The Good Doctor (5×10) Cheat Day Review

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

Synopsis: Salen takes extreme measures when she learns that the surgical staff have joined Lim’s efforts against her. The team treats a liver transplant patient whose organ donor unwittingly gave him cancer. (IMDb)

The hospital drama took over this week’s episode of The Good Doctor as the writing has finally hit a wall. The forces have been mounting up in the fight against Salen as the sale of the hospital neared closing thus giving the doctors one last chance to stop her and the sale. It was kind of a shame that the cases of the week were essentially an afterthought in contrast to the overarching arc of the season but now we got some resolution and some strong character moments along the way. That being said, this will only be the beginning as far as the characters are concerned, seeing that the hospital is losing money and would need some sort of assistance in one way or another. 

Regardless of what may or may not happen, Murphy was the primary concern of Lea and Glassman who did quit at the end of the last episode. As far as he was concerned, he set that aside and came back to the hospital, choosing to focus on the medicine. With Murphy on a poster outside of the hospital, Salen basically had no choice but let him come back. As a result, he just inserted himself back in, much to the surprise of the others. The cases saw a man recently giving a liver transplant from his best friend contracting liver cancer from his friend’s liver while a surrogate had cancer of her own, however, guilt over losing a child of her own motivated her into becoming a surrogate and that connection to her current pregnancy perhaps clouded her judgment regarding her own life and that of the baby.

These cases saw a revolving door of doctors as they were trying to make the best out of the evolving situation as doctors rallied against Salen behind the scenes who was not oblivious to it. The plan was to have an investigative reporter investigate Salen and her negligence and present their findings at the latest board meeting. Her firing Lea, Lim, and Glassman was the start which did not go unnoticed by Andrews who was already teetering and questioning himself also after last week. Salen’s actions had him questioning her motivations and their relationship.

Wolke and Allen and Park and Reznick made for some strong drama as the build up to their character arcs led to their rallying against Salen thanks to Noah Galvin, Bria Samoné Henderson, Will Yun Lee, Fiona Gubelmann, and their great chemistry. The former saw the two arguing their careers versus doing the right thing which meant more to Allen. The latter saw Park hold up a mirror to Reznick to show her her actions in playing the so-called game and pushing her own agenda at the expense of her patients as well as Salen’s part in those events, including a woman who lost a large part of her vision because of her. In the end, hearing Murphy want to stand up for Lea, Lim, and Glassman just like they stood up for him was definitely touching. 

At the board meeting, it was ultimately Andrews being the final piece and stepping into the line of fire that led to Salen finally standing down from taking over the hospital. It was a happy ending for at least a moment as the hospital still needed some assistance but that can come later.

Slow clap for Rachel Bay Jones as Salen though it may not be the last we’ll see of her. It’ll be interesting to see what comes next.

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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.