The Good Doctor Review: Fault (Season 4 Episode 5)

The Good Doctor has gotten to that point in the medical drama where the student becomes the teacher. It was inevitable, and while not all medical dramas have five-plus cycles of this (looking at you, Grey’s), it’s pretty much a staple that Shaun and the others wouldn’t be able to avoid bar an early cancellation. 

Claire and Shaun take on this role in The Good Doctor Season 4 Episode 5, “Fault,” while Park and Morgan spend some time acclimating as roommates. Shaun and Asher’s arc is the strongest of the episode, wrapping the characters into the consequences of their actions on the medical case. Claire’s case is interesting too, but more on a face-value level with Asher keeping the spotlight for the majority of this episode.

Morgan and Park fall flat. 

The main reasons The Good Doctor episodes general fall into the 3s range instead of the coveted 4s is because this season so far seems to lack direction, overall and with some of its characters

Park and Morgan are two examples. Taking away Morgan’s career as a surgeon was a bold and interesting choice, but so far, beyond Morgan overstepping professional boundaries on cases, there hasn’t been much development on her front. That being said, we’re only six episodes into the season. 

And with Park being the perpetual secondary character, he doesn’t usually have much to do, other than talk to his son or ex-wife every now and then. 

The inclination to push these two wandering characters together is understandable, but these two give me the procedural-jitters of an impending romantic plot or at least a fling. Let’s hope not! The chemistry just isn’t there. Hopefully, The Good Doctor will prove next year that the producers didn’t fall into this trope-y trap. 

Meanwhile, Shaun’s story is more interesting this week as Lea acts as more of a support system rather than a source of conflict. However, that leaves us to question what Lea deserves as a character. 

Whether you hate Lea, love her, love her with Shaun, or only want her to be his friend, there’s something to be said about the cheap way they use her.

Lea is a character who is isolated — not displaying any real connections to anyone other than Shaun, and perhaps Glassman. This hinders her growth because she only exists in relation to Shaun, whereas while The Good Doctor focuses on the relationships between the other doctors and Shaun and they each have their own individual stories. 

Lea, not so much. Her role is tricky, as she’s a non-doctor, but The Good Doctor could even slow down the relationship and give her something like what Morgan-Park currently have. 

The Good Doctor continues to have excellent stories, but the absence of story for some is still too evident to be ignored. 

On “Fault,” Claire oversees a case where a woman comes in with her lover, only for the doctors having to call in her husband when the man she only knew for eight days is unable to make decisions about her health. As the B-plot of this episode, this arc mainly focuses on the emotional love-triangle with ends with the lover letting the woman go and a second chance for and her husband. 

The Good Doctor definitely knows how to do emotional, and keeps giving Claire these emotionally heavy cases, but continues to do so little with her personal responses to these stories.

Really, The Good Doctor continues to let Shaun’s different, but simultaneous stories take up the hour. Granted it is his show, but there should be a little bit more time for Claire, Park, or Glassman, who steps in for thirty seconds an episode to give his soundbite of advice. 

This brings us back around to Shaun — except this time in the context of his role as not just a surgeon, but a doctor and mentor. He handles a case that Asher initially misdiagnosed. Throughout the process of treating this patient, Shaun continues to adapt to teaching and learning for himself in the process. 

Almost surprisingly, Shaun takes notes almost better than anyone, as he still adjusts his methods based on what the situation before brought to the table. He overcompensated, of course, but it’s this aspect of his profession that is probably the most challenging to him, so it’s a situation that’s actually interesting to watch, especially considering how so far this season the personal drama on The Good Doctor is lacking, to say the least. 

However, this process isn’t always as quick as necessary, and after a string of missteps and things out of the doctors’ control, their patients passes, and Shaun is forced to realize that he is also as culpable as the new resident who worked the case with him, Asher. 

Asher is the stand-out of the new residents so far — a character who feels the most genuine of the four. Noah Galvin portrays Asher incredibly naturally and wasn’t just the stand-out of the newbies, but perhaps the whole episode. 

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

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The Good Doctor airs Mondays at 9/8c on ABC.

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