I Love You

## Episode Chronology

"*I’m not afraid to die. I was raised a good Catholic, altar boy, First Communion… Faithfully wore my silver crucifix that Tía Abebe gave me for Confirmation. I was a true believer. Then I went to college, and maybe it’s just now that I’m… staring into the yawning void, I’m hedging my bet, but… It’s coming back to me. Like an old friend with a warm hug.* "
—Neil to Claire after he finds out he is dying.

**"I Love You"** is the twentieth and final episode of Season 3 of *The Good Doctor*. It is the fifty-sixth episode overall, and aired on March 30, 2020. It is the second part of a two-hour season finale.

## Synopsis

In the second episode of the two-part finale, our doctors work against time and their own personal safety to save the lives of those around them.

## Plot

Claire gets Neil transported back to San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital. After a CT scan, she finds nothing wrong with his head. That’s because the problem lies in his abdomen. At first, they thought they could repair the problem without a hitch. But, as it turns out, his injuries were a lot more complicated than they anticipated. And it has already done irreversible damages to his body. They all come to the heartbreaking realization that they can’t do anything for Neil. But in spite of this, they still remain hopeful that he will pull through.

As the hours passed, Neil’s condition gets worse. Audrey desperately tries to find a solution. But, Dr. Glassman soon makes her realize that it’s too late. As he tells her that “it’s time to stop being a doctor…be a friend.”

Later, Audrey apologizes to Neil and he comforts her. They both reminisce about the future they could’ve had together. But, in the end, they didn’t need words to tell each other how they felt. As tears drop from Audrey’s eyes, Neil takes her hand in his.

The next one to say goodbye to Neil is Dr. Glassman. Unsure of what to say, Glassman talks about one of their patients in the past and how Melendez caught the right diagnosis in time to save her life. With that, Glassman tells Neil that he was the best he ever worked with. Then, Claire walks in. At that, Glassman shakes Neil’s hand one last time and leaves.

Not knowing how to breach what they want to say to each other, Claire and Neil have a couple of laughs over their bowling skills and tattoos. Then, after all the short-lived laughter, Claire blurts out, “I love you.” Without hesitation, Melendez says it back. Then, Claire rests her head on his chest and stays with him until he quietly passes away.

As the sun shines signaling a new day, Claire emerges from the room. And she breaks down in Dr. Lim’s arms both women comforting each other. As they slowly walk away, Audrey tells Claire they should have a drink sometime. Claire agrees.

Earlier on, when Dr. Lim was still back at the brewery, both she and Alex are still working on Casey. But, no matter which way they operate, they couldn’t do anything more to help Casey. Realizing this, Alex tells Audrey to go back to the hospital while he stays with Casey.

When Casey wakes up, Park finally tells him the truth. And later on, they finally get a hold of Casey’s dad on the radio. Casey immediately starts apologizing to his dad, sobbing and choking out the words. Unfortunately, the signal wasn’t clear and his dad couldn’t hear a single word he was saying.

When Park comforts Casey, the boy reveals why he’s apologizing to his dad. “I killed my mother,” he tells Park. But, it’s not as literal as it seems. Casey’s mother was an addict. When Casey discovered bottles of pills in her purse, he didn’t say anything to anyone. Then, three weeks later, his mother overdosed. Since then, Casey has been blaming himself. He thinks he could’ve gotten her help if he just told someone.

As the hours pass, Casey starts feeling colder and colder. His father couldn’t make it in time because his plane was caught in a storm. But, all Casey could do is ask for his dad. The last time he regains consciousness, he mistakes Dr. Park for his dad, who doesn’t correct him.

“I’m here,” Park tells him and he listens to Casey’s apology. Instead of accepting the kid’s apology though, Park takes the blame off the kid’s chest.

“I knew too,” he tells Casey. “I did what I thought I could. Sometimes, you can help them. Sometimes, there’s just nothing you can do…It was never your fault.”

As Casey’s life starts fading away, he tells Park (while still thinking it’s his dad) that he loves him. Dr. Park doesn’t hesitate to say it back. With that, Casey smiles one last time and takes his last breath. As tears stream from Dr. Park’s eyes, he bends and kisses Casey on the forehead. Later on, Dr. Park calls Mia and tells her that he’ll be moving back home. When he hears Kellan’s voice, he breaks down.

Meanwhile, down in Shaun and Vera’s corner, the water is filling up fast and the rescuers don’t seem to be closer to getting to them anytime soon. So, Shaun takes matters into his own hands and starts sawing through the rebar stuck in Vera’s leg with a surgical saw. To distract her, Shaun gets Vera talking more about relationships. At one point, Shaun mentions his try and try again after failure logic. But, Vera doesn’t agree with it. She thinks it’ll just trap people and keep them from other victories. Which ultimately gets Shaun thinking.

Unfortunately, the saw does no good. So, Shaun changes tactics and tries to block the water from the pipes by tying a cloth around the crack. However, this just causes the entire pipe to burst and break. Lea begs him to get out of there. And Vera tells him to go as well. But, Shaun doesn’t want to give up and turns to his last option: to amputate Vera’s leg.

Vera agrees to the procedure only under one condition. If she dies, Shaun has to move on from Lea. After promising, he begins the procedure. Meanwhile, Lea counts down the seconds through the radio amidst Vera’s screams.

Vera weaves in and out of consciousness through the whole thing. At one point, she’s completely submerged underwater and the radio goes dark. But, Shaun manages to successfully amputate her in time and bring her up where the rescuers are.

Outside, Lea heads straight towards Shaun and kisses him. But, Shaun isn’t sure what exactly that kind of kiss it was. With relief and joy, Lea explains that it was an “I’m such a stupid idiot for not seeing it but I love you with all my heart” kiss. Then, she proceeds to kiss him again.

Elsewhere, Morgan is dealing with the consequences of her decision. After stabilizing her patient, Dr. Andrews takes over for closing and orders her to go back to her room. Later on, when he checks on her, Andrews reveals that he thought Morgan had complete disrespect for her superiors, her patients, and colleagues for hiding her condition. He thought she only cared about the advancement of her career. But, seeing what she did, it made him realize he was wrong. It proved to Andrews that saving lives is Morgan’s first priority. Unfortunately, that doesn’t change the fact that Morgan may have just given up her whole career as a surgeon to save her patient’s life.

## 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 (credit only)
* Hill Harper as Dr. Marcus Andrews
* Richard Schiff as Dr. Aaron Glassman
* Elfina Luk as Nurse Dalisay Villanueva
* Bentley Green as Casey
* Marin Ireland as Vera
* April Cameron as Nurse Hawks

Co-Starring* Avery Konrad as Tamara Krantz
* Christina Lewall as Kelly Smith
* Jeremiah Oh as Dan Jackson
* Bombyx Du Murier as Casey’s father (voice only)

## Trivia

* This episode marks the final episode to credit Nicholas Gonzalez (Neil Melendez) and Jasika Nicole (Carly Lever) as series regulars.
	+ Jasika Nicole also does not appear.

## Multimedia

### Videos

The Good Doctor 3x20 Promo "I Love You" (HD) Season FinalePark Comforts His Dying Patient - The Good DoctorAndrews Tells Morgan What He Really Thinks About Her - The Good DoctorClaire and Melendez Say Their Goodbyes - The Good DoctorLea Says Shaun Makes Her More - The Good Doctor
## References

1. ↑ "Ratings for Monday 30th March 2020" - SpoilerTV
2. ↑ "The Good Doctor - Episode 3.20 - I Love You (Season Finale) - Promo, Promotional Photos + Press Release" - SpoilerTV