The Good Doctor season 4 premieres Monday night, but without a St. Bonaventure Hospital surgeon: Dr. Neil Melendez, played by Nicholas Gonzalez.
At the end of season 3, fans were blindsided when the hit ABC medical drama showed him hanging on to his life after a massive earthquake shook the city of San Jose. While he seemed fine at first, he caused concern after suddenly fainting. Viewers began threatening to be “done” with the show if Melendez didn’t survive, but unfortunately, everyone saw him take a turn for the worst.
In the finale episode entitled “I Love You,” Melendez woke up in an ambulance alongside Dr. Claire Browne (Antonia Thomas). Although he said he was ready to get back to action helping earthquake victims, Claire and Dr. Audrey Lim (Christina Chang) soon discovered that Melendez had major internal injuries.
He’d soon succumb to them but not before saying goodbye first. “Melendaire” (as the internet called the potential couple) shippers finally saw Melendez and Claire confess their love for each other — only for him to die moments later.
But why did Nicholas Gonzalez (a.k.a. Dr. Neil Melendez) have to leave The Good Doctor?
Throughout season 3 of The Good Doctor, there was no indication that Melendez’s storyline was coming to an end. So why did actor Nicholas have to leave The Good Doctor? Well, that’s exactly what fans demanded to know following the finale.
Viewers didn’t have to wait long for answers, but it wasn’t what they were expecting to hear. Series creator and executive producer David Shore offered some insight to Deadline about the heartbreaking decision.
“We wanted to lose a character that we would feel something about, and feel pain about, and certainly, he’s a character that so many of them have been in touch with,” David told the outlet. The creator also emphasized the significance of the relationships Melendez created with Lim, Claire, and Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore).
“Look, this is the nature of these sorts of shows, I believe, is you go forward, and people come and go,” he explained. “It’s a dynamic being, the show. New characters are going to come, old characters are going to leave, and we feel the pain when they leave, and we feel excitement when they come. All of it is designed to give us an opportunity to explore different relationships.”
Whether or not Good Doctor fans choose to accept that Melendez will no longer be part of the show is still up for debate. But at least this gives us some kind of closure, right?
