The Good Doctor Review: Tough Titmouse (Season 2 Episode 4)

The bar has been set really high for Season 2, but as The Good Doctor Season 2 Episode 4, “Tough Titmouse” shows that bar is usually swung at and missed.

This show has the potential to be really great. In fact, they proved it time and time again in Season 1. However, Season 2 is hit or miss on that greatness.

“Tough Titmouse” is another example of having the potential there for a great, emotionally present episode and failing to deliver.

First, and foremost, we have Dr. Glassman hallucinating his daughter. This aspect of the episode is honestly the only part that has any sort of emotion that matters.

The writers along with Richard Schiff’s fantastic delivery give a performance that leaves audiences a sobbing mess.

Dr. Glassman: Good memories are like a beautiful song. You don’t ever want it to end.

It’s clear from the very beginning that Dr. Glassman is seeing his daughter, Maddie, for a reason. A reason that is clearly haunting him, even though Maddie has been gone for many years.

This discovery and movement of Dr. Glassman’s story is a long time coming. The writers dropped hints about Maddie and her death a few times in Season 1, but never explored it.

Honestly, we’d given up on ever knowing any more about the troubled relationship. Now, the writers bring it back, using Glassman’s illness as a catalyst for him dealing with it.

The only wish for this story is that it got more air time and was more in focus. Clearly, it’s the part of the episode we are meant to care about the most, but it only gets around ten minutes of our total time.

When Schiff goes through Glassman’s final breakdown the break in his voice and the emotion there from his frustration and pain is what really carries the episode. It comes towards the end but, is nothing short of beautiful and beginning.

The doors have now been opened wide for the show to explore more about Glassman’s personal life. The relationship he had with his wife. How Shaun plays into it all. Everything.

If Glassman’s confrontation with his daughter is the most compelling story in “Tough Titmouse” then Shaun’s flashbacks are the least.

Based on the nature of the flashbacks, Shaun coming to a new foster home, creating a bond, and then having to leave again, the writers want us to feel a connection to Shaun and Mac’s struggle. However, the flashbacks are so few and so short that they lack substance.

If just a little more of Shaun’s life with this woman was shown then maybe the emotional tether to it would have been stronger.

Shaun gets separated from yet another family, another home. What about that home makes this moment matter?

Ok, this woman taught Shaun to roll with the punches and suck it up a bit more. However, that doesn’t seem substantial enough for this moment in Shaun’s life to be the main focus. Where is our emotional tie in?

Mac is being sent away from his mom to live in a group home. Is that what happened to Shaun as well? Or was Shaun simply sent to yet another foster home?

We don’t know because the writers didn’t feel the need to expand these flashbacks enough to tell us important information.

How long was Shaun with the tough titmouse woman? They clearly had a bond, but why? What made her so special?

Bringing in Brooke Smith is a nice move, her acting skills are top notch, but left us feeling a desire for more. She says a few lines and throws in a few tough titmouse’s and we are supposed to be satisfied.

We aren’t and therefore the connection between Shaun and Mac that apparently is established enough to have Shaun connect with him feels cheap and detached. Shaun is the obvious move to make in establishing a rapport and connection to this family, but in actuality, it is Melendez that seals the deal for us.

Dr. Melendez: Giving him up will be the hardest thing you’ll ever have to do. But maybe you need to do it because of your love for him.

At first, this seems like just another Melendez moment where he uses his charming personality and soothing voice to convince a patient to make the decision necessary. Then, The Good Doctor gives us a bit more.

Melendez and his sister show that all along, Melendez should have been the focus, not Shaun. His bond and connection to Gabi, his intellectually disabled sister, gives us the real connection to Mac and his mother. The emotion is right there under the surface. If only it had been explored.

Maybe the show will explore it in the future. However, this episode is the perfect opportunity for that exploration and instead they focus on Shaun’s inconsequential past.

Finally, another major miss this episode is the Lea/Shaun saga. In previous reviews, it has been stated that Lea has a right to be angry. However, to have her continue to be angry and not even hear Shaun out is sloppy writing.

In Season 1, Lea was written as this open-minded, receptive character. Now, she either acts as though Shaun’s anger at her is unfounded or she shoves Shaun away without even listening.

The writers need to figure out where they want Lea’s character to go and stick with it. She was a favorite of mine last season, and now I groan whenever she is onscreen.

Where is the old Lea who would stop long enough to help Shaun express himself properly? This Lea is a stark contrast to Season 1 and, much like everything else on The Good Doctor in Season 2, needs improvement.

Each time we feel we are going to get a full, fleshed out conversation between Shaun and Lea we become disappointed when only one side airs their feelings. The two characters need to come together and jointly connect and communicate.

The Good Doctor really needs to reach the bar they’ve set and actually make contact with it. This hit or miss trajectory they are on this season is going to end up losing them some loyal fanbase along the way.

Further Thoughts:

• The most shocking moment had to have been when that teen rock climber’s parents willingly gave up their relationship with their daughter to encourage the more practical surgery.
• Morgan brings up Browne’s mom. I was hoping for a bit of expansion on that statement, but it’s like she didn’t say it.

What did you think of this episode of The Good Doctor? Share your thoughts in the comments below! Catch up on our review of The Good Doctor Season 2 Episode 3, “36 Hours” right here.

Reviewer Rating:

User Rating:

 

The Good Doctor airs Mondays at 10/9c on ABC. The next episode will air Monday, October 29th at 10/9c on ABC

Follow us on Twitter @telltaleTV_

Want more from Tell-Tale TV? Subscribe to our newsletter here!

10 Reasons You Should Be Watching ‘The Good Doctor’