The Good Doctor showrunners David Shore and Liz Friedman discuss the series’ finale. Specifically, the impact left behind by the death of a key main character.
Speaking to TVLine, Shore and Friedman were asked about their thoughts going into and surrounding the death of Richard Schiff’s Doctor Aaron Glassman. When asked whether they knew going in that Glassman’s death would tie back into the end of the series itself, Shore responded, “No. I wish I was that brilliant!” Shore continued, “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.”
“Shaun faces a really unique challenge because of his ASD: He’s a doctor, and his mentor has this very serious illness,” Friedman explained. “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.” Friedman added, “It’s such a natural question to ask, ‘How will he handle life without him?'”
The Good Doctor Wrapped Up Its Run
The Good Doctor, which premiered on ABC on September 25, 2017, is an American remake of the 2013 South Korean series, Good Doctor. The American remake stars Freddie Highmore as Doctor Shaun Murphy, a brilliant surgeon and resident at the fictional San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital. Doctor Murphy’s autism frequently plays a major role in various storylines throughout the series, both in terms of interpersonal relationships between characters and in terms of the series’ medical drama. The Good Doctor also stars Richard Schiff as Doctor Aaron Glassman, who is introduced as the president of San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital and quickly becomes Doctor Murphy’s mentor.
After running for a total of 126 episodes over the course of nearly seven years on air, The Good Doctor came to a close with the Season 7 finale episode “Goodbye.” The episode sees Doctor Glassman reveal that he only has a few months left to live due to an aggressive form of cancer. The idea of Doctor Glassman’s ailment has been a part of the series since The Good Doctor Season 2, which saw the character step down from his role at the hospital in order to focus on undergoing treatment and recovering his health. Season 6 marked the character’s return to San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital as president, kicking off yet another long-running storyline for the series.
