The Good Doctor Season 2 Episode 13: Xin Review

Keith NoakesJanuary 29, 2019n/a8 min

For our review of the last episode of The Good Doctor, click here.

Synopsis: Dr. Murphy, Dr. Reznick and Dr. Lim treat a woman who has autism and a delicate brain condition; Lea and Shaun work to figure out their friendship and roommate status. (TV Guide)

Writer: Brian Shin

Director: David Straiton

Rating: TV-14

Running Time: 41mins

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

After a filler episode away from the hospital, it was now time to get back to business.

This episode started off with Murphy’s awkward encounter with Lea’s boyfriend Jake (Andres Joseph). Murphy claimed that he liked Jake but only time will tell if that will continue to be the case. Meanwhile, Murphy was preoccupied with Glassman who wasn’t doing to well. Park was also getting back together with his ex-wife but none of that mattered as his, Browne, and Melendez’s next patient was brought in, a woman with a malfunctioning mechanical heart named Sunny Lee (Emily Kuroda). Reznick, Murphy, and Lim had an autistic woman named Lana Moore (Vered Blonstein) who suffered from an arteriovenous malformation which could lead to multiple aneurysms and permanent brain damage. Finally after last week’s episode, the hospital was again looking for a chief of surgery which would potentially pit Melendez against Lim once again.

Lee’s daughter named Teresa (Sheena Chou) told the doctors that her mother’s heart was implanted back in China but she may be a complete stranger as another woman named Grace (Vedette Lim) who the doctors believed to be her sister claimed that she did not have a sister. Teresa was just a person who was very close to Lee while Grace was her actual daughter. The plan was to transport Lee on a specialized plane back to China. However, a fight between Lee and her estranged daughter Grace put that in jeopardy as the stress was affecting her heart. She wasn’t going anywhere and they would have to try and fix her mechanical heart themselves. The surgery was ultimately a success but Lee and Grace’s tumultuous relationship remained.

Moore and her eccentric not boyfriend but roommate Javi (Alex Plank) would both prove to be a challenge, however, Murphy seemed to make a connection with her. He used this to convince her to undergo potentially dangerous surgery that may save her life. The surgery encountered other complications which would need them to operate on her while awake so they can avoid affecting the speech center of her brain. Because of Javi’s connection with Moore, the doctors needed him to be present during surgery to help. Meanwhile, Reznick tried to convince Javi that their relationship was something more. During the additional surgery, things looked dire until Javi showed up to help Moore through the remainder of the surgery which would be a success.

Murphy may have meant well but Glassman was getting tired of his smothering of him. He couldn’t understand why Glassman was lying about his pain to not worry him. Glassman simply did not want him as he was not helping. Lea consoled him afterwards. Meanwhile, Murphy trying to be friends with Lea and Jake was affecting their dynamic.

Murphy got tired of Lea and Jake’s fooling around in their apartment so he decided to visit Glassman to console him.

Overall, Xin was a good episode of The Good Doctor with a pair of compelling cases while Murphy was challenged on multiple fronts. Lea’s new relationship will take some getting used to but Murphy seemed to be handling it at least so far. Meanwhile, he also had to learn to not be so hands on with Glassman who was either uncomfortable with Murphy’s smothering or just did not like being vulnerable in front of others. The second case with Moore could have gone further and had her interact a little more with Murphy but the parallels between her relationship with Javi helped him understand his relationship with Lea. The competition for head of surgery is back on which will bring Melendez and Lim closer together whether they like it or not. Highmore and Schiff were great here as Murphy and Glassman and it will be interesting to see where that dynamic goes. Here’s to a strong final stretch!

Score: 8.5/10

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