Venga

## Episode Chronology

**"Venga"** is the nineteenth episode of Season 4 of *The Good Doctor*. It is the seventy-fifth episode overall and aired on May 31, 2021.

## Synopsis

During part one of the two-part season finale, the St. Bonaventure team travels to Guatemala on a surgical mission to help patients at a rural hospital. Once there, the team faces a small community that is in desperate need of their help but are assigned the daunting task of identifying who they can help most. And while Shaun seems to be thriving in Guatemala, Lea is still struggling with the loss of their baby.

## Plot

Dr. Lim and Claire arrive for their flight three hours early because of Claire's need to be on time. Lim gets Claire to agree to get her Starbucks for the trouble as Morgan and Park pull up in separate vehicles. Park was driven to the airport by his girlfriend, and with a visibly jealous Morgan watching on, the couple kisses before departing. Next to arrive is Shaun and Lea, who believe the trip will be good for them given their recent tragedy.

Once the group touches down in Guatemala, they have to take a bus ride to their remote location. Understandably, everyone is tired, except for Claire, who appears especially excited to be in another country. But, as the bus nears its destination, a group of sheep blocks the road, forcing the vehicle to stop. The driver tries to get the animal's herder to move them, but Shaun is the one who gets through to the man after he identifies a fungus on his back.

After the delay, the group arrives at the hospital they'll be working at and are told by Dr. Rendon that despite the countless people they'll want to help, only 12 surgeries will occur during the ten-day window. Lim meets with the first potential patient, a young man with a stomach lump, while Claire and Shaun break the unfortunate news to a mother that her daughter's heart condition is irreversible and there's nothing they can do. Claire breaks down after, but she's consoled by another local doctor who tells her to focus on the good she's doing on her mission.

Meanwhile, Dr. Andrews meets with another potential candidate for surgery, a young boy with a facial embolism who's a fan of the St. Louis Cardinals. Upon seeing the boy, Andrews quickly begins talking to him about baseball, which gets the attention of one of the hospital's nurses. Lim then starts three piles so the group can decide which patients to give surgery to, but when Andrews walks by, he puts the boy in the "no" category. Later, Andrews tries to reconsider his decision while the group is at a bar, but Lim talks him out of it.

The next day, Shaun returns to the herder and gives him medication for his fungus before heading back to the hospital. Claire examines a woman with abdominal pain, but after diagnosing her with gallstones, she refuses surgery. Thankfully, Claire gives one of her patented speeches using the woman's daughter as a translator, and the patient warms up to the idea. Andrews continues to work on a way to help his patient, enlisting Shaun's help to come up with a complicated surgical plan. Elsewhere, Morgan informs her patient's father of a condition that makes surgery impossible. However, after hearing the terrible news, the man seems okay, just wanting to offer his thanks to the doctor, which leaves Morgan visibly shaken.

After meeting with all of the patients, the group begins to whittle down the candidates and pick the final 12. But as that's going on, Lea passes by the maternity ward, leaving her incredibly emotional. The final debate for the team comes down to Andrews' young boy and the woman Claire was treating, but after some deliberation, Andrews' patient grabs the final spot. Later that night, the group goes back to the bar for drinks, and Lim accuses Andrews of flirting with the nurse before leaving to go back to the hotel. As Lim gets in a cab, Rendon jumps in too, but soon after they depart, the driver reveals he's kidnapping them.

However, once the man takes them to a house, they discover a woman in labor. Back at the hospital, Claire and Shaun check one of the patients who crashed overnight. He's unresponsive, but after a quick examination, Shaun realizes he has a clot in his brain, and they'll need a special agent to break it up. Unfortunately, the hospital doesn't carry it, but it does have access to a snake venom derivative that functions the same. Lim gets the woman through labor without complication, but all is not well on the baby front, as Lea heads back to the maternity ward with a gift for a new mother, which reminds her of the loss of her own child.

Heartbroken, Lea sits alone at this hospital as Claire comes to deliver bad news about the patient. Claire lets Lea know that grief isn't something you can deal with alone and tells her to bring her issues to Shaun, who deserves to know how his girlfriend's feeling. After the man wakes up, Shaun has to inform him that his worsening condition means they can't operate, which allows Claire to tell her patient and her daughter that she'll be able to have her surgery.

Back at the hotel, Lim and Rendon discuss their hectic night and appear ready to embrace, only for the doctor to say he's going to go back to his room. But before he can get through the door, they lock eyes one more time and begin kissing.

At the same time, Lea tells Shaun about her problems, but all he wants to talk about is his work. Unable to get anywhere with the conversation, Lea decides to drop a bombshell by telling Shaun her parents asked her to return home to Pennsylvania, and she plans to go.

## Cast

* Antonia Thomas as Claire Browne
* Fiona Gubelmann as Morgan Reznick
* Will Yun Lee as Alex Park
* Christina Chang as Audrey Lim
* Paige Spara as Lea Dilallo
* Hill Harper as Marcus Andrews
* Richard Schiff as Aaron Glassman
* Allegra Fulton as Dr. Karla Saravia
* Bianca Caroca as Sofia Salgado
* Benjamin Valdivieso as Bastion Alonso Ramos
* Javier Lacroix as Miguel
* Shadan Saul Guerrero as Edna Garza
* Andres Soto as Sapo
* Melina Alessandra Cermeno as Tiziana Garza
* Esmeralda Pimentel as Nurse Ana Morales

Co-Starring* Shalyn Ferdinand as Dr. Heather Boyd
* Erika Hau as Laboring Woman
* Jose Cano Cortes as Roberto
* Muhammad Rizky Kohar as Gaby's Husband
* Alison Azurdia as Gaby
* Zachary Ali as Oscar Salgado
* Antonio Molina as Adelmo
* Joselyn Picard as Aimé Navarro Gomez
* Anna Carrizales as Señora Gomez
* Guilherme Babilônia as León Castillo
* Aidan Ferreira as Nurse #1
* Ana-Maria Alvarado as Señora Ramos
* Francisco Cano as Cab Driver
* Alonso Oyarzun as Sheep Farmer
* Michel Issa Rubio as Adelmo's Dad
* Raf Rogers as Laboring Woman's Husband

## Trivia

* "Venga" means "come on" in Spanish. This fits in with the plot of the episode of the team going to Guatemala.
* All of the Spanish dialogue in this episode is displayed in English in the closed captioning.
* On May 19, 2021, it was revealed that Mexican actors Esmeralda Pimentel & Osvaldo Benavides were cast and are set to appear in the two part season finale.
* Shaun is revealed to be fluent in Spanish (as is Freddie Highmore in real life). However, as he puts it, Shaun still has communication problems in two languages.

## References

1. ↑ The Good Doctor on The Futon Critic
2. ↑ 4.19 Plot Synopsis - Walt Disney TV Press Site
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 In love, Esmeralda Pimentel and Osvaldo Benavides return to television together - MX Hola