Letting Go

## Episode Chronology

**"Letting Go"** is the seventeenth episode of Season 4 of *The Good Doctor*. It is the seventy-third episode overall and aired on May 17, 2021.

## Synopsis

Dr. Claire Browne and the team must face hard truths about what lines they are willing to cross when one of Claire’s idols becomes her patient.

## Plot

Shaun and Lea are in their apartment discussing the tragic change in their lives. Of course, Shaun takes the logical approach by informing Lea that 25% of pregnancies end in miscarriages, but Lea is clearly still shaken up. Shaun decides the best course of action is to head back to work, so he returns to the San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital, which surprises Park and Dr. Lim.

Elsewhere, Claire and Morgan meet their new patient, Senator Marian Clark, who came into the hospital with facial spasms. While Morgan and Claire don't believe her condition to be serious, they decide to run some tests to rule out a few possible causes. Park then heads off to deal with his case, which involves Arite Hill, an older man told by his doctor at San Jose General that he has heart failure. As Park tends to him, Paul Nakano, Artie's doctor, arrives at the hospital and asks for some specific tests to be run.

Nakano meets with Park and Dr. Andrews to discuss the cast, and Andrews reveals that Nakano was his Chief of Surgery when he was a resident. Nakanos then explains that he wants to try a new kind of operation on Artie's heart, which excites Andrews. Soon after, Shaun finds himself in Artie's room, where he discovers that the patient's feet are cold, which piques his curiosity.

Back at Shaun and Lea's apartment, Lea is struggling to get back to normal life, so much so she ignores a call from her mother. But while his girlfriend is having a rough time, Shaun jumps back into work by telling Nakano that Artie's cold feet mean he made a mistake during his initial bypass. Andrews tries to explain to his resident that Nakano is an incredibly experienced surgeon and wouldn't make that mistake, but Shaun won't back down. Their confrontation ends when Andrews angrily tells Shaun that if he refuses to take the few days of leave he has, he has to leave Artie's case alone.

However, despite Andrews' warning, Shaun informs Artie of his belief, which leads Artie to ask for more tests before he okays the initial procedure Nakano wanted to do. Meanwhile, Morgan and Claire tell Senator Clark that her spasms are steeming from a "tortuous nerve" in her face. It's not a condition they recommend surgery for, but Clark insists on it because she doesn't want to risk one of her spasms being caught on camera. Despite her pleas, Morgan is still against the idea, but Claire, who's a supporter of Clark, says they'll try to find a solution.

Lea continues to attempt to try to take her mind off of things by playing a mobile game, but after misplacing her phone charger, she decides to venture out of the apartment.

At the hospital, Park discovers Shaun hiding in the break room, and he breaks the news to him that after Andrews and Nakano ran Artie's test, they discovered Shaun was wrong. Lea arrives at this hospital, where she's going to attempt to get back to work, and she's greeted by several people who want to offer their support.

Elsewhere, Claire, Morgan and Jordan work to find a solution for Senator Clark, and while they decide on a procedure she's likely to approve, Morgan calls out Claire for making a bad decision based on bias. Claire and Morgan then go to inform Clark about their idea, which she quickly approves. However, Claire begins to feel guilty about her decision, so she tries to have a real discussion with Clark. She tells the senator about how she was actually the commencement speaker at her high school graduation, and her speech was the reason she ended up becoming a doctor. Unfortunately, Clark reveals that the speech was fabricated, which greatly upsets Claire.

Shaun heads home to find Lea, and he tells her Dr. Glassman said they should have a conversation. Lea is reluctant to agree and offers to make some tea, but her mother calls again, and Shaun picks up the phone. It's at this point when it becomes clear Lea never told her mother about her miscarriage, as she's calling to talk about the best kind of stroller. As Lea's mom continues, Shaun becomes upset, so much so he tells her to "shut up" and hangs up the phone.

Just as Senator Clark's aid lies to the press about why his boss was at the hospital, Claire finds out her patient isn't waking up after surgery.

Around the same time, Shaun and Lea start to have their much-needed conversation, but Shaun realizes something about Artie's case, and he leaves the apartment. Shaun arrives at the O.R. just in time to stop the procedure, and after a brief discussion with Nakano, they realize the issue and decide on the best course of action.

A complication arises during Senator Clark's tests, so Claire and Morgan go to inform her aid, who was chosen as her medical surrogate. But instead of acting rationally, he decides not to inform Clark's husband about her next surgery in fear of it leaking to the media.

Meanwhile, during Artie's surgery, everything goes well until Nakano makes a small error during the closing stages. After the procedure is finished, Nakano tells Andrews that he's going to retire from surgery because he told himself that once he started making small errors, he would stop before making a big one.

Clark wakes up from her surgery and is set to make a full recovery, but before she leaves, Claire tries to get through to her about her obsession with lying. Things don't go well for the surgical resident, however, as Clark leaves and immediately has an impromptu press conference where she tells a made-up story about a boy in South Carolina.

Back at Lea and Shaun's apartment, Lea is upset about seeing some fruit flies, but Shaun quickly realizes that it isn't about bugs, and he embraces his grieving partner.

## 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
* Elfina Luk as Nurse Dalisay Villanueva
* Julie Warner as Pam Dilallo
* Hiro Kanagawa as Dr. Paul Nakano
* Derek McGrath as Artie Hill
* Asif Ali as Cal Lewis
* Cynthia Stevenson as Senator Marian Clark

### Co-Starring

* Abbie Jenkins as Nurse Lucy Wagner
* Peter Graham-Gaudreau as Pete
* Carly Bentall as Carly the Receptionist

## Trivia

* Hiro Kanagawa (Dr. Paul Nakano) and Freddie Highmore (Dr. Shaun Murphy) have previously appeared on-screen together on the A&E psychological drama *Bates Motel*.

## References

1. ↑ Live Ratings for 4.17: Letting Go - Programming Insider
2. ↑ The Good Doctor on The Futon Critic