Christina Chang as Dr. Audrey Lim and Freddie Highmore as Shaun Murphy on The Good Doctor.

‘The Good Doctor’: Lim Pushes Shaun Away and Shaun and Lea Work on Their Marriage

The Good Doctor is back with Season 6 Episode 3. Lim continues to put the pieces back together after her attack. Unfortunately, her relationship with Shaun has changed forever.

by Sheiresa Ngo

Published on October 18, 2022

3 min read

Dr. Lim wants to investigate the surgery Shaun did on her

Christina Chang and Freddie Highmore | Jeff Weddell/ABC via Getty Images

Dr. Lim (played by Christina Chang) discusses her surgery with Dr. Andrews (played by Hill Harper). She wants to see the final surgery report. However, Andrews tells her the committee found that Shaun (played by Freddie Highmore) didn’t do anything wrong. Lim says the results were inconclusive, so she wants to do her own review.

Lim questions Glassman (played by Richard Schiff) about the surgery while they’re doing physical therapy. She starts grilling him about the details. When Lim asks why he seemed to be OK with Shaun overriding his original surgical plan, Glassman responds by saying Shaun did what she trained him to do. He made a tough call during a difficult time.

“After I left, the parameters changed. Shaun adjusted,” said Glassman. When Lim asks if Shaun made a bad call, he tells her Shaun saved her life, and he walks away.

Later, Lim asks Glassman additional questions about the surgery. She gets him to admit that what Shaun did was risky and if it were up to him, he would have gone back to his original surgical plan. Lim thanked Glassman for taking her side. She was tired of people siding with Shaun.

Shaun and Lea work on their marriage

One of the hospital patients happens to be a marriage therapist. Shaun decides to ask for tips on how to keep his marriage strong. One tip she gives him is to be careful of the habits he and Lea (played by Paige Spara) set. She tells him bad habits during the early years of marriage can lead to misery down the road.

Shaun made a list of small habits that could become larger problems. He put snoring, minor tardiness, and “a disconcerting tolerance for dust” on the list. When Lea reads the list, she realizes these are all of her habits. When Shaun asks if he has any habits she would like him to change, she says she would like him to stop re-rinsing the dishes after she places them in the dishwasher. Shaun says he only does this because she’s not doing it correctly.

Later, Shaun asks Lea if she was upset about him taking over folding laundry and doing the dishes. Lea tells him she was frustrated. “Knowing you think I’m wrong about so many things, sometimes it feels like you’re watching me and holding a big sign that says, ‘You’re doing everything wrong.’”

Lea says she knows Shaun doesn’t mean it that way, but she also knows he must have things a certain way. Shaun recognizes this is because of his autism. Lea reassures him by saying, “I love your brain, Shaun.” She went on to say she doesn’t really care about laundry and dishes, and she can take over another task, like shopping for groceries.

Lim confronts Shaun about her surgery

Shaun tries to talk to Lim about his personal life, but she cuts him off and tells him she doesn’t want to hear it. Lim tells Shaun she’s angry about the outcome of her surgery. He says he saved her life, but she points to her wheelchair and says, “This is a struggle. You put me here and I’m really angry about that.”

Lim tells Shaun she doesn’t want to hear about his personal life, and she doesn’t want him to ask her about hers. Lim makes it clear she doesn’t want anything to do with him on a personal level, saying, “From now on our relationship is medicine only.”

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