"The Good Doctor" Season 1 Episodes: Freddie Highmore's Character Has A Touching Message About Autism and Ambition

By Trisha Cerdena Oct 06, 2017 01:55 PM EDT

ABC’s “The Good Doctor” season 1 premiere opened to widely positive reviews with “Bates Motel” actor Freddie Highmore taking on the role of Shaun Murphy. Suffering from autism and savant syndrome, young surgeon Shaun moves out from the quiet countryside to join the surgical unit of a prominent hospital.

Despite his feelings of loneliness and inability to connect on a personal level with the people around him, Shaun makes good use of his remarkable medical gifts to help save lives and prove to his colleagues that he is more than a young surgeon.

“The Good Doctor” was first revealed as part of ABC’s lineup of TV shows for fall. The series was created by David Shore, who previously worked on “House” and “NYPD Blue,” as well as David Dae Kim, who starred in “Lost” and “Hawaii Five-O.”

Together with Highmore, who took on the lead role of Norman Bates in “Bates Motel,” “The Good Doctor” also stars Antonia Thomas, Nicholas Gonzalez, Chuku Modu, Irene Keng, Beau Garrett, Hill Harper, and Richard Schiff-many of whom are fellow residents and doctors at San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital.

In the previous episode, Shaun faced considerable pressure during the first day of his residency at the said hospital, particularly because of one of the doctors’ unforgiving opinions. Eventually, Highmore’s character proved that he deserved a spot there.

In a review by Hollywood Life, “The Good Doctor” can be deemed as “one of the most necessary, beautifully presented shows on television right now with an important message to open your heart and mind to anyone, no matter their limitations.”

Following a week of playback, viewership of “The Good Doctor” increased by another 5.5 million viewers with the initial 11.4 million soaring to 16.9 million. This has been the second largest gain for a broadcast series premiere, following ABC’s “How To Get Away with Murder” that gained a whopping increase of another 5.9 million viewers by Sept. 25, 2014, as reported by Deadline.

For the latest updates, #TheGoodDoctor is on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

“The Good Doctor” season 1, episode 3 trailer can be viewed below.