Unsurprisingly, the drama on The Good Doctor is only continuing to build as we approach the two-part season 3 finale. But things are getting especially tough for Shaun (Freddie Highmore) and Lea (Paige Spara).
At the end of episode 18 — titled “Heartbreak” — on Monday, Shaun ended up in a big blowout fight with Lea after she caught him attempting to smash the windows of her car with a baseball bat.
“I want to hurt you the way you hurt me,” Shaun said to Lea, as she watched and held back tears. “You acted like you cared about me, but you don’t even respect me. You’re flaky, and you can’t keep a boyfriend. And you can’t keep a job. And no one likes you. And you’re going to end up alone and you deserve it, because you’re a superficial, selfish, and prejudiced person.”
Naturally, the emotional scene sparked some passionate reactions in fans, who overwhelmingly fell into two different camps — one that believes that Shaun was much too harsh on Lea in this episode, and another that says they’re happy he finally told Lea what she needed to hear.
“Shaun needs to understand that not everything can go as he wants and that he’s not the only one struggling. Lea has her own problems,” a fan tweeted in support of Lea. “As much as I’ve liked Lea she needed to hear what Shaun said. I’m so glad he called her out,” someone else wrote in favor of Shaun’s actions. “Wow. Shaun’s outburst to Lea was heavy and cruel and mean … But it needed to be said,” wrote a third, acknowledging both sides of the debate.
No matter whose side fans took, however, they all seemed to agree on one thing: The acting in this episode — and in particular, the monumental scene between Lea and Shaun — was incredible.
“I think Lea does care, but she has her own problems and obvious self esteem issues. She never set out to hurt him, but the road to heartache was built by people who never meant to hurt each other. That scene felt very real. Excellent acting,” one fan tweeted. “The acting in this show is the best I’ve seen,” another wrote.
Needless to say, this episode of The Good Doctor ended on a powerful note. Now, however, there are only two episodes left in season 3 (both of which make up two-part season finale). Fingers crossed we finally see things start to look up for Shaun by the season’s end!
