S05.E14: Potluck

[helenamonster]

Quote

When someone mistakenly brings a hallucinogen-laced dish to the hospital’s company potluck, much of the hospital staff and doctors are incapacitated — leaving doctors Murphy, Glassman and Allen forced to take on all the hospital’s cases, further exacerbating Dr. Murphy and Dr. Glassman’s conflicting work styles.

Original airdate: 4/11/22

[greekmom]

LOL. Great lite episode.
Reznick needed a camera to get that photo of Park and Wolke shirtless on the table. Honestly shocked she didn't do that. It would be in her character to "blackmail" him with it.
Andrews and Lin were hilarious. You know they are fixing them up as a couple.
I would love an episode where Wolke's family member (mother, father, sibling) comes into the hospital for treatment. Sort of give him a goodbye to his past self.

[SunnyBeBe]

I like Shaun’s question, How does pretending that a stressful situation isn’t stressful help make it less stressful?  Haaaaa…

 

[SunnyBeBe]

I want what they had! 🤣

[Annber03]

...all right, well, I'll never be able to hear "A Thousand Miles" the same way ever again...XD. 

This episode was a trip! LOVED Lim and Andrews snarking on each other. Especially Lim calling Andrews out on his skin-tight outfits. "We get it, you work out!" LOL. Liked how she handled his Spider-Man bit, too. Their more serious talk at the end was nice, too. 

And the way Park was going on about how cool it was that Asher and that guy were boyfriends, the way he said that, cracked me up, too. Even the guy who plays Asher, Noah Galvin, looked like he was about to burst out laughing :p. Also loved Park rambling on about that "Opposites Attract" video. 

But I am glad they were able to figure out what the heck led to everyone acting so loopy. And I'm glad a few of the doctors didn't get affected - the whole thing with Shaun, Glassman, and Jordan throughout this episode was good, and I liked the interaction between them. And I liked Morgan trying to keep everything under control as she worked to figure out the mystery of what got everyone acting so strange. I'm glad Asher and his boyfriend worked things out, too. 

[Starchild]

Every show needs a 'shrooms episode.

And on a shallow note: Park, woof

[Driad]

That was fun.  Reminded me of Star Trek "The Naked Time" and ER "Whose Appy Now?"

[Virtual]

Shaun got lucky that he didn’t eat any of his food before he got that call about a patient coming in. It probably saved him from getting as loopy as the others.

I thought it was funny how Andrews wanted to climb the wall “like Spider-Man” 🤣 I’m glad that Lim, even in her own loopiness, talked him out of it. One good thing is that they were able to develop more of a friendship due to bonding about Spider-Man. And great choice of them to watch Spider-Man 2 at the end; I’ve watched that movie MANY times since it came out almost 18 years ago.

Shaun being told to take a walk and then later not being in the surgery should be a message to doctors everywhere that you can have all the talent in the world, but defying your boss and saying he doesn’t work fast enough is a detriment to the process, and to your team.

As for Morgan taking a picture to blackmail Asher and Park, I laughed at that prospect but I think Season 4 and beyond’s version of her is above that.

[SunnyBeBe]

I thought it was pretty funny, except that someone slipped me something once many years ago and it was quite scary. They denied it, but I know they did.  I had hallucinations and felt like an out of body experience.  So, knowing what shrooms do, there’s no way I would store them unlabeled in a kitchen that someone else uses.  That’s plain crazy.  Glad nothing too bad happened.  They seemed to enjoy it for the most part.  I wonder how Shaun would have  behaved if he had gotten dosed!

[KaveDweller]

It was fun seeing everyone totally tripping. I kind of would have liked to see Shaun high.

I guess Asher and his new guy are doing well. But who the hell leaves a bottle of hallucinogensic mushrooms in an unlabeled bottle in their kitchen cabinet, especially when you are letting someone else cook in your kitchen? And I know it was an accident, but will there really be no consequences for that?

What was with Morgan not wanting Shaun to do Park's surgery and pushing for Jordan instead? Does she think he's not capable or something?

I liked Morgan's compromise on the recliner, but it seems like they are setting up some more conflict down the line.

Lim talking about Melendez taking her to the movies reminded me of that time Melendez was telling one of the residents about a fellow doctor he was a resident with, and then ended the story "yeah, Dr. Lim was cool like that" or something. 

[SunnyBeBe]

I thought Morgan wanted the 2nd year to do Park’s surgery, because if Shaun did it, they’d have to wait for him, since he was going to scrub in for that other more serious surgery first.  The 2nd year could scrub in immediately.  

[bros402]

That was bad storage of the shrooms - sure, keep them in a cumin container, but why would you put it in the cabinet with your other spices??

Also, why didn't the ER shut down when they only had 3 doctors on staff?

I am surprised that the nurse didn't confront Shaun for how he was treating her - then he could try to see how he was affecting others.

Why didn't Reznick check Park when he initially said his side hurt after he fell off the table? That should've been the first thing to do - visual inspection & palpating the stomach.

Other than that, not a bad episode for this season.

Now we just need Lim and Andrews to binge watch the Spider Man movies.

[circumvent]

6 hours ago, bros402 said:

That was bad storage of the shrooms - sure, keep them in a cumin container, but why would you put it in the cabinet with your other spices??

Also, why didn't the ER shut down when they only had 3 doctors on staff?

Because you want reasonable things to happen in a show that - like many others -  seems to be written by teenagers with very little talent who need to turn their paper in a short time frame

[amarante]

Incredible product placement by Disney/ABC for Spiderman as it wound its way throughout the show.

[thuganomics85]

And that kids is why you shouldn't put your hallucinogenic mushrooms in an unlabeled container inside the pantry with all of the other spices!

Entertaining episode with almost all of the entire staff being high as a kite thanks to that little accident which will likely prevent any potlucks from ever happening again.  The actors all seemed to be having fun: in particular, Will Yun Lee seemed to be having a blast getting to let loose for once.  A little bummed that we didn't get to see how Shaun would look like tripping out, but him, Glassman, Jordan, and Reznick being the four that had to hold everything together was fun as well.

I'm not sure what to really make of Shaun and Glassman's argument.  Shaun was definitely being rude (well, more than normal) and rushing things was clearly causing issues and mistakes, but it did look like Glassman's more methodical and slower approach was causing delays and build-ups as well, which could causes issues, I imagine.  I guess the answer is that there should be some kind of middle ground?  Whatever: seems like they've worked it out for now.

Asher and his boyfriend (cue Park squeeing!) had their first classic road block of both of them trying to hard to put up a serious front because they think that's what the other wants, only to find out that a little goofiness isn't a bad thing after-all!

While I'm sure there are some underlining issues still, I think Reznick is probably a little too concerned over Park's ramblings about opposites attract not working out.  Especially since he compared it to Paula Abdul and the cat from the "Opposites Attract" video, so I'm not sure how much we're suppose to takeaway from that except that Park on shrooms overanalyzes 80s music videos!

Nice corporate synergy there with the Spider-Man stuff, ABC!  They just needed have Andrews remind everyone that Spider-Man: No Way Home was coming out on Blu-Ray April 13th and it would have been perfect!  Did like the scenes between Andrews and Lim though.  And Lim bringing up Melendez.  Still miss him.

Continue to like how tequila is apparently Shaun's choice of adult beverages!

[CarpeFelis]

I thought at first that Asher’s boyfriend was either ashamed of his college friends because they were aging frat boys or something, or maybe he wasn’t out to them.

This speed thing with Shaun vs. Glassman… are they hinting that Glassman is slowing down to the point he should retire? Or an early sign of a recurrence of his brain cancer? Or was this just a plot point to set up a conflict between him and Shaun?

Loved the interactions between Lim and Andrews. And I wish I could find those shoes she was wearing. I don’t think I’ve seen any other sneakers quite like them. wornontv.net doesn’t have anything from The Good Doctor and shopyourtv.com doesn’t have this episode yet.

Oh, and high Lea? Weirdly, I really liked her. ETA: Not sure about the “I work in IT” thing meaning she’d had lots of experience with drugs. I was a software engineer for 4 decades and never encountered that. Then again maybe it’s my age or the fact that I didn’t work in Silicon Valley.

Edited April 12, 2022 by CarpeFelis

[statsgirl]

I have never liked Lea as much as in this episode. (Maybe she needs to stay away from Shaun.) Park has a gorgeous body.

13 hours ago, bros402 said:

Also, why didn't the ER shut down when they only had 3 doctors on staff?

Why are there no other doctors in the hospital than these surgeons? And even if all the ER doctors were tripping (impossible since there were only 14 people), why did no one call in the doctors who were working that day to come in and help out? Why was there no CT surgeons to do that very contrived Shaun/Glassman surgery?

The hallucinations were fun and the acting good but I could not enjoy it enough because the premise is so stoopid.

36 minutes ago, thuganomics85 said:

I'm not sure what to really make of Shaun and Glassman's argument.  Shaun was definitely being rude (well, more than normal) and rushing things was clearly causing issues and mistakes, but it did look like Glassman's more methodical and slower approach was causing delays and build-ups as well, which could causes issues, I imagine.  I guess the answer is that there should be some kind of middle ground?  Whatever: seems like they've worked it out for now.

I'm fully on Glassman's side in this because I know of mistakes that have been made because doctors didn't get a good enough history and not because they didn't move fast enough. Shaun, like House, jumps to conclusions although not as bad House.

Are there no Physician's Assistants at this hospital? Nurse Practitioners? Doctors who could come in and do an extra shift? "Patients are piling up because Glassman s working too slow and Shaun has to step in and save the day" seems like another contrivance to make Shaun look good.

[rmontro]

I should have guessed the psilocybin because of the vomiting.  I watched a YouTube video of a guy taking magic mushrooms, and he mentioned that was a common effect (which is enough to put me off of them).  I wonder if the nurse guy is going to get in trouble for that incident, I find it hard to believe a hospital would let that go by unpunished.  Lea being able to function well under hallucinogens fits well with her character.

I thought it was funny that Park said Morgan looked like a Disney princess.  She is on the high side of attractive, but Disney princess is not something that comes to my mind to describe her.  

I guess Andrews and Lim might be getting back together?  Maybe?  It doesn't matter to me, but I'm surprised after all the drama over the last time they were together. 

I liked the storyline between Shaun and Glassman, even if I'm not entirely sure what they were disagreeing about.  Other than Shaun likes to work fast and Glassman likes to work slow.  But if Shaun works fast he gets sloppy.  Weird.

[KaveDweller]

18 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I thought Morgan wanted the 2nd year to do Park’s surgery, because if Shaun did it, they’d have to wait for him, since he was going to scrub in for that other more serious surgery first.  The 2nd year could scrub in immediately.  

That makes more sense, I must have missed the timing part. I thought they were both going to scrub into the other surgery and Glassman told Shaun to do Park's instead. Then Morgan said to have Jordan be the one to step out of the other surgery. But if Shaun would have been delayed that explains her reaction.

[bros402]

9 hours ago, CarpeFelis said:

This speed thing with Shaun vs. Glassman… are they hinting that Glassman is slowing down to the point he should retire? Or an early sign of a recurrence of his brain cancer? Or was this just a plot point to set up a conflict between him and Shaun?

It was Shaun being wayyyyy too confident - not caring about his patients, just caring about speed

[statsgirl]

I get that Shaun was stressing out because so many doctors were out but speed does lead to mistakes and he never should have spoken to Glassman like that. Shaun really does need social skills support.

[circumvent]

I thought the episode was almost unwatchable. I watched it only because I am very stubborn. 

Biggest peeve though goes to Leah calling Shaun "Shaunie" It is not cute, it is terrible and it irritates me - maybe unreasonably but it does irritate me to the point I clench my teeth every time she says it.

This is only followed by the forever infantilization of Shaun - "go for walk", "eat something" is not an "advice" adults give to other adults when there is a debate or argument. If this happens between equals, the other part will just slap a comment or something, not meekly "obey".  Even if Shaun can get insufferable at times (which is a huge problem with the writers in this show), he is a professional adult, still a resident but not a child that needs t be chastised for his personality. either accept him as he is, work out  - with him - a way of de-escalate his meltdowns but FFS, stop sending him to the corner on time out.

[nlkm9]

I remember lim with melendaz but she was with andrews as well? And was isabel andrews ex wife? Im just not remembering this.

[Daff]

3 hours ago, nlkm9 said:

I remember lim with melendaz but she was with andrews as well? And was isabel andrews ex wife? Im just not remembering this.

Yes, and yes. COVID broke the Andrews marriage, then there was Salen (ugh). Wish I could forget that part. 

[Daff]

19 hours ago, statsgirl said:

Why are there no other doctors in the hospital than these surgeons? And even if all the ER doctors were tripping (impossible since there were only 14 people)

All the others were at a conference on the other side of the country. So, leaving 14 to hold down the fort is reasonable, unless they become incapacitated. 

[Daff]

20 hours ago, CarpeFelis said:

Or was this just a plot point to set up a conflict between him and Shaun?

It was exactly this. Shaun has never worked with Glassman before. Early on, he was too new to be assigned surgeries. By the time he gained surgical rotation, Glassman wasn’t operating because of his cancer. 

[Daff]

4 hours ago, circumvent said:

either accept him as he is, work out  - with him - a way of de-escalate his meltdowns but FFS, stop sending him to the corner on time out.

They have worked it out and have apparently discovered what works is for Shaun to remove himself from the situation and consider the other options. That is often the case with ASD. Usually a change like that will calm him, and allow him to stop obsessing, consider the other person’s side (exactly what ASD prevents him from doing normally).  Glassman knew if Shaun kept going at the same pace, he’d never make it through the night, but Shaun wouldn’t listen. Additionally, Glassman wasn’t going to allow Shaun to push him into rushing/burning out, either. In one scene, the exasperated look on Glassman’s face seemed to say, “Let’s see how fast you are when you reach my age!”

[statsgirl]

If what works for Shaun is to remove himself from the situation, fair enough. But then Shaun needs to accept that and acknowledge it when someone gives him the cue to take a time away and step away. Instead it took Glassman pulling rank to push him away, The writing is still infantalizing Shaun.

1 hour ago, Daff said:

All the others were at a conference on the other side of the country. So, leaving 14 to hold down the fort is reasonable, unless they become incapacitated. 

Those 14 people who got sick included nurses and support staff such as Lea. They weren't all surgeons.

And it was a surgery conference. All the other kinds of doctors, ER docs who should have been the ones taking point, the internists,  allergists etc. should have still been in the hospital and if they didn't join the potluck, working properly.

This show, like Grey's Anatomy, seems to think that only surgeons matter and that they can take over every other kind of medicine at a moment's notice. It's very annoying.

[circumvent]

2 hours ago, Daff said:

They have worked it out and have apparently discovered what works is for Shaun to remove himself from the situation and consider the other options. That is often the case with ASD. Usually a change like that will calm him, and allow him to stop obsessing, consider the other person’s side (exactly what ASD prevents him from doing normally).  Glassman knew if Shaun kept going at the same pace, he’d never make it through the night, but Shaun wouldn’t listen. Additionally, Glassman wasn’t going to allow Shaun to push him into rushing/burning out, either. In one scene, the exasperated look on Glassman’s face seemed to say, “Let’s see how fast you are when you reach my age!”

All good if it is done with respect. "Go for a walk!" yelled at someone is infantilizing and absurd in a professional setting. If Shaun is not able to do what is asked of him, then he is in the wrong place. That has been my main issue with how they do autism in this show. someone like Shaun would not be where he is having all the stereotypical "autism traits". All the meltdowns and still be able to become the surgeon the show wants him to be are mutually exclusive

[CarpeFelis]

20 hours ago, rmontro said:

I thought it was funny that Park said Morgan looked like a Disney princess.  She is on the high side of attractive, but Disney princess is not something that comes to my mind to describe her.

I thought maybe that was a meta joke, that she’d once worked as Cinderella at a Disney park or something, so I looked up her bios on IMDB and Wikipedia. This came up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGNdPEbYy3I She’s Snow White starting around 1:15.

Edited April 13, 2022 by CarpeFelis

[NJRadioGuy]

On 4/12/2022 at 12:57 AM, bros402 said:

Also, why didn't the ER shut down when they only had 3 doctors on staff?

We're in a suburb of NYC, and my wife had to go to the ER a month ago in acute pain. There were exactly TWO doctors to cover 53 patients at the time. The wait was about 4-1/2 hours. After 2am, we were told that there's only one attending in the ER. This particular hospital is not a teaching hospital like others in the area so there are no residents, PAs or anything else. It was the closest, however. Since PPTH---er---St. Bone is a teaching hospital yes, they should have had a slew of folks onboard.

[circumvent]

25 minutes ago, NJRadioGuy said:

We're in a suburb of NYC, and my wife had to go to the ER a month ago in acute pain. There were exactly TWO doctors to cover 53 patients at the time. The wait was about 4-1/2 hours. After 2am, we were told that there's only one attending in the ER. This particular hospital is not a teaching hospital like others in the area so there are no residents, PAs or anything else. It was the closest, however. Since PPTH---er---St. Bone is a teaching hospital yes, they should have had a slew of folks onboard.

Yeah, that's the state of American medicine/healthcare. Small hospitals and hospitals that in areas just outside the busy urban areas don't have enough doctors - or nurses, for that matter. Not only teaching hospitals have residents though. Other hospitals do have a resident or two but maybe not in the ER.

Now, some  rural hospitals have no doctors, no nurses, they are not even hospitals anymore. They were bought by big corp, then broken up and sold out to hedge funds. 

[tennisgurl]

I think we all learned a valuable lesson about properly lacing your drugs. This time it was mostly wacky hijinks, but that could have gone way worse. I admit to being a sucker for those "everyone gets stoned" episode, and this show really needed something light and fun after this season has been pretty heavy on the drama. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, this place really needs more doctors, but I still enjoyed this one.

Shaun makes a good point about trying to act like something stressful isn't stressful doesn't make it less stressful. The conflict between Glassman and Shaun was interesting, are they hinting that its about time for Glassman to retire officially? Or was it more about Shaun not properly checking on patients due to stress? I can get Shaun being stressed, but he really messed up on not getting those medical histories. Like with the accidental dosing, that could have been WAY worse. 

Helloooo Park! 

I liked the plot between Lim and Andrews, they really needed some time to bond after they were on opposite sides for so long. I miss Melendez too, Lim, the show still isn't the same without him. Them both watching Spider-Man was nice, although I would have loved to hear what they thought about No Way Home. If they like Rami Spider-Man, they should love it.

[possibilities]

I think Glassman's approach is, overall, better, in that he takes time to figure out what is really going on with patients.

On the other hand, Park could have died if Glassman insisted on delaying the surgery due to his "slow and methodical, don't rush me" approach.

The healthcare system rushes everyone, due to billing rules and staffing shortages. I think this episode showed two extremes of the problem, where some practitioners are in a hurry because they're overwhelmed by too many waiting patients and/or other resource constraints, and some try to avoid that, but then keep people waiting who really can't wait. I think they were both right and both wrong, under bad working conditions.

[KaveDweller]

16 hours ago, nlkm9 said:

I remember lim with melendaz but she was with andrews as well? And was isabel andrews ex wife? Im just not remembering this.

I don't think so, I do not recall Lim and Andrews ever being together. Andrews was married until the end of last season, and Lim was with that guy from South/Central America for the first half of this season. I skimmed the episode summaries on Wikipedia and this fan site, and couldn't find any reference to them dating.  

Seems like it would be important if they did, since I think both of them have been each other's boss.

[ForReal]

10 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

I don't think so, I do not recall Lim and Andrews ever being together. Andrews was married until the end of last season, and Lim was with that guy from South/Central America for the first half of this season. I skimmed the episode summaries on Wikipedia and this fan site, and couldn't find any reference to them dating.  

Seems like it would be important if they did, since I think both of them have been each other's boss.

I agree, I don't remember that at all. Although the look she gave him when she commented about him working out made me wonder if that will change. I hope not. 

I thought Glassman was working so slow because he's become accustomed to it, working in the clinic and chatting with patients. I know Shaun was rude, but Glassman did need to step it up since they were in crisis mode. 

Park was the star of the episode for me. 

[Pepper the Cat]

The problem with Shaun’s speed was that he was giving orders so fast the nurses couldn’t keep up. And that can cause mistakes. At one point the nurse brought the wrong IV fluid and told him that he said so many things so fast she couldn’t keep up.

[tinderbox]

This was a fun episode and completely unexpected.  I laughed myself silly.

[circumvent]

On 4/13/2022 at 5:57 PM, possibilities said:

I think this episode showed two extremes of the problem, where some practitioners are in a hurry because they're overwhelmed by too many waiting patients and/or other resource constraints

This might be right but I would bet it was an unintended consequence. I doubt the writers meant to send this message because they don't have the depth or knowledge to write anything real or sensical

[WinJet0819]

On 4/13/2022 at 4:57 PM, possibilities said:

I think Glassman's approach is, overall, better, in that he takes time to figure out what is really going on with patients.

On the other hand, Park could have died if Glassman insisted on delaying the surgery due to his "slow and methodical, don't rush me" approach.

The healthcare system rushes everyone, due to billing rules and staffing shortages. I think this episode showed two extremes of the problem, where some practitioners are in a hurry because they're overwhelmed by too many waiting patients and/or other resource constraints, and some try to avoid that, but then keep people waiting who really can't wait. I think they were both right and both wrong, under bad working conditions.

More the reason this show needs some more surgeon-characters. Once again, a crisis strikes the hospital, and the lack of surgeons is highlighted. And it was really annoying how Morgan was saying "It's Park." Yeah, it's Park (weird you don't call your BF by his first name), but the other patient they're bringing into surgery is not any less important just because he's not a doctor there. And of course let Morgan, who is not a surgeon anymore, walk a second year resident through it, as there is absolutely nobody else availalbe in St. Bonaventure Hospital.

Edited April 17, 2022 by WinJet0819

[Avabelle]

Ok my love for Park is back. He was hilarious this episode!