The Good Doctor (5×09) Yippee Ki-Yay Review

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

Synopsis: In an effort to please Salen, Andrews takes on a high-profile case and assigns Shaun and Allen to help perform a risky surgery to restore the voice of a famous pop star. (TV Guide)

After several so-called final straws over the course of Salen’s reign over the hospital, that arc has seemingly now seen its tipping point. Though in order to move forward, characters have to be united and in the right frame of mind which isn’t necessarily the case for some of them as of late. Lim was always going to be a cog in whatever was going to happen and the episode title provided a major hint as to what that would be as she would have to put together a ragtag group of people to take the bad guy down. To do so, they would have to take some risks which was also a major theme in this episode as characters and patients took them as a means to get better. That being said, it appeared that some of those risks may not have worked out thus creating some compelling drama though knowing where things were likely going, they didn’t exactly come out of nowhere.

After leaving Murphy, Lea needed to find a place to live and for now, that was Allen’s couch. Speaking of Lim, there was obviously going to be some repercussions and in her case that was losing her position as chief of surgery to Andrews but not her job altogether which was interesting. However, Salen got her an interview at another nearby hospital for a better-paying position for which she would later refuse out of principal and loyalty. 

Joe (David Marciano) suffered from a fractured clavicle and a dislocated shoulder while tending to his special needs son Cody. Feeling little to no pain suggested something else going on. The only caretaker for his son, he couldn’t do it with one arm. Opting for risky surgery to fix some nerve damage in his arm rather than lose his son, it did not work out, leaving him paralyzed. Reznick, empathetic to Cody, felt guilty in perhaps getting his hopes up and wasn’t going to give up on him. She figured out that some of  his ailments, originally attributed to a diagnosis of kabuki syndrome, were caused by a tumor which was found to be in his pancreas. As a result, the father-son dynamic was reversed but they could stay together.

Nelly Dunn (AJ Michalka) was a famous singer who was part of a group along with her sister (Aly Michalka) needing a trachea transplant to get her voice back following a car accident with her sister (they needed to also reconcile in order to move forward). Murphy dissented with the other doctors about the viability of said surgery but the others believed it to be residual emotion from his issues with Lea. Despite the risk, Nelly wanted the surgery and Andrews still believed it to be possible. His motivation arguably was the need to please Salen. Meanwhile, the Dunn sisters’ reconciliation inspired Murphy to make up with Lea. She may be flawed and messy but they were still good for one another. Though they were going to have issues like this down the road, they were willing to do the work together.

Nelly’s surgery was not going well, so much so that it looked like the doctors were going to lose her. Andrews was not going to give up in the midst of Murphy venting out his frustration and chastising him for his recklessness in wanting to please Salen. But this would be all for naught as she somehow came back to life which was lucky on their part. The surgery ended up a success, however, Murphy did not see it that way. This was Murphy’s final straw, walking in on Salen and Andrews and quitting. He was not going to let her ruin him like she did Andrews.

Putting a decent group together, Lim still needed Glassman to give them a boost. Reluctant at first, he finally was in by the end.

Let the games and drama begin.

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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.