If you’re looking for the right prescription for a solid series finale consisting of high emotional stakes, happy and sad tearful moments followed by a big dose of hope, then “The Good Doctor” delivered on all of those elements in Tuesday’s series finale, which wrapped up seven seasons on ABC.
The drama, which premiered on September 20, 2017, followed the journey of autistic surgeon Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) as he grew from surgical resident not only to being a successful doctor at San Jose’s St. Bonaventure Hospital, but also a husband, father and friend to the colleagues he worked with over the years. In the series, created by David Shore and developed from the 2013 South Korean drama “Good Doctor,” Shaun’s autism often saw him face conflicts in which he was torn between logic and emotion with the show’s finale digging deep once again into that arena.
In the episode, Shaun is faced with two of his closest friends – mentor and father figure Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff) and returning friend Dr. Claire Browne (Antonia Thomas, who left the series as a regular after its fourth season) – facing life or death situations that Shaun felt the utmost responsibility to solve. This dramatic situation for Shaun drove the show’s final hour, as the last few episodes efficiently locked down happy endings for several cast members like colleagues Dr. Morgan Reznick (Fiona Gubelmann) and Dr. Alex Park (Will Yun Lee) finally being wed in last week’s episode.
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Shore and executive producer Liz Friedman helped us dissect the show’s last episode, including how the shortened 10-episode final season impacted its conclusion, why Claire was the past cast member they chose to bring back and how they handled the death of Glassman in the episode — while keeping an upbeat end.
Liz Friedman: I had planned for a season ender that either was in the ballpark of something that could wrap it up, or there were certain ideas I had of that if you included this little thread, it could launch into next season. I knew [the show ending] was a possibility. I was trying to keep everyone’s options open for as long as possible. I’m sad the show is ending, but I’m glad that we had enough notice. We were able to adjust, and do a true finale. I’m very happy with how we wrapped up the show.
Were there any adjustments you needed to do just because of the writers strike, with fewer episodes for the season?
Friedman: No, that was not in the planning. I mean, part of going through the writers strike was a repeated calculation of how many episodes we could do if it ended next week. And it was hard, honestly, because even when we came back, we had the ability to do 15 [episodes]. ABC initially said, no, we only want 13 and then that number got reduced to 10. But we figured it out, and downsized our story to make it work for that many episodes.
Did either of you go back and watch the pilot in preparation for this final episode?
David Shore: Yeah, we did. Liz watched right away, and told me I should watch it, too. I was going to watch it anyways, but she just said, “Yeah, it’s really good.”
Friedman: We had also watched it for when we did “The Good Lawyer” spinoff [last year]. There are definitely moments that refer back to [the pilot]. Honestly, it was a bit of an accident, but we came up with the story, and then I took a look at the Season 1 finale, which was really about Shaun learning that Glassman had cancer. And those two stories speak to each other quite a bit in a way that really pleases me. It really gives a very good measure of Shaun’s progress over the course of these seven years.
How much did Freddie Highmore weigh in on the finale and how things wrapped up? Was he involved with a lot of the choices?
Friedman: Freddie’s great in that. Over the past few years, I talked to him as I get the next section of stories and I talk him through what’s coming, and he’s a writer’s dream audience. He says, “Oh, that sounds good,” and then he throws in a, “Oh, that sort of reminds me of this…” He’s such a dream to work with. We would go through every script with him, and he asks us about any things he wants to change. And almost every change he wants to make makes the script better.
As a viewer, the show’s true love story is Shaun and Glassman, especially with how that relationship has unfolded and where it ends up in at the end of Season 7. Has that always been in the forefront of your minds, as well?
Shore: Certainly that relationship has been absolutely essential to the show from day one, and it was the one constant to the show throughout, adding to the sadness at the end. But it’s very much a father-son relationship, and we were aware of that right from the beginning and we wanted to play that out to the end. The role of a father and handing that off, and getting your child ready for the world.
