ABC on Tuesday aired a promo for The Good Doctor’s penultimate episode — airing Tuesday, May 14 at 10/9c — which reveals that Dr. Claire Browne is not only visiting San Jose; she’s a patient at St. Bonaventure, under Shaun’s care.
Antonia Thomas’ Claire is all smiles when she shows up at Dr. Murphy’s front door. But shortly thereafter, Shaun reveals that doctors recently found a lump in Claire’s breast. The initial biopsy was “negative,” she tells Lea, but further testing at St. Bons suggests that Dr. Browne does, in fact, have breast cancer.
The synopsis for Season 7, Episode 9 — titled “Unconditional” — reads as follows:
Dr. Claire Browne returns from her work in Guatemala for a personal medical examination. Elsewhere, Dr. Glassman struggles to manage Hannah, who remains unresponsive to his attempts to help, while Park seeks out the perfect last-minute wedding location.
ABC has also released the following synopsis for The Good Doctor’s series finale, titled “Goodbye,” which airs Tuesday, May 21:
As the doctors consider their futures, they work together to solve one of the most important cases of their careers.
Might that “most important case” involve saving Claire?
As previously reported, Thomas will reprise her fan-favorite role as Dr. Claire Browne in Episodes 9 and 10. Additionally, Season 6 regular Brandon Larracuente will return as Dr. Danny Perez in one of The Good Doctor’s last two episodes.
Thomas was a series regular in Seasons 1-4. She announced her departure in June 2021, just hours ahead of the Season 4 finale. “I think, ultimately, for me, it’s about coming to the point where I think we’ve really run the gamut of different things that Claire can have gone through,” Thomas told Deadline at the time. “I’m now really excited to explore different creative opportunities” — which included a starring role in the Apple TV+ rom-com Still Up.
She returned as Claire in a pair of Season 5 episodes, at which point viewers learned that she was offered the position of chief of surgery at her hospital in Guatemala. She has not been seen on screen since May 2022.
