The Good Doctor is ABC’s medical drama following Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore), a young, autistic surgical resident at the fictional San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital. Despite skepticism from his colleagues, Shaun use his extraordinary gifts and unique talents to save lives, later rising to the attending level. The series first premiered in 2017 and is currently on its seventh and final season. Rounding out the cast is Richard Schiff as Aaron Glassman; Christina Chang as Audrey Lim; Chuku Modu as Jared Kalu; Fiona Gubelmann as Morgan Reznick; Will Yun Lee as Alex Park; Paige Spara as Lea Dilallo; Noah Galvin as Asher Wolke; Giacomo Baessato as Jerome Martel and Bria Samoné Henderson as Jordan Allen.
Antonia Thomas starred as Dr. Claire Browne, one of Shaun’s fellow residents, for seasons 1-4. The fan-favorite character left at the end of the fourth season to pursue a job opportunity in Guatemala, but she came back for a few episodes of Season 5. Browne returned once again for the final two episodes of the series, only this time, she is the patient. Here’s what we know about whether Claire dies in The Good Doctor.
Does Claire Brown die on The Good Doctor?
In the finale, Claire turns up at Lea (Paige Spara) and Shaun’s front door and seems thrilled to see them. Shortly after, Shaun tells his wife that Claire recently found a lump in her breast. Claire assures her friends that the biopsy came back negative, but after undergoing more tests at St. Bonaventure, she later learns that she, in fact, has cancer. “It was wrong. Claire has breast cancer,” Shaun tells his colleagues. Later in the episode, Claire is in tears as she talks to Dr. Jared Kalu (Chuku Modu), another doctor from her and Shaun’s residency class and her former love interest, as she reflects on her diagnosis.
Will Claire be able to beat the disease? Fans hope so. “Claire having breast cancer is quite a surprise, hope they can get rid of the tumor,” one fan commented on a YouTube video of the promo. “This is terrible, Claire having cancer,” another fan wrote. Referencing Claire’s brief relationship with Dr. Neil Melendez (Nicholas Gonzalez), who was killed off in Season 3, they added: “I just hope that she doesn’t die, so she can reunite with Melendez. Not only it would be sad, but really cheesy. I hope we are not going down that route.”
Claire wasn’t the only Good Doctor character to be diagnosed with cancer in the penultimate episode of the series. The episode also saw Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff) reveal that his brain cancer had come back, and this time, it was terminal. In an interview with The Wrap before The Good Doctor Season 7 finale, showrunner Liz Friedman hinted that Claire doesn’t die while teasing her and Jared’s happy ending in the series. “Jared and Claire have a connection that goes way back to the beginning of the show … there was always a connection there and they couldn’t quite resolve it,” she said. “I know where I stand, but I leave it for the audience to make their own decision [on who to ship].”
She continued of the series finale, “You can expect to see our characters dealing with two of the most personally important patients that they’ve ever had to treat in the course of the series.”
Though Claire will likely survive, executive producer David Shore confirmed that there will be a “loss” in the finale,” which will most likely be the death of Glassman. “The finale is in a way about loss, but also about appreciating what we’ve had,” he said. “I think Liz has done a wonderful job of creating a story that allows us to do both of those things.”
In addition to Claire returning, Brandon Larracuente, who recurred as Dr. Danny Perez in Season 6, also returned for the series finale. In the Season 6 finale, Perez got into an ambulance crash and suffered serious external injuries. Dr. Jordan Allen (Bria Samoné Henderson) made the call to give the recovering addict fentanyl to save his life, and although it worked, Perez feared he would have another relapse. He decided to move home to Texas to focus on his recovery, thus ending his and Jordan’s budding romance.
