The Good Doctor Review: Lim (Season 4 Episode 6)

Please note that this review will discuss topics such as PTSD, suicide, and abortion. If you are sensitive to any of these topics, I would suggest skipping this week’s episode. 

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The Good Doctor returns from its holiday hiatus the strongest it’s been this season, slowing down and taking time to dive into Lim’s emotional state. The Good Doctor Season 4 Episode 6, “Lim,” shows how she’s managed to continue on despite recent traumas such as the COVID crisis and the loss of Melendez. 

One highlight of The Good Doctor‘s fourth season is how the drama better utilizes Lim, whether this happened to be a consequence of Melendez’s death or the reason behind it. Even though the decision to remove Melendez from the series is a wildly unpopular one among fans, Christina Chang knocks it out of the park in this episode, and many times (not just in this episode) steals the moment with her unique perspective. 

The Good Doctor is at its best when diving into deep emotional arcs of the main and supporting characters, but “Lim,” does more than just emotional exploration, it also provides a balance with comedy, Shaun drama, and interesting cases. 

“Lim” finds the Chief of Surgery going through a series of events that heightens her responses to the world around her. Like the patient she treats, Lim has PTSD, even if tries to deny it.

It still leaves a sour taste in my mouth with the way The Good Doctor (which is not the only primetime drama that falls victim to this) picks up COVID-19 storylines when it suits the story and seemingly forgets it when the pandemic isn’t needed to advance the plot. 

Even before COVID, however, Lim was going through it. It’s easy to forget that she was also in an intimate relationship with Melendez, and most of her involvement in his death was helping Claire cope with it. So, this story makes sense. But more than that, it’s done with care. Lim’s gentle spiral isn’t in-your-face. It’s as simple as irritability or sensitivity to external stimuli. 

Hopefully, this is the start of a story that brings Lim further to the center as a character on The Good Doctor and is a story that isn’t simply dropped. Though, The Good Doctor has a good track-record with a commitment to character development and season-long emotional arcs — Claire a prime example, even as she mentions this episode. 

With the PTSD case as the main story, and the abortion plot secondary, much of the episode revolves around Claire advocating for their patient, even to the point of riskier procedures, and Lim doubting that course.

This gives a little bit of a door into Claire’s state of mind. She’s able to admit that Melendez was the one who helped her process her PTSD diagnosis, but she still pushes consistently for her patient, understanding his experience. Lim is beginning to understand as well, even if she doesn’t realize it at the current moment. 

It’s honestly perplexing that six episodes into the fourth season Claire hasn’t had much of an arc since her hallucination of Melendez in the premiere. It seems gratuitous with the way Claire keeps being put in heartbreaking situations. It’s not fair to the character to spend a season developing a relationship and to not only kill her love interest but spend no time with her thereafter as well. 

Maybe episode seven? 

But as this PTSD case pushes Lim’s bubbles to the surface, about to spill over, the rest of “Lim” finds the Chief beginning to break, either due to stress or emotional labor. 

Shaun at first refuses to train his residents anymore, eventually pushing Lim to snap at him when he also puts the weight of his personal life on her shoulder via birthday gift selection. Eventually, this is resolved as Lim supervises Shaun and Asher as they execute the surgery that could help the PTSD patient, Ben, but in the process, Lim speaks to Asher in an intense stairway conversation, bringing the trauma from the COVID pandemic to the surface. 

At the same time, stress and annoyance bring her irritability to the surface.

Not only does she have to deal with the immature antics of Park and Morgan throughout the episode (which actually works well structurally slicing the tension and allows the audience to take a breath), but she also grapples with assigning Jordan an abortion procedure despite her religious beliefs. 

This arc perhaps sees Lim at her least empathetic as she pushes her resident into a dubious situation. Lim treats Jordan harshly, and eventually, Jordan discloses the actual reason she tries to avoid the procedure (down to the very thought of it).

Even if the two end on decent terms, it really brings into question Lim’s state of mind. Everything we know about her doesn’t lead to her pushing an employee into such a questionable decision. 

However, Lim was right about the responsibility Jordan took when she decided to move forward with performing the operation. It was painful watching what the pregnant woman was going through, wondering if something was wrong with her while she was terminating her pregnancy. 

As Lim returns injured from her close call motorbike accident, how will she cope? Will this have opened her eyes or will Claire be able to be what Melendez was to her? 

After a rough run of episodes, “Lim” elevates The Good Doctor back to its usual heights, mixing a relevant ‘case of the week’ with relevant emotional repercussions of a reality that so many people are now struggling with due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Episodes like “Lim” come off much more genuine than when The Good Doctor decides to temporarily stray away from covering COVID-related stories. The Good Doctor has strength in its dynamic relationships and utilization of emotion in stories, so episodes like this make much more sense to stray towards. 

Hopefully, The Good Doctor can continue on this path, focusing on the emotions brought on by the COVID pandemic without completely treating this real-life situation as a source for superfluous tragedy. “Lim” shows what a carefully balanced

The Good Doctor can be in a unique time such as 2020 and 2021 and The Good Doctor I’ve been waiting for for the past five episodes. 

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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