Incomplete

"Incomplete"

Episode Information

Season 3

Episode 9

Overall 45

Airdate:

November 25, 2019^[1]

Viewers:

5.86^[2] million

Writer:

Brian Shin

Director:

Marisol Adler

Episode Chronology

Preceded by:	Followed by:
"Moonshot"	"Friends and Family"

"I like Shaun, and I love that he's dating, but I can’t help thinking that the kind of person who'd go out with Shaun might be seeing him more as a project than a person. And I'd rather not see him get his heart broken."

—Morgan to Carly on why she feels protective over Shaun.

"Incomplete"^[1] is the ninth episode of Season 3 of The Good Doctor. It is the forty-fifth episode overall, and aired on November 25, 2019.

Synopsis[]

Shaun is ready for the next step in his relationship with Carly; however, he continues to struggle as they grow closer and more intimate, and is dealt some troubling news about a deeply personal issue. Meanwhile, a young patient must decide on a treatment that could save her life or possibly destroy her marriage.^[3]

Plot[]

Claire wakes up after her alarm rings and sees a man's watch on the nightstand. She's alone in bed, only for a man with whom she slept with the night prior, Kane, to walk into her bedroom. She puts the comforter higher up her chest, as Kane brings her some eggs for breakfast. He mentions that he may have overcooked them a bit since he’s not used to a gas stove. Claire remarks that the last thing she wants is food right now. As he's getting dressed his eyes land on a picture of Claire celebrating her birthday with some of her co-workers. He tells her that he had fun the night before, and after she unenthusiastically says that she did too, Kane gets the hint and leaves.

Meanwhile, Debbie receives a morning surprise in the form of Shaun showing up with pink roses and purple Peruvian lilies at her home wanting to ask Dr. Glassman something. With Glassman in the shower, Shaun tells Debbie that he's unsure of which of the flowers to give Carly to show his love. Debbie asks what Carly’s favorite color is, to which he replies it’s purple and decides to give Carly the lilies. He does so in the pathology lab, and states in front of the lab workers that he is ready to further consummate their relationship that night. With a broad smile, Carly affirms that decision.

Claire arrives at the hospital to Dr. Park informing her that they have a 39-year-old male that was part of a multi-car accident. He is suffering from blunt abdominal injuries, which include a ruptured spleen and a lacerated liver. It appears that they need an O.R. and Neil needs to be paged. But much to Claire's surprise, their patient is none other than her one-night stand she had last seen earlier this morning.

Meanwhile, a young couple, Tony and Jeanie, come to the hospital after Jeanie became faint while they were at their engagement photo shoot and then started slurring her words. Shaun suggests she had a mini stroke, despite Jeanie being 25 so Morgan states that they will be doing an MRI, cardiac echo and some labs to know for sure. In the OR, Kane’s B.P. begins to skyrocket which confuses Neil. Kane just suffered massive blood loss and is under anesthesia, so he should be hypotensive. Claire realizes that the MDMA Kane took the night before might be affecting him right now. So without giving herself away, she tells Neil and gets congratulated for catching what was wrong.

While Jeanie is in the MRI, Shaun reports to Morgan about how his and Carly's relationship is flourishing, they will be having sex that night and he is really excited. When Morgan can't find any signs that Jeanie had a stroke, she and Shaun realize that Jeanie is having a seizure which Shaun finds out is because her bladder is distended. Morgan informs Andrews that Jeanie has a mass near her clitoris that has caused a massive stroke during any sexual activity resulting from blood flow issues.

Park reports to Neil that they have removed the MDMA from Kane and they can continue his surgery, but Park and Claire disagree over whether to graft an aorta in him as they're only catching up to the blood loss or an endovascular stent which is less invasive but could clot up and they don't have blood thinners. Neil tells them to gain consent, but Kane's still unconscious so they are ordered to ask his wife when she comes. Shaun and Morgan inform Jeanie and Tony that they can remove the mass, but doing so will also mean they can't have sex again. However, Jeanie could most likely die if she doesn't have the surgery and she and Tony continue their sex.

Neil and Lim see each other and talk, with Neil asking how they are following their break-up. While Lim doesn't reply, Claire and Park address the possible surgeries to Kane's wife, Sasha, and she chooses to trust them as they meet his daughter Allie. Jeanie has also chosen not to have the surgery, which Morgan tries to talk to Andrews about. Unfortunately, he agrees with the couple and challenges Morgan's fears that Jeanie will die. He also sees sex to be crucial in a relationship, though Morgan sees that it can wreck people and their relationships more. However, Andrews stands by his beliefs.

Claire checks on Kane who had the stent while Sasha and Allie are with him. They'll be monitoring him, but he is so far alright. Morgan informs Jeanie and Tony that Jeanie can be discharged the next day, but still offers to tell them where the next hospital is when Jeanie has a stroke again. Although the couple know the risks, Tony states that it's Jeanie body and he wants to be supportive. Morgan refuses to believe this and calls him out for his selfishness in barely doing anything to continue "getting laid".

While Sasha tells Allie that Kane was apparently at his brother's the previous night, Sasha admits to Claire that she believes he’s cheating on her and has done it before. Carly and Shaun try for a “tops off” session of closeness which they enjoy. However, he starts to feel uncomfortable and excuses himself to watch TV, and Carly ends up alone in bed. Shaun tells Glassman that he was feeling it, but then saw that Carly had a half of a tattoo of a heart which left him confused. Glassman suggests it’s probably not that, but it’s more so the intimacy and there will be things that he does or doesn't like about Carly. Eventually, Debbie has to barge in to kick Shaun out because Dr. Glassman has a lot of patients.

Morgan visits Carly and pokes her nose into Carly and Shaun's romantic business. Morgan even accuses her of only dating Shaun as she sees him just as a project. Carly stands her ground and explains that she really likes Shaun for who he is and how he treats her, with him having even helped her when she was left alone once with a lot of work to do. In fact, Carly states that Morgan’s condescending notion that people need an ulterior motive to be interested in Shaun makes her the person who sees Shaun as a project more than anyone. Neil still tries to address Lim refusing to talk to him, to no avail.

Shaun asks Jeanie why she’s willing to risk her life for sex. Jeanie says sex makes everyone vulnerable and it means being able to share that with other things such as worries and fears which truly connects couples. She even counters his fears of oversharing with that relationships can't work if couples don't share how they feel with each other. At the same time, Morgan corners Tony to ask him to imagine his best memory with Jeanie. She still tries to get him to see that they don't need sex, though Tony still thinks that it's important. Morgan then refers to having once had "the perfect man", only to lose him when she had drunken one-night stand with a stranger. She also agrees with their beliefs about sex, but states that it isn’t the end goal and the rest of the other things that are. Tony then admits that he doesn't know what he and Jeanie have without sex, so Morgan tells him to lie to Jeanie.

Claire goes to Kane to treat him, though the recent revelation makes her delay seeing him. While they agree that this is awkward, Kane tells Claire that he almost died in the accident. The only thing he could think of next was his wife, daughter, how he had been and how hurt they would be upon finding out the truth, so he questions why he can't stop his affairs which he hates. He also sees that Claire is like him, when she checked him out the night before and calls her a big a cheater as he is. Claire then catches a blood clot in his leg from the stent.

Glassman and Debbie are eating together, but Glassman is somewhat uneasy after Debbie stopped him while he was trying to give Shaun romantic advice (which she once forced him to do). Debbie sees that Shaun has become too dependant on Glassman, which Glassman defends as Shaun hasn't spoken to his parents since he lost Steve who was the only person Shaun ever loved. Debbie is sympathetic, but she tells Glassman that he needs to let Shaun be because Shaun now has Carly as Glassman has Debbie.

As Claire and Park work on Kane, Park states that he knows Claire is familiar with Kane and she confesses the truth. He sees that this has affected her judgement, otherwise they could've caught the clot earlier. Although she hasn't explained the reason for it, he also knows about how she's dealing with something hard which has caused her recent downward spiral. He tries to help her, but Claire refuses to see that they're similar when Park remarks about when his own life got wrecked. They soon see the clot, but see that they need to open Kane up.

While Glassman begins to accept what Debbie is telling him (to Shaun's dismay), Tony goes to see Jeanie to convince her to have the operation. He even promises her that they’ll still get through it, stating that he loves her more than sex. While Claire performs major life-saving moves in surgery on Kane, Morgan admits that she made Tony lie. But, as Dr. Andrews tells her, maybe he wasn’t lying and he didn’t even realize it until he said it out loud. Shaun and Carly decide to give sex another go. This time, Shaun is honest and confesses his feelings about the incomplete heart tattoo. Although Carly completes it, Shaun can’t go through with it. Claire also informs Sasha that Kane is alright and urges her to ask for the truth, while Lim also admits to Neil that this is a lot harder than she previously thought.

Carly affirms Shaun’s conclusion that true intimacy is sharing whatever fears them the most with someone. She shares her own fears of failure and inadequacy in her profession, and her inexplicable fear of pigeons. Shaun shares that his biggest fear is being alone and losing her if he can’t do this. Carly pledges that he has no need to fear that outcome, offering her hand. She proposes simply holding one another, with no need to go further. Shaun still cringes before ultimately deciding to leave.

Sasha also finds out the truth about Kane, finds Claire and slaps her across the face. Claire runs out in shame, and Neil follows to comfort her. Glassman and Debbie are in their room talking when Glassman admits that Debbie was right. He thinks that "it" can wait until the morning, but she states that Shaun really needs him and he agrees with her. Shaun arrives back at his apartment where Glassman sees him. He states that Shaun's mother has called him from Wyoming, that his father is dying of pancreatic cancer.