The Good Doctor (4×01) Frontline, Part 1 Review

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

Synopsis: Lea and Shaun’s new relationship will become tested. Park gets ready to move back to Phoenix. Morgan puts herself and several members of the staff in danger. Claire continues to work through her grief from the death of Melendez. (IMDb)

It’s only fitting that the return of The Good Doctor would tackle COVID-19 right away as it’s been an issue that has plagued the world for the majority of this year. Who knows how this will affect the world of the series but this first part of a two part episode felt very real, maybe too real. Some may argue that it’ll come off as a little old after so many months but many of these series are just catching up to the unfortunate reality we all live in. It will definitely be interesting how these series and their storytelling adapts to this time as this episode, inevitably filmed well in the middle of the pandemic, already shows signs of these changes. Meanwhile, a certain character makes an appearance to help provide closure for a particular character.

Frontline, Part 1 saw the characters and the world of the series adapt to the harsh reality that is the COVID-19 pandemic by starting right at the beginning (or at least a close approximation) with the start of the spread as the world acted normally though we know things were about to change real fast. Murphy and Lea are together but they are not currently staying together. Browne and Lim are still in mourning over the loss of Melendez.

The first supposed COVID-19 patient showed up and she wouldn’t be alone as the episode saw a wide range of patients representing all ages and all races. The main patients were an elderly African-American woman (Browne had to navigate caring for her while being empathetic to her relationship with her worried daughter which would only be made worse after her tragic death), a pregnant woman named Ambar (Arlen Aguayo-Stewart) (Park connected with her because he missed Kellan. She gave birth while in the hospital), and a man named Martin Cross (Lochlyn Munro) with his very worried wife Lily (Carly Pope) who followed him around for what seemed to be the longest facetime session ever (Murphy was annoyed but it was also a learning experience for how to deal with his new long distance relationship with Lea. Meanwhile, he only seemed to get worse while others were doing better). It was still early on so the hospital and the doctors understanbly had no idea what was about to happen or know how to deal with it but they would have to learn and adapt fast. Suffice it to say that it wasn’t easy for them. COVID is an unpredictable beast so these patients suffered the spectrum of side effects.

From that point on, Murphy and Lea were forced to communicate via video chat while Park and a concerned and constantly inquiring Kellan did the same (Murphy and Park were living together while Murphy refused to acknowledge that he missed Lea for more than just sex which clearly affected him). Needless to say, it was taking a toll on the doctors and hospital staff (taking a look at all their new personal lives). Meanwhile, part of a vulnerable demographic, Glassman was forced to stay home with Debbie which wasn’t easy for either of them and it just got worse as the episode went on as they questioned the other about how seriously they were taking their quarantine (as a bonus, Beau Garrett as Jessica Preston showed up during one of his zoom board meetings).

Reznick got a patient later on, a man who was admitted for an unrelated issue that turned out to be COVID-19. Being sent to a non-COVID ward put her and Nurse Petringa (Karin Konoval) at risk as well as anyone else who may have come in contact with him.

Murphy and Lea’s attempt at long distance sex did not work but they had a moment when she delivered a clip to help him with his mask situation and they just sat together on both sides of a wall. Meanwhile, Browne, while looking for her patient’s necklace for her daughter, had a vision of Melendez who comforted her.

In the end, this COVID-19 situation is not over but it will be interesting to see how the season moves on or if it even can move on from it.

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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.