‘The Good Doctor’ Reveals Why Lea Moved Back to California

This week’s episode of The Good Doctor finally revealed why Lea moved back to San Jose, California and suddenly showed up at Shaun’s doorstep at the beginning of season 2.

In “Hubert,” Lea (Paige Spara) and Shaun (Freddie Highmore) agreed to get a pet goldfish, which they named Hubert. After a busy day at work, Shaun came home to see Hubert dead. Shaun said he would go get another goldfish, but Lea stopped him before he left.

“The fish isn’t the problem,” Lea told Shaun through tears. “I am. I’m pathetic. I went home to Hershey because I wasn’t fulfilled with my life. I thought I could help my bull-headed brother save the shop, be a part of something I was passionate about. Instead we ended up tanking it together, along with our relationship. Came back here to get my life back on track and how am I supposed to do that if I can’t even keep a damn fish alive?”

Shaun did not say a word, and instead picked up the goldfish bowl and left their shared apartment. He took it to the hospital to test the water, and discovered Lea was not responsible for Hubert’s death.

At the end of the episode, Shaun went to the pet store and demanded a new fish, with the test results in his hands. The store employee let Shaun pick a new one.

“Thank you Shaun, for caring for our fish while sorting out my problems,” Lea said.

The other stories in “Hubert” involved Shaun and Dr. Morgan Reznick (Fiona Gubelmann) trying to convince two brothers to settle a family score so they could save the older brother by transplanting the younger’s kidney into the older brother.

Dr. Claire Browne (Antonia Thomas) also tried to save a friend who is living with an ovarian cancer tumor. Claire was able to help by removing part of the tumor, but her friend also requested she go on a date with her husband.

At the end of the season two premiere, Lea showed up at Shaun’s doorstep after spending the second half of season one in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Shaun was not happy with Lea suddenly returning, and Lea was angry with Shaun for not wanting to talk to her about what went wrong. Eventually, their relationship warmed up again, but Lea knew she had to move out.

Lea went apartment hunting and found a two-room apartment she loved. Shaun rented the apartment behind her back, believing they could be roommates. At first, Lea balked at that, but she agreed to the arrangement if Shaun was fine with them not being a romantic couple.

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

Photo Credit: ABC