If you would like to read my review of the last episode, click here.
Synopsis: Dr. Marcus Andrews enlists Dr. Neil Melendez on a very sensitive kidney transplant between a pair of twins; Dr. Shaun Murphy decides to take an impromptu trip with his friend Lea and leave his problems behind. (IMDB)
Writers: Thomas L. Moran and William L. Rotko
Director: Bill D’Elia
Rating: TV-14
Running Time: 41mins
The last episode ended with Murphy seemingly disappearing and Glassman looking for him. This episode continued this with Glassman storming into Lea’s appartment looking for Murphy. Lea denied knowing where Murphy was and was about to call the police on Glassman but it was all an act as Murphy was indeed hiding in her appartment. Lea has been a great character to watch along with Murphy as they contrast well and she helps to normalize him.
There were a lot of thoughts and feelings going through Murphy’s head so Lea suggested they go on a road trip to help clear his head but first she had to convince him to call in sick which was something that he wasn’t the most comfortable with. The two took Lea’s second car, a Starsky & Hutch looking car that was given to her by her late grandfather.
Early on, Murphy and Lea opened up to each other and we learned that Murphy didn’t like music which didn’t sit well with her though he didn’t mind the song she chose. She remembered past events in her life based on music and we know that Murphy remembered smells. To get him to turn off his phone, Lea offered him the opportunity to drive. Murphy didn’t have a license because of Glassman but he wanted to drive her car so he did and even burnt some rubber before driving off the road and causing him to freak out.
They later took their minds off of what happened earlier by going to the bar and singing karaoke. Their day ended by Murphy scoring his first kiss with Lea which ended in an unexpected way. However, Lea was not deterred but wanted him to stop living in fear.
At the hospital, the patients this week were a pair of conjoined identical twins named Katie and Jenny Kunkler (Elizabeth and Emily Hinkler) with one needing a kidney transplant from the other. Everyone wondered where Murphy was but Glassman was covering for him. However, Andrews was on to him.
The twins kidney transplant encountered some complications so the next step for the doctors was to perform the separation surgery six month earlier than planned. Whether or not they perform the surgery was up to the twins and the decision was an easy one. At least it was at first until the healthy one changed her mind. Browne convinced the twins to go along with the separation surgery. During the surgery, the doctors were successful at separating the twins but it remains to be seen if the rest of the surgery will be successful (there’s always part two).
Kalu confronted Coyle to apologize and to have him see it from his point of view but it didn’t work. Browne confronted Coyle by threatening to expose him if Kalu didn’t get his job back. Also, Melendez got over Pearson not wanting kids by finding a compromise.
Murphy and Lea’s road trip has afforded each of with clarity. Lea decided to quit her job and move to Hershey, Pennsylvania to start a new job repairing old cars. Murphy didn’t exactly know how to deal with this news and stormed off. Kalu got a call from Andrews offering him his recommendation if he were to seek a job at another hospital since he wasn’t going to welcome him back.
The last shot of the episode was of Murphy waiting at a bus stop while listening to music.
Overall, this was a good episode where the case of the week (or at least the first part) was lacking but was lifted by Murphy and Lea’s roadtrip and other character developments. The Murphy and Lea relationship has been great so far as she had helped normalize Murphy as he continues to come out of his shell which is one the most compelling aspects of the series so far. Highmore and Spara have excellent chemistry together so it will be sad to see their relationship probably coming to an end. It will be interesting to see where he goes from here and how this will affect him once he returns to the hospital as the previews for the next episode imply. I’m not sure why this is two parts but we’ll see how it will conclude next week.
Score: 8.5/10
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The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.
