Debts

## Episode Chronology

"*We don't have a choice. Evolution demands that we propagate. So we play a game that we're going to lose most of the time because the upside is so wonderful. But if Shaun doesn't have to play that game, good for him.*"
—Morgan on Shaun not dating

**"Debts"** is the second episode of Season 3 of *The Good Doctor*. It is the thirty-eighth episode overall, and aired September 30, 2019.

## Synopsis

As Dr. Marcus Andrews vows to help a good Samaritan who was injured while stopping a sexual assault, Dr. Audrey Lim faces a difficult decision when a young patient's parents suspect that Dr. Neil Melendez made a mistake. Meanwhile, Dr. Shaun Murphy fields advice following his disastrous date with Dr. Carly Lever; and Dr. Claire Browne gets a surprise visit from her mother.

## Plot

### Shaun refuses dating again

At home, Shaun and Lea are talking. Lea tells Shaun to stop moping and tries to convince him to try again with Carly, but he doesn't want to. Shaun leaves for work.

### Claire's mother gets evicted

Claire's mom shows up at her house at 1am. She explains that she was off her medication and was kicked out of her apartment. She tries to get Claire to let her stay two to three weeks. But Claire says only one week, and that's final.

### Two patients

A man in his 30s gets rolled into the hospital. He has a head injury from trying to protect a woman on the subway, but his head was hit with a skateboard in the process. The woman is fine. Claire and Shaun treat the patient.

Alex kisses up to Lim by gifting her a pillow to continue to build a relationship with her now that she is his boss. Alex and Melendez are checking up on a baby that they just performed surgery on. The father snaps at Melendez and apologizes, but Melendez says that he understands. Morgan is kissing up to Melendez because he's sleeping with the Chief of Surgery, Lim.

The staff of San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital grapple with two cases; a man beaten with a skateboard after trying to protect a woman from being harassed on the subway and a baby still unable to eat without vomiting despite already having been operated on once.

### No good deed goes unpunished

In the first case, Shaun and Marcus are both troubled by it for different reasons. Marcus is still angry at losing his job after standing up for Shaun, a move he sees as a good deed that he was punished for doing. So when this good Samaritan comes onto the operating table, he is not content to do the standard operation that would rob the hero of his speech and ability to eat solid food. This subsequently sets him and Shaun on a mission to find a better solution.

While in the operating table, they talk about how no good deed goes unpunished, and Claire points to the Bible as a contradiction. Shaun disagrees; says that our brain just encourages us to be selfish by having the bad experiences being the ones which are deeply cemented instead of the good ones.

Shaun goes onto say that it’s actually strange that people keep being unselfish and points to Andrews saving Shaun's job and losing the presidency in the process.

### Carly confronts Shaun about the date

Meanwhile, Carly tells Shawn she noticed that he seems a bit uncomfortable around her, and that if this has anything to do with their date, that she just wants to tell him that she had a really good time, and hopes they can do it again.

Shaun, however, has problems of his own. After being overwhelmed by feelings of things being out of his control on his date with Carly, he is unwilling to go on a second one with her; telling her he had a horrible time and doesn't want to do that ever again. He goes onto later giving her the brush-off during a visit to the pathology lab.

### Debbie asks Glassman to help Shaun

Debbie visits Dr. Glassman at the free clinic he works at. She asks him if he's ever had sex in his office. He pleads the fifth because according to him, it's embarrassing if he says "yes" but even more so if he answers no.

Debbie is undeterred and tells him that before they get married, she wants to know all of his naughty thoughts. She then tells Glassman that Shaun needs to be pushed to date again.

### Shaun's colleagues want him to date

Back at hospital, Shaun's colleagues, however, think he's making a mistake in regards to choosing never to date again.

Later, Carly goes to see Shaun telling him that they need to talk. But when Shaun refuses, she says through the other side of the closed door, that he owes her that much. The two go for a walk, and Carly tells Shaun that her little sister Andie has autism; however Shaun tells her that they are not all the same.

Carly tells him she has questions too, but that getting to know one another is good for them. Shaun leaves after talking with Carly and goes to see Andrews at his home late at night.

At his home, Dr. Glassman confesses that prior to Debbie, the last time he went on a date, was when "Wake Me Up, Before You Go-Go" was a big hit.

### Lim and Melendez's strained relationship

As for the other medical case, the baby drives a wedge between Audrey and Melendez, who are still dating despite her now being his boss. After the first surgery does not seem to work, Audrey thinks he messed it up, leading to a tense car ride between the pair of them over her lack of trust in him as a doctor. However, they then find out that the baby's symptoms were caused by two different factors, a discovery they never would have made had Melendez not performed the first surgery.

### Claire and Breeze reconcile

Claire and Breeze eventually reconcile as Breeze gets back on the wagon, and Claire allows her to stay with her while she gets back on her feet.

## Cast

* Nicholas Gonzalez as Dr. Neil Melendez
* Antonia Thomas as Dr. Claire Browne
* Fiona Gubelmann as Dr. Morgan Reznick
* Will Yun Lee as Dr. Alex Park
* Christina Chang as Dr. Audrey Lim
* Paige Spara as Lea Dilallo
* Jasika Nicole as Dr. Carly Lever
* Hill Harper as Dr. Marcus Andrews
* Richard Schiff as Dr. Aaron Glassman
* Sharon Leal as Breeze Browne
* Mik Byskov as Josh Bunker
* Ben Cotton as Tom Cantrell
* Christina Sicoli as Dina Cantrell

Co-Starring* Tina Georgieva as Olivia
* Doron Bell as EMT #1
* Juliana Wimbles as EMT #2

## Multimedia

### Videos

The Good Doctor 3x02 Promo "Debts" (HD)The Good Doctor 3x02 Sneak Peek "Debts" (HD)
## References

1. ↑ http://www.thefutoncritic.com/showatch/good-doctor/listings/
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 https://twitter.com/tgdscoutskands/status/1151994831343779840
3. ↑ https://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/monday-final-ratings-september-30-2019/
4. ↑ https://www.spoilertv.com/2019/09/the-good-doctor-episode-302-debts-press.html