Spoiler alert: The following interview discusses the events of “The Good Doctor” series finale “Goodbye,” streaming on Hulu beginning May 22.
If you’re looking for the right recipe for a strong series finale consisting of high emotional stakes, happy and sad tearful moments followed by a big dose of hope, then “The Good Doctor” delivered on all of those elements in the finale of Tuesday’s series, which concluded seven seasons on ABC.
The drama, which premiered on September 20, 2017, followed the journey of autistic surgeon Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore), as he went from not only a surgical resident to a successful doctor at the St. Bonaventure Hospital in San José, but also as a husband and father. and friend to the colleagues he worked with over the years. In the series, created by David Shore and expanded from the 2013 South Korean drama “Good Doctor,” Shaun’s autism often saw him face conflicts in which he was torn between logic and emotion, with the series finale once again delving deeper into this arena.
In the episode, Shaun is confronted by two of his closest friends – mentor and father figure Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff) and his returning friend Dr. Claire Browne (Antonia Thomas, who left the series as a regular after its fourth season) – facing life-or-death situations that Shaun felt the greatest responsibility to resolve. This dramatic situation for Shaun led to the final hour of the series, as the final episodes effectively locked down happy endings for several cast members like his colleagues, Dr. Morgan Reznick (Fiona Gubelmann) and Dr. Alex Park ( Will Yun Lee), who ultimately got married last. episode of the week.
Shore and executive producer Liz Friedman helped us break down the show’s final episode, including how the shortened 10-episode final season impacted its conclusion, why Claire was the former cast member they chose to bring back and how they handled Glassman’s death in the episode. – while keeping an optimistic ending.
Once you found out the show would end after season 7, did that change the end point you had in mind, or did you know it was going to happen so you had time to plan?
Liz Friedman: I had planned an end to the season that was either on the verge of something that could wrap it up or there were some ideas I had about it if you included that little thread it could launch into next season . I knew (the show ending) was a possibility. I was trying to keep everyone’s options open as long as possible. I’m sad the show is ending, but I’m glad we had enough warning. We were able to adapt and put together a real finale. I’m very happy with how we ended the show.
Did you have to make any adjustments just because of the writers’ strike, with fewer episodes for the season?
Friedmann: No, that wasn’t planned. I mean, part of the writers’ strike was a repeated calculation of how many episodes we could make if it ended next week. And it was hard, honestly, because even when we came back, we had the capacity to do 15 (episodes). ABC initially said no, we only wanted 13, and then that number was narrowed down to 10. But we figured it out and narrowed down our story to make it work for that many episodes.
Have any of you gone back to watch the pilot in preparation for this final episode?
David Rive: Yes, we did. Liz watched it right away and told me I should watch it too. I was going to watch it anyway, but she just said, “Yeah, it’s really good.”
Friedmann: We also watched it during the spin-off of “The Good Lawyer” (last year). There are definitely moments that reference (the pilot). Honestly, it was a bit of an accident, but we made up the story, and then I took a look at the season 1 finale, which was actually about Shaun learning that Glassman had cancer. And these two stories speak to each other quite a bit in a way that I really like. This really gives a very good measure of Shaun’s progress over these seven years.
How much did Freddie Highmore weigh in on the finale and how did things end? Was he involved in many choices?
Friedmann: Freddie is great in this. Over the last few years, I’ve talked to him as I get the next section of stories and I talk to him about what’s coming, and he’s a writer’s dream audience. He says, “Oh, that looks good,” and then he adds, “Oh, that kind of reminds me of…” He’s truly a dream to work with. We would go through each scenario with him and he would ask us what things he wanted to change. And almost every change he wants to make improves the storyline.
As a spectator, The real love story of the show is Shaun and Glassman, especially with how that relationship played out and where it ends at the end of season 7. Was that always at the forefront of your concerns?
Shore: Certainly, this relationship has been absolutely essential to the series since day one, and it was the only constant in the series throughout, adding to the sadness at the end. But above all it is a father-son relationship, and we were aware of that from the beginning and we wanted to continue it until the end. The role of a father, pass it on and prepare your child to face the world.
Let’s talk about the finale with this conundrum that Shaun finds himself in with Glassman and Claire’s lives at precarious times. Can you talk about the creation of this story?
Friedmann: We found this medical story about microphages, and it seemed very interesting to tell. From there, we thought about the idea of bringing Claire back, and having her come back for a relatively mundane medical procedure in (the May 14 episode) and then it’s going to turn into this big mystery in the second (episode). It worked very well to have Claire at the center of a dramatic medical story, but also for her to comment on all the changes in the people she knew.
Glassman’s story that his cancer was going to return had been brewing for a while. What worked really well was being able to have the finale and have the two patients be characters that were a key part of our casting. This really allowed us to stay focused on what the audience wants, rather than trying to present an outside patient.
There are a lot of people from the show’s past that you could have brought back. Did you consider bringing other people back and how did you choose Claire?
Friedmann: There had been discussions about another character returning, which wasn’t possible, and this really made it clear that we should really be focusing on Claire. However, Perez (Brandon Larracuente) makes an appearance at the end.
Shore: But we didn’t want it to just be someone who came in and said goodbye. We wanted to collect them and use them properly.
It was a nice twist to have Glassman step in to undertake this unapproved procedure to save Claire so Shaun wouldn’t have to put his career in jeopardy. But would you say he saves Shaun once again, or does he thank Shaun for everything he’s done for him? I kept going back and forth on this.
Friedmann: How did you see it, David?
Shore: He makes one last gesture for Shaun. Shaun can’t give up being a doctor. Shaun deserves to be a doctor. We wanted Shaun to be willing to sacrifice himself fully and we wanted Glassman to recognize, “No, I have to sacrifice myself for Shaun.”
And you Liz?
Friedmann: Yeah, it’s the same. I think it’s definitely a mitzvah because what Shaun accomplished is pretty incredible and Glassman was a key part of it. So it was really a sacrifice that allows Shaun to continue to use a pretty miraculous gift that he has in terms of his abilities as a doctor.
Shore: I should add that speaking of thank yous, there was more dialogue in this scene at one point and it all worked really well, but in the edit it all just came down to the thank yous. Shaun has so much to thank Glassman for, and they’ve reached a point where they’ve had a hard time reaching where Shaun is no longer fighting Glassman. He just accepts Glassman.
Friedmann: We can see that David has gone into director mode, because he advocates fewer words, but I completely agree. In fact, I was the one who said, “I think we should just make sure that — that’s all we have to say.” »
Was there ever a storyline where you thought you’d have more episodes or more time and see Glassman die and be able to attend the funeral? Or is it never something you wanted to touch?
Friedmann: In a different scenario where there are more seasons of the series? Yeah, I would say that’s definitely a possibility.
Shore: I remember thinking about the day we were doing that carousel and that moment when Shaun is alone on the carousel. It was about Glassman’s death, but more importantly it was about the end of the relationship and the fact that Shaun will be okay. We filmed on this carousel several seasons ago.
Shaun, in the future, giving a TED talk was a great way to start seeing where he and everyone else would end up. How did this storyline make it into the episode?
Shore: I don’t know where it started, but I know it wasn’t me. I just heard about it. It’s a good idea.
Friedmann: Actually, I think it came from when Freddie and I were talking at one point. This was before they decided it would end at 10 (episodes), but we had started to wonder what the ending would be? And Freddie talked about Shaun getting up and giving a speech and he talked about it in the context of a nod to the pilot, the fact that there was this whole big section in the conference room. Glassman gives this big speech, and finally Shaun gives his big speech.
From there, I was thinking about the speeches and trying to think of a context that suggested where Shaun had landed (in the future), and then I said, “Oh, OK, it’s a TED talk.” » What I find interesting is that independently, David came up with the idea to have Shaun go back to the room where he actually made that speech in the pilot, so that all the routes continue to connect at first.
The names that scroll through while Shaun gives the TED talk, were those names of actual patients from the show, or was there another meaning to those names?
Shore: Real names of patients from past scripts. We’ve done 126 episodes, so there are theoretically 1,500 names on this list.
Friedmann: And the first name that comes up, Adam, is the boy that Shaun saved in the pilot.
In the final moments, after the TED talk and the entire cast gathered and embraced, was that the last scene you shot for the series?
Shore: I wish it was, in some ways, but we never would have gotten through the day. So scheduling issues prevented that, but we were well aware of that during filming, and it was a difficult time in that regard anyway. But it was charming. It was really very nice.
This interview has been edited and condensed.