The Good Doctor Season 2 Episode 3: 36 Hours Review

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

Synopsis: A young married couple must choose between saving the wife’s life or their future ability to start a family; when Dr. Lim must take care of some personal business, she asks Dr. Murphy and Dr. Reznick to oversee the emergency room. (TV Guide)

Writer: Thomas L. Moran

Director: Larry Teng

Rating: TV-14

Running Time: 41mins

Airs: Mondays at 10pm on CTV (Canada)/ABC (United States)

While it’s admirable that The Good Doctor decided to try something different with this episode but the problem with it was that all the subplots within it failed to fit together and the episode as a whole failed to find the right tonal balance. The many previews alluded to one kind of episode, however, the episode we got was a much different one.

Starting off, Glassman survived the brain surgery from the end of the last episode and was in good shape. Murphy’s happiness about that fact (Glassman still needed radiation and chemotherapy) was preventing him from getting the rest he needed but over the course of the episode, this proved to be a daunting task for him. In fact, none of the medical staff were going to get much rest as everyone were forced to work 36 hour shifts thanks to Andrews’ new policy. This episode split up the team as Murphy and Reznick working the ER working various cases while Dr. Lim was tending to personal matters and the rest of the team were working on a female patient suffering from endometriosis.

In the ER. Murphy and Reznick dealt with a man suffering from a unwavering erection and then a child with a light bulb caught in their mouth. This was a chance for them to prove their independence but calling Lim for help would prove that they were not ready. Meanwhile, Lim’s personal matters involved traffic court though she was having a tough time with the presiding judge who took away her motorcycle license. Her case got interrupted by a call for help, however, she encouraged Murphy and Reznick to find a solution on their own. The unwavering erection proved to be difficult but instead of calling Lim, Murphy decided to ask Glassman who was still unable to fall asleep. He gave Murphy some advice before Murphy was escorted out of Glassman’s room. Before implementing Glassman’s advice, Murphy figured out what was wrong. Fortunately for Lim, her misfortune at traffic court sparked a fling that would prove to be a distraction once she was needed to help Murphy and Reznick with surgery which was successful.

Browne’s attempt to change Andrews’ mind about his new policy failed. What was supposed to be a straightforward procedure with her patient was indeed not straightforward and would last longer than they first thought. However, the focus shifted on the surgical team, including a very opinionated nurse, and a series of heated arguments that felt out of place. The increasing amount of lesions they were dealing with were so bad that her husband had to decide between saving his wife’s life or taking away her dream of having children. Their patient would need a hysterectomy but her husband couldn’t bare make a decision so he left it to Browne who ultimately chose the hysterectomy and saving her patient’s life. Though she couldn’t have children, she was okay with the outcome. When faced with their behavior during the surgery, the team stood up for one another in front of Andrews.

Throughout the episode, Murphy was sidetracked by Lea who wanted to talk after their latest argument. It was getting in the way of his work. Reznick gave him much different advice, telling him tha Browne and Lea did not think of him as a man. As he left the hospital at the end of his shift, Murphy was greeted by Lea. He offered to be more receptive to her, however, she didn’t have many nice things to say about how he was treating her.

The episode ended with a sleep-deprived Glassman hallucinating his dead daughter.

Overall, this was an inconsistent episode that tried to do too much and was all over the place with elements that never seemed to fit together. The mood during the episode was different but it didn’t quite work with the cases in the episode. The ER bits were fun but the Lim subplot took away any momentum from them. The on edge nature of the characters didn’t fit the characters and simply distracted from what could have been a compelling almost episode-long surgery. The final scene with Glassman could have been an emotional one, however, it didn’t work seeing that they ignored him for most of the episode. The same was the case with Murphy and Lea. These dramatic moments just felt shoehorned in to an already heavy episode. For the most part, this episode was a rare misfire which is understandable with a network-length season so here’s to hoping it won’t happen again soon.

Score: 6.5/10

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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.