Freddie Highmore Gives a Glimpse of This Season of The Good Doctor

Last season on The Good Doctor ended with emotions running high as Dr. Neil Melendez (Nicholas Gonzalez) died from injuries sustained while trying to save someone from a collapsed building, while Dr. Sean Murphy (Freddie Highmore) came out of that same building into the waiting arms of Lea (Paige Spara), who finally admitted she loved him.

Freddie Highmore Teases New Season

In an interview with TV Line, Highmore previewed what to expect from the show’s fourth season, which premieres tonight.

To start with, the show is diving right into COVID-19, and will show how the San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital staff deals with the pandemic.

“With this huge uncertainty of the virus arriving to the world and, of course, to the hospital, he’s going to have to learn to not feel as prepared as he usually does, and try to rely a little bit more on instinct instead of scientific, absolute fact—especially in these early days of the pandemic that we start our show with,” Highmore said.

After the first two episodes though, the show’s events will take place in a post-COVID world. According to Highmore, Dr. Murphy will now be supervising a group of first-year residents, which will pose some challenges for the autistic doc.

“It’s getting to see Shaun try and be a boss for the first time and, as you say, take responsibility for other people,” he told TV Line. “He is great at imparting his medical wisdom and all of that knowledge he has accumulated. At the same time, he will definitely struggle, and perhaps even dislike, other aspects of the job — when it comes to more pastoral care, but also teaching [residents] how to interact best with patients. Shaun himself struggles with that, so he’ll certainly struggle to teach others that.”

And of course, the season will have a lot on his new romantic relationship with Lea, exploring the deepening of their relationship and whether they can make it work as a couple.

Expect a lot of excitement both in and out of the hospital! The Good Doctor airs Mondays on CBS and premieres tonight. Check your local listings for airtimes.