The Good Doctor: Season 5/ Episode 17 “The Lea Show” – Recap/ Review

Shaun and Lea feel the pressure of being put on a pedestal as Clare tries to decide if Dr. Lim should remain on one in her mind.
Shaun and Lea feel the pressure of being put on a pedestal as Clare tries to decide if Dr. Lim should remain on one in her mind.
Clare’s return is a joyous thing, but she hasn’t just come for Shaun and Lea’s wedding but also because she has a patient that needs help and wants Dr. Lim’s advice. Focusing on the advice, Clare has gained quite a reputation in the last year, and thanks to that, she is being offered a chief of surgery position, but she wants Dr. Lim’s opinion on it.

So, what does she think? That Clare might be a bit too soft-hearted for the hard decisions involved with the position. This causes great offense and leads to some friction between the two. This includes Clare noting that she admired Dr. Lim at one time, but she isn’t so sure if she does anymore.

As for how Alex and Morgan factor in? Well, similar to Shaun and Lea, they are dealing with issues of things that aren’t being said. Lea and Shaun are torn between how they should look for others vs. what’s comfortable for them, and Alex and Morgan are bickering over a wedding present. Because whenever there is a chance to fight over something menial, both salivate at the opportunity.

There Is More Than One Way To Do It – Dr. Lim. Clare, Lucho, Nurse Villanueva, Shaun

Dr. Lim and Clare find themselves dealing with a new work dynamic as Clare takes the lead over the three-part surgical procedures for her patient Lucho, a sweet kid seemingly not even a teenager yet. Dr. Lim, and many others, focus on what would be a successful surgery while Clare focuses on quality of life, such as Lucho being able to play soccer (futbol) again. For with her knowing the boy well, since he is from Guatemala, where she works, she has in mind what the best end result would be for him.

This leads to some clashing and Lucho nearly dying, but Shaun always comes up with a last-minute idea that saves the day. And through the process, you see Dr. Lim respect Clare for owning up to her mistakes, making unpopular decisions, and holding her own.
And in a way, Clare’s trajectory and how she plans to be a Chief of Surgery inspires Dr. Lim to take a kinder approach with Nurse Villanueva. Rather than bench Villanueva, continue to write her up, and just go through the process needed to fire her, Villanueva surprises her by quitting. Luckily though, Dr. Lim harnesses that same family spirit she used against Salen to take on Villanueva’s troubles. Thus, she decides that if Villanueva isn’t strong enough to leave her abusive partner on her own, she’ll take her in, and they’ll work through it together.

We Gotta Be Us – Sophie, Shaun, Lea, Dr. Glassman

Thanks to Sophie, Shaun and Lea’s wedding has become a wedding for other people. Lea sees them as a sign that atypical and neurotypical people can be together, and their wedding needs to be perfect for the sake of representation. Shaun has the belief it needs to be perfect for Dr. Glassman made it seem that his lack of compromise or giving in is why he is twice divorced.

So both try to live up to a rather uncomfortable standard, and it isn’t until within an hour of the wedding Lea calls it off, for she knows Shaun won’t. Thus leading to Sophie being told the wedding isn’t happening and, strangely, despite being flown in first class, not seeing how Lea’s parents, or her sibling, feel about the last-minute cancellation.