The Good Doctor (3×11) Fractured Review

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

Synopsis: Following his father’s death, Shaun must deal with the effects his intimacy with Lea will have on his relationship with Carly; the team operates on a patient who is refusing all anesthesia during surgery for fear of relapsing. (TV Guide)

This midseason premiere of The Good Doctor went right back into things after THAT moment in the midseason finale. Freddie Highmore definitely carried this episode as Murphy. Meanwhile, we also got some vintage Browne.

Fractured started where the last episode left off with Murphy and Lea in the motel room. He was ready to move on (though he probably wasn’t) but Lea wanted to talk about it. She was worried about what being in his room all night may look like, however Murphy told Glassman about it (he liked how it felt).

Back at the hospital, there was no time to talk about what just happened (Murphy clearly wasn’t interested in talking about it) as there cases to deal with. Murphy and Reznick (she thought he should stay with Carly) had a woman with a high pain tolerance who broke her leg during a mountain biking accident while Browne and Park had a man named Luca who suffered from an intestinal blockage but had no insurance so he didn’t want to stay. Meanwhile, Carly was hurt by Murphy’s inability to call or text her while he was away (she was also upset by his lack of awareness of her feelings). Also, Browne started to see a therapist who believed she was suffering with PTSD.

As soon as Luca was given a laxative, he tried to leave but was intercepted. Park believed he was storing drugs and had a bad reaction. An MRI proved it (he was facing hard times) meaning that they would have to surgically remove the balloons out of his system. The only reason he agreed to stay was because Browne promised not to call the cops though it was hospital policy to do so (she wasn’t going to give up on him of course since she connected with him because of her rough upbringing). Meanwhile, the woman refused painkillers because she was keeping a secret from her husband that she was an opioid addict therefore performing surgery on her leg would be difficult (they came up with a less painful surgical option which would increase her recovery time).

Carly wanted answers from Murphy but clearly he felt differently around her than he did around Lea. The next obvious step for him was to make his own pros and cons lists for each of them. He asked Andrews for relationship advice. When he got home, Murphy just wanted to hang though his feelings for Lea were getting harder to ignore (checking his own pulse). Meanwhile, the woman suffered complications from her surgery. They would have to do the surgery they were avoiding (one needing opioids) otherwise the doctors would have to amputate her leg. The doctors found a way to circumvent doctor-patient confidentiality to get the woman’s husband to convince her to go for the surgery, however, without the drugs.

Carly didn’t want to break up but Murphy sharing the news of what happened with Lea (their intimacy) did not exactly help. In a powerful scene, Murphy had a panic attack while thinking that everyone was going to leave him until Glassman rightfully set him straight before his surgery. Though the woman was in pain during her surgery (which would be a success), holding on to Murphy would serve as a decent distraction from it. Meanwhile, the doctors removed all the balloons from Luca who was thankful for Browne who brought it up during her therapy session (her behavior was to avoid her feelings towards her mother). Unfortunately, Luca was not his real name and he disappeared with the drugs.

This day was a huge blow for Browne but there were still plenty of people on her side. Carly still wanted to be with Murphy thought couldn’t see how it would work if he was still living with Lea. As she walked away, he grabbed her hand, telling her that he loved her and wanted to be with her. They episode ended with them embracing.

The love triangle remains though the death of his father kind of got pushed aside while the old Browne is back.

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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.