Heartfelt

## Episode Chronology

**"Heartfelt"** is the fifteenth episode of Season 1 of *The Good Doctor*. It aired on February 26, 2018.

## Synopsis

Dr. Shaun Murphy's teenage patient has been confined to her home her entire life due to a rare heart condition. Despite her condition, she has cultivated a large group of friends online and hopes that the surgical team can find a way to give her the life she has always dreamed of having. Meanwhile, a young patient’s perfectly matched organ donor is causing a moral dilemma for the parents and the patient.

## Plot Summary

Shaun goes to work on the bus, which is packed. He is listening to a song that reminds him about Lea. "Thinking about pine trees... and you" is the name of the song. The security is strong at the front of the hospital, and Shaun asks a guard what happened, and he says he's just getting the lobby ready for a fundraiser gala.

In the lounge, Claire, Jared, Morgan, and Shaun talk about the party. Shaun says that he doesn't like parties, but Melendez says that it doesn't matter because all residents have to attend and make a donation.

Melendez introduces a new resident, Alex Park. Alex used to be a police officer and the last of Coyle's residents. Alex is 45, which is unexpected for Shaun. Melendez tells Alex that is is typical for Shaun to ask inappropriate questions.

Shaun and Morgan assist Dr. Lim with a patient whose heart is outside of her rib cage. Spirit is an energetic girl who documents what is happening with film. Spirit's parents tell her to calm down and put away her phone. They are preparing to put Spirit's heart inside her rib cage. Shaun finds the view interesting and observes it with a light. Spirit says that she is excited to be able to be in crowds, which she has never been able to do.

Claire, Alex, and Jared are assigned a young boy who needs a new liver after rejecting the first one. Melendez assigns the boy a full liver exam. Outside of earshot of the parents, Melendez tells the residents that they need to find a new liver, because it's obvious what the boy's biopsy results would be. The task would be hard because the boy is blood type O.

Aoki tells Glassman that their keynote speaker, Barbara Boxer, for the gala got sick from scuba diving and can't be the keynote speaker anymore. She asks him to invite Aiden Colter as a replacement instead.

Jared is doing a liver biopsy on the boy, who is anxious because it will hurt. Alex gives the boy a pep talk and shows his charismatic nature. He gets the boy to calm down by talking about music and basketball. Jared asks how he knew the boy was a basketball fan, and Alex says his shoes gave it away.

Morgan and Shaun run tests on Spirit. Morgan asks what Shaun is going to do for the gala, and he says that he has a suit that's new. Morgan says he should get a tuxedo instead of wearing his old suit, but Shawn disagrees. The tests show that Spirit has an enlarged heart, preventing them from performing surgery.

Claire finds a new liver online, but the catch is that the donor, Boris Tirayan, is in prison for seven murders. Claire, Alex, and Jared obtain approval to use the convict's liver. Melendez talks to the higher ups to try to convince them to let the convict be a donor, but they are worried about legal issues. Andrews wants to give the man a chance to turn his life around, while saving a child's life. Jared, Alex, and Morgan also disagree on the morality of the situation in the lounge. In the end, Melendez gets approval.

Morgan, Lim, and Shaun break the news to the patient. Lim says that they can stop Spirit's heart from growing, and that she can come back in a few years to try again, but Spirit doesn't want to wait any longer. Spirit throws her phone across the room and says that she doesn't want to call anymore, she wants to touch others and be able to be in crowds.

A special room is prepared for the convict, and Alex instructs them what to do. Alex has seen a lot because of his background as a cop and wants to be extra careful. Jared invites Claire to the fundraiser as his date to put their relationship out in the open.

Eric doesn't want the liver transplant because he doesn't want a murderer's organ, and resists treatment. Melendez thinks that the boy is being ridiculous, Claire says that it doesn't matter because children don't consent to surgery, but Jared says that if the boy doesn't cooperate with the anti-rejection regimen they could be wasting a liver that could save someone else's life.

Morgan proposes trying an experimental procedure to Lim on Spirit despite Shaun's objections. Shaun says that the surgery is irreversible and therefore not ideal. Morgan says that Shaun doesn't understand Spirit's feelings. Lim agrees to the surgery.

Aoki secures Aiden as the gala's keynote speaker and senses a connection between them.

The convict is transported in full cuffs and with multiple guards from the back door. Claire, Alex, and Jared do a full exam on the patient. Claire asks about his family history. The convict says that as far as he knew, both his parents were healthy enough to beat him daily.

Aoki talks to Andrews who is preparing for surgery and tells him that she had a spark with Andrew Coulter. She asks if it would be fine to pursue a romantic relationship with him because he was a potential significant donor to the hospital. Andrews advises her not to, because she wouldn't want others to think that she'd use sex to get a big donation. While he empathizes that it's a double standard, he says that reality is like that.

Meanwhile, Eric is resisting treatment despite being given medication to calm him. Alex gets the boy to calm and fall asleep.

Since Morgan pressured Shaun to buy a tuxedo, he seeks advice from Andrews. He asks Andrews if his clothes made him come off better to others. Andrews says that his clothes were for himself. Andrews thinks its unnecessary for Shaun to buy an expensive tuxedo and suggests Shaun just rents one.

During the surgery on the convict, he has an allergic reaction to the anesthetic which prevents the operation. The convict is enraged and screams for them to try again, but there's nothing they can do. He almost cries and says that he is always the same old person he used to be. Melendez tells Eric's parents that without a transplant, he would only have a day to live.

In the operating room, Shaun and Morgan talk about the tuxedo while operating on Spirit. Shaun learns that Morgan doesn't respect him. Morgan accuses Shaun of using his autism as a crutch, which makes Lim annoyed and she stops the conversation. Spirit's operation is successful.

During transport, the convict is able to threaten a guard with a gun to his head. Claire tells the convict not to ruin the good thing that he did. The convict grieves that he accomplished nothing. Alex tries to get him to calm down. He asks Boris what he wants, and he says that he doesn't want anyone to save his life. Claire realizes what he's about to do, and tells him not to, but Alex tells him not to listen to her and do what he wants. Boris pushes the guard away and shoots himself in the head. Boris dies, meaning that the liver can be donated to Eric.

Aiden approaches Aoki, discussing golfing and asking her to dance.

Claire tells Eric's parents about the news that Eric will get a donor after all and they are ecstatic. Claire also successfully convinces Eric to undergo the liver surgery and casts Boris in a good light, saying that he wanted to repent and that the liver was a gift for Eric.

Spirit gets to hug her parents for the first time.

Shaun buys an expensive tuxedo in the end. He meets Jessica Preston, who has doesn't remember how much her dress costs. She introduces herself to some important people, but Shaun is still awkward and has trouble mingling with the crowd. Morgan talks to Dr. Chen, who is also an important person.

Claire asks Alex if he still believes that people can't change, and Alex still stands with what he said. He said that Boris did what he did because he wanted to be somebody after he became a nobody again.

Eric undergoes successful liver surgery and requests the contact information of the convict's parents to send them a thank you card.

Shaun leaves the gala and sees Spirit with her friends. She is very happy with the results of her operation and is hugging all of her friends.

Claire and Jared attend the gala together, but when they dance Jared becomes upset when Claire doesn't recognize the song they had their first kiss to, leading to their breakup. Jared lets go of her and says that Claire never loved her. He thought that would change but finally admits to himself that it won't and kisses her, then says goodbye.

Shaun returns to the party and begins to mingle with a table of doctors, gradually loosening up after Andrews arrives. He says that Shaun's tuxedo looks excellent even though he didn't listen to Andrews' advice. Shaun's blunt honesty makes the other doctors laugh and they get along with him.

## Cast

* Nicholas Gonzalez as Dr. Neil Melendez
* Antonia Thomas as Dr. Claire Browne
* Chuku Modu as Dr. Jared Kalu
* Beau Garrett as Jessica Preston
* Tamlyn Tomita as Allegra Aoki
* Hill Harper as Dr. Marcus Andrews
* Richard Schiff as Dr. Aaron Glassman

Guest Starring* Christina Chang as Dr. Audrey Lim
* Fiona Gubelmann as Dr. Morgan Reznick
* Will Yun Lee as Dr. Alex Park
* Kelly Blatz as Aidan Coulter
* Lexi Underwood as Spirit Garcia
* Nicholas Sean Johnny as Eric Bertrand
* Joris Jarsky as Sergey Tirayan
* Ese Atawo as Ramona Garcia
* Tim Perez as Luis Garcia
* Pasha Ebrahimi as Wallace Bertrand
* Medina Hahn as Jacey Bertrand
* Michael Sangha as Security Guard
* Robert Zen Humpage as Prison Guard #1
* Darryl Scheelar as Prison Guard #2
* Katarina Mueller as Annie
* Sewit Haile as Cindy
* Arianna Salvador as Jenny
* Lindsay Marshall as Woman
* Marci Chimich as Dr. May Curtis
* Shaun Morse as Dr. Jake Levy
* Richard Yee as Dr. Toby Young
* Celeste Ziegler as Attractive Woman

## Trivia

* This is the first episode and the only Season 1 episode where the title does not appear in the dialogue.

## References

1. ↑ http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/monday-final-ratings-feb-26-2018/
2. ↑ https://www.spoilertv.com/2018/02/the-good-doctor-episode-115-heartfelt.html

## External Links

* "Heartfelt" at the **Internet Movie Database**