The Good Boy

"The Good Boy"

Episode Information

Season 6

Episode 11

Overall 105

Airdate:

January 30, 2023

Viewers:

3.43 million

Writer:

Melaina Wright & Peter Blake

Director:

Gary Hawes

Episode Chronology

Preceded by:	Followed by:
"Quiet and Loud"	"365 Degrees"

"The Good Boy" is the eleventh episode of Season 6 of The Good Doctor. It is the hundred-and-fifth episode overall, and aired on January 30, 2023.

Synopsis[]

On the way to their babymoon, Lea and Shaun get a quick lesson in parenting when they rush to aid an injured dog. Meanwhile, Dr. Danica Powell secretly performs an operation on a friend that could jeopardize her career.

Plot[]

Shaun and Lea are on their babymoon and Shaun is trying to keep them on a schedule, though Lea complains that it is not helping her relax. However, their plans change when they see a dog get hit by a hit-and-run driver and crawl away in pain. Meanwhile, the hospital has a man come in with multiple wood and metal impalements in him after a shovel got caught in a shredder while he and his son who works with him were trimming trees. Morgan recognizes the man as Lalo, one of her patients and she, Park and Jordan attempt to work on him when he suddenly regains consciousness and pulls out an impalement which causes him to bleed out and he is taken to the OR. Shaun and Lea are also able track the dog down while Shaun works to try and heal it before rushing it to the vet. Elsewhere, Danni gets home from the night shift and finds Vince, an old friend from the Navy bleeding at her doorstep.

Danni welcomes Vince in but he refuses to go to the hospital because he got shot at a party, which a gang member was at and so is a violation of his parole. She tries to reason with him but he implores her to take out the bullet herself. Danni agrees to help and at the first glance of the wound, she thinks the bullet is close to the surface. She reasons she can take it out herself and asks him to wait while she grabs some stuff from the hospital. In the O.R., Morgan tells them to start removing the easier shards and Jordan, Park and Andrews strategize and move ahead with a plan. At the hospital, Lim sees Danni and invites her for dinner the next day with Clay. Asher spots her and finds it weird she is back at the hospital after just completing her shift, to which Danni lies that she is practicing how to remove a foreign body and needs supplies.

At the vet, Lea states that she once got a puppy, a Chocolate Labrador called Tessa, in first grade, only for Mike to return her after she urinated on his briefcase. Unfortunately, the vet states that the dog is in bad condition and can't to do the surgery without an upfront payment. Lea spontaneously agrees to pay the bill and suggests they spend the night at a motel to be there for the dog, which she names Buddy. Shaun wants to make Lea happy because it is her babymoon so he agrees. After starting the mini-surgery on Vince, Danni realizes that the bullet shattered and the rest of it is somewhere in his leg. She needs to cut deeper to find it so she calls Asher for a second opinion. He gets suspicious and asks her to tell him the truth. Concurrently, the surgery on Lalo gets complicated when he starts coding. They manage to stabilize him, but Andrews asks them to resume the surgery in the morning. Danni soon puts Asher on a video call and shows him the gunshot wound, to which he advises her to leave the bullet in and she closes the wound and sends Vince home. Asher also calls her out for lying to him and she promises never to do it again.

At the motel, Shaun and Lea are disgusted at the state of their room while also getting into a minor fight; Lea thought Shaun likes animals but he states that he's not good with dogs and other animals that make messes, only for Lea to point out that that's what their son will be. After she gets stressed out she apologizes while Shaun doesn’t think he is stressed. The next morning, Vince comes back; his wound is infected and he is at risk of developing sepsis. He asks her to take the bullet out and Danni agrees to help while calling Asher for backup. Elsewhere, the vet states that Buddy has more damage from the surgery and is at risk of complications if he has another one. The vet suggests that they euthanize him but Lea is hellbent on saving Buddy and states an intent to work on tracing Buddy’s owners. She also opts to find him a new family if she fails and asks Shaun to come up with a surgery to help him while motivating him by considering taking in Buddy if he can't.

Asher wants to help Danni, but he doesn't get her the supplies she needs because he sees that they're going too far. Instead, she attempts to get him to talk her through the surgery while offering to take the fall if things go wrong. At the hospital, Andrews, Park and Morgan also have to come up with a surgery plan for Lalo. The main concern is whether to amputate his arm or not, but they can't ask him as he is in an induced coma. Morgan suggests they ask his son Dylan what he thinks his father would choose. Unfortunately, Danni and Asher are performing surgery on Vince when Lim drops by to check on Danni who called in sick on her shift. She attempts to lie to Lim who hears Vince grunting in pain and barges in. Morgan and Park are talking to Dylan who chooses to amputate the arm, thinking that Lalo would want that, while Shaun calls Glassman and explains his dilemma. Glassman tells him to find out the issue with Lea and find out what is stressing her, while also offers to help with Buddy’s case.

Danni begs Lim to finish the surgery and help Vince. He was there for her after she lost her leg and uses her friendship with Lim to convince her to help. Lim decides to help Vince first and then deal with Danni later. After Lea gets back from putting up lost dog posters and asking the nearby dog pounds concerning Buddy, Shaun asks her about what's going on and she confesses that she is worried about parenthood; their constant disagreements (especially concerning the dog) have her fearing about their compatibility as parents, while also worried about if they're own not-so-good parents have negatively influenced them. Shaun tells her that they will find a way to work as a team and figure parenting out (including if they mess up) when he gets an idea on how to help Buddy.

While Park states that they should save Lalo's arm and gets into disputes with Morgan and Andrews over it, Shaun presents his idea on how to help Buddy while Glassman comes to help including paying for the surgery. Meanwhile, the surgery on Vince gets complicated when they can't get the bullet out and he loses consciousness. Lim calls for an ambulance and they rush Vince to the hospital. Park also tells Dylan about their intents, though Dylan is afraid since Lalo is all that he's got. While the surgery on Vince is soon done, Glassman goes to talk to Lea while Buddy is recovering. He tells her that part of parenting is always being worried, saying he had fears about Maddie's development. However, Lea should not let it consume her and it will most likely go well. Lea asks about Maddie, to which Glassman states that she was energetic, tended to be angry but all the same loved dearly. He also states that he wasn't sure if he wanted to deal with losing her, but is grateful he has Lea and Shaun. He also assures her that she and Shaun will be fine parents.

The surgery on Lalo soon continues, though he's dealing with complications which he is saved from. Meanwhile, Shaun also takes a liking to Buddy and agrees to taking him in if they can't find his owner. Lim and Andrews are also talking about dealing with Danni and Asher, both of whom Lim tries to get Andrews to put on probation and put it in their files. However, Andrews states that that's how Asher should be dealt with while Danni has a problem following rules and states a need to fire her. While Lalo is recovering, Dylan feels guilty thinking he made the wrong choice but Lalo tells him that he is proud of him for being there when he needed someone. Shaun and Lea are also making plans for keeping Buddy when a family (two parents and their son) come for him after looking for him for days while thanking Shaun and Lea. Park later apologizes to Morgan for his remarks and she tells him that her implantation failed, for which promises to be there for her as a friend. With a heavy heart, Lim is forced into firing Danni but helps Vince to avoid going back to prison. Lea also sadly says goodbye to Buddy (real name Cooper) as his family take him home while Danni sees Vince.

Cast[]

Starring[]

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
Hill Harper as Dr. Marcus Andrews
Richard Schiff as Dr. Aaron Glassman

Guest Starring[]

Savannah Welch as Dr. Danica Powell
Alejandro Akara as Dylan
Amani Atkinson as Vince
Kevin McNulty as Dr. Sinclair

Co-Starring[]

José Vargas as Lalo
Jazlyn Onaba as Lila
Sonia Ichemati as Viva
Toni Marie Nielsen as Mom
Guy Christie as Dad
David Pavlov as Boy
Kayla Deorksen as EMT #1

Trivia[]

Shaun mentions that he and Lea know from experience just how dangerous the woods are, a reference to his injury on their camping trip in Forgive or Forget.
It's been about a week since Quiet and Loud and Lea's pregnancy is now safe following her surgeries then.
It cost $22,563 to treat Buddy/Cooper.
This is the last appearance of Danica Powell after she is fired for her unauthorized surgery while Asher is put on probation.
Lea brings up her and Shaun's arguing about how to wash dishes from A Big Sign.
This is the 100th appearance of Glassman.
Shaun stated that he isn’t good with dogs, to which Lea pointed out that they have the same messy habits as their son would. Previously, the episode "Frank Einstein’s Monster" from the TV show Grizzly Tales for Gruesome Kids pointed out comparisons between dogs and children.