Warning this review contains major spoilers.
As they say, when one door closes, another one opens and that could be how the season finale of The Good Doctor can be described.
“Vamos” is the second part of the two-part Season Four Finale of The Good Doctor.
Picking up where the first part left off, Lim had just hooked up with Mateo, Lea was sad and finally told Shaun about it and how her parents wanted her to go to Hershey to spend some time with them, and they had picked the twelve patients to operate on.
Since, many reviews will be written about this, as with previous season finales, David Shore was involved in some way, this time he co-wrote the episode with Peter Blake and it was directed by their long-time collaborator in Mike Listo.
The big question with the finale would be “did their experiences in Guatemala change them not only as doctors but as individuals?”
In the case of Claire, it had, Dr. Karla Saravia (played by Allegra Fulton), described her as one of those doctors who fit into a group of their own, basically the full person of what you wanted to be. One that not only could think objectively, but also empathetically and therefore made connections with their patients. Finally Claire found peace in her life after the turmoil with her mother, Melendez’s death and the return of her father in her life. She made the painful and tearful decision to stay in Guatemala, which in the process also marked the end of Antonia Thomas’ four season run as a regular on the show, she’ll definitely be missed. Especially for the friendships between Claire and Lim, Shaun and in recent episodes, Lea.
Onto the minor elements in the episode. Park and Reznick got back together, Andrews’ wife had been cheating, which was a reason for him suddenly going on the trip last minute and Glassman in a powerful scene with Shaun stated how his protege needed him less and less these days. Maybe Glassman and Andrews can have a bonding session over failed marriages, next season.
Now, besides Claire’s departure, this episode had two major milestones in it.
In case you missed the news earlier, Osvaldo Benavides, who plays Mateo, will be joining the cast as a regular in Season Five. So, that means we’ll have him as a surgeon and probably will see more of his budding relationship with Lim. And hopefully they’ll share a bike ride while they’re at it.
And then we’re at Shaun and Lea. Now the first part of the finale ended with Lea potentially going back to Hershey to spend some time to recover after her miscarriage. But through caring for baby Isabella, who managed to pull through without any power in the hospital (as well as all the patients receiving their operations too), she was offered to hold the baby, one which she refused to do in the earlier episode. In this one, she chose to do so, and when she did the baby cooed and she had a massive smile on her face, which you could say helped with her healing process.
Afterwards, at the airport, she told Shaun that she wanted to be with him for the rest of her life, that they belong together and in the process proposed, in which he accepted.
The final montage was of the group leaving at the airport hugging, Shaun making a FaceTime call, Claire about to perform surgery on the old man, as his best friend, his puppy laid on his blanket outside the hospital, hoping for a successful outcome.
Massive kudos to the cast and crew of The Good Doctor for getting all twenty episodes filmed during COVID-19, and it will be interesting to see where Season Five will take the viewers!