The Good Doctor (2017–…): Season 1, Episode 2 - Mount Rushmore - full transcript

Autism... a mental condition

characterized by
difficulty in communicating.

Does it sound like
I'm describing a surgeon?

You saved his life.

I'm Dr. Shaun Murphy.

Never forget, you're the smart one

and I'm proud of you, Shaun.

My brother went to Heaven...

Aah!

in front of my eyes.

He's got a serious deficit.



We hire Shaun,

and we give hope to those people
with limitations

that those limitations

are not what they think they are,

that they do have a shot!

If Shaun doesn't live up
to everything I know he can do,

I will resign my position
as president of this hospital.

Where to?

San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital.

I'm a surgical resident.

Today is my first full day.

I meant floor.

Oh, ground floor.

I'm taking the bus.



This is Mitchell Brand, 55 years old,

post-op day one
from a radical prostatectomy.

Morning, Mitchell.

I'm Dr. Melendez.

These are my residents
Dr. Browne and Dr. Kalu.

Your surgery went perfectly.

Yeah.

Am I ever gonna walk again?

Yes. Of course.

This is Mitchell Brand.

I reviewed his chart.

He's 55 years old from Chicago,

divorced with two children.

You did a radical prostatectomy
on him yesterday.

There are many possible complications

but none related to motor neurons.

There is no chance
you won't be able to walk.

He... he wasn't worried about his legs.

Oh, yes.

There's a significant chance
of impotence.

Dr. Murphy, you're late.

No, the bus was late.

The schedule was clear.

They post it online.

But the 4 bus was late which meant...

You're late.
Five minutes, we've all been...

On your first day, no less.

It is your responsibility to be here.

if you are not,

you have failed in your responsibility,

which makes it your fault.

Okay, how can it be my fault?

I did nothing wrong. The bus...

Yeah. This is gonna work out great.

The board clearly made
the right choice in hiring you.

Thank you.

Dr. Melendez,

we've got an emergent consult
in the E.R.

You should be fine

if you can leave it alone
for a couple days.

Four days of indigestion,

bloating, constipation, and nausea.

Ugh.

And a lot of pain, apparently.

Did you give her morphine?
Yeah, 10 milligrams.

Hasn't touched her pain.

You have time to get a CT?

Yeah. That's why I called you.

That's very big.

Yes, it is.

What are we looking at?

It's definitely abutting
the aorta and the left kidney.

Renal angiomyolipoma?

Do you see an extensive blood supply?
No.

Maybe some kind of neurogenic tumor.

Or maybe a lymphoma.

She has a sarcoma, a malignant tumor.

Malignant?

That means it's killing me, right? Yes.

Not necessarily.

We're just speculating right now.

No. It's definitely malignant.

If it weren't malignant...

Please stop saying "malignant."

Should we talk outside?

Give her more morphine.
As much as she wants.

You scared her.

Didn't need to be so blunt.

Why?

Her prognosis is terminal

without immediate medical intervention.

Isn't that scary?

Well...

That fear does her no good.

Does she have a malignant sarcoma?

Are we gonna be doing a laparotomy?

We need intra-operative staging
for the biopsy,

extensive dissection
of the retroperitoneum,

and excision of the mass with wide,
clear margins.

I want in.

You do know you're drooling, right?

About cutting open a 40-year-old woman.

Real person. Right behind that door.

It's called bedside manner...

no such thing as
outside-the-door manner.

It is exciting, Claire.

We'd be saving a life,
and we'd be learning.

See?

Dr. Browne, you're my number two.

With all due respect, doctor...

Comments that start that way

rarely come across that way.

I was going to say that's an
excellent call. Thank you.

Jared, prep the surgical team.

Sir, what do I do?

Scut work.

What's scut work?

Today, I'm gonna need my surgeons

to have no distractions.

So I'm gonna need you
to handle those distractions.

All the work they do every day

that they hate doing,

you're handling it for them.

Make sure they know we still
need a consent on that one.

Am I being punished for something?

No.

Okay.

So that's it?

You just accept my answer at face value?

Why?

You're very arrogant.

Arrogant people don't think
they need to lie.

So you must be doing this to teach me.

I look forward to learning
from scut work.

Say "Ahh." Ahhh.

How long will this be?

Seven minutes.

Without any complications,

it takes seven minutes

to do a discharge examination properly.

Dr. Dunsmuir
has already cleared him to go

and we need the bed. Okay.

Protocol requires that
the surgical department

also clears him.

You have an ear infection.

Yes, that's why he's here.

My hearing's been a little muffled,

and I've had some ringing.

They gave him amoxicillin.

And we're sending him home.

Which is why you're here.

To send him home.

I'd like an MRI

of the head
and internal auditory meatus.

I'm not being discharged?

What do you think is wrong?

I'll tell you when I know for sure.

I don't want to scare you.

Shaun.

What are you doing down here?

I'm waiting for her to fart.

Flatulence.

But I'm using the word "fart"
in front of the patient

to be more casual.

But you're the president
of the hospital,

so I'll say "flatulence" to you.

Well, I appreciate that.

Why are you doing that?

She had her deviated septum repaired.

Before we can release her,

we have to be sure she isn't suffering

from post-operative ileus.

Ah.

This is what Dr. Melendez feels

you'll be most useful doing today?

Waiting for farts?

I'm not just waiting for farts.

Thank goodness.

I'm doing all the scut work.

Well...

Welcome to your surgical residency.

Thank you.

There. I think that was it.

I don't think so.

I'll wait a little longer.

This is important.

The procedure is called a laparotomy.

Mm.

Yeah, your heart sounds good.

So, we make a long incision
down the middle of your abdomen,

expose the tumor...

Am I going to die?

Dr. Melendez is the best surgeon
I have ever seen...

Can this all wait?

You have a very serious condition.

It's not advisable to...

Just a couple of weeks.

My son is getting married next weekend.

They look very happy.

After the initial incision...

They've been planning this for months.

If they have to reschedule...

Well... well, this...
this is complicated surgery,

but if all goes well,

recovery is pretty easy.

No need to reschedule anything.

And if it doesn't?

If it doesn't go well?

My husband died in a car accident

a couple of years ago.

Mark is our only child.

I can't die right before his wedding.

I can't.

You're not gonna die.

You will be at the wedding.

Looking beautiful.

You're not supposed to make
promises like that, Dr. Browne.

Yeah,
I told her what she needed to hear.

Officially,
our legal department's policy is...

tell the ugly truth...
the uglier the better.

Is that what you did?

I don't think that's what you did.

Yeah, well, it's a dumb policy.

She needs to have the surgery.

Scaring her would change nothing.

Right, because a much better policy

would be to lie to all of our patients

whenever it makes you feel better.

No, it doesn't make me feel better.

It makes her feel better.

I'm pathetic.

What?

I am pathetic.

And here's my thinking, so just...

just bear with me,

because it kind of insults both of us.

You met that woman an hour ago,
and you lied to her.

A pity lie because you
obviously care about her.

A pity lie that has absolutely
zero upside for you,

but I can't make you,
the world's softest touch,

care about me.

Hey.

I need a consult.

What? You have a question about this?

This patient is perfectly healthy.

There's not even any artifact
in these images.

Yeah, which in turn

raises an interesting
medical question...

why the hell did this patient
get an MRI?

I don't know anything about this.

Yeah. Someone on your team ordered it.

It's your responsibility,
which makes it your fault.

What... How did you...?

It's my department.
It's my job to know everything.

Well, then, since I work for you,

doesn't that make all of this
actually your fault?

Oh, I'm sorry,

I stopped listening after
"I work for you."

Does that hurt?

Yes.

Does that hurt?

Yes.

Does that hurt?

Yes.

She has a tummy ache.

That's what they do... they ache. Shh.

She's just trying to get out of school.
Again.

Where do you think
she learned that from?

You don't think she hears you
calling in sick to work

right before you go golfing?

I like school.

Me too.

What did you eat for dinner last night?

Cereal.

I thought you made meatloaf. I did.

And it got cold while
we were waiting for you.

I want D-dimer, lactate, and amylase...

What tests are you ordering?

D-dimer, lactate, and amylase.

For a tummy ache? Hmm?

Yes.

I'm concerned it may be...

Shall we talk outside?

I told you something was wrong.

You're happy she might be sick?

I'm happy you're wrong.

Yeah. Let's talk outside.

Have they been bickering
like that the whole time?

I didn't notice. They aren't sick.

Yeah, they're what we call a vector.

Hmm?

A carrier. A cause of disease.

You mean the parents? Yeah.

That little girl has a tummy ache

because mommy and daddy
won't stop fighting.

This isn't a medical issue.
Send them home.

Could be intestinal malrotation,

which could quickly become fatal.

And every patient in this
hospital could have malaria,

but that doesn't mean
we're gonna go around testing

for every condition
we think they could have.

For example, that MRI you ordered

on the guy with the ear infection?

Nice call, genius.

Thank you.

I was being sarcastic.

It's normal. He's healthy.

Send him home, too.

Why are you smiling?

Because you're right.

So you thought he was making a mistake

and didn't say anything?

Just stood by watching, taking notes

while he wasted everybody's time?

Is that your job?

In my experience,

doctors don't listen to nurses.

And they only talk to us to lecture us

when they figure
we screwed something up.

From now on, you don't run any tests

you don't have to run.

How do I know if a test is needed

until after I run it?

She'll tell you.

Today, she's your boss.

I could never eat before surgery.

Puke? I could do that.

I get cranky if I don't eat.

I hear Shaun made the call. Mm.

He's an excellent diagnostician.

You should get him a job in radiology.

He doesn't want to be a radiologist.

He wants to be a surgeon.

That's what we hired him to be.

That's what I worked damn hard
to hire him to be.

Not a glorified orderly.

Every resident does scut work.

So you're treating him
like anybody else?

Are you? Yes, yes, I am.

He more than earned the right
to be here.

He has had to get past people like you

and their prejudices
every step of the way.

Prejudices? Yeah, prejudices.

You have any idea how many patients

he's scared the crap out of today?

How many wasted tests he ordered?

So teach him.

I'm doing that.

I'm teaching you both
that he doesn't belong.

Okay.

You're gonna make me pull rank,
I will pull rank.

This is my hospital.

But it's my team.

You can't tell me how to run my team.

Hey.

How are you doing?

What's the point of sarcasm?

Um...

Well, uh...

Like, sometimes,
it's a way of critiquing people

in a way that's funny

so they don't feel quite so bad.

Isn't it just lying?

Mm, well, it's not lying,

because people know you're lying.

I'm not good at that.

You may remember me from last year.

We sell chocolate bars every year

to pay for our class trip to Mt.
Rushmore.

Okay.

But this year we're not going to Mt.
Rushmore,

because Kenny can't go.

He's got cancer.

So, Samantha had the idea

that if he can't go,
none of us would go,

and we all thought
that was a great idea.

So, we're gonna have a party
at the hospital for him.

There are two Kennys in your class.

Is it Kenny L. or Kenny M.?

No one's sick.

Well, you lied?

You weren't supposed to lie. Yeah.

And you and me aren't
supposed to starve.

We need money for food.

Was any of that true?

Yeah.

We're not going to Mt. Rushmore.

I can't discharge people

if I think they might still be sick.

Um, of course not.

Why would you?

Dr. Melendez made Nurse Fryday
my boss today.

Should I speak to Dr. Glassman?

No.

What did you think this job was?

To save people's lives.

No.

I mean, yeah,
sometimes we do save lives.

But the job...

It's doing whatever
Melendez asks us to do.

Paging Dr. Browne.

Paging Dr. Browne to the O.R.

I'm Dr. Claire Browne.

I'm first assist today,

and I'll be leading the timeout.

Patient's name, Stephanie Willis.

Scheduled surgery?

Excision of an indeterminate
retroperitoneal tumor.

We don't anticipate

any complications with the surgery.

Thank you, Dr. Browne.

Ten blade.

Let's remove a tumor.

Excuse me.

No.

It might be infected.

It's not.

There is some discoloration.

He's 82 years old.

Everything is discolored.

Once we get through the muscle layer,

proceed carefully.

Blood pressure, 120 over 70.

Heart rate 60.

She's holding steady.

I've opened the facia.

You kept your puke?

Yeah, I thought you'd want to see it.

It looks like puke.

No. No, no. It's not the regular color.

Your puke has a regular color?

Yeah.

It is a bit of an unusual color.

We could order some...

I'm sending you home.

You sure?

It... It's safe for me to go home?

I don't know what to say.

You'll learn.

By doing.

Hi.

My brother said
there's a kid named Kenny,

and he's sick, and there might...

you should give us money.

So, am I okay?

Am... Am I okay?

According to all hospital rules

and direct instructions given to me,
yes.

Whoa.

We need a better exposure of this tumor.

Let's get this thing open.

I've got to see where it's safe to cut.

I can't see anywhere where this
tumor hasn't encased her arteries.

Claire, tell me you got something.

I've got nothing.

This tumor is way bigger
than it looked on the scans.

Okay, come on.

I...I can't even see her aorta.

That's a problem.

Is that the girl
with the bickering parents?

Didn't we send her home four hours ago?

Dr. Murphy,

Dr. Melendez needs you in surgery.

That won't be necessary.

The tumor's entirely encased
the large abdominal arteries.

That's very bad.

If it's in the artery walls,

it's going to be impossible to cut out

without killing her.

You should get a biopsy

to determine where the margins are.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

I was being sarcastic... again.

Oh, I-I see,

because you are already know
everything I said,

and you already sent a biopsy
to the lab?

Yes, 'cause I'm a doctor, too.

Yes. But you need me?

Yeah, I need you to run down to the lab

and hurry them along.

I'm Dr. Shaun Murphy.

I'm a surgical resident.

Dr. Melendez sent you a biopsy.

When will the results be ready?

When I get to it.

It's very important.

They're all very important.

Let me see the other test orders.

I'll tell you which ones
are most important,

and you can do them in that order.

I'll be honest and fair.

That is not the way that it works.

Now go wait your turn.

Do it again.

Get the hell away from me, you moron.

Let's get out of here!

Wait, wait, wait, wait!

If you want to get anything in life,
Shaun,

there's one thing you got to do.

Never be afraid.

You're the moron!

If you don't do
Dr. Melendez's test right now,

I will throw a rock through your window.

Well, I wouldn't want that.

Go have a seat.

Your results will be ready
in 15 minutes.

You got a minute?

I have a patient lying in the O.R.

waiting for lab results,

and I'm sitting here
trying to figure out

what the hell I'm gonna do next,

and I don't like any of my options,

so...yeah, unfortunately it seems I do.

Okay, we can talk another time.

Glassman talked to you?

I don't have a problem
with an autistic doctor.

No, you just have a problem
with one working for you.

Really? That's how you see me?

Let's not make this personal.

You're accusing me of prejudice.

I have a problem with the doctor

who has a problem with communication.

Okay, let's make this personal.

Who do you respect at this hospital?

You and Glassman.

And who do you not respect?

And does it bother you

that it looks like
you're on the wrong team?

If the tumor hasn't invaded
into the arterial walls,

we could create a plane of dissection.

Well, if it's a noninvasive liposarcoma

we can work it off from the outside.

Blunt dissection and tissue forceps...

peel it off piece by piece.

It's a leiomyosarcoma.

Well, that sucks.

Yes, it's sad.

The surgery's impossible.

Well, might as well wake her up...

let her know she has
three months to live,

offer palliative care.

The surgery isn't impossible...

just, very, very, very difficult.

Yes, in the sense
that we'll be operating blind.

Yes,
because the left kidney is in the way.

The healthy left kidney.

Both kidneys are healthy, Jared.

She only needs one.

Without the left one,
it's theoretically possible

to access the tumor and remove it.

You're suggesting we cut out
a perfectly healthy organ

just to get a better view? Yes.

But she might die anyway.
Yes. Quite probably.

I have to go. I have a boil to lance.

I mean, it's a brilliant...

very, very, very terrible idea.

Close her up and wake her up.

Who wants to join me when I tell her

she has six weeks left to live?

There is one possibility.

If we removed the left kidney,

we might be able to get
a good enough view

to successfully remove the mass.

Take out a healthy kidney

to get a better view?

That's insane.

A good view's half the battle
in any operation.

Most likely outcome
is we'd be depriving her

of what little time she has left.

But if we succeed...

No...

You want to do this
'cause it's exciting.

You want to be a hero.

But if you fail, this woman dies.

She misses her son's wedding.

Well, that's the issue, isn't it?

You promised this woman she'll be okay.

She had to do this surgery.

I might as well tell her good things.

The reason we don't make
patients promises

isn't just for legal.

Jared's right.
Your judgment is compromised.

I still think... You're not objective.

Who the hell is?

We should at least wake her up,

explain what we found,
what we're hoping to do,

and get a new consent.

What we're hoping to do

is exactly what you told her
we were going to do...

remove that tumor.

The only thing we'd be explaining is

why you undersold the risks.

We're doing the surgery.

And, Jared, you're my new number two.

Mayos.

I'm going to open the fascia
and expose the kidney.

You clamp the renal hilum.

Clamp.

We just cut off the blood supply

to a perfectly healthy kidney.

If we needed color commentary,

I would have hired Jeff Van Gundy.

Shaun, I believe you've met Trevor.

Yes. I sent him home.

Yes, well, he didn't go home.

He actually came to

the president of the hospital instead.

H-He said you sent him home

even though you thought he was sick.

I specifically never said that.

I made sure not to say that. No. Oh.

What... what the hell does that mean?

What does that mean, Shaun?
A-Am I healthy?

Probably. You're a doctor.

You're... you're supposed to know.
No, we're not...

Nobody knows anything for sure.

Anybody could drop dead of
a heart attack at any time.

Who is this guy?

Am I... Am I gonna have a heart attack?

Shaun has some difficulty

with certain social interactions,

but if he says that...

I don't give a crap what he says.

W-What do you say?

Am I healthy?

I've reviewed your chart,

and I can say with complete confidence

that you are in peak physical condition.
Thank God.

Shaun, people need reassurance.

I told him he was safe to go home.

I was very clear. W-With your words...

Your actions said something
completely different.

No, they didn't.

My actions were completely silent.

When you reassure someone,
they have to receive it.

You have to gauge

whether they actually are reassured.

You understand?

When did you review Trevor's chart?

I didn't.

It's not really a lie.

If you say that he is safe to go home,

then I know for a fact
that he's safe to go home.

I sent a girl home today.

How often do people
develop stomach issues

because of their brain?

Based on my personal experience?

Every single day.

I want D-dimer, lactate, and amylase

for a 10-year-old girl, Martine LaDuff.

She might have a tummy ache
caused by stress.

Or she might not.

Hi, Shaun.

Hi, Carly.

That's a lot of tests
for an upset stomach.

You could get in trouble.

That's definitely true.

Remove the kidney.

All right. It's coming out.

Let's get in there with some suction,
Claire,

so we can get a better view
of what we're dealing with.

There it is.

It's a mess.

Yes, it is.

But now it's a mess we can see.

Everything is within normal range.

Hmm.

Slightly elevated lactate and amylase,

and she's very small.

Normal should be lower.

What do you think she has?

Thank you.

W-What the hell? It... it's after 1:00.

I ran tests.

The results were ambiguous.

I think Martine
has intestinal malrotation

and that a volvulus has occurred.

Ambiguous tests told you this.

It's a genetic condition.

The symptoms are very similar to stress.

Call us in the morning.

Okay,
she may not be alive in the morning.

Does your boss know you're here?

No, I think he'd be upset with me

for being here.

I am not waking my daughter up

in the middle of a school night

because of some freak.

And you don't need
to call me in the morning,

because I'll be calling
your boss in the morning.

Were you being sarcastic?

How hard is it to get rid of someone.
I told him...

You're right. I'm weird.

Part of my weirdness
is that I perseverate.

That means I keep thinking about things.

So I will keep knocking on your door

until I know Martine is okay.

Martine.

Martine.

Martine, you need to wake up!

Honey? Martine?

She vomited.

I-I can't wake her!

I'll call 911.

N-No. There's no time.

Do you have a car? Yeah.

Shaun...

what's wrong?

What's wrong?

Hey, hey. You called me. What's wrong?

Hey, look at me. Look at me!

What's... You don't have to say
the whole thing, okay?

Just one thing, okay?

One thing, My... my brother.

Hold on, Shaun. Hold on now, hold on.

Her pulse is too weak
to perfuse her organs.

What? What does that...

Jerry!

Please hurry.

Patient is a 10-year-old female.

She has bradycardia
with hypovolemic shock.

She needs oxygen, IV adrenaline... Go!

and a liter of saline.

Wide open, please! Coming through!

Her pulse is better.
She needs an ultrasound.

That is it.

Wow.

I think you got it all.

You "think"? No. You definitely did.

I just can't quite believe it.

It was your idea.

You should have more confidence.

Nice work, Doctor.

There.

The small bowel is twisted around

the superior mesenteric artery.

Martine needs surgery immediately.

We need to confirm with Dr. Melendez.

N-No. Dr. Melendez is in surgery.

Part of Martine's bowel is dying

and killing her with it. No.

You cannot make these calls on your own.

Dr. Melendez was very clear.

He was very clear.

It's past midnight,
which means it's tomorrow,

which means you're no longer my boss.

Is this the O.R. scheduler?

Yes, this is Dr. Murphy.

Prepare an O.R. for surgery.

Ten blade.

I'll take it from here.

Nice diagnosis.
I'll handle the repair work.

Is Stephanie okay?

Yes.

Jared had an excellent idea,
and she's gonna be fine.

Light.

Would you like me to assist?

Mm, pretty basic...

I think I can take this one on my own.

Go home. Get some sleep.

Let him stay.

Dr. Andrews, I believe our opinions

on the wisdom of hiring Dr. Murphy...

That battle is lost.

Shaun is here, and we have to accept it,

and we will treat him
like any other resident.

Sir, it's my team.

And it's my department.

Dr. Murphy.

Back on suction... congratulations.

Whoo!

I am gonna get a drink.

I'm way too wound up to sleep.

You care to join me?

For either?

Don't think so.

Seriously?

We were just part of something amazing.

We reached into that woman,
and we healed her.

And you're what?

Cranky?

Maybe you could learn something from me.

Like what?

To steal credit?

Make yourself a hero with Shaun's idea?

No, but I fought for it.

I went out on a limb for him.

I deserve credit for that.

Why didn't you rat me out
as soon as I brought it up?

It seemed beside the point.

No, you didn't rat me out

'cause you thought the idea was crazy.

You were letting me take the fall.

Is that fair?

My idea if it fails,
but Shaun's if it succeeds?

But I'll tell you what...

I'll accept that you're right.

I'll apologize to the whole team

if you prove to me

that you're not a hypocrite.

How am I supposed to prove
something like that?

Our patient's about
to come out of anesthesia.

Tell her the truth.

When she wakes up and hears what we did,

how we miraculously saved her life,

be honest with her... about credit.

Tell her you didn't want to do it.

Tell her that you wanted
to send her home to die.

I hear you got Shaun off scut

and back into surgery.

I heard you tried.

You're welcome.

Just a friendly warning...

I know you have no interest
in helping Shaun.

You figure you'll give him
a little authority,

he'll screw something up,

and then you'll be done with him,

and then you'll be done with me.

You're right about me.

I am getting old

and maybe a little emotional.

Maybe I over-committed.

But you're wrong about Shaun.

He's gonna handle anything
you throw at him.

Either way, if he succeeds,

I'm the guy who just backed him.

And if he fails, I'm the president.

Everything went great.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. There were complications...

But I'm okay? Yeah, but the surgery...

I don't care.

You saved me. Thank you.

My son's going to be here soon.

I told him you said it would be okay,

but he flew in anyway.

You saved me.

You're gonna be a beautiful
mother of the groom.

Go on and take a bow.

You've earned it.

Why does it matter who gets credit?

It matters because
the people who get credit,

they don't have to do scut work.

Dr. Murphy, thank you so much.
Feel its heartbeat

Feel what you heat

Thank you!

Far so fast

It feels too late

I'd take care of you

If you'd ask me to

In a year or two

Oh, oh, oh