Believe The Big Billboard: Dr. Shaun Murphy Continues to Grow, Says Freddie Highmore of THE GOOD DOCTOR

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede A giant billboard made this bold declaration in last week’s episode of THE GOOD DOCTOR: “Some doctors are different. Some hospitals, too. Dr. Shaun Murphy, General Surgery, Autism Spectrum.” Those words were accompanied by a massive picture of Shaun. And as everyone who watches THE GOOD DOCTOR could predict, Shaun – played by Freddie Highmore – was mortified. But as Season 5 of THE GOOD DOCTOR continues – with another new episode Monday, Nov. 1 at 10 p.m. ET on CTV, CTV.ca, and the CTV app – St. Bonaventure Hospital is dealing with a new owner, named Salen Morrison, played by TONY® Award winner Rachel Bay Jones. Salen is super smart, but she definitely thinks differently than the previous administration, and she’s very aware of how public-relations opportunities can help the hospital in the big picture. By the end of last week’s episode, Shaun had come around, after running across a patient for whom the billboard’s message had resonated. But it’s simply the most recent example of how much Shaun’s world, and his capacity to change, has expanded over five seasons, and continues to do so. “I don’t think anyone could go into a show in its first season, expecting that you’re going to do five seasons, so at first we were focused on telling Shaun’s initial journey in the hospital over the course of that first year,” Highmore said. “Since then, obviously, we’ve had the opportunity to explore him in more mature ways, seeing the way that his relationship with Lea (Paige Spara) has developed and become something more than just those early throes of romance.” Highmore also pointed to the mentor-mentee relationship between Dr. Aaron Glassman, played by Richard Schiff, and Shaun as “the heart of the show,” but even that is in a state of flux. As was clearly seen in last week’s episode, Salen – who has ADHD – believes that Dr. Glassman coddles Shaun, and she is firmly convinced through her own struggles and well-earned triumphs that forcing Shaun to resolve sticky situations himself will be good for him. “In Season 5 there is an examination of this kind of mentor-mentee structure – now that Shaun is going to be getting married, to what extent does he need Dr. Glassman?” Highmore said. “And then conversely, to what extent does Dr. Glassman actually need Shaun? Even though supposedly Dr. Glassman was Shaun’s mentor, was there something that Dr. Glassman needed as part of that process, in terms of support from Shaun? But Shaun is a constantly surprising character to play. One of the misconceptions about people who have autism is that they can’t change, or that they’re devoid of that ability somehow, which, of course, isn’t true.” Speaking of Shaun getting married, while the Lea character obviously has opened up many different kinds of story possibilities for THE GOOD DOCTOR, Highmore dropped a hint about an upcoming bump in the road for the couple. “Obviously in the most simplistic way, Lea provides an outlet for Shaun that’s outside of the hospital, so we can see him dealing with issues that aren’t strictly medical with her,” Highmore said. “But I think this season is a key one for Shaun and Lea, because, you know, she will make a mistake early on in this season, in one of the first few episodes, and she’ll have to live with the repercussions of that. We’ll see how their relationship goes.” Part of the tagline for Monday’s new episode reads, “Lea goes behind Shaun’s back to help raise his negative patient-satisfaction scores.” Could that be what Highmore was talking about? Watch and find out! billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv