‘The Good Doctor’: Dr. Han Fires Shaun for Demanding His Surgeon Job Back

In this week’s episode of The Good Doctor, Shaun stood up to Dr. Jackson Han by himself, but the result was the same. Even after saving a patient’s life, Han refused to put Shaun back in surgery. Shaun demanded he get his job back, forcing Han to fire him.

In “Breakdown,” the doctors at St. Bonaventure Hospital in San Jose juggled two major cases. A friend of Dr. Audrey Lim’s (Christina Chang) brought her baby to the hospital, and Lim was horrified when the Pathology department discovered the baby had symptoms that match being shaken or abused. Lim’s friend insisted this was wrong. Even after multiple tests though, the evidence remained the same and Lim had to call police to arrest her friend.

Meanwhile, Dr. Neil Melendez (Nicholas Gonzalez), Dr. Morgan Reznick (Fiona Bugelmann) Dr. Alex Park (Will Yun Lee) and Dr. Claire Brown (Antonia Thomas) took on the case of Paulie Gimm (James Immekus), who was living with a 100-pound tumor. At first, the much-publicized case hit a roadblock when they discovered their first plan for removing it would kill him. The doctors told Paulie though could not go through with a procedure that could knowingly kill him. Later though, Claire came up with a new plan that could work.

While watching the surgery on Paulie, Shaun suddenly realized there might have been something else causing the results in the baby’s tests. Shaun and Dr. Carly Lever (Jasika Nicole) discovered that something injured the baby during delivery and she was not abused.

Later, Melendez brought in Shaun to help out with a blood flow problem against Han’s orders. Shaun provided a way to help but said they did not have enough time. Claire came up with another way, and Han had to thank Shaun for his advice. After Shaun’s suggestions, the surgery was successful.

After Paulie’s life was saved, Shaun stormed into Han’s office and told him he wants his old job back. But Han reminded him he did good work in Pathology and helped save a man’s life today. If he continues to do well, Shaun could take on more responsibilities.

Shaun refused. He sat down and told Han he would not leave the office until he was reinstated.

“I am a surgeon,” Shaun repeated as Han tried to tell him he was only proving his point by showing immaturity.

Han offered Shaun one last chance to leave his office because he still believes Shaun has a talent. Shaun continued yelling until Han had to call security to get him out of the office. It mean Han had to fire Shaun.

In the last scene, Shaun had a breakdown in the locker room. Claire found him in tears and helped him get back up. Shaun left the hospital in the rain and looked back at the building.

Despite all this drama playing out at the hospital, even more was going on in the doctor’s private lives.

While doing the MRI on Paulie’s tumor, Claire and Alex brainstormed ways to show support for Shaun’s efforts to get back to surgery. Morgan backed Han (Daniel Dae Kim), and suggested keeping Shaun out of the operation room was for the best. But Claire insisted Shaun could learn more in the next three years of his residency.

In another plot, Lim and Melendez debated telling Dr. Marcus Andrews (Hill Harper) about their relationship after they worried Shaun saw them making out on the way to work. After her friend accused her of not knowing what it means to love someone, Lim and Melendez told Andrews about their relationship.

Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff) also continued pestering Dr. Marina Blaize (Lisa Edelstein) while waiting for the test results following his latest round of cancer treatments. Thankfully, at the end, Glassman learned there was no tumor residue. Rather than instantly celebrating, Glassman teared up and gave Blaize a gift – a signed baseball from an unforgettable moment in his childhood. He wanted to give Blaize something important to remember him by.

The Good Doctor airs on Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC. Next week is the season finale.

Photo credit: ABC