun realizes that something is wrong with Ricky. He asks to do more tests and they learn that Ricky has tick bites on his back. Asher remarks about the parent’s consistent fights due to their different parenting approach. Perez says that the parents should have discussed this before having a kid.

The parents start blaming each other for the reason Ricky got tick bites. The mom is overwhelmed and says she can’t take anymore. The doctors worry that Ricky’s infection has reached his brain but the parents can’t agree on the way forward.

Shaun decides to make a list of the differences he has with Lea and approach her while at work to discuss the 37 differences. Lea tells him she is busy and can’t talk about the 37 differences. She asks if he has spoken to Glassman and Shaun tells her that he didn’t show up for work but sent him a text saying he is okay.

Glassman is at his burnt house going through what is left trying to see if there is anything he can salvage. Shaun is more concerned about his differences with Lea and forgets to check up on Glassman. Asher and Perez try to assure him that he and Lea are different from the other couple because they love each other.

As they talk, Ricky’s condition gets worse and they discover he has a brain infection that has caused serious cerebral swelling. They inform the parents that they will need to put Ricky in an induced coma and start treatment. The dad is curious how Ricky contracted the disease and Shaun tells him it is normally transmitted through infectef water. The dad realizes he might have given his son the disease when he gave him a nasal rinse from untreated tap water and he starts to blame himself.

Shaun talks to the mom and asks her if they love each other. She tells him that they always knew that they have different views on most things. They worked on their big differances before they had Ricky but after the child was born they started arguing about the little things. She tells him that even though they love each other, she wonders if that is enough.

After this conversation, Shaun goes to Glassman’s burnt house and keeps him company. He shares his worry and Glassman tells him that they won’t know if love is enough until the time comes. He tells Shaun that a baby switches a couple’s dynamic and maybe in their case it will shift for the better.

Glassman opens up about his life, his daughter, and his first mairrage. He advises him to talk with Lea.

Elsewhere, Lim and Allen are treating a young lady who has cystic fibrosis. She has a blog that updates her fans about her journey. This time she is in the hospital for a lung transplant and has been treated with Lim for the past 11 years. Her new lungs arrive but upon checking, the lungs are not viable as the donor had pneumonia.

They worry about their patient’s time and Allen suggests a procedure to help the lungs heal themselves. Lim decides to try the Hail Mary procedure as their patient has less than a week. They do their best but the lungs don’t heal. They decide to switch their approach to the lung infection but their patient’s condition deteriorates as they wait.

On the other hand, Reznick calls Park to show off her new office. Park admits that she is doing well in her new position. She mentions she is running behind schedule with her first patients for the new program and Park offers to help her. She gives him one patient (Riggs).

Reznick finds Riggs’s symptoms strange and wonders why he wasn’t eliminated during the preliminary screening progress. She argues that with his symptoms he should not have been selected for the project. She immediately assumes that Riggs lied to get into the research but Park asks her to wait before jumping to any conclusion.

After their shift the doctors head home, Shaun tries to talk to Lea but she is busy trying to finish work. Shaun decides to wait for her to finish work but Lea asks him to allow them to talk later. She says he was good during their babymoon and asks him to channel some of that energy. Shaun tells her that on their babymoon he thought love is enough.

Lea is shocked and asks what brought this up. Shaun says that they need to talk about their dynamic as he doesn’t want it to change. Lea tells him that they will need more time to dive into their dynamics and differences but they can’t have a productive conversation at the moment.

While the rest of the doctors head home, Lim and Allen remain behind to watch the lungs. Allen is ready to call it but Lim is too invested in the case to give up hope. She thinks she failed the patient and continues to try to treat the lungs. She is hoping they will heal and become viable. She also admits to becoming a bit crazy, and starts calling the lungs "Noomie".

The next morning, Park updates Reznick on Riggs. He had a pre-existing condition before getting into the program. Reznick is sure he lied to get into the study and thinks it proves the screeners were incompetent. Park asks her to stop seeing the world in such clear black-and-white terms. He talks to Riggs and he denies knowing about his condition or lying about it. After running more tests, Park learns Riggs was telling the truth. He takes over his treatment and tells Reznick she was wrong.

On the other hand, Ricky starts seizing in the O.R. and Shaun and his team are forced to change the surgery plan. He goes to see the parents to ask for their consent for the new surgery plan. Finally, the parents agree and allow Shaun to do the surgery. The surgery goes well and Ricky is about to regain consciousness with his memory intact.

In the meantime. Lim still has hope that the lungs will be viable but the problem is it might be too late by then. Her patient is already dying and most of her organs are shutting down. Allen is already making sure she has a painless death by giving her morphine. In the last moment, the lungs become viable and they rush to the O.R. The patient pulls through and is able to breathe on her own for the first time in a long time.

After finishing her work, Lea visits Glassman in his burnt house and they talk about Glassman’s memories of his family in the house. He advises Lea to talk to Shaun. Shaun also shows up, and as they talk the baby starts kicking. The three of them start having hope for the future and new memories waiting to be made. They decide to go home.

Cast[]

Freddie Highmore as Dr. Shaun Murphy
Fiona Gubelmann as Dr. Morgan Reznick
Will Yun Lee as Dr. Alex Park
Christina Chang as Dr. Audrey Lim
Paige Spara as Lea Dilallo
Bria Samoné Henderson as Dr. Jordan Allen
Noah Galvin as Dr. Asher Wolke
Brandon Larracuente as Dr. Daniel Perez
Hill Harper as Dr. Marcus Andrews
Richard Schiff as Dr. Aaron Glassman

Jean Louisa Kelly as Brecca's mom
Aaron Serotsky as Victor Pavlovic
Elspeth Arbow as Brecca
Azura Skye as Shelly Pavlovic

Beckham Skodje as Ricky Pavlovic

Trevor Carroll as Riggs

Trivia[]

The book that Breka's mother is reading to her is The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis.
Elspeth Arbow, the actress who played Brecca, is a real life cystic fibrosis survivor who has had two double-lung transplant in her life. Cayman Grant, the director of this episode, chose her to play the role due to this fact.