The Good Doctor showrunners David Shore and Liz Friedman have opened up about a major character death that happened in the series finale, explaining its connection to Shaun. The final episode of the show reveals that, despite his years-long battle with brain cancer, Dr. Glassman is going to die of the illness. In The Good Doctor season 7’s final moments, it reveals Shaun at a TED Talk years later, confirming his mentor is deceased.
Speaking with TVLine, Shore and Friedman explained why Dr. Glassman’s death in The Good Doctor series finale was an important development for the end of the series. Revealing it was never always the plan for his death to tie into the end of the show, the showrunners discussed how the death impacted Shaun and gave him a different perspective on life and the medical field. Check out what Shore and Friedman had to say below:
David Shore: No. I wish I was that brilliant! Liz has talked about this a fair bit, and it makes so much sense. It’s Chekhov’s cancer: If you introduce it in Season 1, you need to pay it off in Season 7.
Liz Friedman: Shaun faces a really unique challenge because of his ASD: He’s a doctor, and his mentor has this very serious illness. He wants to deal with it as medicine, and Glassman doesn’t want to do that; he simply wants to have a personal relationship. For Shaun, that is as hard [to accept] as it would be for me to figure out how to treat Glassman’s cancer…. He has had this very close, and very vulnerable, relationship with Glassman, and that’s been key to his development. It’s such a natural question to ask, “How will he handle life without him?”
How Dr. Glassman’s Death Made The Good Doctor’s Ending More Powerful
Shaun’s TED Talk in the future is revealed to be centered around his new project, the Dr. Aaron Glassman Foundation for Neurodiversity in Medicine. It’s revealed he and Claire Browne run the organization together, having partnered with 17 hospitals and 32 medical schools during the time jump. Although Dr. Glassman died of brain cancer, his memory still lives on as his pupil keeps improving the medical field in his name. He also has a daughter named Maddie, named after his mentor’s daughter who died before the events of the show.
Dr. Glassman had been battling with cancer since season 1, telegraphing rather early that he was going to die by the time the series concluded. However, his exiting the cast of The Good Doctor at the very end made for a more powerful ending, as it pushed Shaun’s medical career in a new direction. His foundation now assists more hospitals than just St. Bonaventure, making his mentor a primary figure for medical advancement long after his death. It honors his memory while also helping countless people in the process.
Although the end of The Good Doctor means the show won’t be showing the long-term effects of Shaun’s new foundation, his approach to Dr. Glassman’s death shows how much he wants to keep the memory of his mentor alive. Even though he wasn’t able to save him medically, the young surgeon’s life is now dedicated to saving others, just as his mentor taught him. It offers an uplifting ending to the series, hinting at plenty of hopeful developments in the characters’ lives as they remember such an important person they all adored.
