"Islands: Part One" is the eleventh episode of Season 1 of The Good Doctor This episode aired January 8, 2018.
Synopsis[]
Dr. Marcus Andrews enlists Dr. Neil Melendez on a very sensitive kidney transplant between a pair of twins whose lives intersect in more ways than one. Meanwhile, overwhelmed by Dr. Aaron Glassman's attempts to have him meet with a therapist and the demands at work, Dr. Shaun Murphy decides to take an impromptu trip with his friend Lea and leave everything behind.
Plot[]
After Shaun ran away from the hospital, Dr. Glassman goes to Lea's apartment as he thinks Shaun has gone there. She tells him that he's not there but Glassman doesn't believe her. She forces him out, but Glassman asks her to call him if she sees Shaun who was actually hiding underneath her bed. While Lea comments about what Glassman is forcing Shaun to do, she tries to get Shaun to stand up for himself. She also decides to take Shaun on a road trip while having him call in sick to clear his head. Meanwhile, Neil is asked to assist on a separation surgery by Dr. Andrews. Neil also questions Shaun’s absence and briefs Claire who refers to Jared getting fired and Glassman claims that Shaun apparently has a family emergency.
Shaun truthfully hasn’t called anyone due to being unable to lie, while Neil tells the conjoined twins Jenny and Katie about the surgery being done on them. Shaun and Lea soon hit the road in a second car she has; a striped tomato car left by her Grandpa Rod. Andrews soon confronts Glassman about Shaun's absence, while referring to Glassman’s promise to have Andrews become president unless Shaun proves his capabilities. Neil and Claire also encounter some issues during the transplant of the twins. While on their road trip, Lea tells Shaun she doesn't like San Jose because everyone is so competitive while introducing him to music. They also compare how Shaun connects smells and Lea connects music to important events, including when he lost Steve, their abusive home and he’s always had Glassman look out for him since.
Neil informs Jenny, Katie and their mother that Jenny had a rupture but their vitals are stable. Jared also tries to get Dr. Coyle to convince Dr. Andrews to give him a second chance, but Coyle says that it's not his problem. Unfortunately, Jenny starts to have heart problems. The doctors decide that they need to have the separation surgery now so that it'll relieve stress on Jenny's heart. When Shaun keeps having his phone on with messages from Glassman, Lea makes Shaun a deal; if he turns off his phone, she'll let him drive. He does and Lea teaches him how to drive. They get on the road and Shaun does quite a good job driving. Jenny and Katie also decide to go ahead with the separation surgery. Lea has Shaun burn rubber but Shaun loses control of the car and hits a rock. He freaks out but Lea tells him that it wasn't his fault. Although the doctors are ready for the surgery, Katie changes her mind and tells Claire that she doesn't want to do it anymore.
Neil and the doctors try to find a way to convince the girls to go through with the surgery and elect Claire to talk to them. Shaun and Lea go to a bar, where Lea tells Shaun she’s an automative engineer working for a company to create self-driving cars which she hates and actually wants to build things. She also proceeds to get Shaun drunk with his first alcoholic drink. Concurrently, Neil asks Claire if she wants kids, confiding in her about how Jessica doesn’t, and Claire tells him that it’s hard to find someone he wants to be with. While Lea introduces Shaun to karaoke, Neil talks to Jessica and tells her that he's okay with not having kids if it means being with her. Shaun and Lea head back to the hotel where Lea kisses Shaun. She goes to kiss him again but he runs into the room to throw up.
Claire talks to the twins about the surgery, referring to having had an abusive mother but also found it hard leaving her, and Katie gets back into it. The next day, Lea tells Shaun that he has to get over being afraid of everything or else he won't live life. As Claire confronts Coyle, stating that she knows she’s not his only victim and threatens to unite them all against him if he doesn’t give Jared his job back, the separation surgery is a success. Shaun listens to a voicemail that Dr. Glassman left and goes to breakfast with Lea, who tells Shaun that she's going to quit her job and move to Hershey. Shaun gets up and leaves. Jared also gets a call from Dr. Andrews, who promises to write him a letter of recommendation but can't rehire him. While Neil is worried because the twins haven't woken up from surgery yet, Shaun goes to the bus stop to take a bus to work.
Cast[]
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Trivia[]
- Glassman’s promise to give up presidency of the hospital and what Shaun smelled when Steve died in Burnt Food are referred to.
- This is the first two-parter in the show.
- The title is a reference to the Dolly Parton song Islands in the Stream, which Shaun and Lea sing to in karaoke.
- A deleted scene from this episode showed Glassman leaving Shaun the voicemail he later listened to.
- Katie and Jenny’s mother listens to “Get Up, Get On” by Jill Andrews.
- In the Turkish adaptation, Ali (Shaun's counterpart) did not skip work and assisted since the beginning in the case of the twins.
- Amongst the stops during Shaun and Lea's road trip was The Campbell River Store, which appeared in Freddie Highmore's predecessor show The Bates Motel.
- Paige Spara has called this one of her favorite episodes, feeling that this was where her and Highmore's chemistry was highlighted.
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