"The Family" is the eleventh episode of Season 5 of The Good Doctor. It is the eighty-seventh episode overall, and aired on March 21, 2022.
Synopsis[]
Dr. Shaun Murphy makes a personal connection with a precocious young patient which threatens his objectivity. Meanwhile, while volunteering at a long-term care facility, Dr. Morgan Reznick realizes she could help Dr. Aaron Glassman’s clinic by offering telemedicine services for nursing homes and care facilities.
Plot[]
It’s just after Salen was forced by Andrews into giving up control of the hospital. Everyone is trying to recover, while Shaun and Lea have decided to put their wedding on hold for a while and live in the moment (to Jordan and Asher’s surprise). Andrews soon makes an announcement as the new president of the hospital about everything that they’ve gone through, but claims to still see themselves as wanting to help people and reinstates Lim to her position as Chief of Surgery. Unfortunately, the hospital lost it’s clinic contract with Nira after Morgan confessed about what she did to her and Andrews can’t see any point in keeping the clinic open. When Glassman attempts to protest, Andrews also states that everything will be taken over by Bay Medical Care and he needs Glassman in surgery.
Soon enough, the staff get message alerts on their phones; a family of three (parents Bryan and Elaine Liu and their daughter Isla) are brought to the hospital following a car crash. Although Isla doesn’t appear to be in a condition as bad as her parents, Shaun realizes that a broken rib has punctured her lung while Elaine and Bryan need to be taken to surgery. Bryan’s leg has to be amputated while Park is trying to restore blood flow into his arm, which leads to Andrews being called in. Meanwhile, Glassman is working with Asher on Elaine when they realise that she’s bleeding in her heart. A social worker is called in on the off-chance that Isla loses her parents, but Isla appears to know that the social worker won’t tell her the truth for fear of hurting her and sends her away while Shaun (whom Isla asks to be with her) does (though Isla is left upset).
Shaun and Jordan are trying to work through discharging a patient when Jordan realizes that Isla likes Shaun and wants to spend time with him, though he doesn’t want anything personal with patients. Meanwhile, Andrews and Lim are working together on Bryan when Andrews comments that Lim doesn’t appear happy about being given her old position back, to which she states that Andrews was all too happy to have it when Salen was in charge. He also states an intent to save Bryan’s arm while refusing to listen to Lim’s warnings to do otherwise as she sees that he will be more likely to die if Andrews does so, but is called away by Asher to help with Elaine.
Morgan is practicing mindfulness to help her let go, but is still plagued by visions of her mistakes with Nira. Jordan soon informs Shaun that Isla’s hemoglobin has gone down and they need to get her into the MRI to help with her bleeding. Shaun notes that Isla has a gum wrapper on her finger, a “placeholder” when her father couldn’t get her a sapphire (her birthstone). Since having it while in the MRI will destroy it and burn her finger, Shaun offers to have it for a while and give it back to her. Unfortunately, Lim isn’t on any better terms with Glassman while helping him with Elaine as she thinks he’s not being a good leader, especially after he abandoned the hospital when Salen took over and only came back for Shaun (feeling that he matters more to Glassman than the rest of them).
Shaun and Jordan find that Isla’s bleeding has stopped, but it could start again if something’s not done. Shaun attempts to think about what to do, but can’t think of anything and needs to observe her which means that she will be spending time with him. She soon meets Lea, whom Isla questions about how she is Shaun’s fiancé since Lea still doesn’t have a ring after she proposed to Shaun or even any plans about their wedding. While Lim is still working on Elaine, Andrews reveals that he went against her orders to amputate Bryan’s arm and instead saved it. He also needs her help as a neurosurgeon, but Lim fears that more surgery could lead to him bleeding out again and accuses him of how his arrogance could possibly kill Bryan. Andrews then accuses her of not being grateful to him for stopping Salen, to which she questions why she should since he unconditionally followed Salen, even after her motives were clear, and did what he did so that he could be president.
Park finds Morgan going through the Lost and Found and offers for her to sit in on a trauma case that could possibly lead to her becoming a hospital president when she leaves after finding a chess board. Shaun then asks for Park’s advice on how to help Isla while questioning his thoughts about his and Lea’s relationship, to which Park states that a wedding’s just a symbol, he and Lea already commit to each other everyday and to try an endovascular embolization. Glassman and Andrews are still working on Elaine when Andrews states his regret about closing the clinic, but Glassman also sees that Andrews is only thinking about himself again and becoming president. While Shaun is carrying out the embolization on Isla, he tells her about what Park said to which Isla tells him about how her mother taught her the importance of symbols. When Shaun tells her that he needs to inject the anaesthetic into her, she states her fear of needles and so he offers for her to hold his hand while telling her about Lea’s pregnancy (until they lost the baby). While Isla thinks Shaun’s a good doctor, Jordan states that they’re still operating on Elaine but Bryan’s currently in recovery (as well as how his leg had to be amputated) and offers for her to visit him, but Isla refuses.
Elaine has fluid in her brain, but her heart might not be able to take the strain when Lim reveals that Elaine could lose her airway and they need Andrews’ help. Morgan soon introduces Park to Donald Adler, her chess partner at an old people’s home she’s been volunteering at and who’s been dealing with chest pain. While Park takes note of this, Shaun can’t help but think that he and Lea should plan their wedding date but Lea attempts to talk him down. Jordan then states that Isla isn’t talking to anyone and that she will only talk to Shaun, which he agrees to. Meanwhile, Glassman, Lim and Andrews are trying to work out how to help Elaine but still arguing when Asher states that Elaine’s in heart failure.
Isla confesses to Shaun that she believes that she caused the accident and her father will hate her for it; he was driving while she got angry because he missed her choir concert. When he tried to get her to stop, he accidentally took his eyes off the road and crashed. Shaun then tells her about when he lost Steve who broke his neck when he fell and Shaun can’t help but blame himself over it (even though Steve thought to hide on the train they were playing on). Whether or not Isla caused the accident (she didn’t), he doesn’t see why her parents shouldn’t still love her but admits that he can’t speak from personal experience. After Isla states her sympathy of what Shaun has had to deal with, she agrees to see her father when she starts bleeding in her chest.
Jordan knows they need to perform surgery on Isla, but Shaun is afraid of her dying if they do but agrees because she still will if nothing is done. While Park and Morgan are working on Donald, Park realizes that Morgan is trying to make up for what she did to Nira and attempts to reassure her that she isn’t too bad (while retracting his earlier comment concerning it). He then tells her to not change everything about herself as he would miss her, while saying that the world needs people of her personality. While Lim, Andrews and Glassman are again working on Elaine, Andrews admits that he had remorse about Salen killing the baby, but she made him think that she felt the same way and wanted to prevent something like that happening again. He also states that the hospital is his home, the staff are his family and wishes to simply help Elaine, making amends.
While Isla’s surgery soon starts, Elaine begins suffering complications which Lim, Andrews and Glassman attempt to deal with. Jordan soon interrupts because Shaun needs one of them to help with Isla, to which Andrews tells her that he’ll be there but to get Shaun to try and think of something himself. Although he still fears about killing Isla, Jordan encourages him and he is able to get her blood pressure down while Andrews takes over. Isla soon recovers with both her parents by her side, knowing that they’ll be OK. After Shaun returns Isla’s gum wrapper, she reaches out for a hug which he agrees to. He also accepts that it’s alright to be close with patients, though he doesn’t wish to do it again. Morgan soon approaches Andrews about giving medication to old people’s homes, thus being able to keep the clinic open and tries to get him to make Glassman the head of it again. Shaun then re-proposes to Lea that night with a ring he made himself, which she accepts.
Cast[]
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Trivia[]
- Shaun tells Isla that Steve broke his neck in the fall which is why he had died. This marks the first time it was explained, while previously suggested that he suffered a fatal head injury.
- References to the episodes Dr. Ted, Vamos, One Heart, Expired and Cheat Day are made.
- Lea is shown holding a Baby Groot plushie from the 2017 film, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
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