Fresh out of "Bates Motel," actor Freddie Highmore ditches the antisocial, soon-to-be serial killer character Norman Bates to become the antisocial savant, Shaun Murphy.
"The Good Doctor" starts off by showing a day in the life of Shaun, a young, autistic surgeon with a heart of gold.
The show has everything expected for a current medical drama — office romance, power struggles between coworkers, surgical suspense and, to top it all off, an antisocial genius thrown into the mix. If any of that sounds familiar, you’re probably thinking of "House," a medical drama from the mind of showrunner David Shore.
Coincidentally, Shore is the executive producer of "The Good Doctor" and seems to be following the exact same formula that made "House" such a success. "The Good Doctor" is little more than a "House" clone.
The new series, however, is also guilty of robbing other popular television dramas, such as "Sherlock," in its action sequences where the viewer is visually shown Shaun’s mental processes, and "Grey’s Anatomy" in its doctor-doctor chemistry.
The pilot’s plot is another challenge the show could not master. Early in the plot, an inciting event quickly puts Shaun to work. The action, even if derivative of "Sherlock," flows well, showing how Shaun has the skill to become a master surgeon, but it is constantly interrupted by flashbacks and cuts to the far less exciting drama occurring in the hospital.
The show does a great job of babying the viewers, making sure we never forget that Shaun is autistic. One of the first scenes involves a group of doctors, presumably experts in their respective fields, explaining autism to one another.
The show has already faced mixed reviews for treating autism as a sort of super power, being helpful when convenient and debilitating when the plot requires it to be. Though, in Shore’s defense, the producer has stated that "The Good Doctor" is not representative of autism.
Unlike its spiritual predecessor, "House," the series fails to be funny or dramatic. Part of this is due to the action being cut short by interjecting other scenes, effectively stopping the suspense.
