The Good Doctor Review: Decrypt (Season 4 Episode 10)
The Good Doctor Season 4 Episode 10, “Decrypt,” is the messiest of the season, attempting to land the jump in regard to emotional payoff with the new resident related to Andrews (Olivia), but instead, “Decrypt” lands flat on its face. Nothing about this episode is believable in any sense, save for the organ transplant circle that we’ve seen on almost every medical show before The Good Doctor‘s stab at it.
Not every surprise is edgy and enjoyable, and that includes the plot twists that “Decrypt” tries to employ concerning Lim and Morgan’s new closeness and the reveal of the mole. At the same time, the episode also employs the obvious as Lea saves the day.
Maybe this story is cute if you don’t watch The Good Doctor critically, but for those that do, Lea continues to feel out of place in this show, and “Decrypt” continues to make this glaringly obvious.
Television often stretches the limits of disbelief, but sometimes shows don’t know the bounds that it can push. This is the case with Lea, who somehow is able to save the hospital from threatening hackers, despite the IT job she took at the hospital seeming more like a job out of convenience.
There are a lot of routes that The Good Doctor can take Lea without throwing her into such a high-stakes situation that comes off completely ingenious while sticking out like a sore thumb.
There are other ways to extend Lea beyond existing purely as Shawn’s romantic interest. Her relationship with Glassman is proof that The Good Doctor is capable of this. But because of the way she’s been built up, Lea just can’t carry an entire episode as the protagonist of the A-plot of “Decrypt.”
This episode is more disappointing than anything as “Decrypt” does give the audience a good look at Lea. The Good Doctor just needs to do more work in developing Lea individually before it can pull something like this off.
Olivia’s story didn’t fare much better, in fact, hers came to an end. None of the residents introduced to The Good Doctor are that memorable, but she was probably the most, along with her female counterpart. Her presence also expanded Andrews’s importance, who usually doesn’t have much personal going on.
If The Good Doctor had to ax a character, it would have done far better getting rid of one of the boys, who haven’t had as much character development as Olivia or Jordan. At least I can remember their names. This also could have done for a more interesting future, after all, many medical dramas don’t feature more reserved characters such as Olivia.
However, “Decrypt” did have two saving graces that elevated the episode to decent — Morgan and Lim.
Morgan finally gets a bit of spotlight in “Decrypt” as she takes the lead on the transplant case, pulling the entire thing together (with Park’s support). Morgan’s injury set her on a path that seemed to diverge from the action of The Good Doctor, but perhaps Morgan’s path is management, after seeing her in action in “Decrypt.”
It definitely would fit her personality, while keeping her in the action.
With new avenues beginning to unfold, finally giving Morgan a chance to shine finally pays off, and Fiona Gubelmann follows suit, doing a great job in this episode. The implied closeness of Park and Morgan, however, not so great.
Lim also adds a little bit of catharsis to the chaos, as she finally comes to face her treatment of Claire and attempts to mend that relationship.
Watching Lim lash out is clearly heartbreaking to those connected to both of those characters, not only for Lim, but for the trauma Claire also copes with. But with everything out in the open between the two, moving into the mid-season mark, Lim can finally begin healing, not without the support of her friends and co-workers.
The Good Doctor does well with its pacing with this relationship and with Lim’s illness, not dragging it out for too long, but not glossing over her reactions and actions.
Even though this is The Good Doctor‘s weakest episode of the season, there are still bright spots to find in this medical drama. If this series could find a more consistent way to explore its characters and support its stories, this series could truly become more well-rounded and impact its audience like it strives to.
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 10/9c on ABC.
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Amanda Reimer
In addition to working as a freelance writer, Amanda also works with animals and stage manages various live performances. She has an invested interest in the perspective and experience of fandoms as well as anything in the science-fiction genre. She also loves spoiling her cats, Drummer and Kiki.