'The Good Doctor' Fans Have Mixed Feelings About Lea and Shaun in Last Night's Episode
The Good Doctor season 3 episode 10 aired on ABC on Monday.
In the winter finale episode, Lea (Paige Spara) helped Shaun (Freddie Highmore) navigate a difficult reunion with his estranged parents.
The episode left The Good Doctor fans with mixed feelings about Lea's relationship with Shaun.
Wow. The season 3 winter finale of The Good Doctor aired on ABC on Monday, and we're still in shock from all the drama that went down between Shaun (Freddie Highmore) and his estranged parents. Thankfully, he had his mentor, Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff), and roommate, Lea (Paige Spara), there to help him navigate the emotional trauma — but in some fans' minds, Lea's support for Shaun crossed a line.
To recap: At the end of episode 9 last week, Shaun learned that his estranged father was dying of pancreatic cancer and only had a few days left to live. And in episode 10, "Friends and Family," on Monday, he made the decision to travel to Wyoming to visit both his father and mother, neither of whom he had spoken to in quite some time. He wanted a friend to come with him as emotional support, but instead of asking his girlfriend, Carly (who many would assume would be the obvious choice), he turned to Dr. Glassman and Lea.
As fans know, Shaun's history with Lea is a complicated one: Before they were roommates, they were neighbors, and Shaun harbored a major crush on her. At one point, they even shared a kiss. But ultimately, before she agreed to move in to a two-bedroom apartment with him, Lea shut down Shaun's feelings for her once and for all — and Shaun seemed to accept that.
Regardless of where their relationship stood before Monday's episode, however, things got intimate between the two of them by the winter finale's end. After Shaun's father angrily lashed out at him from his deathbed, Lea wrapped her arms around Shaun and held him (something that Shaun has had trouble letting Carly do in previous episodes).
For some fans, Lea's gesture crossed a line and made them concerned for Shaun's emotional wellbeing:
"While I appreciate Lea being there for Shaun, I don't like their dynamic," another fan wrote in a tweet thread. "I shipped them in the beginning because she was fun and spontaneous, but I started to feel like she does all that stuff more so for herself than for Shaun. I hope the writers don't put them together, it just feels weird now."
Some fans, however, were happy that Lea and Shaun could share an intimate moment and hoped it was a sign that they will eventually become a couple:
"That episode was so sad but I cant wait to see what happens with Shaun and Lea!! I love them together!" another fan tweeted.
As it turns out, these kinds of conflicting emotions are exactly what the show's creators want you to feel when it comes to Shaun's two closest relationships with women. When asked about the contrast between how Shaun acts with Carly and how he acts with Lea, showrunner David Shore told TVLine that he did, in fact, want viewers to "read into that."
"[In episode 10,] we see Shaun in a very vulnerable moment, a very different moment, and in a very nonsexual situation, but we see him achieve a level of physical intimacy with Lea that he wasn't able to achieve with Carly, so as we go forward, we explore the significance of that," he said.
Unfortunately, The Good Doctor season 3 is now on its winter hiatus, so we'll have to wait until the show's return on Monday, January 13, before we find out what's next for Shaun and these two significant relationships.
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