Throughout its six-season run, The Good Doctor has captivated audiences with heartfelt medical cases, complex characters, and storylines that pushed the boundaries of imagination.
Medical dramas are no stranger to high-stakes scenarios, but The Good Doctor took things to explosive new levels—literally. In one episode, the surgical team had to remove a live grenade lodged inside a patient’s body. The tension was palpable, but even fans who love a good adrenaline rush couldn’t help but question the plausibility of such a scenario. Shaun Murphy’s backstory is a cornerstone of the show, but the inclusion of his deceased brother as a recurring hallucination drew mixed reactions. While the emotional weight of Shaun’s grief was undeniable, many found the trope of a guiding apparition to be a step too far, especially in a series grounded in realism.
The hospital lockdown during a viral outbreak was one of the show’s most dramatic arcs, featuring patients collapsing left and right and staff risking their lives. While it made for edge-of-your-seat drama, the sheer number of crises crammed into this storyline—deaths, confessions, and even a surprise surgery in a non-sterile hallway—had viewers questioning the logistical realism. The on-again, off-again relationship between Shaun and Lea kept fans invested, but the series took some wild turns with their storyline. From Lea’s sudden pregnancy and heartbreaking miscarriage to her extreme flip-flopping about their future, the emotional whiplash often felt like a roller coaster without a safety bar.
One of the most bizarre cases featured a patient whose brain tumor caused them to hear music that wasn’t there. While the medical explanation was loosely based on real phenomena, the scenes where the patient vividly “heard” and reacted to the music felt more like a surreal musical number than a medical mystery. It’s a classic trope in medical dramas—the hero doctor saves the day during an emergency on a plane. While Shaun’s brilliance has never been in doubt, watching him perform intricate surgery mid-flight with makeshift tools stretched even the most devoted fans’ suspension of disbelief.
When a promising resident was revealed to be secretly leading a criminal operation, it felt more like a subplot ripped from a spy thriller than a medical drama. The character’s dramatic unmasking and swift exit left fans wondering if they’d accidentally switched channels. In one of the show’s most outrageous moments, a doctor performed surgery on themselves after being injured during a crisis. While undeniably dramatic, the scene had viewers questioning the logistics (and pain tolerance) of such a feat, even for the most skilled surgeons.
