‘The Good Doctor’ Season 3 Finale ‘I Love You’ Recap: Love And Loss

Given how The Good Doctor left us last week, I thought I’d be a little more prepared for this finale. But, I was a little too optimistic. Nothing really prepares you for the kind of heartbreak this finale served. The Good Doctor promised that not everyone makes it out alive. And they followed through. Tonight, we’re saying goodbye to a resident who has been with us since the beginning. And he might not be the only one as another plans on leaving town. As painful as those moments were, however, we still have a bit of sunshine in the end. Shaun finally finally ends up with Lea! But, it’s, of course, a long way there. So, without further ado, let’s get into the season 3 finale of The Good Doctor. 

Too Late

This week’s finale picks right off where part 1 left us last week. Claire (Antonia Thomas) gets Melendez (Nicholas Gonzalez) transported back to St. Bonaventure. After a CT scan, she finds nothing wrong with his head. That’s because the problem lies in his abdomen. At first, they thought they could repair the problem without a hitch. But, it turns out, his injuries were a lot more complicated than they anticipated. And it has already done irreversible damages to his body.  The most heartbreaking part is they couldn’t do anything about it. But, for a while, they still stuck out hope.

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As the hours passed, Melendez’s condition gets worse. Lim desperately tries to find a solution. But, Glassman (Richard Schiff) soon makes her realize that it’s too late. As he tells her, “It’s time to stop being a doctor…be a friend.”

Later, Lim apologizes to Melendez. And he comforts her. They both reminisce about the future they could’ve had together. But, in the end, they didn’t need words to tell each other how they felt. As tears drop from Lim’s eyes, Melendez takes her hand in his.

The next one to say goodbye to Melendez is Glassman. Unsure of what to say, Glassman talks about one of their patients in the past and how Melendez caught the right diagnosis in time to save her life. With that, Glassman tells Melendez that he was the best he ever worked with. Then, Claire walks in. At that, Glassman shakes Melendez’s hand one last time and leaves.

Goodbye

Not knowing how to breach what they want to say to each other, Claire and Melendez have a couple of laughs over their bowling skills and tattoos. Then, after all the short-lived laughter, Claire blurts out, “I love you.” Without hesitation, Melendez says it back. Then, Claire rests her head on his chest and stays with him until he quietly passes.

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As the sun shines signaling a new day, Claire emerges from the room. And she breaks down in Lim’s arms both women comforting each other. As they slowly walk away, Lim tells Claire they should have a drink sometime. Claire agrees.

Melendez has been with us since day one of The Good Doctor. And he has grown to be a much-beloved character in the series. So, this comes as a heartbreaking and shocking goodbye. It would’ve been nice to see what lay in store for him even with his relationship with Claire. And it would’ve been nice to see him continue guiding the other residents. But, at the same time, it feels ok to part with his character now rather than see it stagnate and maybe repeat the same story over again. Nevertheless, this was a hard goodbye to watch. And he will be sorely missed on The Good Doctor. 

No Other Way

Earlier on, back at the brewery, Lim and Park (Will Yun Lee) were still working on Casey (Bentley Green). But, no matter which way they operate, they couldn’t do anything more to help Casey. Realizing this, Park tells Lim to go back to the hospital while he stays with Casey.

When Casey wakes up, Park finally tells him the truth. And later on, they finally get a hold of Casey’s dad on the radio. Casey immediately starts apologizing to his dad, sobbing and choking out the words. Unfortunately, the signal wasn’t clear and his dad couldn’t hear a single word he was saying.

When Park comforts Casey, the boy reveals why he’s apologizing to his dad. “I killed my mother,” he tells Park. But, it’s not as literal as it seems. Casey’s mother was an addict. When Casey discovered bottles of pills in her purse, he didn’t say anything to anyone. Then, three weeks later, his mother overdosed. Since then, Casey has been blaming himself. He thinks he could’ve gotten her help if he just told someone.

A Father’s Love

As the hours pass, Casey starts feeling colder and colder. His father couldn’t make it in time because his plain was caught in a storm. But, all Casey could do is ask for his dad. The last time he regains consciousness, he mistakes Park for his dad. And Park doesn’t correct him.

“I’m here,” Park tells him and he listens to Casey’s apology. Instead of accepting the kid’s apology though, Park takes the blame off the kid’s chest. “I knew too,” he tells Casey. “I did what I thought I could. Sometimes, you can help them. Sometimes, there’s just nothing you can do…It was never your fault.”

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As Casey starts fading away, he tells Park “I love you, dad.” And Park doesn’t hesitate to say it back. With that, Casey smiles one last time and takes his last breath. As tears stream from Park’s eyes, he bends and kisses Casey on the forehead. Later on, Park calls Mia and tells her he’ll be moving back home. When he hears Kellan’s voice, he breaks down.

In addition to Melendez, this was one of the more heartbreaking plots of The Good Doctor finale. And it would be more painful if Park does say goodbye. In an interview though, David Shore said they’re not losing Will Yun Lee anytime soon. If that’s the case, it will be really interesting to see how Park will handle his commitments to work and to his personal life.

Unending Disaster

Meanwhile, down in Shaun and Vera’s (Marin Ireland) corner, the water is filling up fast. And the rescuers don’t seem to be closer to getting to them anytime soon. So, Shaun takes matters into his own hands and starts sawing through the rebar stuck in Vera’s leg with a surgical saw. To distract her, Shaun gets Vera talking more about relationships. At one point, Shaun mentions his try and try again after failure logic. But, Vera doesn’t agree with it. She thinks it’ll just trap people and keep them from other victories. And this gets Shaun thinking.

Unfortunately, the saw does no good. So, Shaun changes tactics and tries to block the water from the pipes by tying a cloth around the crack. However, this just causes the entire pipe to burst and break. Lea (Paige Spara) begs him to get out of there. And Vera tells him to go as well. But, Shaun wouldn’t give up and turns to his last option: to amputate Vera’s leg.

Shaun and Lea, Finally

Vera agrees to the procedure only under one condition. If she dies, Shaun has to move on from Lea. After promising, he begins the procedure. Meanwhile, Lea counts down the seconds through the radio amidst Vera’s screams.

Vera weaves in and out of consciousness through the whole thing. At one point, she’s completely submerged underwater and the radio goes dark. But, Shaun manages to successfully amputate her in time and bring her up where the rescuers are.

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Outside, Lea heads straight towards Shaun and kisses him. But, Shaun isn’t sure what exactly kind of kiss it was. With relief and joy, Lea explains that it was an “I’m such a stupid idiot for not seeing it but I love you with all my heart” kiss. Then, she proceeds to kiss him again.

At least, there’s one happy ending to all this. Who knew it would take a catastrophe to get these two finally together? Now, we’ll have to wait and see how they’ll explore their new relationship.

Hopeless

Elsewhere on this finale of The Good Doctor, Morgan (Fiona Gubelmann) is dealing with the consequences of her decision. After stabilizing her patient, Andrews takes over for closing and orders her to go back to her room. Later on, when he checks on her, Andrews reveals that he thought Morgan had complete disrespect for her superiors, her patients, and colleagues for hiding her condition. He thought she only cared about the advancement of her career. But, seeing what she did, it made him realize he was wrong. It proved to Andrews that saving lives is Morgan’s first priority. Unfortunately, that doesn’t change the fact that Morgan may have just given up her whole career as a surgeon.

‘The Good Doctor’ Season 3 Finale Overall Verdict

That was a special season indeed. And it’s hard to say goodbye to it especially with this bittersweet finale. Melendez’s death was really a heavy shock. It would be hard to get used to the new seasons of The Good Doctor without him. But, at the same time, saying goodbye to this season is also a relief and cause for excitement. At one point, the storylines were near exhaustion. And some subplots dragged on longer than others. If the season dragged on any longer, I’m afraid this finale would be all for nothing.

This finale served somewhat like a reset to The Good Doctor. It’s not just because of Melendez but, because of all the different circumstances everybody is in itself. Shaun is with Lea now. Park plans on moving. Claire has to deal with another loss. And Morgan seems to have to take another specialization. What’s more, is that all four of them are leveling up. And with that comes their juniors. With all that, it seems we have a lot to look forward to next season. And I think it’s going to be a lot more exciting than what we’ve seen so far. Hopefully, the fourth season of The Good Doctor can trump its predecessors. That would be something to see indeed.