‘The Good Doctor’ Season 3, Episode 3 ‘Claire’ Review: First Surgery

It’s a momentous moment this week on The Good Doctor. Claire (Antonia Thomas) is performing her first surgery as lead surgeon. And as unusual it is to see her calling the shots, I can’t help but jump with her in joy after the surgery. Considering the other aspects of The Good Doctor’s present season, however, I can’t help but feel that there should’ve been something more in this episode. It seems like it went a little too plain. However, I am hoping that it would bring out a new point of character development for Claire.

In addition to that, I was disappointed to see so little of House’s Robert Sean Leonard (and his fishy friend) in another medical drama. His case in itself was quite interesting, but unfortunately, he got the short end of the stick. Anyway, there is still a cause for celebration. Plus, Lim’s (Christina Chang) got some pretty badass shots of advice for every woman out there.

This week’s episode of The Good Doctor puts Claire in the spotlight. While she’s preparing for her first surgery as lead, she faces other events that threaten to sidetrack her. Shaun (Freddie Highmore) enlists her for relationship advice. While Morgan (Fiona Gubelmann) and Park (Will Yun Lee) keep accidentally dragging her into their case with the man with the fish. Meanwhile, at home, Claire also faces her relationship issues with her mom.

The Pressure Begins

Dr. Claire’s first surgery would be a cholecystectomy on a teenage girl named Michelle (Kyla-Drew). Early on, the procedure already poses some challenges to a first-time lead surgeon. While discussing the specifics of the case, Dr. Melendez (Nicholas Gonzalez) and Dr. Lim (Christina Chang) get into a little tiff. But, Dr. Shaun speaks up for Claire and gets the procedure on the way.

David Bukach/ ABC

To prepare for the operation, Claire and Shaun head to the gallery to watch Dr. Andrews (Hill Harper) performing the same surgery. While Claire’s trying to get all the tips she can from Andrews, Shaun pesters her with questions about his ongoing dates with Dr. Carly (Jasika Nicole). As it turns out, Shaun went ahead and dived to the deep end. On their most recent date, he was already asking all the serious and deeply personal questions. When Claire tells him that it’s not how it usually goes, Shaun panics thinking he might’ve scared Carly off. So, Claire assures him he’ll talk to Carly about it.

Afterward, Claire passes by the E.R. to find Dr. Morgan and Dr. Park attending to an avid sports fisherman named Shamus O’Malley (Robert Sean Leonard) who has a huge Marlin piercing his leg. They want to cut the fish who O’Malley named Franklin to get it out of O’Malley’s leg but, he won’t allow them to. Suddenly, the fish starts squirming again on some post-mortem response. But, it calms down soon after.

Responsibilities

Later on, while Claire’s discussing the operation with Michelle’s mom Patricia (Tracie Thorns), Michelle experiences tightness in her chest. After a chest CT, they find that she had a pulmonary embolism. When Claire goes to inject the medicine on Michelle’s leg, Claire finds out that she’s been cutting herself. Soon enough, Claire manages to draw the truth out why Michelle harmed herself.

David Bukach/ ABC

Patricia manages a foster home. But, without being asked first, all the responsibilities to take care of the kids fell on Michelle. Her life solely revolved around these responsibilities and she was just a teen herself. When Claire and Melendez bring this up to Patricia, she firmly denies their recommendation to have Michelle see a psychologist.

Claire then turns her attention towards practicing the Pringle maneuver for the operation. But, Shaun barges in and stresses her out more to talk to Carly. On the way, however, Morgan pulls her into the MRI room. While Park tries to convince O’Malley that Franklin wouldn’t fit in with him, the fish explodes. It might’ve had some metal inside it that had a reaction with the MRI machine. Then, it slides off O’Malley’s leg releasing a spurt of blood. Acting fast, Claire plugs her finger on the hole until Lim patches it up in the OR.

After the operation, Claire admits to Lim that she’s nervous. But, Lim reminds her that being women of color, they don’t exactly have the luxury of public insecurity. So, she tells Claire, “We don’t need to be insecure because every step of the way, we had to be twice as good as everybody else. Suck it up. You got this.”

Starting to Mend Wounds

The next day, Breeze (Sharon Leal) finds some quality time with her daughter Claire. But, just when it was getting good and the bond between them seems to be growing stronger, the conversation steers back to past pains. Even when things seem to be getting better, Claire still finds it hard to let go of what happened between her and her mom.

At the hospital, Claire once again tries to convince Patricia to let Michelle see a psychiatrist. But, Patricia insists that it was simply teen drama. So, Claire takes matters into her own hands. Sharing that she also went to see a psychiatrist because of her mom, Claire convinces Michelle to see one. When Patricia finds out, however, she gets upset. Though Lim stands up for Claire’s decision, she takes her off the case.

Afterward, Claire accompanies her mother to a therapy session. There, all her disappointments flow out. But, Breeze tells her daughter that she shouldn’t be disappointed in herself for being afraid because “things that matter are scary.” Like Claire, Breeze was afraid of the thought that she wouldn’t ever get her life together. But, she looked up to Claire as her inspiration. In that tender moment, the mother and daughter seemed to patch things up.

Claire’s First Surgery

Back at the hospital, Claire helps Park and Morgan figure out the complication with O’Malley. Even after patching up the fish wound, the poor guy seemed to have more problems in his leg. As Claire figures it out, he had cancer on his leg. Suddenly, Claire is called to Michelle’s room. As it turns out, Michelle adamantly refuses to have anyone else do her operation but Claire. Fortunately, Claire manages to calm her down quick. Somehow, this also helps Melendez to convince Patricia that Claire is the best doctor to perform Michelle’s surgery given her commitment to the girl.

David Bukach/ ABC

After that, Claire finally gets to talk to Carly. And surprisingly, Carly wasn’t ok with Claire giving Shaun any more relationship tips. Without hesitation, Carly tells Claire to butt out. Later on, before the operation, Claire takes a selfie with a monitor outside the OR door and sends it to her mom out of excitement. Getting into the operation, she starts out confidently. After removing the gall bladder, however, Michelle starts bleeding. Melendez plugs his finger in there and starts to calmly guide Claire to what to do next. And she finishes it out successfully.

After the operation, Patricia finally accepts that her daughter needs to see a psychiatrist. What’s more, Michelle now wants to be a doctor when she grows up. On the other hand, O’Malley had to have his leg amputated to prevent his cancer from spreading. But, he didn’t have to say goodbye to his buddy Franklin forever. After mounting up the great blue Marlin, O’Malley’s pals presented it to him and he fucking loves it.

Sadly, when it comes to The Good Doctor, nothing can end too happy. After her shift, Claire gets a call. She finds out that her mom died in a car crash. And the worst part is, when she comes over to the site of the accident, Claire finds an open bottle of champagne on the floor of her mom’s car.

The Good Doctor continues Monday, October 14th, with “Take My Hand” at 10/9c on ABC.