The Good Doctor Season 1 Episode 3: Oliver Review

If you would like to read my review of the last episode, click here.

Synopsis: Dr. Melendez and Dr. Kalu discover their patient isn’t being completely honest with them; Dr. Browne must learn to communicate with Dr. Murphy as they race back to the hospital with a donated organ. (TV Guide)

Writer: William L. Rotko

Director: John Dahl

Rating: TV-14

Running Time: 41mins

The best thing about The Good Doctor so far is to learn more about Murphy and to watch him grow and that was what we got to see here. Murphy himself is still somewhat of a mystery but he also has to learn how to work as a team.

The episode starts off with a man on a motorcycle getting distracted by a few women before getting struck by a car and seemingly dying. Then we see Murphy quiety sitting at a table until he gets interrupted when his neighbor knocks at the door and asks to borrow some batteries to finish her video game. She also warns Murphy about the neighborhood cat which he shouldn’t feed.

At the hospital, the doctors learn that they now have a liver transplant available for their patient Chuck. Browne and Murphy were tasked to retrieve it. Their trip meant Murphy got to ride in a helicopter for the first time. Once they arrived to pick it up, they learn that it was removed early after the donor died (I’m assuming it’s the guy on the motorcycle). Murphy checked it anyway and it appeared fine.

Browne was frustrated about not being to communicate with Murphy so she consulted Glassman and he said that she would have to figure out her own way in. Murphy sensed that they wouldn’t be leaving in the helicopter before the pilot told them so they had to find another way back. Their only option was a police escort. Their trip also triggered flashbacks to when a younger Murphy was alone and taken by the police who didn’t know what to do with him until Glassman took him.

Murphy wanted to know who the donor’s name was and it was Oliver (hence the episode title). Browne tried smalltalk during their car ride which proved problematic as Murphy seemed to be more interested in x-rays of the liver. A problem arose once the liver’s temperature was getting too high. Murphy wasn’t much help until he had the idea to submerge the liver in slush. Browne also learned that Murphy didn’t like questions so he didn’t respond to them. Murphy then spotted a problem with the liver when he noticed that it had a clot so they had to stop so he and Browne can remove it.

Dr. Jared Kalu (Chuku Modu) thought there was something wrong with Chuck’s blood test results but they conclusively showed that he had alcohol in his system which was not a good thing if he were to get a liver transplant. When confronted with the results, Chuck admitted that he had one glass of champagne. The realization that he might not get a liver led Chuck to take a look back at his life and the mistakes he made.

Chuck’s health got worse which made the liver even more important. Melendez argued his case during a meeting with committee but they couldn’t overlook what he did. Once Browne and Murphy arrived back at the hospital, it was all for naught after Chuck got moved to the bottom of the donor list and the liver was given to another hospital.

The hospital is getting a potential donor so to ensure his cooperation, a board member Allegra Aoki (Tamlyn Tomita) asks Andrews to work on them personally and to have Melendez as his secondary. Andrews felt slighted and his authority challenged as he believed she thought he wasn’t good enough but she wanted to make sure everything was perfect. He had to reconstruct the man’s face after he had tumors removed by grafting skin from his leg to put on his cheek.

Andrews went to Glassman for advice and he told him to put his ego away and act presidential if that was what he hoped to be in the future. The surgery proved more difficult for Andrews so he called for Melendez and the surgery was successful.

The episode ended with Chuck and his family seeming fine with what happened. Murphy asked for his batteries back from his neighbor and learned that her name was Leah and then fed the cat. Melendez also can’t sleep after what happened. Murphy and Glassman eat pancakes together.

Overall, this was another great episode that featured a decent balance between the characters. We learned a little more about Murphy through flashbacks and as Browne learned how to deal with him. Highmore and Thomas were fun to watch together here thanks to their great chemistry. Melendez showed some humanity in his treatment of Chuck and his math skills. Kalu got a lot of time here and was good too.

Score: 9/10

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Keith Noakes

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.