The Good Doctor Season 3 Episode 4 Review: Take My Hand

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Morgan finally acted like a decent friend.

She's generally annoying and selfish, but on  The Good Doctor Season 3 Episode 4 she managed to put her ego aside for long enough to help Claire scatter her mother's ashes.

Of course, that came on the heels of her minding Claire's business, but still. For Morgan, this was excellent progress.

Shaun Consults on a Case - The Good Doctor Season 3 Episode 4

Claire's desire not to feel pain, minus Morgan's demands to know why dovetailed nicely with their case.

It was understandable that Lily didn't see a point to feeling pain when she'd survived this long without it. 

Wow. She's like the superhero. Nothing can really hurt her.

Morgan

After all, Lily had managed to make it to adulthood without seriously injuring herself, and her lack of ability to feel pain helped her deal with losing her hand -- even though her infection progressed more than it needed to because of that inability.

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Park Accompanies Andrews - The Good Doctor Season 3 Episode 4

So for her, her low-key reaction to emotionally painful events was normal, and it should not have come as a surprise to anyone that when her condition was reversed, the flood gates opened up and she was overwhelmed with negative emotion.

Related: The Good Doctor Season 3 Episode 1 Review

Lily's treatment should have included a consult with a psychiatrist, who could have helped both Lily and her medical team understand what was likely to happen if she took medication to allow her to feel pain.

The question was, though, whether that treatment was in her best interest.

Claire didn't think so, but her perception was clouded by her unexpressed grief and confusion over her mother's death. 

Morgan: Want to hear my theories? One, you had a fight with your mother. You're thinking about kicking her out.
Claire: These theories explain what?
Morgan: Why the usually compassionate Claire Brown is envying a woman who feels no pain. You're obviously miserable.
Claire: You want to hear my theory? You see someone who's not so you're looking for a toy to break.

Morgan was right that Claire wasn't acting like herself, but Claire was determined for some reason not to let anyone know that her mother had died, never mind that she was hurting over it.

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I can't say I blame her for not wanting to confide in Morgan, though. Morgan was her usual nosey self, and Morgan's usual self is not particularly empathetic, to say the least.

Dr. Andrews - The Good Doctor Season 3 Episode 4

But how emotional was Morgan and Claire's trip to the marine science building to scatter the ashes?

At first, it seemed like this was going to be more over-the-top comic relief. Claire and Morgan's costumes were truly ridiculous, which was entirely in keeping with a drag show -- but it didn't belong at an impromptu funeral.

And when Claire went to the sea lion tank to scatter the ashes, I couldn't help worrying about them getting caught since the owners of the tank probably didn't want people scattering ashes in it.

Then Morgan came up with the idea of singing and things got seriously heartwrenching.

Antonia Thomas' voice was beautiful, and the juxtaposition of Claire's saying goodbye to her mother with Glassman's wedding drove the point home.

It almost made up for Morgan being too quick to jump to Lily getting the treatment, which was annoying.

It was a decision Lily and her husband should have made together after talking in private.

Perhaps both of them could have benefited from counseling, rather than Lily deciding to go for it because her husband was freaked out by the same woman he fell in love with after he learned she didn't process pain the same way he did.

In a way, Lily was similar to Shaun.

Her inability to feel pain made some people view her as disabled, while others thought it was a superpower. That begged the question of whether fixing her was appropriate treatment -- something that I wish had been discussed in more depth.

Dressed to the Nines - The Good Doctor Season 3 Episode 4

Either way, how cool was it that Shaun was the one to not only get through to Mr. Conspiracy Theory but also to Glassman?

Shaun: I don't have any advice. I don't understand the issue. I also don't understand why you're asking me when you've already made up your mind.
Glassman: What?
Shaun: You usually say your ex-wife. You said your first wife, which implies there's a second.

Shaun could hardly be blamed for being so excited that Glassman asked him for help that he almost forgot to answer the question. I know I was that excited for him.

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And his advice was perfect, which goes to show that it's easier to give people relationship advice than to take other people's.

One person's advice that he should NOT have taken was Mitchell's.

Mitchell: The second you say you're wrong, people will say you're wrong and they won't believe anything you say.
Shaun: Maybe if you told people you were wrong they would be more likely to be leive you.
Mitchell: No. No middle ground. Compromise is a scam. When only one side can get what it wants, make sure it's yours.

The guy lived in an alternate reality, and his attitude about compromise wasn't going to work well for Shaun and Carly.

Fortunately, they found a compromise that worked after all. Carly holding Shaun's wrist instead of his hand was cute.

A Romantic Crisis - The Good Doctor Season 3 Episode 4

For someone who supposedly has trouble with taking other people's perspectives, though, Shaun did phenomenal work with Mitchell.

He managed to speak his language when Mitchell wanted to take his paranoid self elsewhere after he needed further treatment, and that more than likely saved Mitchell's life.

Shaun also turned out to be not so bad at telling a little white lie when needed. 

If anyone should have been paranoid that Shaun was lying, it was Mitchell, but he let Shaun disappear without questioning his claim that everything was fine.

Your turn, Good Doctor fanatics.

Did you think Lily should take the medication to help her feel pain?

Did you like the send-off for Claire's mother?

And who else cheered aloud when Shaun got Glassman to see that Glassman wanted to marry Debbie?

Share your thoughts in the comments, and don't forget you can watch The Good Doctor online if you missed anything.

The Good Doctor continues to air on ABC on Mondays at 10 PM EST/PST.

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Take My Hand Review

Editor Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
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User Rating:

Rating: 4.3 / 5.0 (27 Votes)

Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on X.

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The Good Doctor Season 3 Episode 4 Quotes

Park: Mitchell Stewart? The guy who thinks 9/11 was an inside job. He's an ass.
Andrews: An ass who needs our help.

Will we be doing this during all the commercials?

Shaun