Skin in the Game

"Skin in the Game"

Episode Information

Season 7

Episode 2

Overall 118

Airdate:

February 27, 2024

Viewers:

2.52 million

Writer:

Garrett Lerner & Nathalie Touboul

Director:

Freddie Highmore

Episode Chronology

Preceded by:	Followed by:
"Baby, Baby, Baby"	"Critical Support"

"Skin in the Game" is the second episode of Season 7 of The Good Doctor. It is the hundred-and-eighteenth episode overall, and aired on February 27, 2024.

Synopsis[]

Shaun struggles to accommodate the newest member of his surgical team, Charlie, who interferes in a patient’s relationship with his daughter. Elsewhere, Park tackles a tricky brain tumor, and Lea and Morgan adjust to motherhood.

Plot[]

Shaun and Lea have taken Steve to get a check-up, though concern is raised about how he isn't gaining weight as Lea's breast milk isn't working and she and Shaun are given vitamins to make sure he does. Meanwhile, Glassman and Lim are already in a disagreement about whether they're doing things together or not after they were made co-presidents a week ago. Lim is especially annoyed at how Glassman is causing her to do more work; he made an affiliation deal with San Jose Med School, which Glassman tries to state was because they had to cover the overages after the nurses were unionised. They'll now be teaching med students, though Lim states that Glassman isn't going to be and she will just be having to deal with "lost children with scalpels".

Two med students (a man and a woman) arrive and are seen by Asher, Jordan and Jared, while Jordan decides to have Shaun and Park meet them. The woman Charlotte "Charlie" Lukaitis recognizes Shaun, being an admirer of him ever since the video of his save with the one-way valve at the airport went viral. The man with her, Dominic Hubank, helps her, but is more interested with rotation than being a surgeon. As Park welcomes them, Shaun then puts Charlie on his team and Park works with Dominic.

Shaun, Jared and Charlie work with Rich Shelford, but Charlie takes too long introducing him as Shaun asks what happened. His daughter Grace mentions that he was coughing and hit his head when he fainted. He's in a worst condition than when he last visited her, though he thinks he's alright. Jared points out lung nodules and enlarged lymph nodes, while Shaun asks that Rich be given an ABG, CBC and a bronchoscopy, send them to pathology and Charlie to apply dressing through the turban technique. Rich asks when he can leave, Grace having promised to show him around and brags about her starting her own company.

Although Rich was very good about it, Grace was uncomfortable with how Charlie learnt how to do the turban technique through a video on her phone. Shaun doesn't see much wrong as she followed the instructions well as Park works on Sal Zacharia, a man whose skull fracture had to be repaired and get out a hematoma. Asher finds that he stepped in front of a car that Sal failed to see as it's a busy day for him. He then recognizes Dom as "The Dominator", a former football player though he no longer plays. He then works to draw blood from Sal while helped by Asher, though he faints in the process.

While Park, Asher and Dom talk about what had just happened, they see an MRI of Sal's brain to find he has a tumor. Jared and Jordan are looking in Rich as Charlie guides them, doing well when they page Shaun who finds that Rich has silicosis from cutting quartz countertops from a fabrication shop he worked in. He'll need a bilateral lung transplant, which he is prioritized for and will need to be cared for for the rest of his life. Since he doesn't have anyone at home in Florida, Grace tries to get him to move in with her.

Lea soon comes to see Shaun after leaving Steve with the nurses and asks that Shaun write her a prescription for Domperidone to help with her breast milk. Shaun tries to state that it isn't approved for doing so, though Lea states that she heard about doctors in Canada and Mexico having used it. She confesses that she doesn't like the formula Dr. Hyland recommended for Steve, already feeling she's failing as a mother. Shaun tries to comfort that she isn't and needs to follow the guidelines, but Lea states that she's not giving Steve what he needs. They're then visited by Morgan who invites them to a party to officially see Eden, but Shaun isn't sure about going if Glassman will be as they haven't really made amends.

Unfortunately, Sal's tumor cannot be removed without his brain stem getting injured or him even surviving. Dom suggests a TCR approach from a paper he once read. Although it's not been done a lot and never with brain stems and Park fears that it will leave Sal worse off, Sal agrees to it. Park tries to get him to spend his remaining live with his loved ones, but Sal says he can't as he is disgraced from them. Meanwhile, Lim gives Glassman files for their annual presentation to the managed care companies. Glassman tries to refuse them, despite Lim having already scheduled a meeting the next morning, her back-to-back surgeries and he's her partner to help out on work she can't do.

Jared finds Charlie alone in her car having lunch, finding other people's chewing to be unsettling. Jared tries to help when Charlie hears Grace in her car pretending to be Marilyn Monroe and singing Happy Birthday while having her bra out. Charlie tries to question this, to which Grace says she's a sex worker and was singing to a client. This is what she really does and asks that Rich doesn't know about it, while some lungs for him soon become available. As Jared takes Rich to surgery, Charlie tells Grace that Rich will need a ground floor bedroom and accessible bathroom. Unfortunately, Charlie accidentally lets slip talk about Grace's sex work which Rich questions.

Park talks to Lim about the TCR, which he starts to consider but she states that Park isn't the one killing Sal. Ultimately, she makes it Park's decision as an attending while finding boxes that Glassman ordered to be delivered to her office. Jared reports that because of Charlie, Rich has banned Grace from his room and decided against the surgery. Shaun stresses it's urgency, but Jared states that Rich has booked a flight back to Florida and will be ready for the surgery there. However, his lungs won't be able to survive the surgery. Shaun fears about what Charlie's mistake caused, but Jared sees that she did something Shaun himself could've as well in his first year. Nonetheless, Shaun states that Rich needs a bilateral whole-lung lavage and orders for his consent while putting Charlie on scut work.

Park tries to carry out a simulation of Sal's surgery, but it just fails and (despite not being real) causes Dom to faint from shock again. As Asher helps him, Dom asks for help for his haemophobia as he and his brother had made a deal to become doctors so as to make up for how mistreated their mother was by the medical health care system. Unfortunately, Asher's suggestion of exposure therapy doesn't help as Park keeps failing the simulation. Asher soon hears about Shaun's feelings concerning Charlie as Jared and Jordan get supplies while Charlie has finished her scut work.

Glassman soon sees Shaun, having heard about Shaun possibly not going to Morgan's party and tries to settle everything between them. However, Shaun's still upset that Glassman missed Steve's birth. Glassman admits that it was a mistake, but can't get over how it was due to Shaun causing him to no longer be a surgeon which Shaun doesn't take kindly to. Rich's surgery soon happens as Charlie mentions a camgirl site Grace has, which Shaun isn't too pleased with. Charlie has subscribed to Grace, loving her body work, though Nurse Villanueva doesn't think that Grace's work is worth it. All the same, she and Charlie question Shaun about his feelings if Steve was a sex worker or cutting quartz countertops when Shaun sees that he needs to talk to Rich.

Park is up late with Eden, having fed her while working out Sal's surgery. While Park states that there's no way he can do it without killing Sal, Morgan states that she knows Park can do it. Shaun soon informs Rich that he can go home, but brings Grace who states about how unlikely it is that another donor match will be found for him. She also states that her job does no harm and offers him a place where he isn't living with her, but he feels that she's hurting him and refuses. Shaun then refers to Steve and how even if he soon had a career Shaun wouldn't really approve of, it would be better than him being a truly cruel person which Grace isn't.

Park calls out how much of a gambler Sal is and states that he'll only do the surgery if Sal spends the time he has left wisely. Sal attempts to claim that he will get help, but he doesn't see why this is Park's business. Park questions why he should believe Sal, who states that he'll die if Park doesn't. Park agrees and Sal is prepped for surgery. Charlie is amazed at how Shaun talked Rich around and states that neurotypicals are weird, while Shaun sees that he's showing empathy by allowing Charlie in the OR. Charlie is ecstatic about being in the OR, but becomes over-talkative and touches her earring which isn't a sterilized object and Shaun gets frustrated as she's contaminated the OR and tells her to leave.

Morgan comes to visit Lea at her, Shaun and Steve's apartment as Lea's working to try and breastfeed Steve. Lea is considering skipping the party for Eden as Shaun is already not going, though Morgan doesn't know the reason and wants to help her while stating that she isn't a failure for being unable to breastfeed Steve. Morgan actually considers herself something of a failure, as Park is the one who wakes up at night to help Eden when she cries. Morgan even once slept through Eden doing so while Park was on one of his overnight shifts. Lea calls Morgan a good mother, having adopted Eden who has had medical conditions and is even throwing a party for her.

Lim and Glassman are still fighting over the workload as he tries to call a truce and promises to deal with his side of it, only to find that she's thrown him an 80th birthday party in his office. While Dom is preparing for the surgery on Sal, he fears about possibly joining Charlie about getting kicked out of the OR after she tells him about it; he's still afraid of the sight of blood despite his attempts, to which she slaps him to get his blood flowing and preventing him from fainting. He soon joins the surgery as Morgan looks on above, watching it with confidence in Park. They all appear to do well and Park is carrying out the final step that could lead to Sal's paralysis if Park goes wrong, but it works and Sal is fine. However, it all causes Dom to run off and throw up.

Rich's surgery is a success all the same and he is fine. Grace has found a place for him, but he asks that he stay with her which she accepts. Charlie is working on her scut work and has read the sterile techniques manual Shaun told her to after her incident in the OR. She offers to email what she learnt to him, trying to reorganize the stock room for efficiency. She thinks she's had a good day, though Shaun sees that it wasn't due to the mistakes Charlie made. Charlie states that her anatomy professor told her that making mistakes is how people learn, which Shaun can't agree with and he sees that she redid the stockroom from how he sees it was best.

Park finds Sal recovering and reconnecting with his family, but he's still gambling which is only to pay off his debts and then promises he'll quit. Charlie is at one of the exits to the hospital when Dom finds her depressed; she really idolizes Shaun, yet she can't impress him. However, Dom offers some comfort with their similar love of Taylor Swift. At Eden's party, Morgan is able to help Lea concerning Steve while Jordan, Jared and Asher recall their own first med school rotations. Shaun and Glassman soon see each other and they're able to make amends for their fight, Glassman even apologizes for not meeting Steve when he was born and hoping for some family time together.

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
Chuku Modu as Dr. Jared Kalu
Richard Schiff as Dr. Aaron Glassman

Kayla Cromer as Charlotte Lukaitis
Wavyy Jonez as Dominick Hubank
Peter Jacobson as Sal Zacharia
Ian Tracey as Rich Shelford
Lucy Loken as Grace Shelford
Elfina Luk as Nurse Dalisay Villanueva
Giacomo Baessato as Jerome Martel
April Cameron as Nurse Hawks

Camille Atebe as Dr. Sasha Hyland

Kayla Deorksen as EMT

Will E. McDonald as Delivery Man

Trivia[]

Shaun and Lea's son, Steve, is three weeks old.
- This also means that a week has passed since the events of Baby, Baby, Baby.
Shaun and Glassman patch things up, putting an end to their conflict that began in A Beautiful Day. He also properly apologizes to Steve for not attending his birth.
Actor Ian Tracey has played a recurring role on Bates Motel, in which Freddie Highmore (Shaun Murphy) portrayed Norman Bates.
Actor Peter Jacobson has played a main role on House M.D., which was also created by David Shore.
The video of Shaun saving Adam at the airport in Burnt Food is brought up.