‘The Good Doctor’: Shaun Makes Major Decision in Relationships With Carly and Lea

The Good Doctor returned from its mid-season break on Monday night with another heartbreaker. After spending the night with Lea after his father’s death, Dr. Sean Murphy finally had to decide between Carly and Lea. In the end of the episode “Fractured,” Sean finally made his choice.

Throughout the episode, Sean (Freddie Highmore) struggled to make a decision, even after seeking advice from Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff) and Dr. Morgan Reznick (Fiona Gubelmann). Sean tried to avoid Dr. Carly Lever (Jaskica Nicole) at work, but did eventually have to confront her and tell her what happened with Lea Dilallo (Paige Spara). Carly could understand that Lea wa a close friend of Sean’s, but they could not keep their relationship going if he was still living with Lea.

At the end of the episode, Sean and Carly hashed everything out, reminiscing about the first time they met. Carly said she remembered thinking that Sean was the “most genuine person I’ve ever known.”

“You told me the truth. That is a good thing,” Carly said. “It’s why I like you. It’s why I don’t want to lose what we have. You hurt me, and I worry something like that could happen again. I want to be with you, Sean. But I don’t know how this works if you are still living with Lea.”

“You want me… not to live with Lea?” Sean asked.

“I know that’s a lot to ask, and if it’s too much, I understand,” Carly said. “You don’t have to answer right away. Take some time.”

However, Sean did not want to take some time. As Carly got up, he grabbed her hand to stop her.

“OK… I want to be with you,” Sean said. “I love you, Carly.”

Carly laughed and the two hugged in the last moment of the episode.

Sean’s relationship with Carly has been a major story in Season 3 of The Good Doctor, leaving fans to wonder how Carly feels about his living arrangements with Lea. Sean has been more comfortable with being physically intimate with Lea than with Carly, which became a big issue for her once Sean came clean in “Fractured.” Carly was not happy that Lea was who Sean went to for comfort during his trip to see his estranged parents.

“We see Shaun in a very vulnerable moment, a very different moment, and in a very nonsexual situation, but we see him achieve a level of physical intimacy with Lea that he wasn’t able to achieve with Carly,” executive producer David Shore told TVLine. “So as we go forward, we explore the significance of that.”

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

Photo credit: ABC/Jack Rowand