The Good Doctor Review

Author: Christina Olesen

By now, we've all suffered through the countless advertisements of the TV series The Good Doctor on
ABC. Premiering last year in September, the show features the autistic doctor Shaun Murphy and his
surgical residency at the prestigious San Jose St. Bonaventure hospital. The show’s insider perspective of
life on the spectrum creates an interesting narrative much like in the Netflix show Atypical. In its attempts
to be a well-rounded and meaningful series, Dr. Murphy and his coworkers go through a variety of real-
world challenges in and out of the workplace. All in the while the series is kept interesting through one-in-
a-million medical issues that only our young genius protagonist and his colleagues can solve.  

The unusually abstract medical cases and techniques throughout the show are inevitable to keep the
audience entertained. This tactic has been used in many -- if not all-- medical series ranging from Grey’s
Anatomy to Scrubs to House. Therefore, the absurdity of the TV show is pardoned. What is not pardoned,
however, is the shows attempts to be ultra meaningful. Now don’t get me wrong, issues such as sexual
harassment, medical prejudice, and reverse racism are realities and they do deserve recognition in
mainstream media. I just think that certain issues were focused on to the point where watching the show felt
like getting a lesson in morals. This feeling may be the result of my experiences as a young New Yorker or
maybe, quite possibly, it was the execution of these issues whether it be the filming or the acting that made
the scenarios seem unrealistic.

Nonetheless, the filming is pretty mainstream with an exception for the first episode which features a dual
narrative. The episode introduces Dr. Shaun Murphy on his muted (for lack of a better word) journey to his
first day on the job while depicting a heated meeting about his competence as a surgeon. Watch the first
episode here: http://abc.go.com/shows/the-good-doctor/episode-guide/season-01/1-pilot-burnt-food. I wish
more of the show had such an interesting filming technique. The rest of the show is filmed seamlessly which
makes the narrative easier to follow but less thought-provoking.

I am by no means an expert in autism or in acting. But Freddie Highmore, the actor behind autistic genius
Dr. Shaun Murphy, is a great actor. His recurrence in prominent roles, such as Charlie (from Charlie and
the Chocolate Factory) or Norman Bates in Bates Motel, prove his skill. His face always seems familiar,
however, his acting is so exquisite that he isn’t confined to one archetype which is very unheard of in the
world of Hollywood where Tom Cruise is always the hero and Jennifer Aniston is always Rachel from
Friends. Freddie Highmore has clearly studied autism and human behavior to convey such an authentic
autistic character such as Dr. Shaun Murphy.

The other characters in the story are average. The kind-hearted and well-meaning characters, Dr. Claire
Browne and Jared Kalu, are boring. I think I would roll my eyes at Dr. Claire Browne if I hadn’t already seen
her in British sitcom Lovesick. Her character, which puzzled me with the lack of a British accent, is very
predictable and her goodness is what makes the show feel like a lesson in morals. For Dr. Jared Kalu, the
backstory seemed lazy but his deep caring for justice and British accent kind of made up for it? Other
characters such as Dr. Neil Mendelez and Jessica Preston were alright. Dr. Aaron Glassman, Murphy’s
mentor, was played quite interestingly. His character, although seemingly one-dimensional and stubborn,
seems to face real difficulty with facilitating, understanding, and letting go of Dr. Murphy.

Overall, I would recommend the show. The protagonist is played well and the supporting characters are good.
Definitely, watch if you like medical shows or stories featuring an atypical protagonist.

Disclaimer: I didn’t watch the last two episodes because the illegal website I used to watch it on was shut down :-/