The medical drama is probably riddled with as many cliches as the police procedural. There’s a reason it’s such a TV staple because it’s essentially comfort food viewing. They usually aren’t too serialized and they flow easily due to their case of the weak storytelling. The problem with shows like this is that if you desire a bit more, the narrative can get boring fast and many of the shows start to look the same. Am I watching The Night Shift or Chicago Med? Oddly enough both of these shows are on the same network.
Sometimes medical dramas can buck the trend by focusing on other story elements. Grey’s Anatomy has been successful for so many years because it’s equal parts medical drama but also a story about complicated characters and their relationships. Another medical drama that displayed originality was David Shore’s House which was a case of the week series but it was bolstered by a strong lead character in the form of Dr. Gregory House who was played to perfection by Hugh Laurie. He was an off the wall character with a poor bedside manner who had nuances worth exploring and that’s why viewers tuned in for 8 seasons.
It seems fitting that David Shore brings us our next medical drama with yet another unique character. Dr. Shaun Murray, played by the impeccable Freddie Highmore, is at the center of Shore’s new series, The Good Doctor. The series has potential to go down a routine route but the lead character is so compelling that by the end of the pilot I knew I’d be all in for episode 2 and perhaps beyond. This is a character’s journey I want to go on and witness his triumphs and obstacles, which may prove to be many if the pilot is any indication.
On the show, Highmore plays Dr. Shaun Murphy, a prospective hire at a prestigious San Jose hospital — if some skeptical colleagues can come to see the upside, versus simply the liabilities, of his autism diagnosis. Richard Schiff plays the hospital president/Murphy’s longtime champion, while Hill Harper and Nicholas Gonzalez’s docs are among those opposed to the autistic savant’s hiring.
The show clicks from the very start, with self-sustaining Shaun going through his presumably unvarying morning routine before leaving his hometown of Cheyenne, Wyoming and quickly landing in San Jose, CA, home of St. Bonaventure Hospital. He comes upon a kid soccer match while still in Cheyenne, prompting a memory of being beaten on that field as a child before his true-blue brother came running to his rescue.
A medical emergency then quickly takes hold after an eight-year-old boy is hit by a falling San Jose airport sign being installed by workmen. An older doctor intercedes but puts pressure on the wrong spot to stop heavy bleeding from the child’s jugular vein. “You’re killing him” by stopping his breathing, Shaun says calmly. He then takes over.
Scenes of his highly improvised ways to rig up life-saving devices are intercut by an animated debate among St. Bonaventure’s hierarchy. It turns out that the hospital’s president, Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff), made a unilateral decision to hire Shaun. Now he’s facing strong opposition. “He’s not Rainman. He’s high functioning,” Glassman pleads. “He sees things and analyzes things in ways that are just remarkable. In ways that we can’t even begin to understand.”
Dr. Marcus Andrews (Hill Harper) is among those having none of this. He’s going to prove to be a character that viewers will loathe but every show like this needs a good antagonist and Harper plays the role so effectively that you may forget this is an actor playing a part. He honestly speaks for the audience who may take issue with someone who has autism performing life or death procedures. The debate of patient well-being and personal prejudice is explored in the pilot and may prove to be a big talking point as the series progresses.
Things eventually converge at St. Bonaventure, with Shaun insisting that his patient needs an “echo-cardiogram” while the staff doctors all think he’s daft. Among them is head of surgery Dr. Neal Melendez (Nicholas Gonzalez), an imperious sort who also happens to look like he climbed out of a modeling ad (to be fair Gonzalez is good here and has popped up on various shows over the years and is a capable actor). Honestly, his aesthetic is also essential to the plot. Most would accept his diagnosis based solely on the fact that he’s not “different”, especially when compared to the more eccentric Shaun. Even though Shaun emerges triumphant in episode one, you can tell the “you don’t belong here” rebuffs are only beginning.
Freddie Highmore played Norman Bates on Bates Motel for five seasons so he’s adept at playing a character that is left of center. What made his performance on that show so compelling was that he made Norman sympathetic, even though we all knew he was out of his mind crazy and committing horrific acts. He brings that same sentimentality to his role here. Young Shaun’s “savant syndrome” potentially makes him a medical marvel, but without a halo. As deftly played by Highmore, he’s innocently sweet-tempered, but also cuts to the chase and can cut his “superiors” down to size when the occasion demands. The very final scene packs quite a punch, as Dr. Murphy unwittingly puts a colleague on notice and that’s due to Highmore owning the character completely, even during the first episode.
This has the potential to be a refreshingly thought-provoking hospital drama, based on the buttons pushed in the pilot alone. Schiff and Highmore share a warm dynamic, Harper and Gonzalez present formidable foils and Antonia Thomas (playing a fellow surgeon) is poised to be our emotional “in” to Shaun’s distinct, distant world. In a time when shows like this can be riddled with cliches, The Good Doctor displays some originality and strong character moments that could make it one to watch this season.
