S04.E19: Venga

[helenamonster]

Quote

The team travels to Guatemala on a mission to help patients at a rural hospital. The team faces a small community that is in desperate need of help, but they must identify who they can help most. Lea is still struggling with the loss of her baby.

Original airdate: 5/31/21

[jabRI]

This was confusing, what happened to Sean's patient that he couldn't have surgery?

And I don't get why Morgan went since she can't perform surgery? I missed the first few minutes, maybe that was explained?

[Driad]

Morgan going made sense to me because the evaluations of patients and decisions about who gets surgery are important here.  She can help with that even though she can't operate.

They arranged that nobody would need surgery in San Jose, so the whole surgical staff can go away?  Are they leaving the interns to mind the store?

Lea was there to help with the Guatemalan hospital's complicated computer system, right?  (Not.)

I liked the Guatemalan woman doctor.

[DanaK]

I liked this, it puts our heroes in a different situation. It’s hard to watch because you wanted everyone to be helped, but you feel for these characters

Edited June 1, 2021 by DanaK
Fixed grammar error

[Annber03]

17 minutes ago, Driad said:

I liked the Guatemalan woman doctor.

I liked her, too :). And I like the doctor that Lim hooked up with, he seems cool, too. And he's nice-looking. Go, Lim :D!

11 minutes ago, DanaK said:

I liked this, it puts our heroes in a different situation. It’s hard to watch because you wanted everyone to be help, but you feel for these characters

Agreed. This just showed one of many reasons I could never do this job. Morgan having to break the news to that father about how they couldn't do the surgery for his child was heartbreaking. 

I can understand Lea wanting some time away. Might be good for her. Claire's talk with her was nice. 

Also happy to see Shaun and Claire working together again, and the return of the images and such around Shaun's head as he was thinking about what was wrong with his patient. And we got to hear him speak Spanish as well, which was fun. I know Highmore's fluent in that language, so he must've enjoyed getting to show off that skill a bit here :D. 

[The Wild Sow]

6 hours ago, jabRI said:

This was confusing, what happened to Sean's patient that he couldn't have surgery?

And I don't get why Morgan went since she can't perform surgery? I missed the first few minutes, maybe that was explained?

He had a stroke, so now he has to be on anticoags.  Local anticoags, derived from snake venom!

Morgan was there to help with the selection process, and aftercare.  Freeing up the actual surgeons to do actual surgery.  Presumable Lea was there for admin support (scheduling, records, etc.)  Again, stuff actual surgeons aren't necessarily good at!

[greekmom]

Sorry I don't buy the fact that Lea was there for admin support. They would have sent a nurse to double on that along with being a nurse. 

She took the place of another doctor.

I hated the fact that they had to only pick 12 people to operate on while the rest were sent home. 

Loved how Shaun speaks perfect Spanish. 

Damn you show, did you have to go to the dog after the owner was told he wouldn't have surgery. Comeon... don't do that to us.

[CatLady]

Good but very sad episode.  We often forget how very blessed we are to have access to excellent medical care in this country.  The stories certainly pulled at my heartstrings.

I thought the two Guatemalan doctors were excellent given the limited resources they have.  Necessity really is the mother of all invention.

So Lea is going to be gone for a while.  This screams a way to cause more drama for Shaun and Lea.  She will be gone.  Some woman will take a shine to Shaun and start to make inroads and voila, Lea returns.  Certainly this would be possible with a regular couple.  Not sure if Shaun will move away from Lea.

Lim and the sexy doctor was good.  She certainly has a type.  LOL

How hilarious was it that Dr. Andrews with his toilet seat? 

Park is still so in the dark about Morgan.  He just continues to hurt her.  She is hard to like but I do like her.  FG is a big part of the reason.

Edited June 1, 2021 by CatLady

[statsgirl]

Shore really seems to like depressing episodes for the season finales. I'm expecting at least one of the patients we care about to die.

I didn't like the Mexican doctor until the baby delivery. (I didn't understand why the woman didn't go to the hospital herself though.) He was too much "Stick to the medicine and don't talk about the person's life" because as Claire said, you can't divorce a person from their circumstances, whether it's about attitude or home care.

6 hours ago, greekmom said:

Sorry I don't buy the fact that Lea was there for admin support. They would have sent a nurse to double on that along with being a nurse.

She's there for her own reasons, to get away and try to heal by helping others. She's sharing Shaun's room and probably paid for her own ticket as Andrews did. Other than food she's not taking up resources that could have gone to someone else and she was helping get information for sorting the patients.

[tennisgurl]

This is a nice idea for a two parter, its changes things up and puts the characters in a new environment that is familiar and also different. Next week will definitely be a tearjerker, you know that some of the patients that we are getting to know wont make it. It was sad enough seeing how they had to turn away so many needy people (and dogs) just due to lack of time and resources, especially Morgan having to tell the one guy that they couldn't do surgery on his son, and he was just so thankful that they considered him.

I liked the two doctors they were working with, you can tell that they do their best with a tough job, and while the female doctor is trying to find a balance between being pragmatic and being human, it seems like the male doctor has really closed himself off from personal concerns to try and distance himself from only being able to save so many people. 

Andrews bringing his own toilet seat seems very on brand. Much like Lim hooking up with the sexy doctor after they get very gently kidnapped and delivered a struggling baby together, that very much seems like a dream first date for her.   

Lea leaving for a bit seems like it will be good for her, but I wonder if its marking the beginning of the end for Shaun and Lea. I am not sure if they can survive this, even as they try really hard to deal with their grief together. 

Nice that Freddie got to show off his Spanish skills. "I cant communicate in two languages." Oh Shaun. 

[limecoke]

I liked this episode but it certainly required a box of Kleenex. The change in location, the compassion, the people, the medical needs was a much needed change from the usual medical show dreck. Case in point...

Young Girl: “I watched ‘Grey’s Anatomy”

Claire: “Well, being a surgeon is not much like that.”

BEST.  LINE.  EVER.

Edited June 1, 2021 by limecoke

[thuganomics85]

Beginning of the end of the season, and they are already setting up the heartbreak, I see!  When they showed the shot of the dog outside, whimpering without his owner, I could already picture David Shore and the rest of the writers going "Yes, yes, yes!  Rip those heartstrings out!  Make them suffer!"

Overall, I think this is an interesting idea of getting the majority of the cast/characters outside of their comfort zone (although I'm guessing all of the Guatemala scenes are still Canada, but just with a yellow tint!), and being in a situation where no matter what, some patients will not be saved, and some will not even be considered due to what is required or the likely outcome.  I imagine that is something a lot of doctors have to deal with in real life, and I like the show not shying away from it.

In the back of my mind, I know that there are probably plenty of other doctors back at San Jose, but I'm still picturing Jordan, Asher, and everyone else just running around all "We're doomed!  No one is here to pull off any last minute saves anymore!"  Any patients that do show up picked the wrong time to get sick!

Lea coming along is a stretch, but I'm not going to harp on it since she is clearly needed to be here for dramatic purposes.

Speaking of which, man, is Park just coming off like a dumbass throughout all of his scenes with Reznick.  I'm sure he really is being sincere, but when you end a friendship due to your own hang-ups, you can't be surprised when the other person doesn't want anything to do with you at the moment.

Liked the other doctors here.  I know the main doctor was kind of rigid and brought an emotionless persona to a lot of his reasons, but I can easily see why someone in his position would probably have to adapt that persona, in order not to be broken by all the heartache and loss.  I did think the other main female doctor was better at being logical, but still caring when the time calls for it.

I honestly keep forgetting Andrews has a wife, since we rarely see here (probably getting someone somewhat famous like Marsha Thompson to play her makes is hard to bring her back unless they want a full-blown recast), so I almost was wondering why it was such a big deal that he was flirting with the nurse.  I do wonder what will come out of that.  To be fair, she/the actress is gorgeous, but still, don't be a cheater, Andrews!  Did like that he brought his own toilet seat!

Lim pretty much personified how I feel about air travel with her griping about the three hour early arrival and then the fear of the airline losing one's luggage.

Is Freddie Highmore bilingual in real life?  Dude is talented!

Finale next week!

[Annber03]

3 minutes ago, thuganomics85 said:

Is Freddie Highmore bilingual in real life?  Dude is talented!

He can speak multiple languages :)! Not only is he fluent in Spanish, but he's also fluent in Arabic and French as well. 

[rmontro]

17 hours ago, Driad said:

They arranged that nobody would need surgery in San Jose, so the whole surgical staff can go away?  Are they leaving the interns to mind the store?

This seemed like a stretch to me also, that they could just send the whole staff (that we know) away like that.  I guess the hospital can do without.

I know Shaun is a super genius, but I was a little skeptical of him speaking Spanish so comfortably when we've never seen him use it before.  But I accepted his explanation that he apparently studied it obsessively when he was young (broke the tapes!).

It's hard to feel sorry for Morgan when she brought all this on herself, telling Park to go fool around with other women.  Talk about projecting.  She didn't want him to have feelings, but apparently she had them herself.

I've been wondering for awhile if they're teasing some sort of breakup between Shaun and Lea.  Honestly, I don't really care.  I've never particularly liked the Lea character, I liked that other doctor Shaun was dating better, although she could be annoying at times.

 

Edited June 1, 2021 by rmontro

[NeenerNeener]

8 hours ago, CatLady said:

Lim and the sexy doctor was good.  She certainly has a type.  LOL

When she told him she wasn't tired anymore after delivering the baby an old Jimmy Buffett song popped into my head, "Why Don't We Get Drunk..".

[MaryHedwig]

3 hours ago, NeenerNeener said:

When she told him she wasn't tired anymore after delivering the baby an old Jimmy Buffett song popped into my head, "Why Don't We Get Drunk..".

That's funny. The song 'Let's Do Something Cheap and Superficial' went through my head. About the same difference!

[PinkRibbons]

I wish they had just used subtitles. I get they wanted us to see the emotion of the moment that transcends language, but this was just annoying. I don't speak Spanish but I know enough to automatically hear Freddie Highmore was speaking with a European Spanish accent (as opposed to a Latin American one), and it's only here where I find the full explanation for Shaun speaking it that way. I've often heard that the difference between the dialects is like in English one having a British accent and the other having an American accent, and it is really weird for an American kid to learn European Spanish.

[UGAmp]

I’ve watched too much Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul because I was 100% prepared for the bus driver to get shot by the farmer at the beginning of the episode (and the herd of goats stuck in the middle of the road was just an excuse to rob tourists). Then they would have to perform emergency surgery on the bus. I was SO relieved when that did not happen. And I felt a little silly for thinking that would be a plot line on The Good Doctor.

Then Lim leaves the group to get in a taxi in a foreign country BY HERSELF.  She’s for sure gonna get kidnapped! Then the hot doctor got on with her and I breathed a small sigh of relief and figured this was a way to get them alone so they could hook up. Then they got “kidnapped” and hooked up! A win all around! 

[SunnyBeBe]

I totally missed this episode.  I’m watching part II live tonight though.  

[A.Ham]

On 6/6/2021 at 10:24 PM, UGAmp said:

I’ve watched too much Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul because I was 100% prepared for the bus driver to get shot by the farmer at the beginning of the episode (and the herd of goats stuck in the middle of the road was just an excuse to rob tourists). 

I’ve not watched breaking bad but the same thought crossed my mind… maybe I’ll blame it on Dateline instead.