‘The Good Doctor’ Season 3, Episode 5 ‘First Case, Second Base’ Review: Shaun’s First Lead Surgery

Shaun’s (Freddie Highmore) smile and jumps when he found out he was getting his first lead surgery in this week’s episode of The Good Doctor make the wait all these years so worth it. It definitely didn’t turn out as many would’ve expected. But, damn if that wasn’t one glorious, heartfelt and emotional moment. The best part of it all was the reappearance of someone from Shaun’s past that made it all the more meaningful.

On a side note though, it might just be one of the oddest of The Good Doctor’s current season yet. Aside from a rather odd and incohesive combination of topics, the episode also has some very confusing moments. And unfortunately, this cut the episode in half, one side victorious and the other sliding downhill. But, we’re still early on in the season, so we’ll see how this picks up soon.

In this week’s episode of The Good Doctor, Shaun is up for his first lead surgery. But, suddenly, Dr. Andrews (Hill Harper) starts questioning if he’s really ready for the task. Meanwhile, Dr. Claire (Antonia Thomas) and Dr. Morgan (Fiona Gubelmann) face a patient who they suspect is lying about his drinking problem. And last but not least, Dr. Glassman (Richard Schiff) deals with the first hurdle of his marriage with Debbie (Sheila Kelley) when he discovers she owns a gun.

Claire Loses Faith

Claire and Morgan’s patient of the day is Curtis (Aidan Kahn), a man who fractured both his legs after falling from the chimney. When Claire goes to examine him, she immediately notices that he’s drunk. Despite the clear symptoms, Curtis insists that he’s sober. And his wife Teal (Nefetari Spencer) believes him with all her heart. This immediately earns the ire of Claire because she believes that one is an addict and the other is an enabler. And given her recent experience, she has lost all faith in addicts.

Jack Rowand/ ABC

On the operation table, however, Morgan notices a heart arrhythmia. And later on, Curtis also suffers from bleeding ulcers. Upon examination, both things point to one thing: alcohol abuse. Even with all this proof, Teal refuses to believe that her husband has been drinking. She admits that Curtis was a drunk before but he fixed up. In fact, their very marriage is built on his sobriety. Fed up with Teal’s blind faith, Claire finally snaps telling Teal “Your faith in your husband is impressive. But, it may have just killed him.”

Despite Claire’s general unpleasantness, they still conduct more tests on Curtis. And after much effort, they find a tumor obstructing his digestive tract and causing the bleed. Dr. Melendez (Nicholas Gonzalez) gets it out successfully. But, afterward, the telltale scent of alcohol coming from inside Curtis leads them to find what’s really the problem. As it turns out, Curtis had an auto-brewery syndrome. The carbs in his body weren’t being digested so they were being fermented instead. So, basically, his own body was making him drunk and he was indeed innocent.

Later on, Morgan confronts Claire about her new behavior. And she urges her to still have hope even if its for a minority percentage of people like Curtis. But, Claire closes up and refuses to believe anymore.

‘Easy Peasy, Right?’

Shaun’s first lead surgery means he has to be speaking to his patient directly. And as everyone knows, patient communication is his weakest point. Luckily for him, his patient Beth (Stacie Greenwell) takes anything thrown at her fairly well. Simply put, Shaun’s first lead operation is an esophageal resection. This would effectively render Beth cancer free without her needing a permanent feeding tube.

Unfortunately, Shaun and Dr. Park (Will Yun Lee) discover that Beth has extensive scarring in her abdominal area and she would need a permanent feeding tube after all. When it came to who’ll tell Beth their new findings, Andrews insists that Shaun do it. He suspects that Lim is coddling him too much. From supposedly being a changed man at the beginning of the season, Andrews strangely reverts back to doubting Shaun. And as if to prove his point, Lim tells Park to do it. When they come face to face with Beth, however, Andrews forces Shaun to deliver the news.

Jack Rowand/ ABC

Feeling betrayed, Beth asks Lim to take Shaun off her case. But Lim brings out her convincing powers and gets Beth to reinstate Shaun as her surgeon. The night before the surgery, Shaun dreams of his brother who tells him “the surgery’s the easy peasy part.” But Shaun’s nervousness is causing him to overthink. Fortunately, his dream brother manages to calm him down.

The next morning, Carly (Jasika Nicole) comes to wish Shaun good luck before the surgery and also to discuss the progress of their relationship. From kissing, the couple has gone on to touch. But like last time, Shaun has had some qualms where he’s only comfortable with touching one thing at a time. So, to help him ease into second base, Carly leads him to touch her breast.

First Lead Surgery Meltdown

In the surgery itself, all things start out smoothly. But, in the middle of it, Shaun loses it saying “can’t do it” over and over again. After Park helps him calm down, Shaun explains he has figured out a way to reconnect Beth’s digestive tract with her esophagus in a way that would not need a permanent feeding tube. The problem is, Shaun has only watched the procedure onscreen and he can’t do it himself. And if he can’t do it, he’ll lose this case.

David Bukach/ ABC

Nevertheless, they push through with the operation. This time, it’s Andrews on the lead. But, since he has no experience doing that specific procedure either, he has Shaun taking him through the steps by his side. When it’s time to close Beth up, Lim hands over the last stitch to Shaun. At that moment, even if it wasn’t his first lead surgery altogether, Shaun felt a different sense of contentment as he imagined his brother with him in that symbolic moment.

After the surgery, Park reveals that Lim has also given him his first lead surgery. And so, even if things worked out a little differently than everyone expected, they still somehow had a sense of victory. Andrews, however, still feels that Shaun failed. But, Lim reminds him that they don’t work alone. Each member of the team contributes something to make the work a success.

Trouble in the Second Day of Marriage

Meanwhile, it’s just Glassman’s second day of marriage and yet, he’s already facing another hurdle in his relationship. After discovering that Debbie owns a gun and keeps it at her bedside table, he freaks out. His first tactic to hopefully get Debbie to get rid of it is to install plenty of alarms around the house to make her feel more secure. But, that’s not the issue. According to Debbie, it doesn’t matter why she wants to keep the gun. Pointing it out, she says, “I’m a grown-up. And I’m responsible.”

Next, Glassman tries to appeal to her emotions. He tells her that he just treated a child who was accidentally shot by his sister. Then, he goes on to not so subtly remind her of the danger of guns. But, in the end, Debbie wouldn’t budge. When Glassman goes to Shaun for advice, the latter gives one of the most nonsense advice I’ve ever heard. He asks Glassman if Debbie has allowed him to touch her breast. And when Glassy says yes, Shaun tells him that he shouldn’t worry about anything else. Magically, this seems to solve the issue and gets Glassman to agree to compromise with his wife. What was supposed to be a valuable discussion on a serious issue just gets squashed out. Surely, The Good Doctor can do better than this right?

The Good Doctor continues Monday, November 4th, with “45-Degree Angle” at 10/9c on ABC.