S04.E11: We're All Crazy Sometimes

[Power-Aspie]

1 hour ago, bros402 said:

just because there's someone with autism in the writers room, that doesn't mean they'll make it realistic, they'll do whatever they want for drama.

It's best when the actor with the disability in question plays a character with that disability

Just because there's someone with autism performing the role, that doesn't mean they'll make it realistic, the script will have the performer do wathever it wants for drama.

Edited March 11, 2021 by Power-Aspie

[CarpeFelis]

9 hours ago, izabella said:

Would she even be able to lift her head?  I'd imagine all her muscle would be completely gone after 10 years of nothing.

Now that you mention it — this bugged me with the other patient as well. Glassman mentioned that he’d been unable to use his arms and legs. Yet his arms were strong enough to pull himself up onto the walker? I was not buying it.

Edited March 11, 2021 by CarpeFelis
typos

[Starchild]

13 hours ago, Power-Aspie said:

This isn’t how foreshadowing on The Good Doctor works. Events are usually foreshadowed by rather insignificant or disjoined details. For example, Morgan’s rheumatoid arthritis was foreshadowed by her struggling to open a jar of pickles in 3.01 Disaster. And the earthquake was foreshadowed by Morgan discovering an earthquake kit in Claire’s trunk alongside her mother’s ashes in 3.04 Take My Hand.

OK if what you are saying is that the foreshadowing would be demonstrated by a specific and unambiguous earlier scene, then I definitely cannot agree that the mere inclusion of a storyline with a pregnant patient that has no observable ramifications for the characters would qualify as foreshadowing. 

[Court]

Screw the pregnancy storyline. Any goodwill I had towards Leah is gone now after that crazy towing storyline. 

[bros402]

23 hours ago, Power-Aspie said:

Just because there's someone with autism performing the role, that doesn't mean they'll make it realistic, the script will have the performer do wathever it wants for drama.

Yeah - but the writers might be willing to adjust a storyline a bit if the star objects to it.

4 hours ago, Court said:

Screw the pregnancy storyline. Any goodwill I had towards Leah is gone now after that crazy towing storyline. 

I mean it is in line the Leah's character - at least the original Leah. Not so much "Leah, Super Hacker" who manages to break encryptions even the CIA can't break.

[Power-Aspie]

5 hours ago, Court said:

Any goodwill I had towards Leah is gone now after that crazy towing storyline. 

As a work of fiction, The Good Doctor should be interpreted by the language of storytelling. Symbolism is an important element of The Good Doctor.

The show has applied a rich amount of symbolism throughout its run. Shaun holds dearly to a plastic scalpel his dead brother Steve gave to him. Hubert the Fish and its successors were a promise for Shaun and Lea as a family of sorts. The baseball Lea “borrowed” to Shaun, which sat beside his brother’s photo and watched over Shaun having sex for the first time.

After the scalpel, Lea’s car, the Striped Tomato, is probably the most important and long-lasting icon of the drama series. Beloved Grandpa Rod’s car represents Lea’s fond childhood memories since 1.11 Islands Part One. It is her connection to a carefree past before her struggles as woman in STEM began. The car also is a reminder of how the bond between Shaun and Lea was forged on that decisive road trip. The time when Lea showed trust in Shaun by having him drive her priced memorabilia, empowering him. The moment Shaun took his life into his own hands and experienced his first kiss.

When the Striped Tomato got towed away, Lea had already learned about her pregnancy. As the car was taken away from her, she felt her childhood as well as the carefree days of romance slipping away. The event marked her final transition into adulthood.

The following quest for retrieval wasn’t just a fierce try to hold onto these carefree times, the combined effort of Shaun and Lea again enforced the idea that the couple faces challenges best as a unit. Just as they will have to work together now as expectant parents: “…this is about having my back. Were a team now Shaun, working together for a common goal…”

Edited March 12, 2021 by Power-Aspie

[Power-Aspie]

4 hours ago, bros402 said:

I mean it is in line the Leah's character - at least the original Leah. Not so much "Leah, Super Hacker" who manages to break encryptions even the CIA can't break.

Actually, Lea never did decrypt the data. She restored the network by using discarded hard drives that were not compromised:

LEA: Turns out one of my techs spilled coffee on a server, didn't want to tell me, so he switched it out three days before the hack. His screw-up might just save our ass.
GLASSMAN: So it's not encrypted?
LEA: No, but it is corrupted from the coffee and dust and dirt. I found it under a pile of junk in the recycling bin. But if my patient pulls through, I'll be able to restore the network without having to pay the hackers a dime.
[…]
LEA: I fixed the server. It's still missing the last 96 days of records, but it's totally malware free, which means we can restore the network with... With three hours to spare.

4 hours ago, bros402 said:

Yeah - but the writers might be willing to adjust a storyline a bit if the star objects to it.

• Script writer Mark Rozeman has ASD,
• Richard Schiff and Sheila Kelley’s son has ASD,
• Freddie Highmore has people with ASD in his personal life,
• The show has an autism consultant checking every script.

Seems to me like there is already some experience with the condition accumulated in the show’s team. Of course, autism is a wide spectrum, so there always will be someone who finds themselves not represented by a single drama character. Tough Titmouse.

[bros402]

19 hours ago, Power-Aspie said:

Actually, Lea never did decrypt the data. She restored the network by using discarded hard drives that were not compromised:

LEA: Turns out one of my techs spilled coffee on a server, didn't want to tell me, so he switched it out three days before the hack. His screw-up might just save our ass.
GLASSMAN: So it's not encrypted?
LEA: No, but it is corrupted from the coffee and dust and dirt. I found it under a pile of junk in the recycling bin. But if my patient pulls through, I'll be able to restore the network without having to pay the hackers a dime.
[…]
LEA: I fixed the server. It's still missing the last 96 days of records, but it's totally malware free, which means we can restore the network with... With three hours to spare.

Oh right, she never decrypted the data, but she did manage to clean equipment in a closet and somehow not damage it

[Power-Aspie]

58 minutes ago, bros402 said:

Oh right, she never decrypted the data, but she did manage to clean equipment in a closet and somehow not damage it

Actually, it was Lea’s own office she turned into a make-shift clean room. She even wore an electrical grounding wristband.

It was Park who extracted bone marrow in a janitors’ closet in 2.11 Quarantine Part Two. And Melendez and Claire transplanted the marrow in a linen room.

Shaun and Claire operated on a liver on a police car’s trunk in the middle of a highway in 1.03 Oliver.

Wanna nitpick more on a work of fiction or does the term suspension of disbelief ring a bell with you?

[statsgirl]

I liked Park being upset that he had lost the spot to "a firsty". That was realistic.

I wasn't so sympathetic to Asher and his cheeseburger dilemma. Just get a burger with fake meat. I get that it was about leaving what he had grown up with and moving on but it seemed like a bad example to me.

On 3/11/2021 at 11:12 AM, CarpeFelis said:

Now that you mention it — this bugged me with the other patient as well. Glassman mentioned that he’d been unable to use his arms and legs. Yet his arms were strong enough to pull himself up onto the walker? I was not buying it.

I figured that it was considerably later than the surgery and we had seen him using his arms earlier. But you make a good point. His legs shouldn't have been strong enough to stand on.

We didn't see Shaun's reaction to hearing that Lea is pregnant so I'll wait to see what it is. We have repeatedly been told how necessary precision is to Shaun, from the sound level on a TV to this episode when he told Lea that she was 8 minutes late for lunch (to which she replied that she wasn't going to eat with him because he is a bad boyfriend and that lack of communication is why I cringe at them), and paying precisely $250 to get Lea's car back because that was what was first agreed.  So if Shaun is all "okay, cool" about the pregnancy, I will call foul as you did with the arm strength.

[bros402]

22 hours ago, Power-Aspie said:

Actually, it was Lea’s own office she turned into a make-shift clean room. She even wore an electrical grounding wristband.

It was Park who extracted bone marrow in a janitors’ closet in 2.11 Quarantine Part Two. And Melendez and Claire transplanted the marrow in a linen room.

Shaun and Claire operated on a liver on a police car’s trunk in the middle of a highway in 1.03 Oliver.

Wanna nitpick more on a work of fiction or does the term suspension of disbelief ring a bell with you?

an ESD bracelet wouldn't help much

oh man that janitor's closet BMB was hilariously insane

Transplantation of marrow *could* be done in a closet - but the immune system is shot from consolidation, so you want to avoid them getting sick, but it's more believable than magic clean room or highway surgery.

Nitpicking is fun!

 

 

11 hours ago, statsgirl said:

We didn't see Shaun's reaction to hearing that Lea is pregnant so I'll wait to see what it is. We have repeatedly been told how necessary precision is to Shaun, from the sound level on a TV to this episode when he told Lea that she was 8 minutes late for lunch (to which she replied that she wasn't going to eat with him because he is a bad boyfriend and that lack of communication is why I cringe at them), and paying precisely $250 to get Lea's car back because that was what was first agreed.  So if Shaun is all "okay, cool" about the pregnancy, I will call foul as you did with the arm strength.

I'm guessing he'll dive into routine and try to ignore it, blurting it out to co-workers at some point in the episode.

Either that, or a meltdown (or he'll be distracted during surgery, make a mistake, then he reveals it)

[tinkerbell]

On 3/9/2021 at 12:37 AM, Power-Aspie said:

 

Oh yeah! Of course, in a show dedicated to representing and normalizing autism, the audience can’t be bothered with the autistic lead having a private life or God forbit, having a child.

If you have a problem with that, you probably have been watching the wrong show from the beginning. I'm so sick of this ableism.

 

On 3/9/2021 at 11:13 AM, Power-Aspie said:

The show has been diving into these thinkgs my people have to deal with on a daily basis for three and a half years now - it is the basic premise of "The Good Doctor". But a baby is a taboo now for you?

Why? Uncomfortable with the idea of autistic folks being parents?

I don't think you are reading the objections accurately.  I hate the way tv shows portray parenting, for the most part.  And medical shows especially do a poor job of it.  The kids are present when the plot line is about the kids, but otherwise, the kids are just "there" - being in a hospital daycare for many, many hours a day.  Two working parents, one with ASD, could be a show on its own, without the hospital drama.  It's just that THIS show will either change tone and emphasis completely and be focused on the parenting aspect,  OR it will have the parenting occupy an unrealistically small part of the couple's lives, and stay focused on hospital drama.   I don't like either direction, and it would be difficult to find a middle ground and not lose the audience.  

PLUS - I absolutely HATE watching episodes of labor and delivery -  people screaming PUSH, women screaming in pain, complications, emotional reactions.   It brings up a kind of PTSD in me, and I do not want to relive those hours in the delivery room.   

I don't think the issue is whether or not parenting and autism is a good mix - nobody is saying autistic people shouldn't have kids.  It's just that the show will change in a way that some people don't want to watch.   I enjoy watching medical dramas.  Maybe because the child-rearing phase of my life is over, I'm not a huge fan of dramas that revolve around young couples and their babies.   

Edited March 15, 2021 by tinkerbell

[Power-Aspie]

1 hour ago, tinkerbell said:

I enjoy watching medical dramas.  Maybe because the child-rearing phase of my life is over, I'm not a huge fan of dramas that revolve around young couples and their babies.   

Tough Noogies, The Good Doctor never was the avergage medical drama but rather the coming-of-age story of an autistic individual sugar-coated with medical drama.

Parenthood with ASD is an important yet often neglected issue. It is about time that it is featured on prime time TV.

[tinkerbell]

3 minutes ago, Power-Aspie said:

Tough Noogies, The Good Doctor never was the avergage medical drama but rather the coming-of-age story of an autistic individual sugar-coated with medical drama.

Parenthood with ASD is an important yet often neglected issue. It is about time that it is featured on prime time TV.

Different people watch shows for different reasons. I watch it for the medical drama.

  You're right, I haven't seen any other shows focusing on parenting with ASD, and maybe that would make for an interesting show.   I'm just not sure THIS show is the right one for the issue.   As I, and other posters have said, often times when a tv drama introduces a baby, the whole show changes.  When a show changes its focus, a lot of the audience can turn away.  But if the show DOESN'T change its focus, then it stands the risk of trivializing parenting and not giving it enough attention.   It's just something that happens - when a show that wasn't about parenting, has a main character become a parent, the show can lose some of its audience. 

My opinion about the show, or about any show, is based simply on whether or not it is entertaining/interesting to me.  I fear that bringing a baby into the picture would change the show so that it's not as entertaining for me.   Personal opinion, and it has nothing to do with views on whether people with ASD should have children. 

[rmontro]

I've been avoiding saying it, because it's such a terrible thing, but there's always the possibility that the child doesn't survive.  Or what if Lea dies in childbirth, and Shaun has to raise the kid on his own?  David Shore does like to swap out his cast occasionally.  Could go in all sorts of directions.  Shaun being the sole parent would really raise the questions about who is taking care of the baby all the time though, he works long hours.  

[meatball77]

It's a medical show.  There will be a major medical complication with the pregnancy.

[possibilities]

The ghost of Melendez would step up, along with the ghost of Shaun's dead brother. 

Wait... this isn't a supernatural show... nevermind.

[bros402]

4 hours ago, meatball77 said:

It's a medical show.  There will be a major medical complication with the pregnancy.

obviously Shaun will have to operate and the baby will grab his finger when the prenatal surgery is going on
 

2 hours ago, possibilities said:

The ghost of Melendez would step up, along with the ghost of Shaun's dead brother. 

Wait... this isn't a supernatural show... nevermind.

Ghost Melendez will say "Claire, you need to cut here, just look!"

And if it is a boy, they are so naming it after Shaun's dead brother.

[rmontro]

16 hours ago, possibilities said:

The ghost of Melendez would step up, along with the ghost of Shaun's dead brother. 

Maybe he can babysit.

[Starchild]

On 3/15/2021 at 11:30 PM, possibilities said:

Wait... this isn't a supernatural show... 

Yet.

[possibilities]

Leah was an alien all along. Now she's pregnant with a human child. They will need highly specialized medical care if the baby is to survive!

[juno]

Leah pregnant? I wonder if Shaun will take his kid water-skiing so they can prepare for the inevitable shark jump.