It is at all times unhappy when a beloved TV sequence broadcasts it’s ending, and it is doubly heartbreaking that so many are reporting remaining seasons now that the author’s strike is settled.
First, Blue Bloods and now The Good Physician — two landmark sequence with huge fanbases.
That is proper — The Good Physician Season 7 would be the sequence’ swan music. Though unsurprising, contemplating the sequence’ sudden transfer to Tuesdays after being a fixture on Monday nights for the previous seven years, it is nonetheless unhappy. But, in some methods, it is previous time for this physician present to fade to black.
The Good Physician’s unique premise excited me.
As an autistic individual, I am at all times inquisitive about how TV plans to symbolize neurodiverse characters. On this case, the sequence obtained off to a rocky begin, however I appreciated that the main focus was on Shaun and never on how tragic it was for everybody else that he existed (sure, Parenthood, I am taking a look at you.)
I obtained mad on Shaun’s behalf at how the administration handled him, ignoring his talent set as a result of he was completely different and caring extra about his difficulties with social abilities than his potential to save lots of lives.
However in recent times, the sequence moved distant from that premise. I do not imply that Shaun needed to be caught proving himself perpetually — that would not have been nice TV, nor would it not have been message to ship about neurodivergent individuals.
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But it surely grew to become increasingly the Shaun and Lea present. Typically, it felt as if the medical storylines had been an afterthought in the event that they had been included in any respect.
As an alternative, each episode centered on Shaun’s newest relationship downside with Lea, all of which boiled all the way down to a distinction in communication fashion due to his autism.
That wasn’t what I signed up for. The Good Physician was imagined to be about Shaun’s challenges as a physician, not completely about him as a boyfriend, husband, or potential father.
Possibly I might have felt in a different way if I shipped Shaun and Lea as a pair. Nonetheless, they at all times appeared mismatched, and each story concerned Shaun doing one thing problematic that Glassman needed to persuade him to apologize for.
That is not the form of message about autistic those who I needed, both. Sure, social abilities and understanding neurotypical communication patterns are tougher once you’re not neurotypical, however that does not imply that we’re incapable of studying or are at all times unsuitable.
Lea typically got here off as whiny and entitled, which did not assist both, however the principle downside concerned the shift in focus. It is no marvel that some viewers jumped ship!
Shaun had loads of alternatives to develop as an individual, and in some methods, the sequence did embody that, nevertheless it wasn’t the first focus, because it ought to have been.
I loved Shaun changing into an attending and studying methods to be in cost with out alienating the residents underneath his care. That was an enchanting growth that ought to have been extra of a precedence within the later seasons.
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Shaun had a tough time coping with modifications in his relationships as he progressed in his medical profession, and the previous few seasons of The Good Physician tried to deal with that, which I respect regardless of how far brief they fell.
He was used to counting on Glassman and Lim to inform him methods to deal with conditions, and neither one was prepared to do this, which was nice, however I wanted it hadn’t been as a result of they had been mad at him for silly causes.
That entire Lim paralysis story, with Lim and Glassman being indignant at Shaun for various, however equally ridiculous, causes did not do the later seasons any favors.
Glassman, specifically, was a personality the sequence did not know what to do with anymore by the top.
He started as Shaun’s tormented mentor, who had handled Shaun like a son however struggled with the burden of shedding his daughter, and Richard Schiff was the proper actor to play him.
Throughout The Good Physician Season 1, Glassman’s supposedly terminal mind most cancers and Shaun’s refusal to just accept that there was nothing anybody might do was as compelling because it was heartbreaking.
However after Glassman’s miraculous restoration, the character bounced from one bizarre situation to a different.
A whirlwind romance, marriage to, and divorce from a personality performed by Schiff’s real-life spouse. Retiring and refusing to speak to anybody. Returning to the hospital solely to study he had a situation that prevented him from working.
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These foolish tales had been beneath him, and he spent the final half of The Good Physician Season 6 nursing a grudge as a result of Shaun’s tenacity led to the invention that Glassman had had a mini-stroke and will not carry out surgical procedure.
Let’s hope that he and Shaun make up earlier than the sequence ends. I can not take any extra of that!
Lim’s paralysis story got here out of one other downside the sequence has had in recent times: an overreliance on epic disasters.
The characters work in a hospital, so they may cope with human tragedy on a mind-boggling scale. Some tales must contain mass casualties — that is simply life in an emergency division of a hospital.
However at the least every year, normally towards the top of the season, The Good Physician had another kind of tragedy, such because the earthquake that killed Melendez and almost price Shaun his life, too.
Lim getting stabbed at Shaun and Lea’s wedding ceremony was additionally pointless. When a present begins writing these sorts of high-stakes cliffhangers commonly, it is a certain signal that the writers have gone so far as they will with these characters and must name it quits.
There have been a variety of forged modifications over time, too, however that wasn’t a lot an issue — or would not have been if it hadn’t contributed to the shift in focus.
Folks transfer on from the hospital the place they did their residency as they advance of their careers, and new residents are available in. That is simply the way it goes.
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Some new residents have been attention-grabbing, although I might have most popular extra interactions with the unique forged. It generally felt like a derivative about these new residents somewhat than the unique forged having a lot to do.
Nonetheless, every time a big participant left, it left a gap that was by no means crammed. Antonia Thomas’s departure on the finish of Season 4 modified the dynamic greater than the others; Claire was at all times Shaun’s largest supporter, and the sequence wasn’t the identical with out her.
Jared’s return may need helped issues, however he wasn’t there lengthy sufficient, nor did he have many memorable storylines, so that did not remedy these issues.
Though the sequence has devolved into plots extra worthy of a cleaning soap opera than a physician present, there’s nonetheless room to exit on a excessive word.
Now that Shaun is a father, the ultimate season may be dedicated to him studying to steadiness his profession and household necessities and ending with him discovering happiness on each fronts.
Hopefully, because the sequence attracts to a detailed, it’s going to return to its roots, specializing in medical tales as a substitute of completely on relationships. Shaun might take the following step in his profession, leaving St. Bonaventure to start a life as a full-fledged physician whereas elevating a baby along with his spouse.
Over to you, The Good Physician fanatics.
How do you are feeling concerning the sequence ending? Are you shocked, or do you suppose the sequence misplaced its approach some time in the past?
Hit the massive, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and tell us!
The Good Physician’s remaining season will air on ABC on Tuesdays at 10/9c.
The season premiere airs on February 20, 2024.
Jack Ori is a senior employees author for TV Fanatic. His debut younger grownup novel, Reinventing Hannah, is on the market on Amazon. Follow him on X.
