State of the Shea Pt. 41: The Perfect Imperfections of “New Beginnings”
Here’s an observation that has occurred to me previously, but was underscored with the Season 5 premiere of The Good Doctor: the word disaster is incredibly overused in the English language. At least, it is here in the United States.
Words matter; I’ve brought it up on the blog more than a time or two. And there’s a deeper discussion to be had for the hyperbolic language to which many of us default-- adjectives like devastating and horrific to describe everyday occurrences, for example. But for the purposes of this past week’s TGD episode “New Beginnings,” it was the noun disaster that really started to irritate me.
TGD is certainly no stranger to “disasters,” be it a description of Shaun’s first date with Carly (giving the Season 3 opener its title), or the natural disaster that finally brought Shaun and Lea together as a couple, or any of a hundred other utterances that have surely been made by various members of the cast over the past four years. But “New Beginnings” tried to work the margins between (so-called) “perfect” and (so-called) “disaster” to some effect where #Shea was concerned… I’m just not sure it was the right one.
But I’ll get back to that. Since perhaps my favorite line of Jordan’s in the episode (aside from the biggie that made the ABC promo) was the one pointing out that “‘not perfect’ is NOT a disaster,” I’m trying to break my thoughts on the episode out into two categories: Perfect, and Not Perfect.
And by “Perfect” I mean really quite good, but you get what I mean, right? OK, let’s try this:
”Perfect”: A wonderfully balanced season premiere
…and in an entirely different way (of course) than S4. “Frontline” (the S4 opener) was all hands on deck against the pandemic. This year was more of getting all the playing pieces in the proper spots on the chessboard before what looks to be at least an all-season challenge: THE PURCHASE, embodied by Salen Morisson. (Surprise! We’ll get back to this later too.)
“Perfect”: Right off the bat, we get something special.
Yes, it was only a dream/nightmare wedding— not the real deal— but we got great touches like
Middle names!
Shaun’s little “Yes, I’m here” wave to the officiant when he said his name, followed by the proud little tug on his morning coat lapels.
Lea, w/the earplugs and the sea of umbrellas, being more prepared for “chaos” than she gives credit for… until the lightning struck the tree (OK, that would legitimately be a disaster if it really happened.) The lesson, to her: despite her best efforts, shit’s still gonna happen (a.k.a. “chaos follows me wherever I go,” as she uttered after nightmare number two.) To be continued later in this particular episode… we’ll see about the rest of the season.
“Perfect”: A Veritable Smorgasbord of Relationships
In addition to #Shea (who we see immediately) and #Parnick (who we see later in the episode), there is now:
Glassman & Andrews (surely getting a hashtag soon, right?)… I think they’ll form a better alliance over lost love in time, but it was an interesting study in contrasts to start.
#MatLim (Mateo and Lim), picking up where they left off at the end of the Guatemalan episodes as they’re thrown into the quiet dilemma of just how fast do we want to take this?
Jordan and Wolke (or #Wollen, I think they might be tagged now)... clearly this was Jordan’s episode to shine, but Wolke will get his turn. Not sorry to see them back at all. They’ll be terrific rivals with none of the sexual tension of, say, #Parnick.
“Perfect”: The wheelchair shot with Shaun & Sarah
Shaun asks why Patient Sarah doesn’t want her brother around, and Sarah’s story involves a brother who drinks “as their dad did” and nearly got her kids killed with his neglect while drinking. Shaun’s “That’s a good answer” surely taps into his own recollections of a father who drank and mistreated the kids, thereby giving us a subtle acknowledgment of Shaun’s past… long gone, but never forgotten. I really like the way they did that.
“Perfect”: Lea and Jordan’s friendship
Yes!!! The seed they planted last year is blooming. Since Claire is obviously not available for day-to-day friendship anymore (sigh), and it might be too weird for Lea to be super-chummy with Shaun’s boss (Lim), and she and Morgan haven’t exactly exuded BFF vibes… Jordan’s the perfect candidate. Funny how, with Lea’s screen time increasing dramatically at the same time as Jordan’s debut season, it feels like a much more organic friendship than it probably has a right to.
(Mini-Perfect: Just in case anyone was wondering if Lea had gotten too sweet by way of her love of Shaun… we have Sassy Lea on tap when she gets flak on the phone (“I’ll have to check with my fiance… he’s a lawyer…”))
“Perfect”: Shaun and Park’s friendship
Park and Shaun (w/help from Jordan) had some great moments in their scenes in the break room (that’s what I call it anyway) as they struggled for a new solution for Sarah. Interesting that it was really the first time that Shaun’s doctor commitments threatened to conflict with something important to him and Lea (not counting when Lea gave him a pass to leave their date night early last season)... but hey, they thought the engagement party was cancelled until that moment Jordan came in with her Is someone going to die tonight? Maybe? Not good enough. Park, talk some sense into him.
Jordan’s part was great, but it was when Park pretended to have a solution that I enjoyed it the most. I love that the show’s at a place now where those closest to Shaun not only understand and respect his ways, but help him find a way around said ways when they’re holding him back. (Again, Lea canceling Date Night comes to mind too).
The Party (Here’s where “Perfect” and “Not Perfect” converge)
PERFECT: Shaun’s entrance-- that he made an entrance at all was a nice bookend to what will surely be all about Lea’s entrance at the actual wedding. But I love how Shaun doesn’t look rushed or upset, just strides in w/ his version of a swagger (does that tug on the lapel thing again, like in the “wedding”), takes his champagne from Jordan, then very deliberately takes Lea’s hand. I could watch that entrance all day!
NOT PERFECT: I mentioned Claire earlier, and we really could have used her at this party, particularly when Lim was giving a toast that Claire was much better suited to give. Why?
Because Lea’s first appearance (as “the girl who borrowed his batteries”) was in S1x3, while Audrey Lim didn’t make herself known to the show until three episodes later:
Because the other doctors Shaun worked with in the earliest episodes were Kalu, Melendez, and Claire (Brown)-- none of which are around in S5. (Both Park and Morgan entered S1 even later than Lim did.)
And what’s frustrating to me is that David Shore and Liz Friedman (the writers of “New Beginnings”) could have written that toast in a way that was similarly endearing, but didn’t rewrite history. Lim could have said “As the story goes, we first heard about Lea when she was the girl who borrowed Shaun’s batteries. Nobody here thought he should ask for them back, but clearly it worked out…” Boom. And that’s just one example.
Then for a bonus (and yes, clearly nitpicky) frustration on my part, they didn’t even have the crowd laughing at the right points in the toast. The biggest burst of giggles we heard was after Lea’s battery-borrowing was revealed, but shouldn’t the most laughs have come at Shaun asking for them back? THAT’s what elevates their MeetCute to the next level, after all.
However, Shore and Friedman DO get points for this line out of Lim’s toast: “These two have a love that could move mountains… literally.”
At first I was like ugh, I hate it when we say something “literally” when we mean “figuratively”... but NO! EARTHQUAKES could, theoretically, “move mountains!” So I must give credit where credit is due.
“Perfect”: Park’s only exchange with Morgan
#Parnick loyalists will likely complain it wasn’t nearly enough (and as a member of #Shea Nation I totally get it), but i thought it was all you can ask for in about 30 seconds:
At first we think Park is just talking through the problem himself, now that Shaun is en route to the party...
Then we get the surprise that no, Morgan’s now sitting there, all sussed up in the green dress Lea had mentioned earlier, initially throwing shade Park’s way… or so he thought.
But then she says something along the lines of “science isn’t the thing that’s going to convince your patient,” and BOOM, Park has his lightbulb moment about the patient’s brother. MAGIC!
Then he plants a kiss on her before taking off for Patient Sarah’s room. It was a nice kiss, by the way! Short, but nice! (We’ll take at least one of those a week for #Shea, thank you very much)
Not Perfect: Party Logistics
WHERE WAS THIS PARTY HAPPENING? They showed at least one drone shot overlooking the city to indicate (what I thought) was that the party was across town, but how could that be when Shaun and Park had to materialize so quickly-- especially Park, who still had the scene with patient Sarah and her brother before he could change out of his scrubs and get there?
Maybe the drone shot was supposed to indicate the passage of time instead. In any case, I’m sure we’re not supposed to think about it that hard so I’ll let it go, and get to the cringeworthy part.
Cringeworthy for Glassman, I mean.
”Perfect” (Perfectly Miserable): Go Home, Glassy, You’re Drunk
First let’s talk about the “toast” itself, which I transcribed (and in and of itself goes in the “perfect” column)... and before it even began we got two big cues:
Glassy was about to make his “toast” with his liquor glass (which was filled 3 times that we saw; who knows how many times in all), but fumbled around and got the champagne flute up just in time
Shaun, to my eyes, bounced just a little on his toes before Glassman started as if to indicate he was really looking forward to Glassman’s words.
GLASSMAN: I have known Shaun since he was… (GESTURES) littler… and Shaun, I’ve never seen you as happy as you are right now with Lea. Well, not that you’ve always been happy-- there’s been some ups and downs, a little bit like a roller coaster, but you guys have managed it so well. A whole lot better than I have! (RUMBLE OF LAUGHTER)
Is that funny? (LAUGHTER DIES DOWN)
Anyway, um… here’s to many, many, many years of happiness. At least two, maybe three. (AWKWARD GLANCES ABOUND)
THAT was funny! I’m divorced, so that was funny!
ANDREWS: But you’re married now, so let’s give it up for Shaun--
GLASSMAN:(WAVES HIM OFF) Debbie left me, like, two months ago but that’s not the point-- the point is, you guys have built a platform and you’ve taken off…. And that’s… I mean, who knows? And so… (TRAILS OFF, THEN MAKES HIS EXIT)
As Shaun and Lea stood there, more stunned and saddened for Glassman than anything else, I presume… I was thinking especially about those last words he said. (I’ve got to assume he wasn’t just rambling; they care too much about the economy of words on TGD to have throwaway lines in such a scene). Platform… they’ve taken off… ??? I came away from that thinking it feels to Glassman that he’s going to be left behind in the dust of Shaun and Lea’s happy future. Especially now that he’s alone. How about you?
(Maybe that’s an obvious interpretation, but I swear for a minute there I thought he was going to say something to indicate they’re bound to crash not long after “taking off”… after all, he’d just made a terrible joke about the probable duration of their marriage!)
The instrumental piano music used in the Act 5 montage was not identified in Closed Captioning as montage music often is, but it sure sounded like Kings of Leon’s “Use Somebody.” We often discuss the use of lyrics, but when the lyrics to a fairly well-known pop song are omitted should we still regard them? I’m not sure. Here are the first several lines; see what you think:
I've been roaming around, Always looking down at all I see
Painted faces, fill the places I can't reach
You know that I could use somebody
You know that I could use somebody
Someone like you
(Mostly) “Perfect”: The Final Two Acts
Leaving the #Shea factor out of it for a moment, we got a good underscoring of Glassman as a mess, Andrews living hollow victories via one-night stands (I really liked how he was the one getting turned down for breakfast at the end as opposed to the show’s opening sequence), Lim and Mateo in a cautiously good place… for the moment. And if you watched all the way to the end, you know I’m not exaggerating too much when I say MOMENT… because despite the subtle hints we got throughout the episode about financial difficulties at St. Bonaventure (Lim was prepping for that board meeting in the 1st act, and made a few references to it being “in the red” when talking with Mateo later on), things sure turned on a dime in that final minute.
And now a few early words about SALEN MORRISON...
Brilliant way to bring her into the episode, and the series of course.
I love that they had her wander into Lea’s territory, too and not just Glassy’s and Lim’s (by way of the OR gallery for the latter).
In asking Lea what St. B’s PUE ratio is, Salen made clear (before most surely caught on) that she… knows things. For those wondering, PUE stands for Power Usage Effectiveness-- and 1.0 is the ideal ratio. Lea said St. B is 1.4, which surely indicates there’s some room for improvement. I have no idea how difficult it might be to get that ratio lower, but we might see already a hint of how Salen’s going to affect Lea’s neck of the woods, too.
I’m assuming that Salen’s illness that was “overlooked by three doctors” is at least part of the motivation behind her purchasing the hospital…so it’s nice that they built that into her introduction. As well as putting her personality out there as… a sort of wild card, maybe?
I’m intrigued that she was so kooky, all the way up until she came out of that 5-minute hospital board meeting (and talk about swagger- DAYUM!). While I get that she’s “the nemesis” from this point on, I’m curious how much “kooky” will exist in Everyday Salen. I expect her to come out playing hardball, but I also don’t think every moment of her stay as a patient was necessarily a performance.
Not Perfect: Subdued Shea In the Aftermath
This is something of a challenge for me, deciding what to make of Lea looking wistfully at her wedding vision board post-party… Shaun sitting elsewhere in the apartment at the same time, seeming to be lost in thought on the sofa (he could have been watching his comfort go-to The Weather Channel, but it seems they would have shown that if it were the case)... followed later on by their brief chat about the party. What I think we’re supposed to make of the first part is Lea feeling adrift after her “dry run of the wedding” didn’t go as planned, while Shaun wonders, in his own way, what to make of what went wrong.
Then came their chat, and that’s where I, myself, felt a little adrift.
As Shea discussions go…Yes, the “when things go wrong, they should go wrong for both of us” sentiment is lovely, and totally on-brand with them. (As for Shaun actually helping with the wedding...well, we’ll see. Lea may want to kick him out of things if he makes her crazy. And he’ll probably make her at least a little crazy. But I digress.)
But they both agreed the party was “a disaster” without acknowledging that the ONE THING that ruined the night was completely out of Lea’s control, or anyone’s… except GLASSMAN. Why weren’t they discussing that fact?!
I’ll give the writers a tiny bit of slack because there was probably too much on the table (regarding Glassy) for Shaun and Lea to broach the subject successfully. Still, it’s not like Lea’s party resembled the “disaster” wedding reception she described to Jordan: cold food, an early end to the booze, and zero napkins.
So the imperfection, to me, boiled down to Shore and Friedman clumsily bending the circumstances to fit the narrative they wanted for Shaun and Lea at the season’s start. Part of that, I know, is Shaun’s ASD-impacted way of thinking, and choice of words-- it was Lea’s fault, it was Lea’s responsibility, etc. And of course, Lea’s now at a point in their relationship where she lets her patience kick in because she KNOWS he doesn’t mean it to sound as harsh as the way it’s coming out of his mouth. But there just HAD to be a better way to say “Glassman ruined the party, but at least it got me to thinking about how difficult it is for just one of us to pull that party together in the first place… so what if I help you in the future?”
I know that doesn’t deliver the exact same message, and it’s not the way Shaun would say it-- guess that makes it “not perfect,” eh?-- but it still feels better to my ears.
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