Everyone is pushed to their limits in The Good Doctor season 7 episode 6, "M.C.E." In the wake of Asher's death, the hospital staff's grief is met with an onslaught of patients. The carnage is the result of a man driving his car through a festival.
Twenty-five plus patients flood the hospital, including the driver/mass murderer. Complicating the already precarious situation, the hospital has eight surgeons away at a conference in Cleveland. Everyone is challenged in their most vulnerable spot.
Here is how they did.
Lim's bad day at the office
Eileen (Bess Armstrong), tries to share a critical secret with Lim (Christina Chang) about her father, but Lim does not want to hear it. Her day is about to challenge that stance after a day of few victories where Lim delivers more bad news than good.
Lim struggles in the operating room when she notices a patient looks like Asher (Noah Galvin). Before she knows it, Lim loses him, making her feel like she failed to save Asher. Overwhelmed, a dazed Lim lashes out at an aggravated accident patient.
That patient later apologizes and explains his earlier frustration. His wife was home alone all day, and she has MS. She needs him to lift her. Lim is immediately empathetic and inquires further as she treats him.
Later, Lim is once again visited by her mom, who has lovingly made cookies to soothe the hospital. An exhausted Lim asks about her father's secret, finally ready to learn the truth. Eileen shares he had clinical depression, and while he did go on work trips, in reality, many of them were hospital stays.
While Eileen acknowledges how angry her husband would be about her sharing this, she explains why she felt it necessary to share. It's the reason she has been so worried about Lim. With her "work" done, Eileen shares she is leaving town.
Shaun and Charlie: the rematch
Charlie (Kayla Cromer) brings Shaun (Freddie Highmore) to examine a guy marked as a "black tag" (dead) whose pupils are fixed but not dilated. Shaun quickly diagnoses the man is alive. Later, Charlie notices an abnormality with the patient. She brings it up to Glassman (Richard Schiff), who sends her to a dismissive Dr. Paxton. Out of options, Charlie turns to Shaun.
Between the blur of losing Asher and all the patients' urgent needs, Shaun gets rattled and short-circuits. Charlie gets through to him and suggests he break down each issue, step-by-step. It works, and Shaun quickly rattles off a list of solutions before taking off with Charlie to save their back-from-the-dead patient.
After Charlie plugs the patient's bleeding with her finger, matters escalate. Shaun must perform emergency surgery in the ER. Charlie asks to help and due to his circumstantial desperation, Shaun agrees... if she does everything he says. An eager Charlie agrees.
As evidenced by the big blur around them, Charlie and Shaun (finally) find the groove that has eluded them to this point. Is it a turning point? Or a one-time event? As the day ends, Charlie walks by Glassman, updating him on her patient and saying she is withdrawing her HR complaint against Shaun (for now.) A truce?
Dom shines bright
Dom (Wavyy Jonez) faces his toughest challenge yet with the vehicular attack victims. Morgan (Fiona Gubelmann) assigns Dom a suspected panic attack patient whose nose begins bleeding after Dom suggests some mindfulness exercises to help him.
The nosebleed turns severe, though, and despite momentarily slowing down, the patient begins to vomit blood. Dom regains his composure despite the triggering sight, diagnosing a "posterior epistaxis" (an arterial bleed in the back of his nose). Dom rushes outside for help and finds no one. He quickly springs into action on his own, and, seeing what he needs on the med cart, begins treatment.
A stunned Morgan arrives to see the panic attack patient surrounded by blood and Dom holding the urinary catheter he used to save his life. Morgan later finds Dom reading the guidelines for treating the bleeding, sharing he should have used a "rhino rocket." She points out that he saved the man’s life with "MacGyver medicine" and that he should not quit.
Jordan finds compassion
Jordan (Bria Henderson) gives a moving speech at Asher's service and expresses her anger at Asher's murderers. Her understandable fury extends to the driver who injured and killed the festival goers.
She is later confronted by the killer's mother, who pleads with her for understanding, explaining all the family had done to help him. The mom acknowledges anger and love for her son.
Kalu (Chuku Modu) comments on Jordan's anger. Jordan responds, "If those monsters hurt like we’re hurting, maybe something will change." Jordan’s stance is challenged when she hears the man crying in pain in his room.
Jordan administers enough pain medicine to get driver through the night pain-free. She vows to his mother she will keep him pain-free. The episode ends with Jordan apologizing for making her eulogy about anger, adding Asher would not want to be the center of attention at his own funeral.
With Jordan's help, Jerome (Giacomo Baessato) visits the break room to give the staff items from Asher's locker. To Park (Will Yun Lee), a funny cup Asher made for him, to Shaun a brochure, which leads to Asher's loss fully hitting Shaun.
New episodes of The Good Doctor air Tuesdays on ABC and are available to stream the next day on Hulu.
