Xin

"Xin"

Episode Information

Season 2

Episode 13

Overall 31

Airdate:

January 28, 2019^[1]^[2]

Viewers:

6.58^[3] million

Writer:

Brian Shin^[2]

Director:

David Straiton^[2]

Episode Chronology

Preceded by:	Followed by:
"Aftermath"	"Faces"

"Xin"^[1]^[2] is the thirteenth episode of Season 2 of The Good Doctor. It is the thirty-first episode overall, and aired on January 28, 2019.

Synopsis[]

Dr. Shaun Murphy, Dr. Morgan Reznick and Dr. Audrey Lim treat a woman with autism and a delicate brain condition while navigating the complicated relationship she has with her roommate, who is also on the spectrum. Meanwhile, Lea and Shaun are still figuring out their friendship and roommate status.^[2]

Plot[]

Lea's got her new boyfriend, Jake, staying with her and Shaun. Shaun appears to like him, though Lea still tries to check if Shaun is OK is he goes to drive Dr. Glassman to his chemo appointment. Although Glassman is shown throwing up a bit, he keeps claiming that he's fine while Shaun tries to help him. After Dr. Park gets a phone call from Mia, Claire states that she's pleased for him trying to open up.

A 70-year-old woman, Sunny Lee, is soon rushed in after having collapsed in her front yard. She doesn't appear to have a heartbeat which is a cause for concern, only for Neil to take a closer look and hears mechanical noises whirring inside of her; she has a mechanical heart. Dr. Lim soon introduces Shaun and Morgan to their patient, 34-year-old Lana Moore who has a grade 2 arteriovenous malformation and autism. Morgan explains to Lana the endovascular embolization they're going to do on her, only for her roommate Javi who is with her to be revealed to be autistic as well. He soon leaves so that he can watch Judge Judy, though Morgan tries to get him to stay so that Lana has someone with her.

Claire, Park and Neil are trying to figure out how to help Sunny as her mechanical heart is rare when her daughter Teresa comes in concerned. She also provides contact information for Dr. Lei Wei in Beijing, who inserted it. While Neil goes to try and help, he sees Lim and tries to continue their secret romance (to no success). While Dr. Andrews is revealed to be trying to find a Chief of Surgery, he isn't looking to hire either Neil or Lim for it concerning the ongoing investigation about their actions during the Quarantine.

Morgan considers how much that Lana and Javi seem to act like a couple, all the while realizing that Shaun likes Lea and might be jealous of Jake. Meanwhile, Lana is revealed to have microbleeds and is at risk of rupturing. Sunny's surgeon is soon paged and will call in an hour, though they might not have that long. Lim tries to express this, but the surgeon is in surgery when a young woman comes to them; Sunny's other daughter, Grace, asks about her mother's condition while having no knowledge of Teresa at all.

It turns out that Teresa is Sunny's surrogate daughter, having met at a senior centre ten years ago. They've been mistaken as an actual mother and daughter as they're really close, which Grace becomes jealous of because she and Sunny haven't had a good relationship as tensions rise between Grace and Teresa. Neil reports that Sunny is required to be sent back to Beijing to be treated and orders Park to prepare her to be transported.

Lana's microbleeds make the endovascular embolization impossible since it could kill her or leave her with brain damage, leaving them with no other option but to open her up and cut out her AVM. When Lana doesn't respond, Shaun tries to connect as a fellow autistic when Javi comes in with dinner. While Morgan explains that Lana can't eat, Lana agrees to the surgery. Meanwhile, Shaun tries to take care of Glassman but he is ill-equipped in doing so. Morgan attempts to talk to Lana who's call light is on, while offering to get Javi when Lana confesses to being nervous about the surgery. Morgan attempts to assure her about Lim, but Lana thinks that having sex with Javi would help.

Grace sees Teresa and Sunny who is loving to Teresa, only for her looks to change when Grace comes in. While Sunny tells Grace that she looks pretty, she also states that Teresa has taken good care of her. Grace soon takes offense when Sunny claims that Grace apparently didn't want anything to do with her and even accuses Grace of throwing her life away. Grace states that she just wanted to live her life which Sunny never understood unlike Grace's father (to Sunny's anger). Unfortunately, this puts pressure on Sunny's mechanical heart and her blood pressure starts dropping.

Lea and Jake are at Shaun and Lea's apartment, having sex but Shaun hopes to spend time with them as friends. Lea tells Shaun that sometimes, it's just herself and Jake for several times, while asking Shaun to give them a minute before together watching a movie Shaun brought. Lim tries to advise against the sex as it would raise Lana's blood pressure and rupture the AVM. Morgan still sees that Lana and Javi like each other, though the two don't see it as that as Lim tells Lana to rest before her surgery.

Sunny is on life support and cannot be flown to China, though Neil is trying to work out a way to help her. Teresa blames Sunny's state on Grace, who angrily states that Sunny was not a good mother to her when Teresa tries to claim that she is and storms off. Surgery is soon done on Lana and they try to remove the AVM, all the while Lim and Morgan still make comments about what Lana and Javi have. Unfortunately, they are at risk of costing Lana her voice when they can't get the AVM. Shaun suggests that they operate on her while she's conscious so that they can track her vocal function. When Morgan questions how since she can barely talk to them, they decide to ask Javi.

Grace is still upset at how Sunny wasn't a good mother to her but is to Teresa, which Park goes to speak to her about when Sunny is revealed to not be responding to the ECMO. Neil states that Sunny's surgeon in China thinks her heart is failing as a blade in the impeller has broken and has suggested that it be welded back together, but they don't have the technology. Claire suggests that they 3-D print a new impeller which can work until the replacement from China comes. Shaun and Morgan soon address the situation to Javi and Morgan tries to convince him to help Lana, saying that she makes his life better while Shaun looks on. However, Javi still just sees that he and Lana are friends.

The surgery on Sunny goes ahead, but there's nothing wrong with her mechanical heart. She is found to not have valvular stenosis after her aortic valve when the mechanical heart was put in her. Claire works out that the aorta is narrowing her outflow and causing her blood pressure to drop. Park also suggests an introap-angio so that they would be able to see that, which Neil approves of. Shaun still tries to help Glassman, but his difficulty at trying to do so has led to Glassman having an IV drip that has protein. He also isn't truthful with Shaun so he won't worry and be over-protective, though Shaun does still keep worrying and gets stressed out over not being able to help Glassman.

Lea tells Shaun that he can't do anything and just accept that he's got to stop trying to help, as Glassman told him to. Shaun then thanks Lea, seeing that she's made his life better (as Morgan said about Javi and Lana) while she states that he's done the same with her. Sunny's surgery continues and Claire is proven right, while Shaun tries to talk to Lana to help her through the surgery. However, she's barely responding until Javi comes in and he is able to help. Park also informs Teresa and Grace that Sunny's surgery was successful and they can see her, while convincing Grace that it appears that Sunny has changed from the mother she knew to the one Teresa has.

Park tells Sunny that they have only been temporarily helped her, but she will be alright once she's taken to China. Grace also comes to see her and makes amends, while Sunny confesses to secretly having been proud of her. Lana soon recovers with Javi by her side, as they admit their love for each other. Shaun then leaves and returns home, only to realize something; he goes to see Glassman, deciding to be his friend and be there for him which Glassman appreciates.

Cast[]

Starring[]

Guest Starring[]

Vered Blonstein as Lana Moore
Alex Plank as Javier Maldonado
Emily Kuroda as Sunny Lee
Sheena Chou as Teresa Moon
Vedette Lim as Grace Lee

Trivia[]

It is revealed in this episode that Lim speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese.
Javi mentions that he likes to be home to watch Judge Judy at noon. Judge Judy is a syndicated program, meaning its time slot varies depending on the city. At the time this episode originally aired, Judge Judy did in fact air at 12:00 PM (and 12:30) in the San Francisco Bay Area market (which includes San Jose) on local station KBCW.
Xin is the Chinese word for "heart".
It's been three days since Aftermath.