‘The Good Doctor’: Lea Makes Surprise Return at Shaun’s Doorstep

At the end of The Good Doctor season two premiere, Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) and fans at home were left with their jaws on the floor when Lea Dilallo (Paige Spara) showed up at Shaun’s door completely out of the blue.

“Aren’t you going to say hello?” Lea asked.

“Hello!” a dumbstruck Shaun said before the episode ended.

During the first half of The Good Doctor‘s freshman season, Lea was Shaun’s neighbor and it becameclear that there was a special connection between the two. Unfortunately for Shaun, he had trouble expressing his feelings at first, even enlisting Dr. Claire Browne (Antonia Thomas) to help him learn how to flirt.

In the season one midseason premiere episode “Islands,” it looked like their relationship was only getting stronger. Lea successfully convinced Shaun to call in sick and go on a road trip with her. At the beginning, Shaun admitted he considered Lea a friend. Lea eventually got Shaun drunk during what turned out to be a date. At their hotel, Shaun kissed Lea before leaving, and it turned out to be the first time he kissed a girl.

But “Islands Part One” ended with devastating news. Lea told Shaun he needed to face his fears and talk to Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff). Shaun agreed that he needed to face his fears, which inspired Lea to do the same. She chose to move across the country to Hershey, Pennsylvania to take over her late grandfather’s body shop. Shaun was devastated by the news, so he left Lea behind at a diner and headed back to San Jose.

In the second part of “Islands,” Claire convinced Shaun to stay at St. Bonaventure Hospital. Lea was sad about Shaun not going, but he agreed to visit her eventually.

“Are you a good doctor? Because when I think of you, I think you are,” Lea told Shaun before they kissed and said goodbye.

While some fans may have thought that would be the end of Shaun’s relationship with Lea, Freddie Highmore told Entertainment Weekly in June that we would see more of Lea.

“It’s funny because actors can usually just rely on the excuse that they have no idea what’s coming, so they don’t have to give any teases about what’s happening in season 2,” said Highmore, who is also now a writer on the show. “But I’m actually in the middle of being in the writers’ room, so I know lots of what’s going to happen with Lea and Shaun, and all of it is exciting, but… I can’t reveal any of it.”

Now we know Lea is back, but we will have to wait until next week to see where they go next.

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

Photo credit: ABC/Jeff Weddell