Shaun and Carly’s date, however, was not the only disaster of the episode. The case of the week saw a fatally injured bride enter the hospital on her wedding day.
The premiere episode began with Shaun and Carly’s date, and the former was understandably nervous. Nervous enough to have prepared his conversation topics in advance. According to the index card we saw him bring out, movies, TV, weather and sports were good conversation starters, while religion, politics and “abortion or other laws” were off limits.
Across the episode, we see the date nearly dissolve into disaster, only for it to be saved by Shaun. He miraculously caught a wine bottle after knocking it off a waiter’s tray, started telling a joke while Carly was talking about her difficult relationship with her father (though luckily she laughed) and then dislocated a woman’s shoulder by knocking her over, only for him to get a round of applause after he popped it back in.
Though he called the date a disaster when telling the staff of the hospital about it, he did get a goodnight kiss. Later in the episode, it was revealed that Shaun found the date disastrous due to how “exhausting” he had found trying to follow the social rituals of a date where so little was in his control.
Shaun actor Freddie Highmore told TVLine of this: “The first date is a good example—and [The Good Doctor showrunner] David Shore has spoken about this as well—of these small little victories for Shaun.”
He later added, “In other shows, you’d probably go out and sleep with someone in the first episode and that would be that, whereas we have, like, an entire season to possibly get to that point.”
Though Shaun’s love life took up a large chunk of the episode (and the attention of the other doctors), the Season 3 premiere did not stint on the medical drama. The first case of the week concerned a bride who was rushed to hospital on her wedding day for what seemed to be a uterine fibroid, only to discover she had cancer.
The staff manage a highly risky surgery to remove most of the cancer, though the patient loses a large part of her bowel. Dr. Neil Melendez (Nicholas Gonzalez) takes this as a moment for Shaun to learn more about sympathetic communication, so forces him to break the news of the cancer to the bride.
Also learning valuable lessons in The Good Doctor Season 3, Episode 1 was Dr. Audrey Lim (Christina Chang) on one of her first days as head of surgery. She promised the residents that they would be able to lead on routine surgeries, leading to a fight between Dr. Morgan Reznick (Fiona Gubelmann) and Dr. Alex Park (Will Yun Lee) over a case they had dismissed as “boring” previously.
Highmore teased to TVLine that this decision by Audrey will have repercussions over the season, as the residents decide “that they’re ready enough and having the confidence to take it on and do it.”
We also got the first sign of trouble as Audrey and Neil have to report their relationship to HR. Speaking to Hollywood Life, Chang said their relationship will continue to be tested in The Good Doctor Season 3 as “the question comes into play of—is she making decisions about him and everybody else fairly? Is she favoring him over all the other doctors?”
The premiere also brought characters who had previously left the hospital back, as Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff) returned as hospital president, while the hired former president Dr. Marcus Andrews (Hill Harper) came back as a surgical attending.
The Good Doctor Season 3, Episode 1 will be released on Hulu on September 24 at 9pm ET
