The Good Doctor Review: Intangibles (Season 1 Episode 9)

The doctors of San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital deal with the ins and outs of hope on The Good Doctor Season 1 Episode 9 “Intangibles.”

It’s very clear from the start of the episode that the focus will be something that can’t be touched or seen, thus it is “intangible.”

We first see this hope in the eyes of Aoki. She has started a program that brings sick people to America from poorer countries. This program is what brings Gabriel into Dr. Melendez and his team’s orbit. She has undeniable hope and belief that Dr. Melendez can save this child. So, she decides for him that he is going to do the surgery.

That hope then feeds the already desperate hope of Gabriel’s mother. She tells Dr. Melendez that he doesn’t know or understand her desperation because he’s never had to live her life.

Our greatest want is hope. -Gabriel’s mother

It’s in this moment that we see a change come over Dr. Melendez. In this moment, he actually starts to believe in the hope that this mother clung to.

Dr. Melendez is an intriguing doctor. He always digs his heels in at first — stubborn as a mule one might say. However, he ends up changing his mind before the end. Most of the time that change in heart is centered around Dr. Murphy.

While this personality trait in Dr. Melendez is a bit of a television cliché, I still find myself drawn to him. His tough exterior really makes the revelation of his heart of gold interior that much more satisfying. As history has shown, everyone loves a rough on the edges TV Doctor. (I know I do.)

Dr. Murphy does play a part in Dr. Melendez’s hope, but not in the same way that the mother or Aoki already have. His play in everything is his non-belief. Intangible things like hope and love and loneliness are hard for Dr. Murphy to decipher and therefore he rarely deals with them.

On “Intangibles,” Dr. Murphy doesn’t ever come out and speak against everyone’s hope for the boy; he merely states the facts. While in the surgery, he states the outcomes of the trial runs to Melendez.

This encourages Melendez to have hope that the one factor that can never be documented, pure human will, is going to save this boy. He takes a risk, one that someone like Dr. Murphy wouldn’t have ever dared. However, he hopes and believes it will pay off. In the end, it does.

Sometimes hope is the only thing we have. We can’t lose it. It’s like those mothers who have missing children or the cancer patients who have been told they are terminal. They keep believing in a different outcome up until the very end.

On the other side of things, Dr. Browne is working a case with the Chief of Surgery, Dr. Andrews. They have to test a nodule specimen for cancer.

However, somewhere in transit the specimen gets lost. Through it all, Dr. Browne doesn’t lose hope. She keeps coming back, again and again, with new ideas of where the specimen could’ve ended up.

Unfortunately, the specimen isn’t found within the window of time they are allowed and so the woman in question, a podcast host, has to make the decision to get rid of her entire voice box.

The loss of hope is just as prevailing and moving as the abundance of it. This woman loses all hope for her future and the survival of her voice. Seeing this prompts not only Dr. Browne into a more desperate search, but Dr. Andrews as well.

When not only the woman loses hope, but also every other doctor on her case as well, it’s a moment worth noting. The amount of emotion radiating through the television screen in that moment makes anyone want to help her.

I was even hoping against all hope that her specimen would be found and able to be tested — even when the logical side of my brain was screaming “there is no hope.”

Luckily, Dr. Browne doesn’t ever give up her hope of finding it. She makes one last ditch attempt at finding it just as the woman is being taken to surgery for removal of her voice box.

This “Hail Mary” ends up being the woman’s saving grace.

Hope is not easily stopped.

Both Dr. Melendez’s case and Dr. Browne’s proved that. We often give up on our hope easily. Maybe, we shouldn’t. Maybe we should hold out until the last second. Hope for that “Hail Mary” moment.

I know that in today’s world, it’s hard for many of us to find hope, but “Intangibles” reminds us that it’s there even if it’s hard to find.

Other Thoughts:

• Dr. Murphy and Dr. Browne’s discussion about flirting is enjoyable and cute, even if Shaun has no desire to actually use this information anytime soon.
• I love the bond between Dr. Glassman and Dr. Murphy. However, this episode shows a renewal of hope, on Dr. Glassman’s part, for Shaun’s success at life.
• My favorite scene is when Shaun and Dr. Glassman discuss what Shaun had learned about flirting. Dr. Glassman asking Shaun if he is lonely and getting that question thrown back at him really reminds me of moments I have with my own sister. When she doesn’t really understand how to answer something, she will throw it back at the other person, much like Shaun does.
• Finally, I really hope that Shaun’s insistence that he doesn’t want a stranger helping him means he will choose his neighbor as a coach.

What did you think of this episode of The Good Doctor? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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The Good Doctor airs Mondays at 10/9c on ABC.

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