'The Good Doctor' Season 1, Episode 17 'Smile' Recap: Restoring Emotions [SPOILERS]

We’re a week away from the season finale of ABC’s “The Good Doctor,” and tonight’s 17th episode, “Smile” already has us feeling separation anxiety this early. The show gave us loads of emotion and various medical predicaments that made us see how Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) and the rest of the resident surgeons of St. Bonaventure work well together under different circumstances. Tonight, Shaun, Dr. Marcus Andrews (Hill Harper), Dr. Alex Park (Will Yun Lee) deal with a surgery that could restore young Gretchen’s (Olivia Steele Falconer) ability to smile. On the other hand, Dr. Claire Browne (Antonia Thomas) and Dr. Morgan Reznick (Fiona Gubelmann) are faced with a tricky situation—their patient, Lucy, is lying about her real identity.

The science of a smile

“Smile” opens with Shaun ready for the day. As soon as he steps out of his apartment, Shaun sees a bottle of milk left by his friend Kenny (Chris D’Elia), along with a thank you note “for being there” for Kenny. In the hospital, Dr. Andrews, Shaun, and Alex meet with Gretchen and her dad Russ (Patrick Sabongui) to discuss Gretchen’s elective surgery to restore her ability to express emotions with her face. There’s a chance for her to regain them, but Shaun asks her if she’s willing to take the risk of dying just to get her smile back—something Andrews and Alex didn’t want to mention to Gretchen directly.

The doctors then take Russ outside the office for a more genuine discussion and to apologize for Shaun’s lack of prudence. However, Russ understands the cost of the surgery and wants to bring back Gretchen to the world. Later, As Shaun examines Gretchen, she shares about how people made fun of her because of Gretchen’s condition of being blank-faced. It’s a bit similar to how Shaun was treated as a kid, so they share a subtle bond. Shaun then tells Gretchen about the possible side effects of the surgery, with stroke as an emphasis.
Andrews then confronts Shaun about Gretchen’s latest decision to cancel her surgery. Andrews believes Shaun was able to influence her to back out of the operation, and he teaches Shaun about the importance of a smile (and does one while he’s at it), to which Shaun dismisses as fake. Andrews then has them talk Gretchen back to undergoing the procedure. That’s when they find out about Gretchen’s real reason for backing out—she’s afraid her father won’t be able to pay for the surgery because the insurance company won’t cover it. Furious, Andrews obtains Russ’ insurance information and confronts the president of the insurance company himself. With Andrew’s strong attitude, he strongarms the president agree in covering a huge percentage of Gretchen’s surgery. Andrews then brings the news to Russ and Gretchen, who finally agrees to have the operation.
Later, Gretchen’s operation turns out a success, and it’s only a matter of time before she wakes up from being under the anesthesia. However, once Shaun checks up on her, he finds that Gretchen should’ve been woken up hours ago, leading them all to conclude that Gretchen is now brain dead. But Alex thinks otherwise. Upon checking Gretchen’s anesthesia catalog on the computer and assumes that Gretchen’s body is having a hard time trying to break down the anesthesia that they gave her. It’s a possibility, but it’s something that Andrews has never encountered in his many years as a surgeon. Alex, on the other hand, believes that if Gretchen has it, she’s going to wake up sooner than they think.

That night, Alex and Shaun try testing Gretchen’s corneal reflex to see if she will respond. True enough, her eyes twitch, meaning Gretchen isn’t brain dead after all. Out of sheer joy, Russ hugs Alex and then Shaun, but knowing how Shaun doesn’t like hugs, gives him a handshake instead. As soon as Gretchen wakes up, Shaun, Alex, and Andrews try testing out her smile by attaching neurostimulators to her head. When she finally smiles, everyone in Gretchen’s room catches it, and Shaun finally says that all the smiles are genuine.

A fake identification

Dr. Neil Melendez (Nicholas Gonzalez), Claire, and Morgan treat Lucy, a woman with an unknown infection on her belly. They then find out that she hasn’t been taking her antibiotics. Lucy admits that it was stupid of her to forget about it, to which Morgan agrees sarcastically. Claire and Morgan get her the prescriptions, but when they return to her bed, Lucy is gone.
Claire then calls Lucy’s contact number to inform her about the prescriptions. When Morgan and Claire meet her in the emergency room, a different woman (rather, the real Lucy), comes forward. Upon interrogating her, the woman is indeed the real Lucy, and they inform her about possible identity theft. They then find out that Lucy’s pharmacy refused to refill her prescription for her postherpetic neuralgia. That’s when Morgan figured out that the pharmacy must have thought that Lucy was overfilling her opiates because someone else has used them up already. It’s a dilemma for them because according to the hospital’s records, they’re already treating a person named Lucy.
Morgan then gives Lucy the refill, but under the name “Jane Doe.” It’s the only way they can make to treat Lucy’s condition. Lucy is disappointed but ultimately accepts it because everyone else around her treats her like she’s not capable of doing anything anymore. As Lucy leaves, Claire and Morgan are notified of fake Lucy’s arrival in the emergency room. There, they see fake Lucy paler than she was a while ago and goes into septic shock. Claire calls for Dr. Melendez.

Claire and Morgan bring the identity issue to Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff), who then decides to play along with fake Lucy. But as soon as she stabilizes, the hospital is pressing charges against her. When fake Lucy stabilizes, Claire asks about her real contacts. Fake Lucy tells her about her son in college, who will be so ashamed to find out that his mom was using someone else’s identity so that she can admit herself to the hospital. Fake Lucy also tells Claire that she never got the medication from the pharmacy, which is odd, given how the real Lucy wasn’t able to refill her prescription too. So Claire checks out the real Lucy’s records with Morgan and finds out that she’s lying about her condition, meaning she’s addicted to the drugs.
Later, fake Lucy’s organs are failing. There are no medications to help her because she couldn’t afford it. And no matter what the doctors do, it would have to be paid out of fake Lucy’s own pocket. That night, Claire asks Lucy about her real name one last time, as she’s running out of time. Fake Lucy accepts her fate and writes her name down—Beatrice. Meanwhile, Morgan calls back the real Lucy to the hospital to tell her about her addiction and offers help. Later, Claire talks to Morgan about their upbringing, and how it affects Morgan’s harsh attitude. Then, Beatrice’s organs fail for the last time. Morgan tries to call in some help, but Claire prevents her, saying nothing could be saved. They clock in the time of death, and Morgan leaves to inform her son. As Morgan walks away, she cries. This is a painful way to lose a mother.

Shaun makes a way

Elsewhere in the episode, we see Shaun helping out his friends to find their new romantic partners. Dr. Jared Kalu (Chuku Modu) finds his heart with his former burn patient, Celez (Kandyse McClure), AKA the “tilapia skin” girl. Their connection is obvious, but there’s only one thing keeping Jared from getting with Celez—a doctor cannot date his patient. So Jared follows Shaun’s advice of taking sick leave. He also has Shaun replace him as Celez’s doctor so Jared can date her.

Meanwhile, Shaun notices that Debbi (Sheila Kelley) is giving subtle hints of flirting with Dr. Glassman. Shaun picks this up and tells Glassman that giving him an extra dollar for his change is a sign of flirting, to which Glassman dismisses as a bad judgment in math. However, later, as Shaun tries to test how smiles affect people, he forces Glassman to follow him to Debbi and introduces them to each other. It’s an awkward situation, one that worsens when Shaun leaves them to get to know each other. At first, it doesn’t work out well when they have an awkward conversation about their supposed Jewish roots. But when a car collides with a vintage model vehicle outside the hospital, Debbi’s interest is spiked, and Glassman finds out one thing they have in common—a passion for old cars.
That night, Glassman and Debbi go on a date. They’re both having a good time until Glassman forgets what the bill is called when he asked for the waitress to give it to them. At first, Glassman and Debbi thought it was only a slight memory lapse, but Glassman panics when he keeps calling the bill a “doorstopper.” Debbi calls for an ambulance and Glassman is horrified at the fact that he might be on the brink of Alzheimer’s.

“Smile” ends with Shaun coming home from work and bringing pizza to Kenny’s place. However, Kenny’s true colors begin to show when he refuses to let Shaun in his apartment because he has “normal” guys hanging out with him. Kenny even “borrowed” Shaun’s big TV so they could watch the game. It’s obvious that Kenny is only taking advantage of Shaun’s disability, and I sure do hope that he cuts Kenny off of his life before anything like this happens again.

‘The Good Doctor: Smile’ Overall Verdict

“Smile” is an episode of “The Good Doctor” that finally raises the stakes to come in next week’s finale. The reveal about Glassman possibly suffering from the early onset of Alzheimer’s is a surprising one, and it could lead us to believe that he might not be around for long. Dr. Andrews might take his place as the president of St. Bonaventure Hospital. On the other hand, it’s great to see Shaun significantly changing his mindset about certain things, especially his noble desire to help people out even though he doesn’t know it. As for that dick Kenny, karma will soon come, and I hope Shaun will be able to bring it to Kenny’s face straight up.
“The Good Doctor” ends with the Season 1 finale next Tuesday, March 27th, with “More” at 10/9c on ABC.