‘The Good Doctor’: Shaun Accuses [SPOILER] of Malpractice

Monday night’s heart-pounding episode of The Good Doctor, “Seven Reasons,” featured Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) accusing his mentor, Dr. Neil Melendez (Nicholas Gonzalez) of malpractice.

The episode kicked off with Shaun walking past Lea’s door and realizing his beloved neighbor is no longer there. He has no time to miss her because a case has already come in.

Dr. Marcus Andrews (Hill Harper) first gives him a case with Melendez, but he thinks working with him would be a bad idea. Shaun and Dr. Jared Kalu (Chuku Modu) get to work on the case of a young girl who suddenly has a heart attack while treating for a burn from a grease fire.

The girl told Shaun she forgot the stove was on and inhaled smoke, but Shaun doesn’t believe the story.

“How can you forget something is hot if it’s on fire?” Shaun wonders.

Meanwhile, Dr. Claire Browne (Antonia Thomas) is still angry that Dr. Coyle was transferred. Allegra (Tamlyn Tomita) told her she couldn’t fire Coyle for sexual harassment because his story was different from hers. Jared’s actions made the situation more difficult.

Later, Melendez joins Shaun and Jared on the case. While they put a camera down the patient’s throat, the two younger doctors pester Melendez. Jared apologizes for his actions, while Shaun asks Melendez questions about his breakup with Jessica (Beau Garrett). When the camera reaches her lungs, they notice she is hemorrhaging!

After the break, Shaun asks Glassman (Richard Schiff) if she should report Melendez for making a mistake. He is worried that Melendez will treat him like Jared. But rather than helping, Glassman said they agreed that Shaun would make his own decisions.

Claire’s issue is that Coyle is going to have to work on the patient she’s dealing with. However, the patient’s wife does not want him to undergo the procedure, since it took awhile for him to recover from a previous stroke.

Next, Jessica asks Melendez if he was upset during the procedure. That’s clearly because Shaun reported him. Melendez denies being upset during the procedure.

Shaun then asks his patient why she lied. After all, they found no evidence that she ingested smoke. She insists she did not lie, but then starts vomiting.

Claire and Shaun have breakfast, engaging in a discussion about why people lie. He thinks the wife of Claire’s patient is lying about something. The patient has also abused the wife.

Jessica tells Melendez she will recuse herself from the case. Melendez is not happy that Jessica is believing Shaun over him. Melendez insists he did not make the mistake.

Shaun has figured out that methanol is what caused their patent’s stomachache. Since the patient is Muslim, it could not come from drinking alcohol. However, Shaun suggests it could come from a caustic chemical. These could explain her symptoms. The one caustic chemical that could have caused this is one she might have come in contact with as a school teacher.

Shaun also suggested that the patient might be a terrorist. This shocked Melendez, who said it was wrong to make such accusations.

Of course, then Melendez fired back at Jared.

Shaun tells the patient she has been exposed to dimethyl sulfate, which is used for chemical weapons. The patient did not expect this from another person who might have experienced prejudice. Shaun insists he is only presenting her facts. As they are talking, the patient has a real heart attack.

Lawyer Zoe Salter (Hayley Sales) interviews Melendez, who successfully convinces her that he was not distracted. But after telling him that being distracted while being a doctor is dangerous, he starts thinking about that.

While Shaun, Melendez and Jared talk about the case, they realize a major decision has to be made about treatment. Shaun tells Melendez his arrogance actually makes him a good doctor. Jared thinks the decision they made is wrong, but they could kill the patient.

In Claire’s case, they have to stop the procedure. She thinks the wife kept her abusive husband’s medication from him. However, Claire realizes that her son might actually be the one killing her husband.

Thankfully, Jared’s decision saved the patient’s life. Melendez was wrong. Shaun tells Melendez he needs to say thank you, which he does. Phew, Jared will not be fired again and no one will know about Melendez’s mistake.

Later, Shaun meets his new neighbor, who happens to be played by comedian Chris D’Elia.

In the end, Claire’s patient is saved and we learn that Shaun’s patient was not really a terrorist, of course. Her brother has access to the chemicals and he took them home so she could make perfume.

Shaun would not admit that he was wrong. Instead, she proved one of his reasons for lying: to protect someone.

In the end, Melendez tells Jessica that he has realized his arrogance makes him a good doctor, but it certainly would not make him a good husband.

Next, Claire is speaking with a woman who worked with Coyle and then quit. The woman agrees to open up.

In the very last scene of the episode, Glassman says he does not want to help him or even have breakfast. Shaun says he needs a friend, but Glassman does not think they can change their relationship. Shaun just says OK and leaves. He goes home to eat alone. He sits and smells a pine tree air freshener, since that reminds him of Lea.

Photo credit: ABC/Eike Schroter