'The Good Doctor' Star Making Surprise Return After Long Absence

The Good Doctor has a huge surprise in store for longtime fans coming up. Chuku Modu, whose character Dr. Jared Kalu left in the Season 2 premiere more than four years ago, is making a comeback in the March 6 episode. The actor isn't just making a one-and-done appearance either as he will recur for the rest of Season 6.

Jared will return to St. Bonaventure Hospital in "Old Friends," alongside a billionaire patient. "We couldn't be more excited to have Chuku rejoin The Good Doctor family, and for the audience to learn what Dr. Kalu has been up to since he left St. Bon's," executive producer Liz Friedman told Deadline on Wednesday. Modu is the latest Good Doctor star to return after a long absence, following in the footsteps of Antonia Thomas and Beau Garrett.

During The Good Doctor Season 1, Jared became close friends with Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore). However, he was fired after he punched a doctor who sexually harassed his girlfriend, Dr. Claire Browne (Thomas). Jared found a way to use legal blackmail to be reinstated at the fictional San Jose hospital, but irreversible damage was done to his career there. He split with Claire and moved to Colorado to be a surgeon. Jared left during the Season 2 premiere, becoming the first major character to leave The Good Doctor.

"Old Friends" will air the night another important Good Doctor episode was originally supposed to air. The backdoor pilot for the show's first spinoff, The Good Lawyer, will now air on March 13. In that episode, Shaun will need to hire a lawyer to help him in court. He hires the inexperienced Joni DeGroot (Kennedy McMann) to represent him. Her mentor is Janet Stewart (Felicity Huffman), who will serve a role similar to Shaun's mentor, Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff). The Good Lawyer will debut during the 2023-2024 TV season.

New episodes of The Good Doctor air Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC. The series is available to stream on Hulu. The show was developed by David Shore and is based on a South Korean drama created by Park Jae-bum.

Since leaving The Good Doctor, Modu had a lead role in the final two seasons of The CW's The 100. He also played Soh-Larr in Marvel's Captain Marvel. He stars in the British film The Origin, which had its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival last year.

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