Launched in 2017 and now completing 4 seasons, The Good Doctor has just become famous and loved by Vietnamese audiences when it appeared on Netflix. Like its name, The Good Doctor is a hospital-themed drama with talented doctors who dedicate themselves to their patients. It may not sound new, but why has The Good Doctor been able to go such a long way, or even “surpass” the famous Hospital Playlist 2 to top Netflix’s trending chart? The answer is the comfort, warmth and comfort that the film brings to the audience – with the central character being an autistic doctor.
The Good Doctor is not the best medical series ever, as the film itself also has many holes and problems. However, the film successfully completes its mission – which is to bring healing to the audience, thanks to its wonderful characters and the ingenuity of producer David Shore – the man behind the hit medical series House. . When the first season debuted, The Good Doctor’s ratings were so high that it was ranked among the most successful television series, even breaking records.
The element of autism + genius becoming a “time bomb” is not too surprising, but enough to motivate viewers.
A remake of the famous Korean movie Good Doctor, The Good Doctor revolves around Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) – a new surgeon at a prestigious hospital. Shaun has autism and genius syndrome, which means that even though he is diagnosed as talented and extremely intelligent, he only has the communication and sensory abilities of a child. Shaun asks direct – but also extremely silly – questions like “why are parents sad when they hear that their child’s leg will have to be amputated, he will live?”.
Shaun is both overly sensitive and insensitive to the things around him. That makes him an unusual element at the hospital and in the story that The Good Doctor brings to the audience. There will be times when he is silent because he is in a state of psychological turmoil, or there will be times when that silence means Shaun is about to blurt out accurate diagnoses about the patient’s condition that even the doctors top also skipped. In this regard, it can be seen that The Good Doctor does a very good job of keeping the audience attracted, curious and constantly linger to witness the story unfold.
At some point, this motif no longer becomes too new or surprising, but it still brings just enough satisfaction. The Good Doctor does not try to push viewers into emotional inhibitions, or turn Shaun or any of the characters into “villains” worth hating. Instead, the audience and the other characters – including Shaun – must become curious about everything that happens in the movie. And of course, the film’s medical cases and other characters also bring enough excitement and humanity to the audience.
Each case is a sweet story, sometimes even sad
Having a style quite similar to Hospital Playlist (and many other medical dramas), the doctors in The Good Doctor often receive many different patients in each episode, and each has their own unique story.
In just the first season, audiences saw a couple get into an accident on their way to get married, and they struggled with the decision of whether to repair – or amputate – the groom’s ruined leg. There was a boy who knew he had cancer, and was ready to accept it. There was a young girl who got sick from filming an adult movie and didn’t dare call her parents before her serious surgery. There was a refugee mother who hid her son’s medicine because she was afraid that if he recovered, he would be sent back to the war-torn country. There is a pair of conjoined twins who accept sacrifices for each other, and many more touching stories…
Outstanding social issues are also touched on by The Good Doctor, typically sexual harassment, gender equality or each person’s gender and sexual orientation. Just as Shaun gradually comes to realize many things, the audience can also learn from the film’s story.
People often say that hospitals are sad places, because there is so much pain and loss that happens here. However, The Good Doctor knows how to solve each case to guide viewers to the human values of family, faith and kindness. The optimism in the story of The Good Doctor makes it easy for the audience to watch and understand – or many people even brag that they watch it while eating.
The sweetness of The Good Doctor comes not only from the medical cases but also from the love of colleagues – those who do not give up on Shaun even though he always has problems. Shaun has the opportunity to learn and know how to communicate better, or even find the love of his life.
