‘The Good Doctor’ Killed Off A Beloved Character
“My heart is shattered,” said one viewer. (Spoilers ahead!)
The Good Doctor fans were left on the edge of their seats last week after Dr. Neil Melendez fainted in the final minute of the episode. After a massive earthquake, he was seriously injured by falling ceiling debris but chose to perform emergency surgery on a patient rather than seek treatment for himself.
On Monday, fans’ worst fears were confirmed when the fan-favorite character, played by Nicholas Gonzalez, died of septic shock after his injuries were left untreated.
The loss was particularly devastating for viewers who supported Melendez’s blossoming relationship with longtime love interest, Dr. Claire Browne. In the final bittersweet moments of Melendez’s life, the romantic tension between him and Claire was finally broken as she professed her love for him, and he replied, “I love you, too.”
After the finale aired, heartbroken “Melendaire” enthusiasts took to social media to mourn the death of this well-loved character and what the couple’s relationship could have become.
“Melendez and Claire deserved better,” tweeted one fan. “My heart hurts.”
Nicholas Gonzalez, who plays the attending cardiothoracic surgeon, weighed in on Melendaire’s tragic fate and their deathbed love confession in a new interview with TVLine.
“[In those final moments,] Melendez is really discovering how he feels. It really wasn’t until all of this that he accepted how he felt about her, because I think it’s something that really snuck up on him,” Nicholas explains.
The actor added that there were a lot of “real emotions” being played out in his final scene with Claire, who is played by Antonia Thomas.
“It was tough because… like Dr. Melendez, I was saying goodbye to [someone who had been] in my life for three years… Antonia and I [became] such good friends,” Nicholas says. “We, too, love each other, and that’s why this hurts saying goodbye.”
