The Good Doctor: Season 5/ Episode 14 “Potluck” – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers)

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With everyone on magic mushrooms, by accident, quite a few begin expressing repressed feelings as Shaun, Jordan, Morgan, and Dr. Glassman try to hold things down.

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Aired	4/11/2022
Network	ABC
Directed By	Rebecca Moline
Written By	Mark Rozeman

Recap

Am I Not Fun – Asher, Jerome

With Jerome and Asher going strong, it makes Jerome not wanting Asher to meet his college friends a red flag. One that leads to Asher spiraling out, especially after he, and much of the doctoral staff, end up on magic mushrooms. With that, Asher questions if maybe he called Jerome his boyfriend too quickly or maybe Jerome doesn’t think he is fun

The truth? Jerome is trying to be, and seem, more mature than how he is outside of work and how he was when he first started. Combine that with seeing Asher as more mature, and he didn’t want to break the façade. However, with Asher wanting to know all of him, it seems Jerome may let down his wall a bit.

An Issue Of Style & Age – Alex, Morgan, Shaun, Dr. Glassman, Jordan, Lea

Since Morgan, Shaun, Jordan, and Dr. Glassman didn’t participate in the potluck or didn’t eat Asher’s dish, they are the main ones running the hospital. With that, Shaun and Dr. Glassman clash because Dr. Glassman moves too slow to him. However, with Shaun missing something with a patient, Dr. Glassman proves his point. But, rather than accept responsibility and take in this lesson, Shaun pushes back, which leads Dr. Glassman to put Shaun on time out.

As this happens, Morgan is seeking what caused everyone to be drug-induced, and while she has some fun with Lea, who microdoses for fun, Alex is different. They are at this point where there is a question of what is being kept and what is being tossed, and because Alex has sentimental value to a chair, it is a major issue for him – in his inebriated state.

Thankfully though, all ends well as Morgan compromises by noting if Alex reupholsters his favorite chair, it won’t have to be hidden away but can be in the living room.

The Amazing Spiderman – Dr. Lim, Dr. Andrews

Dr. Lim hasn’t really gotten past everything that has gone down with Dr. Andrews, including his antics pre-Salen. Because of that, and the drug pushing everyone to something like radical honesty, both Dr. Lim and Dr. Andrews are honest with each other about what they think. Dr. Lim thinks Dr. Andrews is egotistical and needs to stop wearing such tight-fitting clothing but later compliments his abilities to make the job of being the President seem easy.

As for Dr. Andrews? He notes Dr. Lim needs a certain level of chaos around her and that she is a control freak. So, on both sides, nothing too major, and while they see and note these flaws, it seems there is still mutual respect and love for each other. Maybe even shared loneliness since Dr. Andrews losing Isabel and Dr. Lim losing Dr. Melendez is noted. So in their shared grief, Dr. Andrews decides they’ll bond over their mutually favorite Super Hero – Spiderman. Seemingly, to be specific, Tobey Maguire’s Spiderman.

Things To Note

• Unexpected Content Advisory: Miscellaneous (So many gagging noises)
• So could the reason Dr. Andrews was so gung-ho about Salen be that he figured, through her, he could catch up to where he thought he and Isabel would be as a power couple? Minus a baby?

Question(s) Left Unanswered

1. Are they setting up Dr. Lim and Dr. Andrews to get together?
2. Could you imagine Salen coming back and revealing she is pregnant?

What Could Happen Next

1. Alex’s insecurities are going to mess up what he and Morgan have
2. Lim and Dr. Andrews hooking up
3. Glassman officially retiring since he clearly is getting tired of this nonsense

Review

Highlights

No Issue Is Solved In A Day (or Episode)

Thankfully, we get a break from Shaun and Lea’s relationship to focus on others, and we’re reminded no one has the perfect relationship – professional or romantic. Alex is still very insecure about not being in the power position, or at least an equal when it comes to Morgan, and while they are making compromises, it is not ending the problem. All they are doing is pushing it further out.

The same could once be said for Dr. Lim and Dr. Andrews. At times, those two have a love/hate relationship, seemingly rooted in familiarity due to how long they have worked together. Hence, she brought him back after he was fired as President, and why he returned the favor by re-hiring her to be chief of surgery after the Salen debacle. Yet, while there was respect and the feeling of being like family, I would submit neither really liked nor fully understood each other on a personal level.

I don’t think Dr. Lim fully understood how down Dr. Andrews was after his wife left him and he hit rock bottom. Also, Dr. Andrews didn’t understand how Dr. Lim losing Dr. Melendez effectively meant losing her confidant, best friend, and the only one who knew both who she was at work and in her personal life.

Yet, it seems with both longing for someone who isn’t there, by choice or death, they may try to compensate for one another for now, or maybe for an extended period. Which, hopefully, doesn’t mean a relationship but rather friendship.

Dr. Glassman Putting His Foot Down With Shaun

There is no denying that Dr. Glassman has done a lot for Shaun. But, since that slap early in the series, Dr. Glassman has been increasingly trying to recognize Shaun’s independence while recognizing they have a long-lasting relationship. But in this episode, with Dr. Glassman increasingly showing he isn’t fond of this job, he just does it for the sake of the clinic, he snapped at Shaun.

But, in many ways, this was necessary. While Shaun is in the last year of his residency, as shown, there is still a need for him to improve in some areas – primarily in how he acts as a supervisor or senior. I’d even add that there is still a need to improve in terms of his relationship with nurses. After all, one of the few write-ups Shaun got was his disrespect to a nurse.

So while Dr. Glassman eventually reconciles with Shaun, it should be interesting to see if the show may refocus on the few areas Shaun needs to improve for when he no longer has allies in high places.

Low Points

Lost Opportunity To Get To Know The Nurses Better

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate Jerome and his relationship with Asher. Never mind, with Nurse Villanueva, we do have a consistent face seen in this episode. However, I was hoping for more. Jerome appears to have a long-standing reputation, and it would have been nice if Nurse Villanueva, or another, brought it up or gave him a look that required investigation.

Yet, the nursing staff remains developed less than the majority of one episode guest stars, even with us five seasons into the show.

On The Fence

The Constant Need To Wonder If Two People Getting Close Means Dating In The Future

Whenever possible, The Good Doctor tries to consolidate character storylines by putting them in a relationship. Dr. Melendez did this throughout his run through 2 official relationships, then what was off and on with Claire. Alex was latched onto Morgan, and now the question is, will Dr. Andrews latch onto Dr. Lim?

Don’t get us wrong, a friendship would be fine but do we need another opposites attract relationship? It seems like that’s all the show really likes to do.

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