I decided to try watching Medical series after a friend recommended a list of TV series to watch. I actually left the medical series at the bottom because I felt it was not going to be interesting as compared to action movies.
I guess I was wrong because the moment I watched the first episode of the "The Good Doctor", it was an instant connection with the movie.It was a TV series that I knew I was going to enjoy. The Good Doctor is a great TV series based on surgeons who risk everything to save lives but it is centred around an autistic resident Doctor called Shaun. This review is based on the Season one
NOTABLE CAST
These are the notable cast who stood out in the season, making the movie very interesting.
DR SHAUN MURPHY PLAYED BY FREDDIE HIGHMORE
Shaun is the main character in the movie and is regarded as the "Good Doctor". Shaun accepts his autism and savant syndrome as he embraces it while facing every challenge thrown at him.
Shaun is extremely smart and gifted with an amazing level of recognition that would make you consider him a genius as shown in his amazing diagnostic ability. He is blunt and very direct, lacking in effective communication skills and empathy.
Yet Shaun rises high as an amazing character, unconsciously funny, stubborn and quite annoying in most cases. He was raised in a troubled family who showed little or no love for him due to autism. Shaun lived with his brother Steve from childhood who later died and it gave Shaun purpose to be a Doctor.
DR GLASSMAN PLAYED BY RICHARD SCHIFF
Dr Glassman is a neurosurgeon who also heads the entire hospital (St. Bonaventure Hospital). He worked endlessly to convince the board of the hospital to employ an Autistic Doctor. He is also the guardian of Shaun ever since Shaun lost his brother. He loves Shaun and also teaches Shaun about things related outside medicine. Glassman is a also good at advising people but barely has one for himself.
DR CLAIRE BROWN PLAYED BY ANTONIA THOMAS
Dr Claire is also a surgical resident at San Jose Bonaventure Hospital. She is a friend and colleague with Shaun Murphy. She is passionate about helping lives. I consider Claire to be the "Mother" of everyone because of her level of emotional care. She had to train herself in college with a crashed family structure yet she stayed determined to achieve her goals. She helped Shaun Murphy settle into the hospital and also had a spark of Romance with a surgical resident called Dr Kalu
LEA DILALO PLAYED BY PAIGE SPARA
Lea is a software engineer with an amazing programming experience. She is Shaun Murphy's neighbour who became a friend to Shaun. She is exciting and amazing, she brings the best out of Shaun. She is also good at fixing things.
DR ANDREWS PLAYED BY HILL HARPER
Dr Andrews is a head of surgery department and a big Member of the board who strictly opposes the idea of employing an autistic doctor. He is very strict with following rules and would not hesitate to call anyone out for disobeying the rules.
DR MELENDEZ PLAYED BY NICHOLAS GONZALEZ
He is one of the gifted surgical hands to operate on anyone. He is arrogant yet very great in surgeries. He is in charge of teaching surgical residents. He is also the mentor to Dr Claire.
DR LIM PLAYED BY CHRISTINA CHANG
She is also a very good surgeon who is saddled with the responsibility of training surgical residents too. She has an interest personality.
DR MORAGN PLAYED FIONA GUBELMANN
I would consider Dr Morgan as Bossy, competitive, very smart and unbothered. She steps in as the last surgical resident to join the gang. She brings so much energy into the movie
DR ALEX PARK PLAYED BY WILL YUN LEE
He is also a surgical resident who was formerly working as a Cop. He resigned from the force to study medicine and he is doing at very great job at it.
DR JARED PLAYED BY CHUKU MODU
Dr Jared is a young, inspiring and talented surgical resident who is very good. He is in love with Dr Claire and they both share an amazing Relationship.
SEASON ONE PLOT
The Developer of the story which is David Shore did an excellent job in portraying how we could integrate a person with Autism which in this case was Dr Shaun Murphy into the medical field.The movie kicked off with an exciting plot as Dr Glassman tries to convince the board to employ Shaun Murphy into the hospital meanwhile miles away Shaun Murphy is moving to San Jose and he miraculously saved a dying child at the airport.
This generated social media attention just after the board had voted against employing him. This surgical act by Shaun Murphy earned him the chance to be employed at the hospital after he gave an amazing speech.
Season one gives us a ride into the life of Shaun Murphy who was raised in a family with little or no regard for his condition. He was abused by his father and his mother could not do anything. Shaun's saviour was his brother Steve who took care of the both of them until he died
Shaun Murphy had flashbacks of these memories as the movie progressed which explained how he tried to deal with his Autism. The season one focus on how Shaun was able to build relationships with people around him especially patients and doctors. It also extended to his neighbour Lea
The TV series represented the individual lives of each character in the movie. Shaun Murphy was battling handling medicine with his Autism, while Dr Claire and Dr Jared had a romantic relationship which was not exactly how Jared wanted it. Dr Melendez showed his arrogant character while still acting well, he also had a great relationship
[Source]
Glassman was involved in making sure that Shaun Murphy was integrated into the hospital system, as he monitored and cared for Shaun so much. Overall, it was about the initial struggles of Shaun Murphy and how he embraced his condition and channeled the energy into becoming a Good Doctor. Shaun Murphy had the best Photographic memory and could diagnosis symptoms like a robot.
The season one passed a strong message to everyone that a condition doesn't defined a person. It showed that Autistic individuals can be like very normal individual in the society. Shaun Murphy led everyone into believing that with his actions.
These are the personal analysis I have about the movie after completing the total episodes
Dealing with Autism.
I loved how the writers and production team projected the feeling of being Autistic.It was real and very natural. It was about his struggles, the loneliness he felt as a result of the loss of his brother. The flashbacks of Steve his brother and the motivations were great and a constant reminder.Dr Melendez and Dr Andrew accepting Shaun Murphy was a big part of the movie. Shaun started with suction and later moved to more detailed surgeries.
Relationship Cycle was very interesting and captivating to see. Dr Jared and Dr Claire had a brewing Relationship going on which had some issues but it was okay. Dr Andrew had a better Relationship with his wife while Dr Melendez had a classic Relationship with a member of the legal team.
The show showed that Doctors go under immense amount of pressure when working. It takes more than surgical blades to be a doctor. It showed how they coped and how it affected their personal lives
MY FINAL THOUGHTS
Freddie Highmore did an excellent job in portraying the role of Shaun Murphy. It was natural and great to see. The Creator David Shore and the entire team did an in-depth study into the lives of Autistic individuals showing us what it feels like and how they can be seen as Normal individuals
We saw through the fears, Happiness and eagerness of Shaun Murphy to be a great and better. The cast for each role was spot on. The directing was a clean and solid..I would rate the movie a solid 8/10.
All GIFS are from [Source]