The Good Doctor (5×13) Growing Pains Review

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

Synopsis: While Drs. Lim, Murphy and Wolke help a teenage biohacker whose self-experiments begin to compromise his health, Drs. Morgan, Park, Jordan and Glassman treat a young woman who wants a controversial surgery to treat her depression and chronic pain. (TV Guide)

If there’s one thing that could be said about The Good Doctor, it is that it sure knows how to bring families together. While this is a trope that countless other series have done and will keep doing, it at least worked well here. However, that bringing together went beyond families as the episode saw other characters come together in different ways. And there was plenty of drama.

In the first case, a single mother and her biohacking son encountered complications when his biohacks led to him losing the function of one of his wrists. In order to come to a resolution, the mother and the son needed to repair their fractured relationship for which Murphy found himself in the middle of, choosing what was right over his fascination of biohacking and the community surrounding it. He and the son hit it off immediately but his conflict resolution skills in this situation were definitely a surprise. Meanwhile, conservatorships have a major hot button topic and the second case pulled in some of that drama as one came between a young female CEO and the elective brain surgery she wanted to rid her of her depression and pain. Standing in her way was her older brother who had become her conservator though had also assumed a parent role after the death of their parents. Afraid of losing her, that relationship also needed some work to mend their differences.

On the other hand, the latter case helped rekindle Allen, entrepreneurial vision, however, she couldn’t develop her idea alone. Therefore she brought Lea in as a partner, taking their relationship to the next level. That also meant the two hanging around Lea and Murphy’s appartment for which the latter was not particular fond of as the boundary between work and home became blurred. That being said, they figured out a way but whether or not it is a viable long term strategy remains to be seen. Reznick and Park also looked to take their relationship to the next level and actually move in together instead of sharing time at each other’s places. This was also easier said than done as their joining meant resolving some personal issues on behalf of the latter. The outcome of both shouldn’t come as that much of a surprise.

All in all, a solid bounce back episode that sticks to the basics without pushing too much. Murphy is at his best when he is fascinated and makes new connections as Highmore was great in this episode. Carrying the latter case was Gubelmann’s strong performance as Reznick. We’re back on track.

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Where to watch The Good Doctor

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.