The Good Doctor (4×06) Lim Review

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

Synopsis: Chief of Surgery Dr. Audrey Lim struggles to cope with the residual emotional trauma of COVID-19. (IMDb)

If anything, this latest episode of The Good Doctor, was just one, long, and messy way to say that Dr. Lim was not okay (while mostly failing to continue the momentum of the winter finale) but who wouldn’t be considering what these doctors have dealt with coming off the series’ COVID pandemic which began this season. Nevertheless, Christina Chang brought it here, delivering another stellar performance as Lim in a Lim-centered episode. It was just a shame that this episode couldn’t dig deeper into her psyche rather than focus on the disorder around her. However, whatever may be going on with her looks to continue into the near future if the last scene of the episode is of any indication.

Lim began with Lim restless. Giving up, she went out on her motorcycle and witnessed a car accident and proceeded to bring the victim, a man named Ben, to the hospital. It appeared that Ben may have been in a worse condition than it seemed. She then deflected Wolke’s state of mind (he was undoubtedly suffering from sort of PTSD after losing a patient which Lim was undoubtedly suffering from as well as was made apparent throughout the episode though she made time for him later).

Murphy was proving to be in a bad mood, refusing to teach and insisting in performing procedures himself (including an abortion). Lim believed she may have given him too much too soon so she decided to supervise his supervision but that was wishful thinking on her part (Murphy later picked up on that). From there, he would ignore his patient and focus on others who weren’t his patient. Meanwhile, the other first-year residents couldn’t control their patient, a woman named Rose (Sheila McCarthy) who claimed to be an empath (who was picking up on how Lim was feeling and her skepticism). Ben was a soldier suffering from PTSD which also proved to be a challenge and evolved over the course of the episode (another forced connection).

Allen didn’t want to perform the abortion because it went against her religious beliefs (Jackson volunteered in her place but Allen eventually came around while Andrews chimed in and told her that Jackson came to the hospital for Lim rather than Andrews). She eventually flaked out on the procedure which earned her a lashing from Lim (Allen later apologized and admitted to have gotten an abortion in the past). Browne and Lim argued over how to treat Ben. The former opening up about her PTSD and offering herself as someone to talk to led Lim to admit she was off but according to her (Murphy was also looking for the perfect gift for Lea’s birthday but his attempts to prompt Lim for advice only made it worse as was whatever Reznick and Park had going on which didn’t really matter), it was merely a part of the job. This also may have convinced her to try an experimental surgery on Ben (during the surgery, Murphy got to finally do some teaching) which appeared to be a success.

Rose continued to pick up on what Lim was feeling which sent her over the edge. She would have one more chance to confront Lim about what was happening to her and the feelings she was running away from before she imploded. Lim took her feelings back on her motorcycle where she lost control. As she got up, she was faced with a tidal wave of trauma stemming from her time dealing with the hospital’s COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s hard to imagine Lim being the only one affected but Chang’s performance was effective in those moments of vulnerability. It was just a shame that the episode couldn’t tone down all that other noise and allow the viewer to stay in those moments a little longer. However, her issues look to carry over into the near future so it will be interesting to see where it all goes but this episode did feel too out of place at this point of the season.

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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.