Tonight on NBC their new medical drama “The Good Doctor” airs with an all-new Monday, October 1, 2018, episode and we have your The Good Doctor recap below. On tonight’s The Good Doctor season 2 episode 2 as per the ABC synopsis, “Shaun pushes back against Dr. Melendez in order to treat a gravely ill hospital janitor and deal with the return of Lea; and Dr. Lim risks a lawsuit and her career to help a teenage girl repair the damage caused by an archaic custom. Meanwhile, Dr. Glassman exercises demanding oversight with Dr. Blaize in choosing a doctor for his brain surgery.”
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The Good Doctor begins tonight with Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) telling Dr. Neil Melendez (Nicholas Gonzalez) that the hospital Janitor, Paul (Faustino Di Bauda) is not well; Melendez orders him to say nothing as they walk past him. Once they are in the hallway, he tells Shaun to do several tests, as there is slight discoloration; but he is not to tell him why. Shaun admits he has been practicing his lying and reveals he lied to Melendez. Melendez tells him to take Dr. Claire Browne (Antonia Thomas) with him for the tests.
Dr. Audrey Lim (Christina Chang) meets her patient, Asha (Camille Hyde) learning she wants plastic surgery after she was circumcised when she was 2 years old. She reveals how it happened, begging for help as Dr. Lim promises to help her.
Paul wants to know why they want to confirm a diagnosis of acid reflux; Claire lies but Shaun says he “got this!” He talks about the employee manual, quoting it; but when Paul continues to question things Shaun blurts out that he thinks he has pancreatic cancer.
Dr. Lim sits with Dr. Alex park (Will Yun Lee) and Dr. Morgan Reznick (Fiona Gubelmann) revealing their newest case of female genital mutilation. Asha was born in Wisconsin, and although she will not be able to undo the nerve damage, Asha will be able to look like other girls. Lim wants to do this as an outpatient so her mother will think she is simply out studying with her friends, as she loves her parents and doesn’t want to tell them she is rejecting one of their cultural traditions.
Morgan reminds Lim they are legally responsible to report them as it is child abuse. Alex reveals they need parents consent since Asha is a minor, showing that her identification is fake. Lim wants to believe the ID is real and doesn’t need to seek permission, other than her patient’s. She will report the parents 36 hours after the procedure, but Alex and Morgan are wary, wondering if Lim really wants to risk her medical license to protect an abusive mother. They all debate what is the right way to proceed but Dr. Lim says they are doing the procedure in the morning at 7am.
Shaun doesn’t know why people lie because telling the truth, you always know the answers. He feels very confused, also revealing that Lea Dilallo (Paige Spara) is back; which Claire thinks is great. He says he is excited but shows no emotion which Claire can’t understand. He then states that Paul has one year to live as he has stage 3 pancreatic cancer.
Shaun and Claire talk to Melendez about what to do with Paul’s condition. Claire says she will give Paul his options for him to make the decision, but Melendez says this is a teaching hospital and Dr. Marcus Andrews (Hill Harper) is right, Shaun is the one that needs to talk to Paul; he motions for Claire to go with Shaun.
Shaun finds Paul mopping the floor in the front lobby and he asks if they can speak somewhere quieter. Paul asks why they need somewhere quiet for him to tell him he has acid reflux. Shaun tells him they need somewhere quiet because people usually get upset when they learn they have less than a year to live. Paul asks if he can call his family, as they would want to hear it too. Claire jumps in and says, of course, he can.
Lim does the surgery ahead of schedule saying they can get her home in time to do her homework, as Morgan sarcastically says back into the bosom of her loving family.
Shaun explains to Paul’s family how they will do the procedure, but Claire stops him getting into too much detail, just saying its dangerous and painful process, but if he does it he could have a long lifetime. His children encourage him to do it, but he asks Shaun what he should do. Shaun says all he can do is present the facts. Paul asks for a few minutes with his family.
Shaun goes to see Dr. Aaron Glass (Richard Schiff), who has his own office, suggesting who he should go with for an oncologist; giving facts of each specialist. Aaron wants to know what Shaun is doing there, encouraging him to go home and get some rest, but Shaun says he won’t get rest at home.
Dr. Lim informs Asha that her surgery went well and will be happy with her results but she needs to pee in order to go home. She is in a lot of pain, and Lim tells her she doesn’t know why she is in that much pain but she isn’t going home. Lim feels pain is not a good sign but Morgan feels it is if they thought that part of the body was dead believing there are viable nerve endings in there and they can reconstruct her clitoris. Alex says they need to bring Andrew up to speed as now they will have a missing child on their hands.
Shaun visits Paul in the chapel, who admits he doesn’t know how to lie. Paul says he didn’t need to lie, as it doesn’t protect anyone from the truth. Shaun asks if Paul thinks praying will help him reach a decision, but Paul has reached a decision. He made a decision a long time ago to always be there for his family, no matter what. He walks out of the chapel, leaving Shaun wondering what that means.
Lim informs Andrews, who says this is the difference between her and Melendez, who would have acted accordingly; knowing the chief of surgery position would become available. She wouldn’t have changed a thing and she doesn’t view that as a weakness. He says he will handle the administrative fallout, but she needs to notify the parents. Lim informs him that she cannot as they don’t know her real name and they have to keep her sedated, he orders her to answer Asha’s phone the next time it rings.
Melendez guides Shaun and Claire through Paul’s surgery, but they are losing pancreatic fluid meaning anything it touches will be destroyed. Meanwhile, Aaron meets with Dr. Blaize (Liza Edelstein) who has selected his entire surgical team but wants to hold off the surgery because he can’t select a surgeon. She tells him to pick a name within 48 hours, or he will have to find a new oncologist!
Asha’s real name is Mara, and her father is angry that his daughter is in pain, blaming Dr. Lim for the pain she is in; however, Dr. Lim says she is in pain for her repairing the damage, but there was less nerve damage than initially thought. He seems only concerned in stopping her pain. Dr. Lim suggests a second surgery, but her mother asks if their daughter wants this. Her father says she doesn’t know their daughter at all and wants a second opinion at another hospital.
They are interrupted by Ellen Vahtra (Jordana Largy) from CPS, who informs 16 year old, Mara’s parents that until she completes her review they will not be moving their daughter anywhere. Dr. Lim nods to Dr. Andrews, thanking him.
Shaun and Claire are able to inform Paul’s family that the surgery had complications but it went very well and they got it all. He doesn’t think he told them well because they are “too happy.” Claire pulls him away, allowing the family to enjoy the good news but he doesn’t understand how its any better to deceive someone to make them happy than it is to deceive someone to make them sad.
Suddenly, Lea arrives suggesting they have lunch, but Shaun brushes past her, saying he doesn’t have time. Claire chases after him, asking him what is wrong. Claire tries to touch him but he pulls back as she tells him he isn’t being fair to Lea as she has always been nice to him. Shaun reveals she hasn’t always been. Claire tells him to be honest with her as he blurts out that he can’t be honest because he doesn’t know how he feels and runs off, leaving Claire shocked.
Mara’s parents and Dr. Lim explain both sides to CPS worker, Ellen Vahtra. Her mother says its a rite of passage and her father says Mara is fine and this isn’t a big deal; revealing her aunts and grandmother did it to her. They feel she won’t find a man in their culture without this. Dr. Lim says she will find someone else – it’s not that big a deal!
Ellen informs them, they cannot convince her that what happened to Mara at the age of 2 is anything short of an abomination. Dr. Lim explains the options they have; pleading her case of Mara having a meaningful sex life, which is what Mara came looking for. Ellen tells Dr. Lim to her up, because she is clearly mature enough to make the decision herself as both sides have explained and a few moments of pain is worth her making the choice herself.
Shaun talks to Aaron about which surgeon he wants; but Aaron doesn’t want to talk, saying that is the point of the alcohol. Shaun follows him, asking him if he is afraid of dying, but Aaron says there are worse things, like not dying – the “middle ground” like not walking, not talking, or his hand can’t stop shaking. He is a damn good surgeon and smart and without those things he doesn’t know what he would be. Shaun tries to comfort him, saying he would be his friend!
Shaun’s phone vibrates and says he has to go, as his patient just crashed. He asks Aaron if that is not enough. Aaron says no, and he leaves.
Mara wakes up and her father immediately tries to say he doesn’t understand why she would turn her back… but the worker cuts him off, introducing herself, explaining as quickly as possible what options she has. In front of her parents, she tells Dr. Lim she wants her entire clitoris removed. Ellen orders Dr. Lim to put her back to sleep and do the procedure, even though Dr. Lim knows she doesn’t want this.
Shaun, Melendez, and Claire work hard on Paul; but Shaun feels they should have warned the family saying they would have been prepared. Melendez tells them both to shut up and work on the mess. Dr. Lim stands in Dr. Andrews office absolutely refusing to do the operation. He says he will fire her if she doesn’t do it and he will find another surgeon to do it; Morgan suggests Dr. Lim gets a chance to speak to Mara again as every woman has the right to make decisions about her sexuality without her parents hanging over her. He agrees.
Dr. Lim once again wakes Mara up. She tells her a story about when she was 15 and how her father hit her for catching her in an intimate moment with a boy. She explains the procedure and how she wants Mara to feel love. Mara doesn’t want to turn her back on tradition, but Dr. Lim says traditions connect us to the past, but what about the future? Mara turns her face away and says she is in pain, Dr. Lim puts her back to sleep.
Melendez continues to work on trying to keep Paul alive. Dr. Lim tells Alex and Morgan to prep the cheek as well, as she consented verbally. Morgan says she wanted to help her as much as Lim did when she wanted it; Alex says Mara wants this, just like Dr. Lim told them. Paul doesn’t survive the surgery and Shaun is willing to tell the family but Melendez says Claire needs to do it as this isn’t the time for a lie. She explains the loss to the family, who are in the chapel, saying he didn’t suffer. They begin to argue about who agreed and disagreed with the decision. Shaun says they didn’t kill their father, as Paul wanted the surgery; it’s not on them. They all hold hands and comfort each other; outside, Shaun tells Claire that when the truth can’t help someone, we should lie.
Mara wakes up, revealing she is much better. Dr. Lim comes in, saying there might be some discomfort at the surgical site but that will go away. Mara feels the inside of her cheek and knows what Lim did; their eyes meet and Mara smiles. She thanks Dr. Lim, saying she will only need Tylenol. She refuses to shake her father’s hand and leaves the room.
Shaun comes home where Lea is sleeping. He brings her cereal and a banana. He gives her back the baseball and says that it hurt. He wants to tell her the truth as it will help. Every night he would come home and look at the baseball and think of her, the ball was there but she wasn’t. She said it was sweet. He said she went away and it hurt and kept hurting, but now she is back. He said if she stays, she will go away again and it will hurt again, so he wants her to go back to Hershey. He tells her to go anywhere but here. He takes his bag and leaves.
Aaron lays on the table as the surgeon thanks him for his trust and will do her best to deserve it. He says that’s all he can ask. He is put under and he begins to count backward.
The End!
