Heartwarming / The Good Doctor

"You make me more, Shaun..."

The Good Doctor has its devastating moments, but first of all, it is a series about hope and the goodness of the human being. Here are some of the best moments in the series:

WARNING: Spoilers are unmarked.

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Season 1

• "Pipes":
  • The relief and gratitude on Olivia's face when Shaun figures out a way to re-route her nerves, so she doesn't lose all feeling in her genitals. After, she asks Claire to call her parents, which she is reluctant to do because she's a porn star from a religious family.
  • You can see Andrews, who stridently opposed Shaun's hiring, developing respect for him, and he extends an offer to him and Claire to come by his office any time, even to talk through something personal.
• “She”:
  • Shaun meets a transgender patient name Quinn. He started asking her questions like her interests and hobbies. Quinn was patient and happily answered Shaun’s questions.
  • Shaun (who never really met a transgender) asked Quinn what’s it like being a girl. At first, Shaun was worried he asked a rude question, but Quinn had no problem answering it saying that how she rather have people ask her about being transgender than pointing and staring.
  • Quinn’s parents are very loving and supportive of Quinn being transgender. When the Grandmother tried to keep saying Quinn is going through a phase or not thinking clearly, the parents revealed that Quinn was miserable as a boy. She was so miserable that Quinn tried to kill herself. This made the grandmother finally accepted that Quinn is a girl.
• "22 Steps":
  • Melendez sticks up for Shaun and refuses to do surgery unless he is included.
  • Shaun and Glassman watch a football game together.
  • The autistic patient's parents, after the surgery and acknowledging Shaun's contributions, start to treat their son with more agency, shown by asking him whether or not the lights are a problem (rather than assuming they know how he feels about the lights as they did when they first came in).
• In "Apple", Melendez once again defends Shaun, and at the end, Lea gives Shaun an apple to replace the one she ate at the beginning.
  • More importantly, Shaun admits that he made a mistake that caused the day's events in the first place, and then he lets Lea hug him. In case you forgot, Shaun Hates Being Touched, so this is a big deal.
• In "Intangibles", Melendez has several lovely moments with the patient's mother. And at the end, she gives him the drum she would use to "guide" her son's heartbeat.
• In "Sacrifice", Shaun's patient treats him like a regular person and tells him not to take disrespect from anyone.
• In "Islands Part One", Lea takes Shaun on a road trip to help him through a personal crisis. They also kiss very sweetly. Unfortunately, Lea is Put on a Bus in the next episode.
• In "Islands Part Two", Shaun considers leaving San Jose to be with Lea but decides to stay with his friends. At the end, Shaun kisses Lea goodbye and says he'll visit her.
• In "Seven Reasons", Shaun buys a pine tree air freshener to remember Lea.
• "Heartfelt" has two significant moments:
  • A convicted hitman tries to donate part of his liver to a young boy in need, but is allergic to anesthesia and can't undergo surgery. So he shoots himself in the head so he can donate his entire liver. The truly heartwarming part is that the boy didn't want the liver of a "bad man", but after finding out about his heroic sacrifice, he changes his mind.
  • Andrews helps Shaun socialize with other guests at a party. Previous instances of Andrews being kind to Shaun were part of his Xanatos Gambit to become president of the hospital, but in this case, he was really being nice.
• "Pain":
  • The wheelchair-using patient, Hunter, is very good to Shaun and says he understands what it is like to be treated differently because of a disability.
  • Hunter's wife opposes the surgery to restore his mobility, partly out of fear that he'll die, but mainly fear that he won't need her anymore.
    Hunter: You think I married you 'cause I was having trouble hanging my clothes in my closet? You're my girl. I will always need you. Even if I could fly, who's gonna remind me to call my mom on her birthday... or to floss? God, I hate flossing. Who's gonna remind me to be a better person? Who's gonna hold my hand when I'm scared?
• "Smile":
  • Andrews's patient rejects a potentially life-changing operation because she doesn't want her father to bankrupt himself by paying for it. Then, Andrews convinces her insurance company to pay for most of the operation, even though it's an elective surgery. And the patient smiles for the first time in the end.
  • Shaun sets up Glassman with a woman at the café, even though Shaun and Glassman "aren't friends anymore". Even better, the woman at the cafe is played by Sheila Kelley, Richard Schiff's real-life wife.
• "More" can be considered the greatest Heartwarming Moment in the entire season.
  • After discovering Glassman's terminal diagnosis, Shaun is distracted and makes a mistake during surgery. Claire, Jared, and even Melendez try to prevent Shaun from getting fired for this.
  • Shaun and Glassman reconcile after a half-season of avoiding each other.
  • The team attempts a procedure to save the patient:
    Shaun: Can I do it?
    Melendez: It's delicate.
    Shaun: No, it's not. It will either work, or it won't work. If my idea is wrong, he'll die as soon as we complete this next step. You shouldn't have to live with that.
    Melendez: Everything that happens in this room is my responsibility. We'll do it together.
  • Morgan is still being pretty harsh on Shaun, and Melendez bluntly tells her that one day, she's going to kill a patient, and he hopes that she has someone who still believes in her then.
  • At the end, it turns out that Glassman's cancer wasn't as bad as originally thought. Then Shaun hugs him.
    Shaun: You're going to live.

Season 2

• "Hello": The conversation near the end between Shaun and Dr. Glassman, who spent the episode waiting for tests.

  Shaun: I said goodbye to Jared. He has to go to Denver, and I have to stay here with you.

  Dr. Glassman: No you don't, Shaun. It's not up to Jared, it's not up to me, it's not up to anyone to tell you where to be. (sighs resignedly) I've got a long journey ahead of me, and in the end I've got to take it alone.

  Shaun: Yes, I understand. I'm going with you.

• "36 Hours": It's nice to see that Lea really does see Shaun as a man, regardless of how flippant Morgan is. She treats him precisely like she'd treat any jerk who ghosted her.
• Shaun spends all of "Tough Titmouse" trying to repair his relationship with Lea. In the end, she finally forgives him and they sing "Islands in the Stream" together. And it turns out that Shaun himself bought the apartment she tried to buy but couldn't.
• In "Hubert", Shaun and Lea's pet fish dies, and Lea blames herself. She says that she can't expect to get her life back on track if she can't even keep a fish alive. Shaun then orders an infection panel and discovers that the fish died from a parasite picked up at the pet store, showing Lea that the fish's death wasn't her fault. They then plan to get a new fish at the end.
• After Glassman fails his memory test, Shaun confiscates his driver's license. An annoyed Glassman tells him that driving gives him the freedom to go where he wants when he wants, so taking it away is very inconvenient. So with some help from Lea, Shaun gets his driving permit and offers to take Glassman where he needs to go.
• "Quarantine Part Two": Lea reassures the husband of the pregnant woman in the ER. Glassman then points out the sound of the newborn crying, and everyone in the room congratulations the new father.
• "Aftermath":
  • After an Obstructive Bureaucrat announces her intention to report Shaun, Melendez, and Lim to the Board of Doctors and recommend them for license suspension due to their actions during the quarantine (Shaun having a meltdown, Melendez ignoring a DNR order, and Lim illegally sedating a man), Andrews stands up for all three doctors. It doesn't faze the bureaucrat, but Andrews (remember, this is the guy who was initially against Shaun working at St. Bonaventure and cheated Melendez out of a possible promotion to Chief of Surgery) gets points for effort.
  • Shaun, Glassman, and Lea spend the day together, and Glassman decides to pursue a more aggressive treatment regimen so he can have more days like that.
• In "Risk and Reward", Glassman meets another cancer patient who has embraced the disease as an identity. Glassman at first tries to ignore him, but he points out that when battling a disease, it's essential to have support. In the end, Glassman introduces himself to a leukemia patient and tries to make friends.
• "Believe":
  • Park comes down to Pathology and asks Shaun if he's happy, then encourages him to stand up to Han if he isn't.
  • Claire tries to convince Han that Shaun is an asset as a surgical resident. Han remains rigid in his decision, but still, it's good to see Shaun's friends haven't forgotten him.
• "Breakdown":
  • After being declared cancer-free, Glassman gives Dr. Blaize a treasured baseball from his childhood, to thank her for all she did. She's incredibly moved by this and says that he has become a much more caring person.
  • While it's a very tragic scene, it is still nice to see Claire comforting Shaun after Han fires him.
• "Trampoline":
  • The Patient of the Week is a Jerkass who assaults Shaun at the start. Despite this, Shaun does his best to diagnose him, even though he no longer works at the hospital.
  • Claire teaching Shaun how to ask a girl out. Also, her being a good friend to Shaun in general.
  • Andrews fires Han to get Shaun re-hired. It goes to show how much Andrews has changed.
  • Melendez convinces Lim that they should break up since one of them will get the Chief of Surgery job, and neither of them should sacrifice the promotion for the other, making it seem at least partially selfish. After she agrees, he reveals that there's about to be a call from Aoki offering it to her.
  • Glassman and Debbie get back together, with Glassman even asking her to marry him!
  • Shaun asks out Carly, and she says yes. Shaun's giddy reaction as he heads off tops it.

Season 3

• "Debts": Andrews confesses to Shaun that he resents him for indirectly costing him his job as hospital president, then adds that Shaun's latest solution for the Patient of the Week makes him glad he made the sacrifice.
  Andrews: [to Shaun] I made a sacrifice to save you. I lost my job; I took a substantial demotion. And I thought I was a fool. The cost was way too high. I resented you, and I kind of resented the universe. But today, you made me proud of my sacrifice. Thank you.
• "Claire": After Claire is selected to be the first resident to lead a surgery, Shaun seems even more excited about it than she is. He helps her choose the operation and is supportive throughout the entire process.
• When Shaun seemingly loses it and walks out of the surgery and can't string a sentence together, Lim tells Alex to take over. Instead of jumping at the chance, he refuses.
  Alex: No.
  Lim: He obviously can't.
  Alex: I don't think he lost it. He was in complete charge of that room. I don't think this is a meltdown.
  Andrews: He said he can't do it.
  Alex: He said, "Can't do it." Maybe he meant we can't do it. I think he's seeing something...
• "Friends and Family":
  • Lea and Shaun's friendship becomes even more admirable than it already is. She agrees to go with Shaun to his parent's house, trying to cheer him up as usual during the trip. While Glassman and his mother begged him to say goodbye to his terminally-ill father, Lea only advises Shaun to do what he thinks best, making it clear that she doesn't have his father in good esteem after all that she heard from him. The worst happens, with Shaun's father saying horrible things to him before he dies. In the final scene of the episode, Shaun has an Heroic BSoD, but Lea manages to calm him down, and he allows her to hug him, and they spend a long time crying silently, with Lea refusing to leave him.
  • Although the episode ends with Shaun being hurt by his parents, the concern and affection that Glassman and Lea show him during the entire episode prove that they're Shaun's real family.
• "Fractured": Shaun comes clean to Carly about what happened between him and Lea, and a hurt Carly tells him she needs space. Later, a distraught Shaun goes to Glassman and wonders if everyone he cares about will leave him, suffering a meltdown in the process. Glassman firmly orders Shaun to never to say negative things about himself, then gives Shaun a Cooldown Hug and gently tells him that he's proud of him and that he will never get "sick of [him]."
• "Mutations": A teenage patient is depressed over having to miss prom for cancer treatments and her boyfriend (a previous cancer patient) no longer coming to visit her. Unbeknownst to her, the boyfriend did try to visit, but her overbearing mother refuses to let him see her; Park advises Claire not to tell the patient about this so that she doesn't get angry at her mother. One day, after the mother leaves, Claire surprises the patient with a makeshift prom set up on an outdoor deck at the hospital, and the boyfriend shows up as her date as Ed Sheeran's "Perfect" plays. Claire briefly panics when the mother unexpectedly returns, but she sees how happy her daughter is and doesn't interfere. The patient succumbs to her cancer the next day.
• "Autopsy" is chocked full of moments.
  • Claire and Morgan have a patient, Adien, with a split personality caused by a brain cyst. Day!Adien is a studious and hard-working student, while night!Adien is a stoner Casanova Fratbro. Day!Aiden refuses to have the cyst drained despite the risks of it causing neurological damage. But Night!Aiden pulls a Heroic Sacrifice and consents to the treatment, knowing full well that he'll "die" in the process. He even leaves day!Adien a goodbye message, telling him to have fun sometimes.
  • Lim finds a little girl sneaking around the hospital. It turns out that she was an abandoned baby that Lim operated on years prior, and she truly wanted to meet her. Lim even helps her get over her family troubles, and in the end, Lim calls her own mother, whom she'd been avoiding.
  • Shaun spends the whole episode trying to get permission to autopsy a patient he lost. The patient's son refuses because he doesn't care how she died. Shaun eventually does it with help from Carly, and he not only breaks the son's restraining order to warn him about a genetic disease he didn't know he had, but he realizes that the patient's Last Words were a nickname she had for him.
  • Shaun and Carly become Amicable Exes, and talk openly and honestly with each other.
  • Claire and Melendez go as far as to fake an argument so no one at work can interfere with their friendship again. Then they go bowling together.
  • Shaun finally tells Lea that he loves her romantically and she reciprocates. Unfortunately, it doesn't end well.
• "Hurt":
  • Shaun meets Vera, a woman trapped under the collapsed brewery. Despite barely knowing each other, they quickly bond over their mutual difficulty of moving on from a loved one.
  • Shaun explains why Lea is so important to him. She overhears this, which ultimately makes her realize she was wrong about being a burden to him.
    Shaun: I always knew I could be a good doctor. But until I met Lea, I never knew I could drive a car, or enjoy music, or sing karaoke, or take tequila shots. Or fall in love. I don't want to stop being the person I am with her. Lea makes me more. But I don't make her more. If I did, Lea would want to be my girlfriend.
• "I Love You": Despite mostly being tragic, there are several points of genuine sweetness.
  • Despite rising water levels threatening to drown both of them, Shaun refuses to leave Vera. She urges him to save himself, but Shaun realizes that he has to amputate her leg to save her. Vera then makes him promise that he will move on if she doesn't make it. Despite the growing danger, Shaun adamantly refuses to let her die and is successful in saving her.
  • Claire and Melendez's Love Confessions to each other, despite the tragic circumstances.
  • As Park's patient, Casey, slowly dies, he becomes delirious and mistakes Park for his dad. Park, knowing that Casey's father won't arrive in time, goes with it. Casey admits that he knew about his mother's drug addiction but didn't say anything, resulting in her overdosing. Park says that he already knew, and it wasn't Casey's fault. Casey dies happy, without guilt, and believing that his father is with him.
  • Andrews had previously ridiculed Morgan for keeping her arthritis a secret. He believed that all she cared about was herself and her career. However, he now admits that he was wrong; she proved that her patients are what truly matter to her.
  • Shaun finds Lea and decides to tell her about the promise. Before he can finish speaking, Lea kisses him. Shaun initially can't understand if it was a kiss of pity or goodbye, but Lea says it was a kiss of love and declares herself to him. Shaun says that since Vera is alive, he doesn't have to keep his promise. The couple then kisses passionately, ending a tragic season finale with a note of hope.
    Shaun: I made a promise to Vera...
    Interrupted by kiss
    Shaun: I don't know what that was. It could be a practice kiss, or a pity kiss, or a goodbye kiss.
    Lea: That was an "I'm such a stupid idiot for not seeing it, but I love you with all my heart" kiss. And this is another.
    Shaun: Vera didn't die, so the promise doesn't count.
    Lea: You make me more, Shaun.

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

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