Reviews

I value how a show leaves me feeling at the end of it -- and this one romps it in as feel-good, so only low-stress vs nail-biting suspense, a crime so some whodunnit-like mystery, not too complex, and of course never forgetting a bit of sweet romantic push-pull and tension! Add in some hints here and there of other interesting components that provide food for thought ... like ... about what integrity and character really "look like," no matter what the law technically says ... what privilege really is, and perhaps equally, its lack, and how such questions can come up for deeper consideration if desired (but not required, just that there is a possibility available to delve into the realms of philosophy if you want).

But mainly, it is a fun program to watch! Entertaining! It is a good hour of TV and a very agreeable interlude I look forward to each week, what I prefer given life already holds so much dark and nasty stuff so I can do without also seeing that played out again, and worse, on my TV. There is a new story and combo of things happening each time here that keeps it fresh. And this is notwithstanding the two main characters' dynamics together that are, yes, formulaic. The show capitalizes on the 'tried and true' of the genre, because it works. And as a result, and like most of my TV, I don't mind some of the stretches thus required of me, that indeed every now and again (just like the basic premise altogether, let's just admit) some details to continue propelling the show forward may of course contradict "how that really works" outside the bounds of the fiction this show is.

I am a fan, in short! That includes not just the show at large, but the leads' for their often stellar performances, and how I respect significant parts of some shows especially for the writing, as well as really admire so much of the camera work. I hope enough others do too, so that season 2 will be approved without delay.

Greatly anticipating the outcome for Nikki and Jason, and Princess and Tyler, of whether they will officially be a family by the end of the season finale seemed an obvious opportunity to maybe end up with a boring and predictable episode - if it were not well done. That was so not the case here, however!

I really enjoyed how they brought the season end together and hinted about some content for season 4, with some transition stuff set up, while of course other people and things were left unsaid and remain wide open on their future roles.

In this episode, the maturing new parent-pair of this season and the extended sets of parents/grandparents, the kids, and a few other regulars are one and all in some part or other of this episode. And the stories packed into this exciting episode of course fit within their usual quirky and funny, and serious selves, by turns. All of which of course means some fun surprises are in store for us viewers!! But as befits the more serious story and its subject matter even in a comedy, they've also been rounded out as more responsible than irresponsible of course. This finale would not be the same impact, without that having taken place over this season, as they moved through the foster/adoption 'minefield' of experiences.

As this show excelled in many of this season's episodes, I smiled, I chuckled, I full-on laughed, I held my breath, I sighed, I cried, and I might have shrieked a couple times even. I was wholly entertained, as this show does so well, overall!

Once again, the writers, directors and producers, camera and costuming folks, editing, and the actors clearly make an amazing team, because it all works so incredibly well to keep me riveted for the duration. Grabbed me right away and didn't let go until the very end, you might say, hitting all the right notes to satisfy some outstanding questions and lead into the unknown future.

The bar is now really so much higher though, for next season, so how will they do It, after hitting it out of the park as they did with this season and especially this finale? I will be ready to find out, when season 4 comes out, that's for sure.

Stellar start to the season! A cast of colourful characters returns and where Jason & Nikki are concerned, the twists are pretty much immediate, as usual. Surprises galore here and the scenes by turns cause laughter and good tears. Wonderfully heartwarming, the show makes a great story and offers a big reminder too, of just how generous and kind people can be. This delightful comedy episode is superbly written, directed, and acted, so it's a true pleasure to watch, highly entertaining!

A wedding for the vast majority of us, represents good things, and the result here in this episode, finally, is a welcome and moving solution to the ups and downs of Shaun and Lea's wedding story over the season. Glassie comes through, especially, and I was glad Shaun' moments with him were so well done, not overdone.

Dr. Wolke's storyline adds emphasis to how we interconnect with blood relations and may love them, but still have to reject them for our own sanity and a nominal degree of happiness and quality of life. And how, sometimes, the most loving action is one that is likely to both leave us bereft and lost, yet be the means to fulfill another's needs and wants is more important, especially when the end of life is imminent for the person in question.

The acting by Galvin (Asher), Schiff (Glassie), Highmore (Shaun), Spara (Lea), and Henderson (Jordan) was great; they were outstanding in this episode. This was, it must be credited, in part for being captured and complemented so superbly by the stellar camera work and editing. Often I think it's easy to forget. When a show is so well done, all the elements that combine to make it so, they go far beyond the actor, to generate the "it works!" assessment.

As to some peope's negative feedback on the Nurse Villanueva thread, as a woman who understands too well what it is to be the target of domestic violence, I simply don't care one iota that ER long ago did a near identical story, as others have complained. What's important is that such situations have not been eliminated nor substantially reduced in real life, so since ER did it 'first'. Such scenarios and results happen too often still, they continue. It's that which ought to be lamented for still being such a problem, for not being corrected by and for us all, by now.

In this era of demand by some vociferous reviewers, that things always be entirely believable, it shouldn't surprise anyone to have partner/spousal violence included at least once or more in a season because the kind of misogynistic domination and control portrayed is far more than just another copied dramatic element from a similar, older TV series. It is the reality of too many women's lives even yet. The means to the cliff hangar results were, to me, therefore sadly unsurprising and thus perfectly topical to include in this medical serial.

Naturally, 5 years in means to me it's also unsurprising that some actors might be ready to move on and/or the producers' and writers' ideas, their storylines, are planned to shift significantly, so personnel continuing by surviving various jeopardizing circumstances can be that simple handling technique - or a genuine twist. "Time will tell." There is a good range of potential, to accommodate more possibilities, in what happens in this episode.

So, overall? A great episode where the chemistry of the people in so many relationships comes through so incredibly well. It's good stuff this highlighting and mostly celebrating mutual respect, love, candour and selflessness, among others. Combined with the attributes already noted off the top, it all works so well: An all-round winner, as episodes go. I am both satisfied with the season finale and curious where and with whom as actors and characters, the new season will launch. 9/10!

A 'tepid' episode, using the old, "how do we save money on this season?" tactic of many clips, flashbacks, to earlier episodes, to make up the lion's share of the episode's visual content. Overall, this choice allows - and succeeds - in adding some more 'value' and detail to Bull's underlying story, by filling in a gap or two.

It seemed to me very intentional, both creating and seemingly dispensing through a mild, generated deliberately for us here, curiosity about our protagonist's past being linked to his present. Not an untypical technique, this works in the sense of emphasis that Bull's professional and personal experiences, as with any of us, have had significant impacts on whom he was as from a kid and young man, through whom he chose to be across his adulthood, and ending with the present.

The unfortunate things from my perspective are twofold. One, I didn't really feel like there was anything in the way of mundane or gripping and thus curious gaps to Bull's character and motivations prior to this episode, that it now answered, particularly as I had no profound or critical moment of "Aha! Now I get it!" while watching. A couple of "huh, seems plausible" kind of thoughts, but no stunning revelations. Two, most of the scenes used relied on fairly recent content, was my impression, so the plot progression was not advanced by introducing and referencing, or building in, new implications to much older past incidents or exchanges to conclude now 'differently' as to imoort and follow-on impacts. I don't specifically recall early season material, so maybe I am off base here, but if the intention was to create a nostalgia or summary and 'finishing up' emphasizing Bull's character development over time as particularly meaningful, this was only partially successful.

The writers could have used a broader, longer and wider set of influences to convince me better, I think, of their messages about Bull and the nature of maturing and weathering traumas thrust on us by circumstances beyond our control, throughout our lives. But apart from Siegert's stellar delivery of his role adding a star for me, nothing elevates this episode to move the needle further up than 6/10.

The ending is, if somewhat too predictably by then, ultimately fairly satisfying. Overall, my thought is that despite the cheap flashback method used, the episode's premise as to Bull's evolution from childhood, as a man, psychologist, trial scientist, boyfriend/lover, husband, brother, son, and father, is still engaging, if not action-packed nor riveting. This is a light, easy-to-watch episode, a tidying and filing type of enegagement as the series winds down. Worth watching, but won't make or break anything, I suspect, with regard to where the writers will lead us in the ulcoming final two episodes.

I started the series because Apple had portrayed it as a comedy (and fit given the actors), and the excerpts used, isolated as they were presented to us for gaining viewership, did in fact make it appear like it would be a funny show. Queue however the quickly developing 'ick' factor and knowing from the on-screen blurb its true story basis compounding the horrors portrayed, and it became very clear soon enough that this was no comedy. Nonetheless, I found myself continuing to watch and notwithstanding its being very hard to watch often, precisely because the show's character portraits prompted that kind of horrified "what's next?" and thus mesmerizing attraction to find out how it would all go/end.

Like watching a car crash or train wreck you could not prevent but were doomed to see unfold in a sort of slow-motion in front of you, this screenplay and acting, the drama unfolding, made it equally too uncomfortable to stop watching! I withheld final judgment until the series completed. Certainly, I know I was both repelled and horrified at this representation of something so awful that could go on for so long, a situation largely unknown and un-investigated presumably, because of a lack of formal complaints. Hardly surprising, given the demoralized patients who were incapable to overcome such finessed manipulation or, if/when they realized and they escaped the doc's clutches, they most likely simply wanted to stay as far and un-involved from their former narcissist doctor's clutches as possible. There were some loose ends, like why Bonnie stayed and did not report his professional misconduct. Similarly, how his sister also just gave up her brother rather than apparently take a similar action of complaint, for e.g., and even perhaps, loss of shared use of the house, to force the issue. We will never know (or maybe the podcast reveals more; TBD!)

Many will perhaps, in sticking with the series, have learned much about the nature of human vulnerability, when lack of confidence and seemingly trivial "common" anxiety that should respond to modern, evidence-based therapeutic interventions, instead lands you being manipulated into dependence and financial and emotional servitude, by a supposed mental health professional. The whole idea a psychiatrist could be such a narcissist and find his narcissistic supply in his patients, that he thought and envisaged as being psychologically and financially 'helpful' is pretty amazing. But it happened to this one man for 27 years, and others too, clearly, so ... Yikes! A cautionary tale.

The production excelled, in my opinion, at making us see and feel how those decades of abuse of power by the therapist could have happened and why. Anyone not getting that, not understanding Marty's vulnerability on meeting Dr Herschkopf, may have a paucity of empathy, and very likely, I suspect, a simplified viewpoint on how people's lives vary and can derail due to yes, their own 'stuff', but also significantly, the shrewd, criminal even, manipulation of someone like this despicable psychiatrist. It's ultimately not only about one man's personal growth and redemption, this show, but a cautionary tale as already noted.. That old phrase, "But for the grace of God, go I," seems apt!

All that said, I can agree that some episodes in the middle of the series especially, could have been accelerated and so probably have been a series of 6 shows; the 8 included a tad more repetitive emphasis than certainly I felt I needed. But they also showcased well the long trajectory of abuse over the years, how truly, persuasively and masterfully manipulative the doc had actually been. Maybe the creators were right though, knowing some privileged viewers with less trauma and experience of abuse in their own lives would have needed that extra repetition to see the crux of things, in which case, the painful road through the middle quagmire may have been necessary and propitious.

The acting was, I thought right until the last two episodes, mostly unremarkable. Good, yes, extraordinary no. I did have little trouble with believing Marty's character by Will Ferrell all along, while Dr Ike's was less entrancingly acted, IMO, and it took a lot longer to be more than just seeing Paul Rudd in a psychiatrist's role. Admittedly, that might link somewhat to the dislike for whom he represented I experienced so strongly, possibly making me less generous re his portrayal than Ferrell's. It adds up to a quality production overall though. Not spectacular, but solid in the final analysis. Kudos to Apple TV productions for tackling difficult subject matter and putting this story on TV. For me it's a 7/10 and worth watching.

"Wow. Just wow."

The writing, its content, range, and effectiveness for taking us through such a stunningly relatable microcosm of human dynamics and relationships, combined with the superb acting (especially Freddie Highmore, his is an especially award-worthy performance, but also, the ensemble is so engaging and believable you forget you are watching fiction; you only realize how deeply you were drawn 'all-in' once the show ends. ) ... "It doesn't get much better than this."

A great series and this is a standout episode.

If you need an interlude that isn't rife with human grimness and stress, this episode is it! Perfect for those of us so tired of the pandemic and its constancy of stresses such as impacts of isolation after 16 months or so, as I am. Watching and now reviewing this episode, makes me smile even yet. It's "good old-fashioned fun" as that saying goes.

Of course the storyline has lots of ludicrous propositions, it's their once-a-season deliberately taking themselves less seriously and providing a humorous 'romp' through solving a murder nonetheless, as usual. "So what" that it's even more caricature-esque than usual! It works to have the Newsome family eccentricities thread recur and make us laugh at their ignorance and foibles, help keep Henry and Crabtree relevant, and get them all out of Toronto for that variety too.

It would be hard to argue, even after all these years, that few besides the good detective Murdoch and Dr Ogden, and perhaps the Brackenreids next, are given much character development over time that sees them grow as persons. Crabtree and Higgins remain largely the comic relief elements, more of a fable element than realistic humans as well-rounded individuals. This episode therefore fits, even though some people just want the gore and darkness, I guess ... my advice: Lighten up, laugh a lot once in awhile, look beyond the "potato cooking rooms," Murdoch on a rocket flight and similar ludicrous content tied in some way to modern machinery and science, in the more serious shows, to this deliberately engaging in more of that. Including some seeming over-the-top end of the spectrum that the Newsome family plots involve just makes sense once in awhile, to keep things lively.

On the acting alone, this episode shows off quite a few of the actors' attributes, their versatility and adeptness, very well. Watt's character, for one, is superbly done in this episode, IMO. Already excellent at the 'odd-one-out' portrayal, the gestures and movements he used here offer great physical comedy for the discerning viewer, as do the Newsome king's and queen's (the anthem is wonderfully rendered, for e.g., as well as brilliant use of imperial and dismissive hand gestures, arms encompassing the world, the queen's embodiment to illustrate her memory issues, and so on). The episode recalls to me the experience of watching a stage play, which perhaps means some will indeed also like it less; this is not for everyone, clearly but so many of us equally do appreciate this as a MM trademark in most seasons, the lightest, most comedic episode.

This episode does a good job of highlighting how many faces the results of trauma take, with their associated multiple responses along a large spectrum, just like humanity at large varies along a spectrum of responses generally. We see at least five doctors and one particular patient cope (or not so much) with the burden of some level of PTSD affecting them. That, in part, the experience and the responses we each have varies according to our specific background, characteristics and prior life experiences is emphasized really well. I would hope the drama here might impress this, if not as specifically as I write about it here, and especially with the empath's thread throughout the episode providing its prompting, might prompt a certain level of new or improved understanding of the illness that PTSD genuinely is.

I suspect this episode might cause some less well-informed persons (especially perhaps with such fortunately privileged lives to date they are unable to relate to how brain chemistry and emotion-related reactions can change following trauma, and alter the nervous system?) to trivialize one or another of these characters' experiences and resulting challenge with the high stress impacts - some of which may seem disproportionate to the cause, in some cases, where viewers cannot relate to the situation the character is portrayed in. Still, the soldier's traumatic experience as an apparent result of not observing an IED that kills others is not, in my opinion, inherently different to that of the traumatic loss created by one intern's/resident's fatal error with a patient. That combination of apparent guilt and grief resulting in part from a lack of control, especially where theoretically that was the job, to control the outcome, affecting the brain so badly, is no different I imagine, to the reliving and challenge to function that the student who couldn't perform a certain procedure found was the 'gut' response to her own PTS response in her "moment of truth" poised to carry out said procedure, notwithstanding what's revealed before and after this, as her intellectual intentions. Almost like a PSA for PTSD awareness, this episode shows us some of the many faces of PTSD!

All that said, given the trajectory of the season and this episode's implicit acknowledgement of COVID-19 in The Good Doctor's now-post-COVID world, via Lim's growing struggle arising from her pandemic experiences, it reflected well, I thought, the substantial additional burden that everyone in healthcare environments, especially frontline doctors and nurses, is shouldering now - and may live with the negative effects of, for the rest of their lives, in many cases.

I think that the correlation in time, and specifically (perhaps by a visual flashback instead of largely just audio) making it clear, now or in the future, Lim's thread is highly related to the pandemic is an important part of the chronology the creators missed here. Making it much more obviously post-COVID, through a few casual conversational interchanges early in the episode, would have been easily done. My thought on this might perhaps have helped another reviewer who appears angry (disproportionately, IMO) that this work of fiction fails to continue in the same timeframe the rest of us still dwell day-to-day, during a worldwide pandemic. I, for one, am really grateful that this show decided to largely leave the pandemic behind. Some of us appreciate not being bombarded with the same stress we are living, with seeing horror stories at every turn in what is supposed, mainly, to entertain us.

All that said, my final thought to share is that the PTSD portrayal didn't go quite far enough to substantiate the commonality of the stress responses to trauma the many subplots and characters involved in them displayed. Many viewers simply won't "get the message," I suspect. And that represents missed opportunity.

This has to be the best episode yet in this drama that manages to highlight so many human interest topics, the complexity of our emotions, and various relationship dynamics that pepper our lives - and in particular, the lives of the medical professionals who mostly behave toward us in their health care and healing roles, as though the only thing they are concerned with is us and our medical problems. We may rationally know and recognize that, of course, doctors and surgeons have lives and thus joys and woes like the rest of us. But in our preoccupation with being on the cared-for end of the equation, we easily overlook just how significant doctors' "own stuff" is, and that it is all going on at the same time as our own personal life story. And this one doesn't do what many TV medical series do, and simply make doctors into two-dimensional caricatures more interested in money and/or fame and accolades than substance.

So, that Freddie Highmore in particular, so dramatically captures and presents to us a person who is every bit the brilliant diagnostician and surgeon with autism is one thing. But his impactful delivery is only a small part of what is the true underpinning of this show: the incredibly well-thought-out characters, their development and a plot primed by the brilliant creators and writers of this show to reveal such complexities and make them believable elements. And all in an entertainment format that is otherwise all too prone to superficial and unrealistic content - so, wow! This tops the many previous glimpses we have been granted into Shaun's world and consequently his worldview, together with the often mistaken belief that those on the autism spectrum are either cold or emotionless, and that people's neurodiversity is still something that many find hard to accept amounts - yes, true enough - to differences between us, but not wrongness or 'less-ness' requiring or dictating being left behind or always being judged as "needing to be fixed."

So, I love the story and roles portrayed and played out in this episode. And coming on top of recent developments in Shaun's relationship with another neurodiversity-accepting person, Carly, and her rightful and inclusive emphasis on Shaun's many attributes, I am grateful this show is no doubt influencing a wide audience of viewers to open their minds (newly or further) to neurodiversity being an ordinary fact, not an oddity. To our human family as a whole being diverse beyond the ways we have already recognized (even as we struggle still to reconcile how to deal with what was in the past simply shunned and not acknowledged) in things like gender, sexual orientation, intellectual abilities, and so on, this too now stretches us.

The show's excellence In writing and acting, its candour and 'realness' we can relate to, its ability to engage us at a heartfelt level, are welcome in an increasingly negative and evil-focused set of fantastical prime time dramas. Kudos are due here for a show, and this episode in particular that hits it out of the park, to show us and to challenge us, to different ways of thinking, and deploying our empathy and our emotions. Not just well done, indeed it is at the top of every excellence category it could be.