Season 4 of ‘The Good Doctor’ premiered on November 2, 2020, and, after only 5 episodes, it has shockingly reached its winter finale!
Based on a 2013 award-winning South Korean television show of the same name, the American version of ‘The Good Doctor‘ is helmed by David Shore (of ‘House M.D.’ fame). The 2017 series is a medical drama on ABC and has actor Daniel Dae Kim serving as one of the executive producers. It opened to mixed reviews on its release but has since maintained strong ratings with an average viewership of 10-16 million people per season. Freddie Highmore’s performance as an autistic doctor has won him universal acclaim and been the highlight of the series.
‘The Good Doctor’ has also found itself at the centre of controversies quite often whether it is regarding its portrayal of autism, underwhelming storylines, or the recent unexpected departure of actor Nicholas Gonzalez from the series. The show is now in news again as episode 6 of season 4 will be telecasted after a delay!
Highlights —
- ‘The Good Doctor’: A medical drama centring an autistic surgeon
- The controversial season 4 finale [*Major SPOILERS*]
- Episode 6 of season 4 has been delayed by six weeks now!
‘The Good Doctor’: A medical drama centring an autistic surgeon
‘The Good Doctor’ tells the story of Dr Shawn Murphy, a young autistic doctor with savant syndrome who moves to San Jose, California, to work at the esteemed San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital. Shawn has had a troubled childhood and is inadept at social interactions, often failing to understand diplomacy and showcasing excessive honesty during day-to-day exchanges. However, he is smart, intuitive, and an excellent surgeon. At the hospital, Shawn constantly receives support from Dr Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff), the President of the hospital who has been his friend and mentor since he was 14.
The series has been noted for diversity in its cast and appropriate depiction of medical disorders. Although, its depiction of autism has often been questioned and criticized. Over the seasons it has also gained a massive viewership in foreign countries. Season 4 of the series premiered in November 2020, after a delay due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The controversial season 4 finale [*Major SPOILERS*]
The finale of season 4 saw the death of a major character – Dr Neil Melendez (played by Nicholas Gonzalez). The death came as a bolt from the blue for the fans who were extremely upset over this development. His character was that of the second lead and fans were actually expecting to see more of his relationship with Dr Claire Brown (Antonia Thomas) after the two had confessed their love to each other.
What irked fans, even more, is that showrunner David Shore has not been able to give a satisfactory explanation about his decision to kill off the character.
Shore said in an interview,
“When you do a series like this, you want to confront mortality. That’s what the series does. You need bad results every now and again to keep things honest and keep the audience believing that bad things are going to happen, just because you want to be honest, and because you want to put people in those positions. You want to see how people react to bad news, as well as good. So, you want, every now and again, bad things to happen, and to see the fallout from it. That’s what you want to explore as an audience; that’s what you want people to feel”.
Despite the fact that Shore said that there is no bad blood between him and Gonzalez, fans are speculating that there is a lot more to this story than what meets the eye. Lamentably, the character is gone for good and Gonzalez will only be making a guest appearance in season 4.
Episode 6 of season 4 has been delayed by six weeks now!
After the telecast of episode 5 on November 30th, 2020, it was announced that the episode would serve as the winter finale of season 4. Fans are shocked over the announcement as the new season started only a month back! The next episode will premiere on January 11th, 2021.
The delay has been attributed to the pandemic as the cast and crew were unable to start the shooting of season 4 until September 2020. The producers at ABC have referred to this situation as a strategic break so that they can have enough time to complete the shooting.
Are you watching season 4 of ‘The Good Doctor’? What did you think about the winter finale? Tell us in the comments below.
