The Good Doctor Review: Middle Ground (Season 2 Episode 2)

While Season 2 got off to a less than ideal start, The Good Doctor Season 2 Episode 2, “Middle Ground,” redeems it. You could say the positive moves puts the season in the “middle ground” of where audiences really want it to be.

The highlight and strong point of The Good Doctor‘s freshman season were the many hard lessons underneath the medicine. A trend many fans were pleased with and loved.

That’s a trend that is thrown out in The Good Doctor Season 2 Episode 1, “Hello.”

It is great to see the writers are back to writing deeper messages because, honestly, it’s what works best for the show.

When you have a main character as uniquely gifted as Shaun, the show must find a way to utilize him as a unifier. Find stories to bridge the gap without being overly cliche.

The Good Doctor is really great at keeping Shaun grounded in his similarities to his peers while also exploring ways he can grow and teach.

For “Middle Ground” it’s all about lies. One of the greatest things about Shaun is his uncanny ability to tell it like it is. He doesn’t lie.

However, over time he has learned that sometimes it is ok to lie. And for this episode, he is struggling to understand when the right moments to lie are.

Melendez uses Paul, their patient, as a teachable moment for Shaun. He instructs Shaun to tell the family what is wrong with Paul. The catch, he has to tell partial truths.

The best part about this isn’t the moment when Shaun lies or even the moment when he goes back on the lie and tells Paul the truth. It is when he has a conversation with Paul about his diagnosis which ends up being about so much more.

Paul: When the truth doesn’t help, you lie.

This simple statement ends up reaching Shaun on a level that is deeper than he’s ever gone before. I believe this is the moment he truly learns how to lie properly.

Which leads us to examine our own lives. No one person is free from the guilt of having told a lie. We lie all the time.

Sometimes our lies are used as a weapon while other times they are used as medicine to heal.

Shaun is a person whose instinct is, to tell the truth, no matter the emotional bearing in it all. Whereas, we, average humans, evaluate the consequences of the truth or lie before deciding. There is no black and white with us like there is with people like Shaun.

Are we right in how we handle situations or is Shaun? Are either options ideal solutions? “Middle Ground” dares us to delve into that line of thinking and examine it for ourselves.

Are we better humans for lying? Is lying to protect someone really an honorable thing?

The truth may hurt occasionally, but in order to grow and evolve, we need it. Keeping that in mind we approach Shaun’s interaction with Lea in a new light.

Initially, we may think he is being a bit too harsh, but upon further inspection, we realize he is merely following Paul’s advice.

Shaun: It hurt. I didn’t want to tell you the truth because I didn’t know it. But I have to tell you the truth because it will help…You went away and it hurt. It kept hurting. If you stay you will just go away again and it will hurt.

Maybe we could all use a bit more Shaun outlook in our lives. We dance around our feelings with people thinking that it will hurt them or because we don’t know how they’ll react. We always think there will be a tomorrow.

But what if there isn’t? What if they leave before you tell them the truth? In this case, a little honesty can go a long way, even if it hurts.

While “Middle Ground” is great at exploring lying, the truth, and all the repercussions with Shaun they aren’t as successful with it regarding Dr. Lim’s dilemma.

When faced with the truth of a girl’s real age and identity, Dr. Lim is given the choice to lie in order to perform a surgery the girl’s parents wouldn’t approve or tell the truth and face the chance of not helping the girl.

Initially, it is nice to see Dr. Lim go against her interns’ suggestions and pretend she didn’t know the girl is under 18. However, it soon drops into murky waters and that’s where this would be inspiring tale loses credibility.

Yes, Dr. Lim is a hero and a fierce female for standing up to the girl’s parents and fighting for Mara, the girl, right to be heard. Unfortunately, when she takes it a step beyond I lose all trust in her.

Morgan: Every woman deserves the right to make decisions about her sexuality without her parents hanging over her.

Dr. Lim’s talk with Mara following Morgan’s speech is beautiful and made me want so badly for Dr. Lim to successfully convince the girl to change her mind.

When she doesn’t it makes me sad but I remain resigned to applaud Dr. Lim for at least going to bat for her patient no matter the odds. That is until she lies to her interns and in essence Dr. Andrews and Mara as well.

Her actions to go ahead with the surgery Mara still refuses to sign off on is unethical and illegal. She should have lost her job.

In fact, the reason this lesson in lying fails for Dr. Lim when it succeeds for Shaun is that she uses it to her advantage. In a real hospital, her behavior would not only lose her job but also have her license called into question.

I am sure the writers are going for an inspiring tale of saving a girl from the cultural abuse fo her parents. But having a strong female character cross the ethical line to do such a surgery loses sight of the true message. Instead, we are left with the message that lying is okay as long as no one finds out about it.

I really wanted to see the girl get upset upon realizing what Dr. Lim did. Instead, she smiles and thereby makes her unethical motives seen as ok.

Dr. Lim never learns from her unethical mistake because she never has to actually face it. Besides herself, Mara is the only one who knows what she’s done, which again adds to a wrong message being sent.

While I really want this case to accurately blow up in Dr. Lim’s face I doubt it ever will. The Good Doctor is great at creating meaningful stories, but they sometimes forget to follow through on smaller ideas presented in the background.

If The Good Doctor Season 2 Episode 1, “Hello,” is an utter disaster then “Middle Ground” is somewhere in the center.

Further Thoughts:

• The role reversal of Dr. Glassman and Shaun is an interesting dynamic I can’t wait to see explored further
• Mushiest moment: “I’m damn smart and I’m a damn good surgeon. And if I can’t be those things, I don’t know who I’d be.” – Dr. Glassman “You’d be my friend.” – Shaun
• Melendez is definitely the most improved character since the Pilot. “Being a surgeon isn’t just about cutting.”
• Female circumcision is still a thing? I honestly thought it was a practice of the past, all but abandoned.

What did you think of this episode of The Good Doctor? Share your thoughts in the comments below! Be sure to check out our review of The Good Doctor Season 2 Episode 1, “Hello” right here.

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

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