Leaving fans stunned and emotional through the seven-season journey, Freddie Highmore’s The Good Doctor came to an end on May 21, tying up loose ends and offering a satisfying ending to the surgeons at San Jose St. Adapted from the 2013 K-drama, as David Shore and Liz Friedman’s show concluded, the showrunners sat to dissect the finale.
Addressing all the shocking events that happened in the series finale, The Good Doctor showrunners alongside Freddie Highmore broke the silence on the ending. Particularly dissecting the fate of the beloved characters, Dr. Aaron Glassman, David Shore, and Liz Friedman explained why the events happened.
The Good Doctor Showrunners Break Silence on a Beloved Character’s Fate
Adapted from the 2013 K-drama by the same name, ABC’s hit series The Good Doctor eventually ended its seven-season run on May 21, with Part 2 of its two-hour finale. Mixed with tragedy and triumph, the medical drama focused on Freddie Highmore’s Shaun Murphy and his journey as an autistic doctor, concluded with a rollercoaster of emotions.
Thereafter, in an interview with Deadline, The Good Doctor showrunners David Shore and Liz Friedman addressed the jaw-dropping finale and opened up about the fate of the beloved characters. Addressing if they had always planned to end Dr. Aaron Glassman’s run in the show with his demise, Shore and Friedman clarified their vision behind the sad ending.
I don’t think we’d really decided on that. David, had we? Friedman noted.
I would certainly not say we always envisioned that. But we got him very sick at the beginning. Liz ran with this in Season 7, I thought in a great way, and it just felt like the right ending. We wanted a hopeful ending but never did we want a perfect ending because that’s been the nature of the show throughout, that things are not perfect, but they are hopeful. And I think it fit very nicely into that theme. Shore shared.
Taking fans on an emotional journey of saying goodbye to the beloved characters, especially the tragic death of Dr. Aaron Glassman, David Shore, and Liz Friedman along with Freddie Highmore then explained how they could have extended the show some more.
The Good Doctor Showrunners and Freddie Highmore Discuss Alternate Ending
After David Shore explained that they wanted a hopeful ending rather than a perfect conclusion, Liz Friedman teased the alternate ending they could have had with Freddie Highmore’s Shaun Murphy and Richard Schiff’s Dr. Aaron Glassman.
We’ve always tried as the show goes on, every season we give Shaun a new challenge. That is something that would have been interesting to play, seeing him go through the process of Glassman passing and then finding his way to be a grownup and have a family and do all that without his mentor.
I would have loved to have seen that process. But also I think that was clearly a challenge that Shaun was going to face, and this allowed us to see how much he’s grown and is able to move past it and make something great out of it.
Not just the showrunners, but even Freddie Highmore shared his opinion on the show’s end, and how Dr. Aaron Glassman’s demise had an impact on his character. Although the show hardly had two episodes or even less to showcase Shaun Murphy’s process of realization after Dr. Aaron Glassman’s death, Highmore credited Shore and Friedman for flawlessly setting the last act of the show, in the future.
Obviously, there are two episodes or even less than that really for Shaun to have that journey and to go on that process of realization. And I think that the way that David and Liz decided to have the very last act take place in the future was an excellent way of showing that, If we have one episode to deal with Shaun and Dr. Glassman and the finality of that episode, it can’t take place within a week or within a set of weeks.
You need to see the way in which Shaun, over those 10 years that we are without him, has been able to move on and grow and learn as an individual.
The Good Doctor‘s conclusion marked the end of an era for the medical drama, which captivated audiences worldwide. And now as fans continue to process the emotional finale, the showrunners’ insights served as a glimpse into the creative process behind the beloved series.
The Good Doctor is available on Hulu.
