MEAWW.COM / ENTERTAINMENT / TV

'The Good Doctor' Season 4 Episode 5: Did the newbies break Shaun? Fans are begging 'don't blame your autism'

Shaun decides to brainstorm with Asher and Olivia and in his signature style stares ahead of himself without answering them for a brief few seconds

Spoilers for 'The Good Doctor' Season 4 Episode 5

The highlight of the most recent 'The Good Doctor' Episode had to be when the new residents at St Bonaventure thought they had most certainly broken heir very young, but senior resident Dr Shaun Murphy. It was an intense episode, with Shaun also losing his first ever patient in the OR and him not being used to losing patients, this tumbled down to something massive. That the reason behind this lapse in judgment came from Shaun trying to give him residents some autonomy keeps pinpricking the head - if not when they thought they did, will this break Shaun?

In the latest Episode 5 of Season 4, titled 'Fault', “Dr Murphy questions his decision to give the new residents autonomy when an intern's misdiagnosis has dire consequences. A patient has a ruptured cyst affecting key functions of her brain" teases the official synopsis given by ABC. And sure enough, the show sees Shaun sit down with the best minds at St Bonaventure to figure out how best to go about solving this problem. Even though he is unable to trust the new residents under him, Shaun decides to brainstorm with Asher and Olivia and in his signature style stares ahead of himself without answering them for a brief few seconds. This is when the hilarious question from the new residents arises: "Did we break him?"

No, Asher, you most certainly didn't at this point because that's just Shaun being Shaun and doing his thang. But your misdiagnosis stemming from Shaun giving you absolute autonomy might have. At the end of the episode, we see the doctors huddled around a rapidly losing patient in the OR. Shaun listened to Asher's diagnosis and without rechecking, went ahead with the same that resulted in the patient dying on the OT after excessive blood loss during the surgery. This propels Shaun to assume the worst, that the death of the patient was because of his Autism and it takes a good deal of pacifying from Aaron Glassman for him to understand this was but a natural course in a doctor's journey. 

Because of his disorder, Shaun still insists that "I don't know what people are thinking or feeling. I can't communicate what I need. And more patients will die.” However, in the end, he goes back home to Lea and it takes a bit of hugging to help him feel better. But fans are lamenting the titular doctor's reaction to the loss of a patient, begging Shaun not to blame himself. "Shaun, don’t blame your autism for the death of Asher’s patient," tweeted a fan, while another believes "Losing your 1st patient or any patient has gotta be so hard to go through. You can't save everybody." Others also mentioned "Gee, nothing like losing your very first patient to make you question abandoning your faith and family and everything that goes with such"; and "My Heart is breaking now for Dr. (Asher) Wolke losing his first patient."

'The Good Doctor' Season 4 airs on Mondays at 10 pm on ABC.