Fixation

"Fixation"

Episode Information

Season 3

Episode 17

Overall 53

Airdate:

March 2, 2020^[1]

Writer:

Jessica Grasl & Debbie Ezer

Director:

Lisa Demaine

Episode Chronology

Preceded by:	Followed by:
"Autopsy"	"Heartbreak"

"I used men to make me feel better. Most of them didn’t mind. But… I… Don’t trust myself not to hurt someone I care about."

—Claire to Neil on being scared to really love someone

"Fixation"^[1] is the seventeenth episode of Season 3 of The Good Doctor. It is the fifty-third episode overall, and aired on March 2, 2020.

Synopsis[]

A patient with a mysterious and undiagnosed illness that has baffled other doctors for years forces Dr. Shaun Murphy and the team to take some big risks. Meanwhile, Dr. Claire Browne and Dr. Neil Melendez continue to cautiously navigate their feelings for each other as colleagues and friends.^[2]

Plot[]

A rescue helicopter is bringing in Wes Keeler, a man leading a camping trip with some preteen boys and has a cactus prick in his arm which is infected and a rising temperature. Dr. Glassman sees Shaun after having tried to find and text him and invites him for breakfast and then dinner, both of which he turns down. Shaun is consumed by his rejection from Lea and getting her to be with him. Shaun, Neil and Claire then see to Alice Gottfried, a woman who can barely walk without falling over which she has already been through. She also gives them her full medical history of tests for them to look over.

As Neil orders work to be done on Alice, Claire reunites with Dash who comes to visit the hospital. Concurrently, Morgan and Park are working on Wes who has underlying damage to his liver and kidneys. They'll be putting him on antibiotics, while he jokes to the boys he takes care of about his condition. Park and Morgan take a look at Wes' heart to find that his infection is blocking his airway valve and he needs emergency surgery.

Shaun, Claire and Neil try to figure out what is wrong with Alice, all the while Shaun asks Neil how he “made” Dr. Lim love him. Neil tells Shaun that love cannot be forced, but being friends helps as they already know what they're like. Shaun then gets an idea as Kellan comes in asking for Park. Shaun and Neil tell him that Park is unavailable, which Shaun is accidentally rude about as he realizes Alice might have intracranial hypotension. Although Claire fears about Alice's side effects from the testing if Shaun's wrong, Neil authorizes it. Shaun also asks that Claire do it as doing so only requires one doctor and he has something he has to deal with.

Shaun has called Lea back to his apartment, having made changes to his apartment to try and show Lea that he can change for her and live with her. When she's not pleased that he dragged her away from work, he sees that he should've asked her to come that night. During Wes' surgery, Andrews realizes that Wes' infection has caused a fistula which needs to be removed. He's also going to have permanent heart damage. When Park comments on how this is the last straw for him after having been a reformed drug addict and inmate, Morgan claims that he was just trying to act as a tough guy in front of his boys. Park retorts that Wes wants them to not repeat his own mistakes, which Morgan calls narcissistic as it isn't enough to undo what he had done. However, Andrews points out that his kids are still around when Lim calls Park.

It turns out that Kellan and Max (one of Wes' boys) were doing marijuana, which Park isn't happy with. Unfortunately, Shaun's idea about Alice has worsened things as he and Claire work to help her. Her side effects aren't what they're supposed to be and Shaun sees that he missed something when Claire tells Shaun to give Alice a labetalol injection when her husband and daughter come in. Wes is informed that he'll need medication and modifications to his diet when Lim informs him about Max. Wes attempts to deal with him when Morgan realizes that Wes' hands and feet are swollen.

A lumbar puncture has been done on Alice, after which her husband Owen asks when she can go home as he doesn't see how being in the hospital will make any difference; she has idiopathic dysautonomia, for which she's had treatments but they haven't done her any good. He just thinks Alice is looking for things that aren't there and won't accept just trying to be there for their daughter, Ruby, while Shaun thinks she has an adrenal tumor which can be removed.

Park questions what's going on with Kellan who is wrecking his life, only for Kellan to have a panic attack that Park helps with. He feels that the vaping helps with it. Wes is soon informed that his heart damage cut off blood flow to his kidneys which couldn't handle the stress; he's in renal failure, for which he'll need a transplant. However, his conditions make him not a priority and he doesn't have much family. Claire also sees that Owen is right in his statement about Alice, which she tries to talk to Shaun about. However, Shaun just sees that it is giving up when Alice is revealed to have an adrenal gland behaving like a tumor.

Wes tells Morgan about how much the boys mean to him when he has a heart attack. Shaun informs Alice that they can help her, but Neil states that doing so will remove her adrenal glands and she'll forever have steroid replacement therapy. Alice still agrees, despite Claire's statement that her condition isn't fatal, and sees herself as pathetic. Owen still fears for her life and tries to talk her out of it, even stating that he and Ruby will leave her if she agrees. Shaun tries to point out to him that he shouldn't do that if he really loves her, but Alice just agrees to not have the surgery.

Wes is currently stable, but his only chance at living is a transplant. Claire has also been asked on a date by Dash, but just ran away when he did as she didn't know what to say. She refers to her sex life with men, but is worried about hurting Dash whom she cares about. All the same, Neil sees that Dash would be good for her as she obviously likes him. As Park and Kellan have dinner, Park apologizes for how he acted in the car. He also talked to Mia and they are considering having Kellan talk to a therapist, which he doesn't respond well to. It's not because of how things are between Park and Mia. Park states that Kellan doesn't mention anything about his life when they talk, which Kellan sees is because he thinks Park doesn't want to know and that he's "just OK".

Shaun is staying late at the hospital to find a solution for Alice, while Morgan is waiting for a donor for Wes. Shaun asks Morgan for advice about what Lea claimed that their own issues make them not a match, to which Morgan states that Shaun should find someone that makes him happy. She agrees with the statement of being with someone that makes them a better person, but Shaun's autism can't be helped. Shaun then thinks of something and proposes a way to drain the adrenal gland without removing it completely, while Alice will be allowed to function normally if successful. She and her family agree.

Wes' boys find out about him, while Max states that they all got tested as a potential match. Only Max is declared a match and he implores to Dr. Lim and the medical team to approve him as a donor. He states that he is emancipated, but there are concerns of if he's thought it through, complications post surgery and he's been in prison and on drugs like Wes. Max tells them about what Wes has done for him as a father figure. Alice's surgery soon happens and Shaun is given lead on it, having offered it.

Park, Morgan and Andrews support Max's offer, though Lim is reluctant and goes to ask Wes. He agrees with her own feelings on the matter, but he's still on the list. Lim also talks to Max, claiming he isn't a match but he doesn't need to be upset as Wes is proud of him. Following Alice's surgery, she's fine and is able to hold Ruby by herself. Claire also agrees to have dinner with Dash with a recipe from Kayla, even though the result is none too tasty but the night still ends in laughter. Meanwhile, Shaun attempts to suggest to Lea that they go out on a date, though Lea keeps refusing and also accuses Shaun of not facing up to the truth. He tries to promise that he can fix it, though Lea just sees that he can't and their differing personalities means that they will never work as Shaun returns home.

Cast[]

Starring[]

Guest Starring[]

Ricky He as Kellan Park
Harold Perrineau as Wes Keller
Ever Carradine as Alice Gottfried
John Patrick Amedori as Dash Snyder
David Cubitt as Owen Gottfried
Luke Slattery as Max Reed

Co-Starring[]

Aman Mann as Victor
Alix West Lefler as Ruby Gottfried
Tina Grant as EMT #1
Nick Hunnings as EMT #2

Trivia[]

Its revealed that Kayla, Claire's old friend and college roommate from "Hubert," has since died of her cancer. However, the treatment she was given succeeded in extending her life by six more months.
Freddie Highmore (Shaun) was reunited with his Bates Motel co-star David Cubitt. David portrayed the role of Sam Bates, Norman Bates' father.
The ending of Autopsy is brought up.
Morgan claiming that Wes was trying to be macho with his boys is similar to how Andrews felt in Debts concerning Josh saving Olivia from being groped, with Claire and Park on both occasions also defending the good deeds.
This is the 50th appearance of Glassman.