‘The Good Doctor’ Season 3, Episode 9 ‘Incomplete’ Review: Vulnerability

This week’s episode of The Good Doctor titled “Incomplete” feels like just the right prelude to the show’s midseason finale. Everything’s catching up to everyone and well, there’s a lot of things that tug at the heartstrings because of it. For one, Claire’s (Antonia Thomas) recent spiral has finally caught up to her in the most unexpected of ways. When her lover becomes her patient, things come to quite a stinging peak.

On the other hand, Shaun (Freddie Highmore) is ready to take a big step in his relationship. Although he’s had some ups and downs in the past few weeks of The Good Doctor, he’s been taking it all in stride. But now, everything that has been left unsaid has come catching up to him just right when he’s ready to take the leap. Meanwhile, after weeks of taking over some Claire duties, Morgan’s (Fiona Gubelmann) old cynical self is back. And after dealing with a patient who’s marriage hangs in the balance because of sex, we find out a little more about her mysterious past. Here’s everything that went down in this week’s episode of The Good Doctor.

A One-Night Stand and a Big Mistake Later

Claire’s recent spiral has led her to some unsavory moments. One of which is waking up to a stranger in her apartment. When she gets to work, guess who’s there? That’s right, her lover Kane (Sharif Atkins) who was caught in a car accident. And that’s not even the worst part. As it turns out, the man Claire has just slept with and is now her patient is married.

Jack Rowand/ ABC

On the operating table, Melendez (Nicholas Gonzalez), Park (Will Yun Lee), and Claire find lacerations on Kane’s aorta. Then, when they face a little complication, it’s Claire who makes the right call given that she knew what drugs Kane ingested the night before.

Later on, Claire and Park face Kane’s wife Sasha (Chelsea Hobbs) to get her consent to go through with stenting to repair Kane’s aorta. And Claire discovers that not only is Kane married, he also has a daughter. After the operation, Claire does a mighty good job of keeping up the pretense as she proceeds with her medical duties for Kane as he bonds with his family. She even comforts an upset Sasha. But, in that short talk, Claire discovers that Sasha knows about Kane’s affairs. So, Claire diverts the conversation and tells Sasha to simply focus on Kane getting better.

The Price of Denial

Because of the awkward situation, Claire’s been doing her best to avoid Kane. When she finally checks on him, she finds a clot on his leg. And while trying to remove the clot, Park pieces the puzzle together. Claire acts defensively insisting that her relationship with him didn’t change her judgment. But, as Park points out, if she wasn’t hellbent on avoiding him, she could’ve detected the clot a lot earlier. He also notes that her defensiveness and eagerness to wash her hands clean of her part of the issue is the exact kind of attitude that can ruin lives.

ABC

Unfortunately for Claire, Park is right. Because they didn’t detect the clot earlier, it has built up and now they need to open up Kane to save his leg from being amputated. Luckily, the operation is a success. Afterward, Claire delivers good news to Sasha. Then, she insists Sasha finally confront her husband once and for all about his affairs. This piece of well-meaning advice, however, backfires.

After getting the truth out of Kane, Sasha marches towards Claire and delivers a crisp slap to her face right in front of everybody. Humiliated, Claire runs off to the stairwell and finally lets the tears that she’s been holding back ever since Breeze’s death gush out. A few moments later, Melendez follows and sits with Claire in silence laying a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Sex That Could Kill

Elsewhere on The Good Doctor, Shaun heads out early to Glassman’s (Richard Schiff) to ask for flower advice. But, with Glassman in the shower, Debbie (Sheila Kelley) helps Shaun pick which bouquet to give Carly (Jasika Nicole) instead. Then, he heads on his merry way straight to Carly’s lab. Upon delivering the flowers, Shaun tells Carly, not very quietly I might add, “I want to have sex tonight. Would you?” to which Carly, of course, answers yes.

Jeff Weddell/ ABC

Later on, Shaun and Morgan attend to their patient Jeanie (Irene Choi) who came in with her fiance Tony (Hayden Szeto). According to the symptoms she presented, Shaun thinks she might’ve had a mini-stroke. To really make sure, Morgan and Shaun have Jeanie undergo an MRI. While they’re doing that, Shaun excitedly shares that he’s going to have sex with Carly that night. In response, Morgan warns him that not everybody has a great first time.

Suddenly, Jeanie has a seizure. They later find out that the main cause of her seizures is a tumor in her pelvis area and clitoris. So, every time she has sex, she’s at risk of having another seizure meaning that sex could literally kill her. There is a way to remove the tumors though, but, it would involve removing most of her vagina and clitoris. With this, sex would be completely off the table. Not wanting to give it up, Jeanie refuses the operation.

Bitterness

Clearly, Morgan disagrees with Jeanie’s decision.  So, she tries to plead her case with Andrews (Hill Harper) saying that couples don’t need sex to make the relationship work. With a lot of anger, Morgan says “Sex is destructive. It turns people into liars and cheaters and idiots. It might start relationships. But, more often than not, it rips them apart.” Despite this, Andrews tells Morgan to follow through with her patient’s decision.

Later on, Morgan tells Jeanie and Tony about the risks of Jeanie’s decision with no holds barred. She even goes so far as to call Tony selfish because she thinks he’s just supporting Jeanie’s decision because he wants to get laid. But, as Tony explains, it’s Jeanie’s body. Only she has a say as to what happens to it. He’s only there to support her.

Vulnerability and Acceptance

After their shifts, Shaun and Carly get down to business in bed. But, suddenly, just as they’re both half-naked, Shaun stops. The next morning, Shaun reveals to Glassman that what bothered him was Carly’s incomplete heart tattoo. But as Glassman realizes, it might not be about the tattoo at all. It might about Shaun’s intimacy. Before Glassman could give more romantic advice, Debbie interrupts and reminds him of his long line of patients forcing Shaun to leave.

Jack Rowand/ ABC

After this, Shaun takes his relationship woes to Jeanie, asking her why she’s willing to risk her life for sex. As Jeanie explains, sex makes everyone vulnerable. And being able to share that with other things such as worries, fears, and such truly connects a couple.

On the other hand, at lunch, Debbie notes that Glassman’s upset about her kicking out Shaun. As she explains, Shaun’s being too dependent on him. Even if he hates seeing Shaun fail and get hurt, Glassman should let him. He’s going to be okay. And now, he also has someone there for him much like Glassman does.

When Shaun barges into Glassman’s office again later that day, Glassman puts his foot down. He tells Shaun that it’s time to set boundaries, especially since they have other people in their life that they should be prioritizing now. But, when Glassman tries to arrange a breakfast talk with Shaun, Shaun tells him that he liked it better when it was just the two of them.

Lies That are Better Than Sex

Meanwhile, Morgan visits Carly and pokes her nose into their romantic business. Out of nowhere, Morgan accuses of Carly seeing Shaun just as a project. But, Carly stands her ground and explains that she really likes Shaun for who he is and how he treats her. In fact, Morgan’s condescending notion that people need an ulterior motive to be interested in Shaun makes her the person who sees Shaun as a project more than anyone.

ABC

Later on, Morgan corners Tony in the lobby. Then, she asks him to imagine his best memory with Jeanie in an attempt to make him see that they don’t need sex for their relationship to survive. Even though it generally didn’t have sex involved, Tony still thinks that sex is important. Contradicting this, Morgan shares the reasons behind her bitterness. Apparently, she’s so bitter about sex because a drunken one-night stand with a stranger caused her to lose her perfect man. To Morgan, sex can make people feel closer and honest. But, it isn’t the end goal. It’s the rest of the other things that are.

Eventually, Tony changes his mind convinces Jeanie to take the operation. Promising her that they’ll still get through it, Tony tells Jeanie “I love you more than sex.” Later on, in the operating room, Morgan admits that she made Tony lie. But, as Andrews tells her, maybe he wasn’t lying and he didn’t even realize he wasn’t.

Second Thoughts

Back to Shaun and Carly, they decide to give sex another go. This time, Shaun tells Carly about the incomplete heart. But, even after Carly draws the rest of it to complete it, Shaun couldn’t go through with it. Being the saint she is, Carly comforts Shaun and instead discusses what their deepest fears are. Then, she tells Shaun that they don’t have to have sex. This time, she only asks to be held for a while. Shaun doesn’t last very long, however, and he quickly slips out of Carly’s arms.

ABC

When Shaun gets home, he sees Glassman waiting for him by his door. He attempts to ignore him at first. But, then Glassman says the impossible. Shaun’s mom called. Unfortunately, Shaun’s father has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and he might only have a few days left to live.

Elsewhere on The Good Doctor, Lim (Christina Chang) has been obviously avoiding Melendez. And he has taken note of it. When he confronts her about it, she steadfastly says that she’s simply busy. But, at the end of the day, she comes to his office and admits that it’s harder than she thought it would be. Lim also admits that she’s been having second thoughts. Sadly, she couldn’t clarify what it means for them. Despite that, Melendez sees it with a ray of light. At least then, he knows that he mattered.

The Good Doctor continues Monday, December 2nd, with “Friends and Family” at 10/9c on ABC.