The Good Doctor Season 3 Finale Recap: Beginnings and Endings
As season 3 of The Good Doctor comes to a close, we've got a whole lot of emotions flying through out heads—lots of sadness, but also some promise and hope for our favorite team of doctors at St. Bonaventure. When we left off after part 1 of the two-part season 3 finale event, season 3, episode 19 "Hurt," an earthquake had caused significant damage to a brewery where some familiar faces were attending an event, and after trying to save others—and themselves—our docs faces a myriad of tough situations. Shaun (Freddie Highmore) was trapped in the basement, which is now filling up with water, Dr. Alex Park (Will Yun Lee) and Dr. Aubrey Lim (Christina Chang) tend to a young man who's essentially doomed to die, Dr. Morgan Reznick (Fiona Gubelmann) is risking her career as a surgeon by working so hard after a delicate surgery to help her rheumatoid arthritis, and Dr. Neil Melendez (Nicholas Gonzalez) passed out at the end of the episode. You can watch The Good Doctor's season 3 finale, "I Love You" right here on on ABC.com or in the ABC app, or read on for The Good Doctor spoilers and highlights!
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Okay, This Looks Really Bad
We return right where we left off, which mostly consists of bad news. Shaun is trapped in the basement with another victim, Vera (guest star Marin Ireland), as a newly broken pipe slowly fills the basement with water. Melendez says he's fine, but Dr. Claire Browne (Antonia Thomas) discovers that he's bleeding internally. When Dr. Marcus Andrews (Hill Harper) kicks Morgan out of surgery, her hands are bleeding through her stitches. Park tells the trapped young man the reality of his situation—he's going to die—and the kid, understandably, is panicking. Not a lot of good news to go around.
Shaun and Vera bonded over being hung up on their exes, and Shaun is still having a tough time giving up on the idea of Lea (Paige Spara). But she helps him see that moving on is acceptance, not failure. She makes him promise that if she dies, he'll move on.
Meanwhile, the team discovers Melendez has ischemia in his bowel, which could be extremely serious. They're running tests.
No More Surgery
Andrews examines Morgan's hands when they get a moment of downtime. They've had some personal tension, and that continues here:
Andrews tells Morgan exactly how he feels about her
A sweet moment, to be sure—but what does that mean for Morgan's future with the team?
Things Get Worse
Shaun and Vera are running out of time. Their only hope is for Shaun to amputate her leg to free it from the rebar that's impaled and trapped her there—without anesthetic. Shaun starts cutting.
Melendez's numbers come back. They're not good. Lim scrambles for a solution, but Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff) tells her straight up: Even if Melendez could survive the crazy treatments they're brainstorming, he would have almost no quality of life. He tells her it's time to stop being a doctor, and start being a friend. Melendez is going to die.
Park learns that his dying boy feels responsible for his mom's death—he found pills in her purse but said nothing, and she overdosed a couple weeks later. And soon, as the boy's condition worsens, he begins to hallucinate that his father is with him. Park, struggling with his role as a father, plays along, and gives the boy absolution from his guilt that can at least give some measure of mercy to his mind:
WATCH: Park comforts his dying patient
Park is so affected by this situation that he calls his ex-wife and tells her he's going to move so that he can be closer to her and their son. So that's another team member whose future looks uncertain at St. Bonaventure.
Farewell, Melendez
As the team members pay their final visits to a dying Melendez, it gets quite emotional. Glassman tells him he was the best surgeon he ever worked with. He and Lim share memories of their relationship, and assign no blame to their breakup—and just enjoy their time together. But as Claire recently realized she was in love with Melendez, their goodbye is a tearjerker supreme with extra sad sauce:
WATCH: Claire says goodbye to Melendez
Brutal, and beautiful.
Shaun Emerges, Lea's Tearful Realization
Despite having to perform an amputation with very little equipment, and while nearly drowning, Shaun manages to free Vera and get them both to safety. Lea is waiting for them, and here's how season 3 ends:
WATCH: Lea tells Shaun how he feels—but Shaun has made a promise
There will be plenty of work to be done there, but a happy moment to cap an emotional episode. And that's it! We'll see you when The Good Doctor returns for season 4!
