Breakdown

## Episode Chronology

**"Breakdown"** is the seventeenth episode of Season 2 of *The Good Doctor*. It is the thirty-fifth episode overall, and aired on March 4, 2019.

## Synopsis

Dr. Shaun Murphy is desperate to join the team on a dangerous procedure involving a patient's tumor removal. However, having been removed by Dr. Jackson Han from the surgery team, he must use his talents to help figure out the cause of an infant's injuries.

## Plot

Lea wakes up to find Shaun already in the kitchen. He had not slept the previous night as he's still upset about being a pathologist. Lea attempts to comfort him by telling him that nobody's life goes the way that they don't want to, but Shaun leaves early to walk to the hospital instead of driving. Meanwhile, Lim and Neil are kissing in the car and are going to get out of it when Lim sees Shaun and gets back in. Neil notices that Shaun is not where the bus usually drops him off, while Lim states that they need to get out before he sees them and to drive forward.

There is a public presentation for a patient named Kenny. His case is an educational presentation for the staff of the hospital, which Neil explains and the innovative surgical plan they came up with. Meanwhile, Han is going to a meeting to meet the judges that are judging his surgeons concerning the events of the quarantine at the hospital. Han tells them that he had hired private investigators to investigate the people in the room, because that was what they were going to do to his surgeons, and that they might want to compromise.

Lim is with Laura, a family friend of hers who is now a mother and is anxious over her first child who just had surgery. It went well, but Lim says that she doesn't know what had caused the bleeding. Because of this, the baby will still need to stay until the test results from pathology come back. In the pathology room, Carly says that she loves pathology because she gets to figure out the what and why instead of just fixing things. Lim comes down and asks her to hurry up on her case considering the patient she is with. She also tries to ask Shaun if he saw her and Neil, but he states that he doesn't know. Meanwhile, Glassman is talking to his doctor, Doctor Blaize, about his final test results. He attempts to insist that he's not worried about them, which Blaize doesn't believe. She says it's alright if he's anxious about it while Glassman wants to thank her personally, but she doesn't allow him to.

Claire comes down to pathology and talks about Kenny, which Shaun overhears. He gives a suggestion, and Claire says it's a good idea but doesn't need Shaun's extra help. Concurrently, Lim tells Neil that she thinks that Shaun saw them together because he acted very uncomfortable. Neil is not convinced because Shaun is uncomfortable around everyone. Lim wants to tell Andrews before someone else does, but Neil wants to be careful and figure out if Shaun really saw something and says that he'll talk to Shaun. An employee tells them that Han wants to see the both of them. He tells them and Shaun that they will not be suspended, the hospital will pay fines on their behalf and that they'll need to complete a few education classes, though Lim isn't very thankful since he's barely helping Shaun.

In pathology, Carly shows Shaun that the baby had a trace subarachnoid bleed. This injury would only happen if someone shook the baby very hard and indicates that it was abused. Lim doesn't believe the results, saying that Laura would never do that. Carly wants to call CPS, but Lim says that they need to run more tests first. In line for lunch, Shaun is thinking about a book he read on friendliness and holding an apple. Neil pulls him aside to talk about Shaun seeing him and Lim but Shaun doesn't appear to understand it either. While running tests on Kenny, Claire is still upset about Shaun being relocated as she sees that Han is punishing Shaun for mistakes he might make in the future which she tells Park and Morgan about. However, Morgan counters by saying that Han saved him from trouble and she believes that Han might've made the right call. However, Park doesn't pay attention to Claire and Morgan's bickering and looks at the scan; there are unfavorable results, which they page Neil about.

Elsewhere, Lim talks to Laura and says that she ordered additional tests because she doesn't think Laura abused her child. Laura insists that she never gets tired of her newborn, but that Lim wouldn't understand. Given the new results of the scan, Neil tells Kenny that he no longer thinks that he can remove the tumor because the blood vessels are now too thick and he would bleed to death if they performed surgery. Kenny says he wants surgery no matter what, even if there's a risk of dying, but all the same thanks them for trying to help while upset. That night, Shaun and Lea are eating and Shaun tells him about the baby that he did tests for. He also tells Lea about Carly, who he thinks is very nice and smart. Lea says maybe pathology wouldn't be bad after all, but Shaun says that he has to work and takes his dish to the sink.

Lim and Neil are out drinking and Neil suggests coming out with their relationship. Lim says that they wouldn't be having this conversation if Shaun hadn't almost seen them, which makes her think they aren't ready to have it. They both think they maybe want to tell Andrews, but aren't sure. Meanwhile, Glassman is impatient about the restaurant taking so long for his order. The worker apologizes, but Glassman is still angry and snaps while saying he doesn't want to wait longer. At the same time, Park and Claire are also going out to drink, but Claire is annoyed that Morgan isn't with them because she's staying late trying to suck up to Han with her work ethic as usual. Park attempts to offer some comfort over this, while Claire laments how the boba balls she's having don't fit through the straw which makes her think about Kenny.

Han catches Morgan staying up at the office. He tries to tell her to go home because Kenny can't be saved and she'll have other patients the next day. Just then, Claire comes and tells them that she has an idea about Kenny; she says that if they broke his blood vessels early, his body would help clot the flow and reduce hemorrhaging thus allowing them to continue with surgery. Kenny doesn't even let them finish before agreeing to the surgery and wants it as soon as possible. Unfortunately, Lim has a CPS agent take Laura away since the tests still state that her baby is apparently being abused, while Laura is angry that her friend doesn't believe her.

The surgeons go through with Claire's suggestion, but because of the complications on his kidneys, they only have half the time to do it. Concurrently, Glassman tries to get his test results expedited from Blaize, with no luck. Doctors from outside the operating room are watching Kenny's surgery, including Shaun. He figures out that they should have checked for blood breakdown products from Laura's infant, which could've explained the infant's test results. He leaves and goes to the pathology room. Meanwhile, during Kenny's surgery, his heart rate is spiking and they pause before flipping him over. However, he's crashing and it seems like shock is happening to his body. Morgan suggests that he has a systemic pro-inflammatory cytokine release indicated from his high blood cell count. Claire wants to abort the procedure, which Han agrees with. However, Neil wants to page Shaun because of his talent. Han is against it, but it is Melendez's call since it is Neil's patient.

In the lab, Carly confirms to Lim and Shaun that the bleed could have been caused by her birth in the vacuum delivery; the baby was indeed not abused. Claire also comes in and tells Shaun to go to the operating room. While there, Shaun tells Neil that he doesn't have enough time to continue the surgery and save the patient. But, he and Claire say that if they clamp the aorta and release it every 10 minutes, they would have more time to operate. Han thanks Shaun for the consult, while Shaun leaves the operating room.

Glassman's results show that he no longer has a tumor. He is relieved and gifts Blaize a box; it contains a baseball that Glassman caught from a game with autographs from players. The baseball is the only memoir of that day because back then there was no video, and Glassman wants Blaize to have a memoir of him. Blaize replies with that cancer changes people, and that Glassman changed. Meanwhile, Han cuts the aorta and Kenny is completely free of his massive tumor. Everyone in the crowd claps, while Shaun stares from above with the crowd.

Lim apologizes for not trusting Laura. Laura says it isn't her fault that she is that way, and that she doesn't understand the love a mother feels. Laura says that Lim never understood love because she never allowed herself to be vulnerable, even when she was married to Kashal, her ex-husband, and that Lim expects the worst in people because that's what she sees in herself. Kenny says that he's never been in so much pain, but that it feels good. He also thanks everyone for their work. Lim and Melendez also walk together, and he asks her if she's sure she wants to announce their relationship.

Shaun goes to Han and says that he deserves to be a surgeon because he saved the patient, while refusing to leave Han's office until he is reinstated. Shaun keeps repeating that he's a surgeon, yelling it. He breaks down crying, but he is unfortunately fired by Han. In the locker room, Shaun is sorting out all his belongings when he drops them on the floor and picks up the toy scalpel that he has. He breaks it in half on accident. Claire then finds him gasping on the floor and helps him pick up his fallen items. She sits down next to him, but says nothing. Shaun walks through the rain to return home.

## Cast

* Nicholas Gonzalez as Dr. Neil Melendez
* Antonia Thomas as Dr. Claire Browne
* Tamlyn Tomita as Allegra Aoki
* Will Yun Lee as Dr. Alex Park
* Fiona Gubelmann as Dr. Morgan Reznick
* Christina Chang as Dr. Audrey Lim
* Paige Spara as Lea Dilallo
* Hill Harper as Dr. Marcus Andrews
* Richard Schiff as Dr. Aaron Glassman
* Lisa Edelstein as Dr. Marina Blaize
* Jasika Nicole as Carly Lever
* Elfina Luk as Nurse Villanueva

## Trivia

* Shaun yelling out at Dr. Han repeatedly "I am a surgeon" has become an infamous meme and been involved in a lot of YouTube videos concerning it.

## Multimedia

### Videos

The Good Doctor 2x17 Promo "Breakdown" (HD)
## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Shows A-Z - good doctor, the on abc" - TheFutonCritic.com
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 http://www.thefutoncritic.com/listings/20190211abc02/