Tough Titmouse

"Tough Titmouse"
Episode Information
Season 2
Episode 4
Overall 22
Airdate:	October 15, 2018
Viewers:	6.68 million
Writer:	David Hoselton
Director:	Steven DePaul
Episode Chronology
Preceded by:	"36 Hours"
Followed by:	"Carrots"

"Tough Titmouse" is the fourth episode of Season 2 of The Good Doctor. It is the twenty-second episode overall, and aired on October 15, 2018.

Synopsis

Shaun recalls his own past to help Max, who is a mentally disabled teenager due to fragile x syndrome faces separation from his mother, while Claire is put between an injured teenage rock climber and her worried parents. Meanwhile, Glassman's post-op hallucinations force him to confront a personal tragedy.

Plot

After their fight, Shaun is still trying to apologize to Lea and gets her a donut. Unfortunately, Lea is not in a forgiving mood and refuses to move back to her original apartment (after Kenny got arrested) while looking for a new one. Glassman is also conversing with the vision he started seeing of Maddie, all the while told by Nurse Villanueva that this isn't helping his sleep.

Shaun, Park and Neil are overseeing Mac, a young boy with Fragile X Syndrome who has a piece of wood in his shoulder. Shaun remembers how after he left his parents, he was moved between foster homes which never worked out. One of the people that took him in was Sybil Meeks. Mac is soon sent to surgery as Shaun retrieves his stuffed zebra for him, while an injured rock climber, Kitty Kwon, is brought in.

While working on Mac, Park suggests that Shaun "go big" in his apology to Lea, Neil tells him to just walk away if she doesn't accept and J.L. states that he should just be nice. Glassman is still talking to Maddie, who shares her great memories of him while trying to address the truth of why they're talking. Shaun, Neil and Park soon report to Mac's mother, Nicole, that they were able to help Mac and he can go home now, but Nicole is reluctant as she thought he would be in the hospital for the day.

Kitty is being healed when her parents come in. Claire reports that Kitty broke her neck, which they can fix with a spinal fusion surgery but it will restrict her movement and she won't be able to rock climb a lot anymore. Morgan suggests an alternative option which would allow for her to continue her climbing, which Kitty favors but her mother fears that this will kill her. At the same time, Nicole states that Mac has some issues and for which she has tried (but failed) to get him help while hoping for a break and is astonished when Park suggests a group home. While Neil is sympathetic, Shaun remembers when he lived with Sybil who was rather tough-loving and states a belief that Mac would get used to a group home.

Kitty's parents state that she's had a lot of injuries due to her rock climbing and are afraid of it continuing. She states that rock climbing is what she lives for as it helps her relax while Morgan states that it's Kitty's decision as she's 18. Maddie still attempts to address the reason for their talk when Shaun walks in on Glassman and finds him supposedly talking to no-one, for which he opts to report Glassman's psychosis issues until Glassman tells him the truth.

Claire tries to talk to Lim about Kitty, whom Lim sides with and advises that Claire not get involved. Meanwhile, Lea is apartment hunting which Shaun tries to help with as his gesture at trying to be nice. However, Lea states that she doesn't need or want his help. Kitty's parents also state that if she won't reconsider the surgery, they'll declare her mentally incompetent and make the choice for her. At the same time, Maddie refers to how frustrated she was at Glassman for always being away with work. She attempts to call him out for avoiding her, to which he states that she paid no attention to him either. Shaun ends up informing another doctor (Chesa Dulay) who tries to force Glassman to take a pill, though he only pretends to take it.

Kitty is arguing with her parents over her wants, still seeing that Kitty could kill herself and even once ended up in the ER after taking sleeping pills when she got dumped. Nicole is later taken to an OR following an injury which Mac has a bad reaction to, leading him to being sedated. Lim and Claire still debate the surgery on Kitty, only for Morgan to realize that Claire is concerned for Kitty in a similar sense to how she wishes she could've controlled the pain Breeze caused for herself and others.

Shaun is taking care of Mac while Nicole is treated. He questions if Mac thinks about anything to help when he gets scared, to which Mac refers to his stuffed zebra Deezer. Shaun again remembers how when he lived with Sybil, he once didn't want to go to school as he at the time was having a substitute teacher he disliked. Sybil knew the man, though she told him "Tough titmouse" to get him to do so all the same. He then repeats the phrase to Mac. It's also decided that whether Kitty is reckless or energetic, she should get the original surgery.

Glassman angrily states that he couldn't do enough when he was home, since Maddie was either not home in return, on drugs or both. Maddie attempts to state that she needed her father, which farther frustrates Glassman as this is when she's choosing to tell him. Maddie tells him that she just wanted him with her, otherwise she wouldn't have died. Glassman attempts to state that he loved her and still does, but she states in return that she died hating him.

Shaun takes up Park's suggestion that he go big and tries to recreate his and Lea's first time singing karaoke. Upset, Lea states that she took a big risk with Hershey which went wrong and gets annoyed at him for not asking her about it or being supportive. When Shaun, Neil and Park come to see Nicole, they realize that Mac hurt her because of what he is. Although Nicole is concerned how Mac will be if she tries to get him help, Shaun remembers that Sybil kicked him out as she was dying though she was devastated and did love Shaun. He also states that Mac won't hold anything against Nicole while Neil offers his support.

Kitty asks that Claire tell her parents that she doesn't want to see them again, while Park refers to having helped a troubled youth who got into fights and needed not only a good police officer but a doctor as well. While Claire and Neil talk about how difficult giving advice is without the baggage, Maddie refers to having died because her mother was away, Glassman caught her high on drugs and he took action to what she was doing by kicking her out of the house. Glassman believed that Maddie would've left and gone to be with Jessica or her Aunt Becky but instead she just died. Glassman states that he died then, too, and is left upset.

Claire goes to talk to Kitty's parents and relates about Breeze and her actual self-destructive nature, which she tried to help but nothing worked. Although Kitty's parents accept that she'll probably never forgive them, her mother states that they're just trying to do what's best for her. Glassman tries to get Maddie to look at him, but she won't as she's equally upset while he guiltily states his regret about not helping her. He confesses that he wanted to help her himself and be her hero so she would love him again and apologizes for how he was, to which she responds by saying that she loves him too.

Neil tells Nicole that people might think that she sent Mac away because she chose the easy way out and didn't care about him, but she'll need to give him up nonetheless for both their sakes. When Kitty awakens, Claire states that she'll walk again sometime between eight and 12 weeks (possibly less) and will be fine if she sticks to the program. She also states that Kitty's parents only did what they did out of love for her, which Kitty knows while Shaun, Neil and Park sadly watch Nicole and Mac talking about sending him away while Shaun remembers when Sybil kicked him out.

Shaun comes to see Glassman who awakens from having been asleep. Shaun asks about how seeing Maddie was for Glassman, who tells Shaun about how she said that she loves him but isn't sure if she truly meant that in the end or it was just the vision of her. Shaun doesn't see why she shouldn't have, considering that he always tells the truth. Neil also goes to a group home (possibly the one where Mac is) and sees a young girl there; his disabled sister, Gabby. Lea is also packing and is about to leave Shaun's apartment when he asks her about Hershey, simply out of care for Lea. Accepting his apology, she offers to try their song again. They do so, while Shaun shocks and Lea with the fact that he's rented the apartment Lea said she liked.

Cast

Starring Freddie Highmore as Dr. Shaun Murphy Nicholas Gonzalez as Dr. Neil Melendez Antonia Thomas as Dr. Claire Browne Tamlyn Tomita as Allegra Aoki (credit only) Fiona Gubelmann as Dr. Morgan Reznick Will Yun Lee as Dr. Alex Park Christina Chang as Dr. Audrey Lim Paige Spara as Lea Dilallo Hill Harper as Dr. Marcus Andrews (credit only) Richard Schiff as Dr. Aaron Glassman

Guest Starring Graham Verchere as Young Shaun Murphy Elfina Luk as Nurse Dalisay Villanueva Teryl Rothery as J.L. Holly Taylor as Maddie Glassman Brooke Smith as Sybil Meeks Leah Lewis as Kitty Kwon Kimiko Gelman as Mrs. Kwon Keong Sim and Leo Kwon Agam Darshi as Dr. Chesa Dulay

Trivia

• In the Turkish adaptation, Ferda (Maddie's counterpart) is still alive and is a doctor herself. She was currently residing in America before being employed by the hospital.

Multimedia

Gallery

Behind the Scenes

Videos

The Good Doctor 2x04 Promo "Tough Titmouse" (HD)

External Links

• "Tough Titmouse" at the Internet Movie Database