‘The Good Doctor’: Glassman Visited by Deceased Daughter After Successful Surgery

This week’s episode of The Good Doctor, “36 Hours,” started off with some good news. Dr. Shaun Murphy’s mentor, Dr. Aaron Glassman, had a successful surgery to treat his brain cancer.

“The surgery was a success! The only think you need now is rest,” Shaun (Freddie Highmore) told Glassman (Richard Schiff).

“…And chemo and radiation,” Glassman reminded Shuan.

To celebrate the successful surgery, Shaun had “I’m Walkin’ On Sunshine” blasting from his phone as he prepared for a tense day at work. He did not even want a message from Lea to interrupt his happy mood. When he received a text from her, he deleted it and continued brushing his teeth.

“The surgery was a success!” Shaun cheerfully told his colleagues when they arrived.

“How are you?” Dr. Claire Browne (Antonia Thomas) asked Shaun.

“I don’t need rest. I fell asleep in a comfortable chair!” Shaun replied.

Later in the episode, Shaun visited Glassman again to get some advice from his mentor on the case he was working on.

In the last scene, Maddie, Glassman’s deceased daughter visited him in the hospital.

“Am I dead?” he asked.

“No dummy, you’re just tired,” she said.

Glassman kissed her hand, then the episode ended.

During the rest of “36 Hours,” Shaun was paired with Dr. Morgan Reznick (Fiona Gubelman) for a 36-hour marathon shift in the emergency room. The major case they end up working on involves a man who struggles with a penis injury.

Morgan did not want Shaun to call Dr. Audrey Lim (Christina Chang) for help, so Shaun annoyed Glassman by asking for help. Glassman did offer some suggestion, much to the chagrin of his nurse.

Later, Shaun deleted another text from Lea. Morgan thought he was texting Lim behind her back, so she said they needed to talk outside. Shaun explained it was from Lea, so deleting it was confusing to Morgan. Shaun said he does not want to talk to her, although Claire suggested he not push her away.

Morgan surprisingly told Shaun to ignore them because they are not his real friends. “They want to take care of you, like a cute pet,” Morgan said. “They take you seriously as a doctor, but not as a man.”

Shaun rejected that theory, noting that Lea once kissed him. Morgan called that a “pity kiss,” because if she really felt love towards Shaun, she would have wanted more than just a peck. Shaun walked away at that point, and suddenly had one of his epiphanies on how to solve their case.

Afterwards, Lim, Shaun and Morgan did the procedure on their patient. Shaun asked Lim if she agreed with Morgan’s theory. But Lim advised Shaun to talk to Lea, because how else could he find out how she really feels about him? In the end, the surgery went well.

At the end of the day, Shaun found Lea sitting outside the hospital and admitted he made a big mistake by telling her to go away. “You’ve been a good friend,” he said. “If you want to talk, I will listen.”

Lea agreed that she has been a good friend, but told Shaun he was behaving like a jerk.

“You were so worried about me hurting you, what about how you hurt me?” Lea said. “Do you think you’re the only one who has feelings? You think you’re the only one who needs someone who doesn’t judge them? Doesn’t make them feel like they’re totally alone, like there’s not one person in the world who gives a damn about them?”

Shaun tried to apologize, but Lea did not buy it.

“You’re just uncomfortable and you’re trying to get me to shut up, which I will, just as soon as I finish telling you that friendship is a two-way street, Shaun,” Lea said as she got up. “A two-way street, you jacka–!”

Lea then walked away, leaving Shaun alone. Morgan walked by, telling Shaun, “I guess I was wrong. She does think of you like a real man.”

New episodes of The Good Doctor air on ABC Mondays at 10 p.m. ET.

Photo credit: ABC