Tear Jerker / The Good Doctor

You'll do the same when you find out what happened here...

The Good Doctor is from the same showrunner of House. So you already have an idea of what to expect...

WARNING: Spoilers are unmarked.

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Season 1

• The flashbacks in the pilot episode show that Shaun did not have a happy childhood. He was viciously bullied at school, had an abusive father who killed his pet rabbit, and he watched his younger brother Steve, the only person who showed any kindness towards Shaun, die right in front him.
• In "Pipes", there's a flashback to a girl named Colleen pretending to like Shaun so she can humiliate him, and a bunch of jackals disguised on children pile on. Colleen takes the extra step of lying that he was falling for her ploy to get him to show her his penis, because she has no soul. Steve intervenes, but it's brutal for anyone who's been in a similar situation.
• Everything about "Point Three Percent". If you remember, Shaun became a surgeon because he wanted to prevent people from losing others like he lost his brother. In this episode, he encounters a young patient with cancer who looks just like Steve. For the first time ever, Shaun actually goes too far trying to find a way to save him due to him projecting his brother onto the patient to the point he's actually wrong. The patient does have cancer and nothing can be done to save him. This is heartbreaking on so many levels, and Shaun gets rightfully slammed down this time by even Glassman for giving the child and his family false hope as it's incredibly cruel to do so. Glassman's right, of course, but Shaun's situation isn't much better. This is what he's worked up to his entire life, and when he finally thinks he's got it and can solve everything he comes across (fueled by his previous successes), he's still just as helpless as he was back then. He can't save everyone.
• This conversation between Shaun and Glassman at the end of "Not Fake":
  Shaun: I loved Steve and my rabbit.
  Glassman: You don't love them anymore?
  Shaun: No. They're dead. You can't love something that's dead.
• In "Sacrifice", Shaun's meltdown and Glassman's reaction after Shaun hits him and runs out of the hospital.
• At the end of "Islands Part Two", Jenny's heart fails despite her being connected to Katie. Katie's reaction is just heartbreaking. She then refuses to be separated from Jenny, even though she'll die if she isn't. Her mother convinces her to do it, but that scene is very sad as well.
  Ms. Kunkler: I want you to look at your sister. I can't lose both of my daughters.
• At the end of "Seven Reasons", Shaun tells Glassman he is in need of a friend, and Glassman reluctantly tells him that he feels he can't be a "friend" after their agreement that Glassman would give him some space and let him make his own decisions. Glassman states that he can't help but act as a father figure if he is close to Shaun. Shaun leaves the room in tears, and the two barely speak to each other for the next few episodes.
• In "Pain", Andrews' patient dies from an infection. The worst part is that her death was probably avoidable, but she refused the proper treatment at first because of a miscommunication with her husband.
  • Breeze, Claire's shitty mom, shows up, supposedly wanting to reconnect. She is better, apparently, being on mood stabilizers, but then when Claire relents and has coffee with her, it turns out Mommy Dearest wants help with rent, to the tune of $2,500. Claire just writes Breeze a check and walks away in tears.
• Shaun brings a pizza for Kenny (who had earlier "borrowed" some milk from him), only for Kenny to dismiss him, at the end of "Smile."
  • The episode ends with Glassman showing signs of a serious medical problem (during a date with his Love Interest Debbie, just to rub salt into the wound), which eventually turns out to be cancer.

Season 2

• The ending of "Middle Ground":
  • Paul dies from post-surgical complications. His family grieves heavily and blames themselves for telling him to get the surgery. Shaun lies to make them feel a little better, but it's still a heart-wrenching scene.
  • Shaun explains why he's been avoiding Lea: When she left, it hurt him greatly, and he's afraid that if she stays, then she'll eventually leave again and he'll be hurt again. Shaun then starts yelling at her to go back to Hershey, and they both start crying before Shaun leaves.
• In "Tough Titmouse", Glassman hallucinates his dead daughter Maddie. It starts out as a sweet reunion, but Maddie starts blaming her father for her death and calling him neglectful. Glassman then says that she isn't any better and when he was around, she wouldn't talk to him.
  • It comes to light that the night Maddie died, Glassman had locked her out of the house after a fight, giving up on bargaining and deciding to employ tough love. Maddie said she died hating him, and Glassman's speech to his hallucination is heartbreaking.
    Dr. Glassman: How could you do that? Why would anyone do that? I don't get it! How dare you do that? Maddie, look at me. I died that day, Maddie. I died that day too.

• The Patient of the Week in "Hubert" is Claire's college roommate, who's been diagnosed with terminal stage 4 ovarian cancer. She insists that Claire go on a date with her husband. It's very sad to see her so desperately trying to make sure everyone will be happy after she's gone.
• After beginning radiation treatment, Glassman starts experiencing memory loss. It starts with him forgetting where his wallet is, but it gets so bad that he forgets Steve's name.
• The Walk of Honor scene in "Faces." It's a heartfelt move by the hospital, but it's also a tear-inducing one as well.
• "Believe": Han still refuses to transfer Shaun back to Surgery, and the episode ends with a forlorn Shaun watching his friends and co-workers operate on a patient. It serves to show just how big of a douchebag Han is.
• "Breakdown": Shaun takes a stand against Han, going to his office and demanding his job back. Han, as usual, still refuses, so Shaun says he's not leaving until Han relents. An adamant Han tells Shaun he'll fire him and even threatens to call security, and Shaun has a meltdown, shouting repeatedly that he is a surgeon. Han clearly makes good on his threat to fire Shaun, as Shaun is next seen clearing out his locker. He then ends up dropping all of his belongings and breaks his toy scalpel, the one that Steve gave him years ago. Claire then finds him and wordlessly helps pick up his things. Han, you Jerkass.

Season 3

• The Sudden Downer Ending from "Claire" which has Claire all happy that she successfully led her first surgery, only to find out that her mother just died in a drunk driving accident.
• "Friends and Family": Immediately after Shaun forgives his father Ethan, Ethan calls Shaun weak and blames him for Steve's death. Shaun leaves crying, and his father dies a few hours later. Shaun then has a breakdown in his motel room. The only positive thing is that Lea is there to comfort him.
  • Especially sad is that, after Shaun says that he forgives Ethan, the latter's response initially seems like it will be a positive one, and you can see Shaun start to smile before it suddenly takes a harsh turn into the above.
• In the final scene of "Unsaid", Carly breaks up with Shaun. When Shaun questions the reason, Carly gives her an answer that leaves him shaken: earlier, when she saw him and Lea interacting at karaoke, it became terribly obvious to her that the two love each other... and that they don't even realize it. Shaun desperately tries to deny it, in vain.
• In "Autopsy", Shaun is finally forced to admit to himself that he loves Lea, and is terrified to think that she may not feel the same way about him, which would ruin their friendship. At the end of the episode, he finally decides to confess his feelings to her. The result of their conversation... is not good.
• In "Mutations", a teenage girl has a resurfaced cancerous brain tumor that causes seizures. Her overbearing mother refuses to let her boyfriend visit her, fearing he could make her situation worse medically or emotionally. The tumor is so difficult to remove that the team brings Dr. Glassman back into surgery for the first time since Season 1 to assist. The day before her surgery, Claire gives her the best day of her life with a prom at the hospital, with her boyfriend as her date. During the surgery, Glassman can't find any ways to remove the tumor without likely killing her, devastating everyone involved. Just as Claire explains the lack of solutions to the mother, who refuses to accept it, her daughter has a fatal seizure. Just as Claire and Melendez give the mother the bad news, the boyfriend shows up and hugs her as she sobs. The situation angers Claire due to reminding her of her mother's recent untimely death. She shows no pride in giving the patient an unforgettable last day.
• In "Fixation", Shaun desperately tries to convince Lea to give him a chance to be her boyfriend for the entire episode. Unfortunately, he does it in the worst possible way, that makes him look like a stalker. The situation reached its climax in the final scene, when Shaun cornered Lea at the end of a night's work and said he could fix the situation. This seems to be the last straw for Lea, who says she doesn't need to be fixed, and says harshly to Shaun that both his autism and her troubled personality can never change. Shaun is devastated and leaves silently and alone to his house.
• In "Heartbreak," Shaun acting like a Jerkass towards Claire and Melendez in the aftermath of Lea's rejection of him at the end of the previous episode. Just watching one of the nicest characters in the entire show behave like that is heart-wrenching.
  • And in the end, Shaun prepares to demolish Lea's car with a baseball bat, having watched the scorned girlfriend of a Patient of the Week do the same to her cheating boyfriend's car, when Lea shows up and asks what he's doing. He honestly states his intentions but can't go through with bashing up his friend's car, so instead, he drops the bat and tearfully blasts Lea with one hell of a "Reason You Suck" Speech before walking off, leaving Lea in tears.
    Shaun: You acted like you cared about me. But you don't even respect me. You're flaky, and... and you can't keep a boyfriend. And you can't keep a job. And no one likes you. And... and you're going to end up alone, and you deserve it! Because you're a superficial, selfish, and prejudiced person!
  • Here's a point that makes it worse: Lea's car is what the two of them drove on their road trip in back in Season 1's "Islands" two-parter, and where Lea taught Shaun how to drive in Season 2. It's a symbol of their friendship which, by now, has completely sundered.
• In "Hurt", Shaun discovers that Lea is missing inside a building ruined by an earthquake and immediately risks his life looking for her. At one point, Shaun has an imaginary conversation with his late brother Steve, but this time Steve doesn't support him. On the contrary, Steve says that Shaun is being stupid and risking his life in a desperate attempt to get the love of a woman who has made it clear on several occasions that she does not love him. It's even more devastating when you realize that because it's an imaginary conversation, it means that this is what Shaun must be thinking at that moment.
• "I Love You"... My God, where do we start?
  • With Andrews and Glassman engaged in other surgeries, Morgan is forced to act alone and saves the life of a pregnant woman in surgery, even though her hands have recently been operated on. Unfortunately, she ends up damaging her joints, which means that she will never be able to perform surgery for the rest of her life. Keep in mind that the whole reason she had the surgery was so she could continue her career despite her arthritis. Not only is that ruined, but her hands will be permanently disfigured in 10 years. All for Nothing.
  • After spending two episodes desperately trying to save a badly injured boy (who's the same age as Park's son) during the earthquake, Park realizes with horror that there is nothing more to do and that the boy will die. He spends the boy's last moments by his side, and he ends up confusing him with his father before he dies. The experience is so traumatic that at the end of the episode, Park decides that he will leave the city and have more contact with his family.
  • Melendez learns that his internal injuries from the earthquake are too serious and that he will die. Depressed but accepting his death with dignity, Melendez still has time to say goodbye to his mentor Glassman, his ex-girlfriend Lim, and Claire, who declares love to him before he dies.
  • After 40 minutes of tragedies and bitterness for the rest of the cast, it is impossible not to be moved by the happy ending of Shaun and Lea, who after this traumatic experience, decide not to waste another moment and become a couple.

Season 4

• "Dr. Ted". The baby that Shaun and Lea were going to have ends up not being able to survive and ends up being miscarried. Claire offers to give Lea the bad news, but Shaun insists on doing so himself. As he enters her room with a stoic expression and no words, Lea immediately knows and cries in Shaun's arms. The resulting silence and quiet from everybody else in the hospital as Shaun and Lea leave towards the end of the episode is simply heart shattering.

Season 5

Season 6

• "Boys Don't Cry". The episode begins with Lea hanging a menstrual calendar on the refrigerator. Since it has now been a year since the miscarriage, Shaun and Lea excitedly decide to try conceiving again. An ultrasound reveals some heartbreaking news: Lea has Asherman's Syndrome, which is scarred tissue from the miscarriage that makes future pregnancies difficult and unsafe. Lea spends the rest of the episode depressed, and in the final scene, Lea breaks down in tears when they arrive home and she sees the menstrual calendar on the refrigerator. Shaun takes it down and hugs Lea as she cries.

  Lea: Well, can... Can we still start trying?

  Gynecologist: I wouldn't advise it.

  Lea: How much longer do we have to wait?

  Gynecologist: I recommend continuing birth control. Getting pregnant right now wouldn't be safe for you... or the baby.

  Lea: When will it be safe?

  Gynecologist: Maybe another year? Maybe two. (beat) Maybe never.

• "Sorry, Not Sorry":
  • Morgan getting very emotional about her patient's refusal to get a rape kit, as she was raped herself and deeply regrets never getting one.
    Morgan: I hated the idea of being seen as a victim... so I never told anyone. I let that creep go. And now I'll never know how many other women he hurt.
  • Shaun spends the episode insisting that he is okay with his strictly professional relationship with Lim after she ended their friendship earlier in the season. Glassman finally tells both parties that the tension between them needs to be addressed. Shaun approaches Lim in her office, and both are in tears by the end of the scene.
    Shaun: I need to talk to you about your surgery. I can't change what happened, and I do not owe you an apology.
    Lim: Dr. Murphy...
    Shaun: But I am sorry for other things. In my RSI surgery today, the medical choice was clear, but I did not want to proceed because I knew what the consequences would be. In your surgery, the medical choice was clear, and I did proceed, but I did not know what the consequences would be. I saved your life, but my decision also caused you harm. When I saw you hurt and bleeding... I saw my brother Steve, when he died. When I thought I might lose you the way I lost him, I did not like that. I am sorry... this... has been very hard for you. A medicine-only relationship is... is not easy. I... It is not what I want. I have missed your friendship. I have missed you.
    Lim: This has been... really hard. And my life is in a good place now. I'm happy. But still angry sometimes. It may take a while to let that go. But... I've missed you, too, Shaun.
• "Quiet and Loud":
  • Lea is rushed into emergency surgery for internal bleeding, which may result in her losing her baby for the second time. Glassman will not allow Shaun to be a part of the surgery to avoid any emotional influence. Shaun sits against the wall outside the OR and watches the clock while reciting the steps to the surgery to himself. Andrews walks by and sits with Shaun. As the time moves far past Shaun's expectations, all of the other main characters not involved in the surgery, plus Villanueva and Jerome, gradually enter the hall and sit with Shaun in support of him, Lea, and their baby. Glassman then emerges with good news, and Shaun cries tears of joy as he hugs him and even Lim, showing that their friendship has greatly improved.

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