Risk and Reward

## Episode Chronology

**"Risk and Reward"** is the fifteenth episode of Season 2 of *The Good Doctor*. It is the thirty-third episode overall, and aired on February 18, 2019.

## Synopsis

Shaun's blunt honesty with a distraught mother of a critically ill newborn baby causes the new chief of surgery to question keeping him on as a resident.

## Plot

Lim, Claire and Shaun are helping a couple give birth to their daughter, whom Lim shows to the couple while ordering the baby to be taken to surgery. Concurrently, Andrews and Aoki are holding a welcome brunch for the new Chief of Surgery that Andrews has hired, Dr. Jackson Han, though Aoki has her concerns when Han is late. While Shaun, Claire and Lim are doing the surgery, Claire says that the baby's bowel protrusion seemed less severe in the prenatal imaging. Lim says that the heart problem had to be dealt with first. Her septum has many holes, so Lim suggests paging on the on-call neonatal cardiac surgeon. Just then, Han appears and he says that he will scrub in instead.

Dr. Han orders for music to be played so that he can concentrate on the surgery, even though Shaun finds it distracting. Shaun also debriefs him and says that there is no room to start in the abdomen without increasing abdominal pressure, which would decrease too much blood flow to the bowel. Han then quizzes Claire on her medical knowledge, but she's only able to answer the first question correctly while Shaun answers the second. Han also determines that they can only fix it in the short run and makes a pulmonary artery band to buy them some time. Han soon meets Neil, who is surprised that Han cancelled his hernia repair while Han compliments Neil on a surgery he once did. He also asks for Neil to consult on Minesh Goyal, a very rich CEO who is looking for a full body check. Although Neil states that he doesn't do preventative surgery, Han says that he had already promised the patient the very best, and that taking care of rich patients is important because they provide the money to treat poor patients. Neil obliges and checks on Minesh, who states about how much Han had complimented Neil. When his EKG and BMI are revealed to be normal, Minesh states that he ordered all of the tests because he just wants to have control over everything as he had lost his father who was very healthy.

Glassman is having his next cancer treatment when he meets a chatty man called Larry Childs, who attempts to make cheery conversation with Glassman and get him a cancer support group for what he's going through. At the same time, Neil is carrying out his tests on Minesh while having Park and Morgan with him. Neil then tells them both about how direct, charming, sure of himself and egoistical Doctor Han is, which leaves them shocked because Neil is also rather egotistical. Morgan also states that it's fine if he can back it up, as Han's arterial switch technique is performed all over the world. Meanwhile, Park points out that Minesh has a tumor in his brain.

Shaun is examining the baby, whom the parents have decided to call Persephone, and states that that she is stable for now because he put in a central line for her. She has a lot of birth defects which the mother questions, while the father states that their obstetrician told them it could happen for no reason. Shaun agrees, but then the mother asks if the paroxetine she was taking for clinical depression could have caused them, and Shaun says that there was a study that associated paroxetine with birth defects similar to what the infant had which leaves the parents devastated as Shaun leaves.

Neil breaks the news of the tumor, though they're uncertain about whether it's cancerous or benign. While Minesh walks off and states that he'll start worrying if the tumor is cancerous, Shaun, Claire and Lim are researching ways to save Persephone's life but are getting nowhere. Unfortunately, Shaun gets into trouble with Han for telling Persephone's mother that she was possibly responsible for what has happened to Persephone. Although Shaun attempts to state that he was just telling her the truth when she asked him, Han states that he did nothing to help it. Lim attempts to state that Shaun is a resident and that they all make mistakes, while Claire tries to defend Shaun but Han replies that Claire should focus on her own mistakes (including failing to answer him correctly in the OR.

Shaun attempts to suggest a possible solution to help Persephone, but Han thinks that Shaun is trying to change the subject and states the procedure Shaun suggested was tried at another hospital on a baby that died a week after it was performed. He then tells Shaun to not talk to Persephone's parents again, while Lim attempts to talk Han into not talking to the residents the way he did. Although she still defends Shaun, Han states that he doesn't think that Shaun will make a good resident. Glassman is still undergoing his cancer treatment, though he's somewhat grumpy about it and gets annoyed by Larry still trying to make conversation with him about how he sees his cancer as his identity, his fellow cancer patients and uncertainty about his treatment going well. Unfortunately, Glassman throws up and Larry gets him a bin while still attempting to show that he's there for Glassman.

Neil, Morgan and Park are carrying out the research on Minesh which Han observes. While Han sees that Morgan is sucking up to him and recognizes Park as a cop, Neil accidentally hits an artery and has to urgently patch Minesh up. He fixes the problem quickly, but says that he won't do a biopsy because it is too dangerous. He soon informs Minesh that the tumor is likely a benign notochord cell tumor, which looks similar to a cancerous chordoma. He says that Minesh will have to make a difficult decision and decide whether he wants to go through a risky surgery to remove the tumor, which Minesh says he'll consider.

Shaun, Claire, and Lim are still researching solutions for Persephone. Lim talks to Shaun to suggest that he keep quiet around Han for now and only answer his direct questions, though Claire says that that would've led to Shaun still being on suction had he been that way with Neil. The group are soon called down, where Han is dealing with Persephone who is having a medical emergency. He updates the parents while the others take care of Persephone. They next day, they still do not have a solution. However, Shaun comes up with one that Han says it's a great idea and suggests it to the parents. They determine that the surgery is high risk, and that the parents will have to make a hard decision. Larry still tries to connect with Glassman, to little success while pointing out Glassman's arrogance in not leaning on the support of others while still trying to get him to connect with them. Minesh comes back and says that his mother and brother don't want him to do the surgery, but that he isn't sure himself. Neil gives him numbers to Minesh's request, and says that there is a 80% chance of no complications in the surgery, and a 5% chance that the tumor is cancerous. Minesh says that he was never comfortable with inaction, and opts to do the surgery despite the numbers supporting not doing surgery as he sees that it comes at a price.

Han talks to Persephone's parents about whether to do the surgery and she will slowly die from starvation if her bowels fail from complications, or take her off life support. Her father thinks they should have her off life support, while her mother thinks that the surgery should go ahead. The decision is taken to a judge who tells the surgeons to decide and Han opts to do the surgery. Meanwhile, Shaun meets with Doctor Glassman for lunch and informs him about Han while Glassman also tells Shaun about Larry. Shaun states that he thinks Larry is rather smart as a study showed that breast cancer patients with support groups had an increase in survival when battling the disease, while Glassman also attempts to comfort Shaun with how Han will probably forget about Shaun's autism, but Shaun questions how so since his autism is part of who he is. Persephone is soon taken to surgery where her heart is successfully fixed, but it's become too strong which is causing her to drown in her fluids. Han and Claire break the news to the parents, and Han says that the humane thing to do would be to take Persephone off life support. Claire empathizes with the mother, saying that it is hard for her because she fought for Persephone for so long even before she was born. However, she says that taking Persephone off life support isn't giving up on her, and instead is listening to Persephone's body while the parents are left upset.

Persephone is carefully patched up, with Han saying that he wants Persephone to look as good as possible for her parents. They turn off cardiac support, and stand still to grieve when Shaun comes up with an idea. He says that they could create another hole in her heart that would only open when needed. Claire redeems herself by presenting Han with the math behind Shaun's suggestion. Meanwhile, Glassman starts to connect himself with Larry and Candice, a woman also seeking cancer treatment. As for Minesh, they removed a nerve which means he can't use his left foot again and will need physical therapy to learn to walk again. He also refuses to see the test results when Neil states that they would come in, but Minesh just states that they can't put the tumor back. Persephone is able to survive as a result of the surgery, to her parents' joy, while Park and Morgan take a look at Minesh's results when Neil throws them away. Shaun is also approached by Han while waiting for his bus ride home and compliments Shaun as an asset to the hospital. Shaun agrees with this, but is shocked when Han states that he's spoken with the Residency Director of Pathology who has agreed that Shaun would make a good fit there. Shaun attempts to state that he's a surgical resident, but Han thinks he would be better fit for pathology as he could help patients without having to deal with them or any social cues. Shaun attempts to state that he's been working on his communication skills, but Han believes his hard work isn't enough and states that Shaun is no longer a surgeon before leaving him.

## 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 (credit only)
* Hill Harper as Dr. Marcus Andrews
* Richard Schiff as Dr. Aaron Glassman
* Robyn Lively as Diane Monroe
* Peter Benson as Nigel Monroe
* Ravi Kapoor as Minesh Goyal
* Elfina Luk as Nurse Dalisay Villanueva
* Joe Adler as Larry Childs
* Daniel Dae Kim as Dr. Jackson Han

## Trivia

* This episode introduces the new Chief of Surgery Doctor Jackson Han. The actor of Jackson Han, Daniel Dae Kim, is also an executive producer of *The Good Doctor*. In addition, he is the one who bought the rights for the original Korean version for his production company and had it transformed into the American version of the show.
* This episode is directed by Freddie Highmore who portrays Shaun.

## Multimedia

### Videos

The Good Doctor 2x15 Promo "Risk and Reward" (HD) ft. Daniel Dae Kim
## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Shows A-Z - good doctor, the on abc" - TheFutonCritic.com
2. ↑ [1]