Dr. Andrews tries to convince a grieving family to donate their teenage daughter's face to another young girl whose face was horribly disfigured in an accident.
In 2018, there were 495 scripted shows airing amongst the linear channels and streaming services. The way people are consuming content now is so different than it used to be. It happens according to one's own schedule. As such, there is less necessity to provide ample coverage of each specific episode in any given season from a show. Moreover, it is simply impossible to watch everything. As such, this site is making the move to shorter episodic reviews in order to cover as many shows as possible. With all of that being said, here are my thoughts on the next episode of ABC's The Good Doctor.
"Faces" was written by David Hoselton and directed by Allison Liddi-Brown
This is such a weird episode. The two major storylines are intercut with one another despite being vastly different. The show has told stories this season of Shaun and Glassman being off on some adventure while the other characters are at the hospital performing risky surgeries. But the hijinks Shaun and Glassman get into here is just too ridiculous without really making a whole lot of sense. It would appear that the show is trying to tell a story about the regrets one might feel about the life not lived. Glassman has obsessed over what he wrote down in the high school yearbook of the girl he had a crush on. He has thought about that even though he has had a complete and happy life since then. When he gets high, he feels the need to track her down. It's simply outrageous that everyone encourages this as well. With Shaun, it's not that problematic because he's not the one actually driving the story forward. He is just fascinated with the chocolate treats that may come at the end. But the Uber driver is insane for going along with every single development that happens in this story - especially when it means driving 11 hours to Portland. Sure, she probably earns a ton of money by driving Shaun and Glassman around. However, she feels personally invested because she sees it as a love story that needs to find a better ending. It's not sweet though. It's a little creepy and the show only wants to encourage it. It validates every single decision made. When Shaun and Glassman leave Robin's home, she actually digs up the old yearbook to recall exactly what was written only to discover that it had already been crossed out. That makes all of this seem so pointless and non-essential. There was no reason for the show to have spent so much time just being distracted with this mission. It obviously loved the idea of Shaun and Glassman getting high together. That is amusing even though it's fairly broad as well. But it also highlights how the show is inconsistent with Glassman's cancer. One moment he is suffering from symptoms and the next he isn't. The medical marijuana he takes shouldn't last for over a day. And yet, he's perfectly fine when he sits down with Robin and for the entire ride back home. It's baffling and really makes the audience question the thought process behind all of this. Moreover, it's paired with a medical story that really wants to lay it on thick with the melodrama. A girl dies in a car accident and Andrews goes to her mother in order to get her consent for a full face transplant. It's the show continuing to prove that it wants to be on the cutting edge of medical procedures. It showcases the breakthroughs that are currently happening in the field. That's what Andrews wanted to achieve when he took over as president of the hospital. He wanted St. Bonaventure to be known throughout the country as a destination for these experimental procedures. It's ultimately a success as well. But that's almost besides the point too. That was the expected outcome. The more important details come from all of the speeches given as to how the people involved can cope and make sense of all of this while the doctors are feeling guilty and second guessing their own actions. It's played in a big way that makes the audience want to question things as well. As such, it's not the simplest story to digest. That coupled with the Shaun and Glassman story again makes this a very weird episode. It's not the show operating in peak form.
