State of the Shea, Pt. 80: Coming Home (“Love’s Labor”, Pt. 1)
Longtime readers of this blog probably remember that I break TGD season finale posts into at least 2 parts, and this S6 finale is no exception. However, I’m changing it up a little this time.
What you’ll see here, in Part 1, is a very linear (act by act, scene by scene) recollection of “Love’s Labor.” I took my original notes for the episode, expanded them (a lot), and added accompanying photos/screenshots (many more than usual, especially regarding the marquee event). I tried to give every storyline in this episode its due, especially since I may not do that in Part 2.
Part 2 will dig deeper into the finale, as you might expect. If you have a particular question you’d like answered, or thought about “Love’s Labor” that you’d like reflected in the next post, please hit the comments section– I’d love to include it!
Also let me know how you feel about these “linear” recaps… whether it’s this was cool, more please! Or for the love of God, don’t ever do that again.
ACT 1
A: Shea Birthing Suite
Shaun is anxious for Lea to get into her hospital gown and hooked up to a fetal monitor, but as she unpacks she finds she is missing her “lucky socks” from her last time as a patient.
Contractions are 8:45 apart. Shaun agrees to go home and get the socks.
By the way… the “when to head to the hospital” rule seems to be known as 5-1-1: contractions 5 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute each, for a duration of 1 hour. During this opening scene, it’s stated that Lea’s contractions are 8:45 apart (a long way from 5:00). So…do we ding TGD for sending Lea in early? Or do we overlook it and applaud them for their consistent mucking up of the time/space continuum?
Because…wasn’t Lea leaving for St. Bons as Glassman was leaving the hospital the night before? And aren’t these first scenes of “Love’s Labor” taking place early the next day?
Why wouldn’t Lea be in a hospital gown already when she’s been there ALL NIGHT?
(I’m sure some of you can justify it, but I’ll simply return to my “nothing about this year’s timeline makes sense” mantra, and move on… )
B: Ambulance on a foggy road, pre-dawn
Kevin Arnold’s dad on The (original) Wonder Years (Dan Lauria) is a POTW being transported by Jerome, Jared & Danny*… were we ever told why these three were out in the field? (I guess, based on the dialogue, they were called out as a “critical care unit” to transport the POTW? Just seems like a LOT of staff to be involved in the transport of a single patient.)
Danny is on the phone with St. Bons (via Jordan) with an update/ETA, during which we hear a brief banter about the “dress code” for their date later that evening.
But then… screeching tires, slamming vehicles, and the call is disconnected.
*I’ve been calling him “Perez” for most of the season, but will now just go ahead and call him “Danny” because he’s a short-timer and no one cares what he’s called.
C: Post-Primary accident scene
The guys all get their bearings and open the rear of the ambulance, which is on its side in the tunnel. There were two other vehicles involved; we hear a girl crying and see a man on a vehicle hood, shot out through the windshield.
Jared’s out of the ambulance first, taking note of the ambulance driver, who thinks his leg is broken. Meanwhile, Danny and Jared split between the two other vehicles…
One of the other vehicles was driven by Kurt from Gilmore Girls (Sean Gunn) Jared helps Kurt from Gilmore Girls and his two young daughters, one of whom is having trouble breathing…
Danny tends to the windshield guy, who is alive but has a weak pulse. Jerome, in the meantime, is helping POTW/Kevin’s Dad from The Wonder Years get relatively comfortable while they all await a backup ambulance.
After Jared gets both girls out of the car, he sees headlights coming at full speed. He shouts and waves his arms frantically, but apparently goes unseen because of the fog. Jerome bellows “DANNY!!!!” as the headlights strike the vehicle with the busted windshield and Danny goes flying… right into the OPENING CREDITS. (As terrifying stunts go that was really cool, I must admit.)
(I consider the pre-opening credits and post-opening credits to be part of the same act, so just bear with me here… we are now at the point immediately after the 10-second credit burst.)
D: Shea/Glassman apartment hallway…
Shaun comes into the corridor and encounters Glassman, who is on the way back from dumping his recycling. (As one does at WTF time it’s supposed to be now.)
“Lea’s in labor… we’re having our baby today,” Shaun tells him with some obvious trepidation given where things ended with them however many hours ago.
“Congratulations,” Glass says flatly before he goes back into his apartment and shuts the door. Shaun ponders that for a moment (“Hm.”) Then leaves.
E: St Bon’s elevator
Park finds Morgan with Eden strapped to her chest; Morgan had to come in unexpectedly, and couldn’t get a dream nanny in record time (you think?). Say, can Park watch her for a few? No, he’s just been paged to the ER.
We see Morgan take in her clientele for the day. “Be professional,” she advises her foster daughter before proceeding.
F: MEANWHILE, IN THE ER…
Lim is briefing everyone on the accident and how they’ll divvy out the patients.
Lots of camera swishpans as we get the accident victims in, including Kevin’s Dad from Wonder Years, Kurt from Gilmore Girls and his daughters, the blonde lady whose vehicle sent Danny F L Y I N G, and the ambulance driver. (Guess the guy who Danny was originally tending to didn’t make it; we never hear about him again.)
Jordan asks about Danny; Jerome says he’s in the last ambulance but doesn’t elaborate. He’s trying to be helpful, but Jordan sees straight through it.
Ella, the little girl who can’t breathe, gets tended to by Asher. Around this time Jordan “finally” sees Danny; he’s in terrible shape but is still semi-conscious.
Lim has the blonde lady; her eyes are open but totally unresponsive. Spooky.
Jordan is assessing Danny and after she gives directives to the staff, he grabs her by the arm. “No opioids,” he pleads. “Just promise me.” She agrees. (Because, honestly, what else could she do in that moment?)
Little Ella needs surgery right away. She calls to her dad; he assures her all will be OK. (He’s getting checked over at this point too, by Asher.)
Unresponsive Blonde goes for a scan; Lim is joined by Andrews. They determine she has “internal decapitation,” which neither of them have ever seen, much less worked with.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #1. Disney-owned ABC wants you to know that the live-action version of The Little Mermaid comes to U.S. theaters May 26… but you’d rather come see a community theater production in Indianapolis a month later, wouldn’t you??? (And now you know yet another reason it took so long to finish this post)
(Now, where were we…)
ACT 2
A: Lea’s office
Shaun is back at St. Bon’s and finds Lea in her office, still dressed in her street clothes and sending out forgotten emails AND getting her laptop, probably because she’s heard that she won’t want to look at that damn thing for weeks once Peanut is born and Lea is a time-maximizing kind of woman.
She unzips Shaun’s backpack to look for her socks and finds the matching set of beanies Shaun got for Mom/Dad/Peanut/Grandpa. She wants them to take the “Grandpa” beanie to Glassy; she wants the two of them to call a truce because of Peanut’s arrival. Shaun tells her about seeing him in the hallway, telling him the news, etc. (And in a great little “mirror moment,” Lea responds exactly as Shaun did– “Hm.”)
Shaun again urges her to get hooked up to a fetal monitor, and off they go.
(Also— Ella is out of surgery; her mom has now joined her sister and Kurt from Gilmore Girls and they are talking to Park & Asher about her prognosis.)
B: The Glass Shack (my new title for Glassman’s apartment, which we are seeing internally for the first time in this episode)
Lim goes to Glassman for guidance with theUnresponsive Blonde/ internal decapitation thing. He paints a grim picture of the odds, but Lim of course wants to try. She wants him on board in the OR as a consultant as well. He’s resistant— which is to be expected, considering he literally walked away from the OR less than 24 hours ago— but soon enough he admits “I’m up for some… color commentary.” Alrighty then.
C: Shea Birthing Suite
Shaun sees Lea’s next contraction coming on the monitor. She doubles over when it happens because, as her loving husband says a little too excitedly, “It’s a big one!”
Asher comes in with Ella’s chart; he’s trying to be excited for them but is preoccupied with the fact that there aren’t enough docs available to help him out. (Shaun and Lea have apparently been briefed on the accident and Perez’s involvement as Lea asks how Danny is doing. “Just coming out of surgery,” Asher tells her. Shaun deduces Ella’s surgery can’t wait, but gestures for Asher to leave despite Asher basically begging Shaun to scrub in.
Lea wants Shaun to go assist. But, he protests, “I should be here, feeding you ice chips and holding your hand and talking about the future.”
“Have you been watching movies about people having babies?” she wonders. (Which, as I understand it, is a common way for neurodivergent people to figure out how to act in unfamiliar situations.)
Shaun nods/shrugs adorably.
And oh, wouldn’t it have been fun to watch him engaged in some such movie… where he’s trying to take notes on “what to do” but is instead constantly critiquing the medical components of a scene… such as when Elizabeth McGovern’s character has a breech delivery in She’s Having a Baby… damn, now I REALLY wish they’d had time for something like that.
Anyway— he confirms the procedure should be fairly straightforward, and Lea assures him she’ll be fine. “Okay. Prep the OR,” Shaun tells Asher.
“Do not have this baby without me!” Shaun says on his way out.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #2. Pete Davidson is starring in another vehicle that looks to be at least partly about his real life. Is it weird that I find him kind of fascinating?
ACT 3
A: Danny’s hospital room
As Danny regains consciousness. Jordan first assures him he’s still opiate-free, but then gives him the full injury rundown, which includes a fractured pancreas— “about as painful as it gets,” she says. She then urges him to reconsider “real” pain meds, as he’s on everything they can give him right now and his BP/heart rate are still elevated and he’s at risk for a heart attack or stroke. He still says no… he worked too hard to have to go back to square one. Instead, to divert his attention, he reaches for her hand and asks her to “tell me about our dinner tonight”... she does her best.
(There was an odd little editing issue at the end of this scene… kind of hard to explain, but if anyone else took note of it let me know. There’s a much bigger “editing” issue coming up…)
B: Morgan’s Research Nook (I’m not crazy about this title; give me an alternative to consider please!)
Morgan is talking to one of the women in today’s study group, but Nurse Hawks is holding Eden off in the distance (trying to do Morgan a favor ) and Mama is distracted. She excuses herself, then goes over and coaches Hawks on how Eden likes to “face out”. She gives a quick directive to the person at the desk before returning to her patient… who has more questions, but Morgan is now focused on Eden’s head support. She doesn’t like how Hawks is doing it; she walks back over… and now her patient is clearly irritated and heads for the door. (BTW the client is obsessed with her dog “Lincoln”’s very particular needs— or are they HER very particular needs?— so it’s not like she’s portrayed as a super-normal lady.)
Morgan calls after her, but we won’t see her again. How am I ever gonna pull this off? We see her wondering…
C: Glassman’s office
Lea, pushing a fetal monitor (and bearing a microphone battery pack that you’ll see all too clearly in the next picture), enters and pleads for him to go talk to Shaun. “You two cannot be in a fight today,” she implores. He quickly corrects; it’s not “a fight.” She asks him to set “it” aside for just this day; he waves her off with his need to be in the OR (which is a mighty ironic statement given where they’re at, even though it is true… I guess there was no time for these two to discuss that further. Couldn’t he have just said “I’m needed elsewhere?”)
Anyway… after she reiterates that Shaun “needs his father” we hear the splish splash. “OMG, either my water just broke or I just peed all over your office!”
“Either way, it would be a first,” he deadpans. Heh. Great line.
Glassman offers to help her (back to the room?-- too bad Lea didn’t take him up on that, even though Shaun was still in surgery). After assuring him she could make it back on her own, she makes one more plea for reconciliation, then says (apologetically) that she’ll call janitorial, then leaves.
But rather than watch her go endearingly; he screws his mouth up, I presume, with the knowledge that he will not go talk to him that day.
(The aforementioned battery pack is that black box hanging from the sleeve of Lea’s gown. It’s the kind of thing that always gets hidden, either in an actor’s underclothes or a pocket. How it ended up in plain sight in this scene? My only real guess is that the director shot (or re-shot) this scene in a hurry, and somehow neither the crew nor the actors noticed it.)
D: Andrews’ Office
Some lady I don’t recognize has summoned Andrews. He’s in his medical scrubs, and of course has been tied up with the string of accident victims that day– but she says an emergency meeting of the board is happening tonight because of him, and the way he’s handling (or not) the nurses’ push to unionize. “I’m on top of it,” he tries to assure her. “That’s the problem…” she says (Yikes! Very un-delicate way of saying that) as she holds up a sheet of paper and I presume it’s his previously signed mutual consent form about Villanueva.
E: Outside Little Ella’s Hospital Room
Shaun and Asher, talking to Kurt from Gilmore Girls and his wife. The surgery took place (off-camera) without complications, all is well… till Kurt from Gilmore Girls (OK, his real name on this episode is “Kenny”) suddenly collapses. Shaun checks him and makes OR plans stat.
F: Danny’s Hospital Room
Danny’s in great pain now, trying to repeat the serenity prayer over and over. Jared comes in, sees Jordan is about to fold and give him fentanyl; he tries to talk her out of it. He sees Danny as “clinging to his sobriety,” but she sees his pain and that “he’s dying”... thinks about it a little more as Jared stands there, but then looks up, says “Forgive me” and gives him the fentanyl. We watch Danny’s pain lift as he goes to sleep.
COMMERCIAL BREAK #3. The ad for Jeopardy! Masters reminds me to remind YOU that, as of now, ALL scripted series on the major networks are on hold this coming fall until the end of the WGA (Writers Guild of America) strike. (Expect a TON of “reality” (unscripted) series and game shows, a la Jeopardy! Masters, in the meantime.)
I’ll talk more about the strike in a future post.
ACT 4
A: Shaun & Asher’s OR
Shaun and Asher are scrambling to try and save Kenny, AKA Kurt from Gilmore Girls. Asher is upset because he didn’t find this problem when he examined him earlier; Shaun assures him it must’ve been too small to detect at the time. As Kenny flatlines, Asher begs Shaun to have “one of his visions” but Shaun indicates it’s no use (too much of something with the blood; too long of something with the brain.)
Time of death 4:36. And that was the only official death in this episode, as far as we know.
B: St. Bons Corridor (Walk & Talk)
Andrews discusses with Villanueva the findings of the Board, and the fact that she hadn’t shared she was leading the union push, which would have been an interesting twist if anyone gave a crap and/or believed this relationship element… but the writers don’t seem to care, so why should we? Anyway, he’s now been told he hasn’t been coming down hard enough on the nurses because of his relationship with Villanueva, and his job is threatened. “I don’t want you to lose your job over us,” she says. “I don’t want to lose YOU over my job,” he says. Whatever, guys…
C: Lim and Glassman’s (sort of) OR w/Unresponsive Blonde
Glassman overseeing while Lim works diligently. She mentions Shaun/Lea. He tells her he told Shaun congrats. She asks if he’s gonna talk to Shaun beyond one word. He doesn’t answer other than surgical speak.
“You know, a crotchety old man once told me that hanging onto my anger was toxic,” she reminds him gently.
“I’m not crotchety,” he counters.
She ignores him. “You were right then, and I’m right now,” she says. Glassman brings up his public humiliation a day ago. Yes, but the baby is coming today. Glassman gives a directive and starts to reach for the things he asked for. Lim takes them, of course.
“Sorry. Old habit,” he sighs. And any momentary softening he may have experienced hardened right back up. Sigh indeed.
D: Danny’s Hospital Room
She asks if his family left to get a hotel room… and had we not known that he was leaving TGD, it would’ve seemed really odd that they wrote in his family– flying in from Texas-- to be with him, but we never saw one of them.)
He and Jordan have the fentanyl talk. She admits it wasn’t a hard decision given that he was “on the verge of a heart attack or brain bleed”... he says not definitively, though. She underscores that she wasn’t willing to take the risk of him dying, but he turns his head away, saying nothing more.
E: Morgan’s Office
Park finds Morgan in her office, rocking Eden. She indicates she got her work done (trials all set), but… she’s ready to tell Andrews she’s quitting because it’s all too much. Park tries to talk her out of it, but… “I’ve made the mistake of putting my career above the people I love before… I’m not doing it again.”
(BUT SHE DIDN’T REALLY DO THAT LAST TIME… SHE DECIDED NOT TO TAKE THE EAST COAST JOB BEFORE Park dumped her….UGGGHHHHHH)
Anyway, Park looks very touched. He’s got two more acts in this episode to come to his senses…
F: Morgue Holding Area, or Whatever Tasteful Name is Assigned to This Sort of Space
Shaun brings the wife in to see Kenny/Kurt from Gilmore Girls. She’s in the “how do I go on from here” mode. I’ll let Shaun’s words tell the rest of the story.)
SHAUN: “When my brother Steve died, I didn’t know how I would survive. He had always taken care of me. But I did, because someone else came into my life who took care of me and loved me. Now, he may be gone too.
“It is very hard to lose people you thought would never leave. But you will be okay because you have no choice. When we lose people we love, we have to find a way to keep going for the people we still have.”
COMMERCIAL BREAK #4. Disney-owned ABC would also like you to know that you can now get Disney Plus bundled with other streaming services (such as Hulu, the exclusive streamer of current ABC content) for some amazing price that I didn’t take note of because I’ve got enough shows to keep track of right now, thank you very much.
ACT 5
A: Shea Birthing Suite
Shaun returns to Lea, much to her relief (because it’s getting a lot more real and she’s starting to freak out a bit). He tells her little Ella will be OK, but doesn’t mention the dad’s passing (This commentary from TGD’s Autistic Consultant Melissa Reiner is helpful in understanding why).
Contractions are about two minutes apart now, so Shaun confirms it’s time to start pushing. (Fun fact; the entire scene is just under two minutes, so we have to imagine this happened immediately after one contraction and immediately before another.)
Lea gives her I’m scared, really really scared speech to which every mom out there could surely relate on some level. Shaun says “It will be okay. Probably.” which is all Shaun of course.
“Let’s do this.” (And the viewing audience said AMEN!)
B: Room of Kevin’s Dad from The Wonder Years*
This POTW is walking around his room agitatedly, but Park gets him to lie back down. POTW tells his “Martha” story about sunrises, giving Park his push:
“She’s the reason I wake up in the morning.”
* If you thought the 2021 reboot of The Wonder Years was pretty darn good but wondered what became of it, get ready… ABC held it for the summer season. June 14 is the date I’m seeing for its “season premiere.”
Ding ding ding…!!!!!!
(That’s all I have to say about this shot.)
C: Danny’s Hospital Room
Danny NOW tells Jordan “I went through my patient record… you made the right call.” She’s clearly relieved. Nonetheless…he’s going back to Texas to be with his family for his best chance at recovery.
“I knew when I gave you the drugs that I might lose you.,” Jordan admits.
“And that wasn’t a hard decision?”
(Didn’t he ask a variation of this question already? Good God, Danny, how many times do you need to hear it… yes, she cares very very very much for you. Geez.)
But he still wants his date with her before he leaves. Is she free tonight?
IMAGINED CONTINUED DIALOGUE…
(Uh, NO, one of my besties is down the hall having a baby. Like, right now.)
(But I’m leeeaving soon!)
(Well when you put it that way…)
Did anyone else want to primal scream into a bag at this point? Just me??
D: Shea Birthing Suite (Oh, Thank God, we’re back to this)
Lea is pushing!
Shaun is…watching “down there” and giving her thumbs up on stuff excitedly until she gets him to come “up here”... it’s slow-going. Using suction is mentioned. Shaun reminds her he emailed her about this possibility.
“There were a lot of emails, Shaun!” she snaps, which is as close as she comes to yelling expletives at him, as per the delivery room stereotype…
(Seriously, how many emails do you think he sent her in just those final two weeks? I say at least a half-dozen a day.)
The vacuum delivery/conehead question comes up, but I guess they never had to go this route? It’s not clear (though Lea seems surprised he’s “not a conehead” later on.) Shaun reminds Lea she can squeeze his hand. She does as she pushes again; he looks uncomfortable, but not terribly so. (Guess he went back to practicing?)
Last shot in this scene is their hands clasped with her OBGYN in the background. Nice.
COMMERICAL BREAK #5: By the way there are plenty of actual “products” being advertised during TGD— Olive Garden, Home Depot, and three different prescription medications among them— but I guess I honed in on the TV and film options (go figure). This break promoted the National Geographic mini-series A Small Light, about Anne Frank and her family’s perilous days of hiding during WW II. Not exactly light viewing, but I may need to check that out.
ACT 6
A: Shea Birthing Suite
Lea’s on her last push, when… that first cry always stops new parents in their tracks.
It’s present-tense now. “New parents.” No more waiting, no more wondering. he’s here!
The astonishment is real as Shaun and Lea gaze at this brand-new life in Lea’s arms. “He doesn’t look like an alien at all!” she marvels.
“His… head has a very nice shape,” Shaun notes. “He is beautiful!”
After Shaun cuts the umbilical cord, he returns to Lea’s side. “Look at what we made,” she beams.
His standard introduction takes on a whole new timbre: “Hello. It is very nice to meet you. I am Dr. Shaun Murphy! I’m your dad.”
(As if he can’t believe he’s really saying that last part.)
B: Morgan’s Office
Morgan (and Eden) are musing about “taking it home with us” (the big Starbucks simulator that came with the office). Park comes in and tells her how she shouldn’t resign because she “doesn’t have to do all this alone”... she’s the reason he gets up in the mornings and he thinks they should move forward as a family. (Frickin’ FINALLY.) She says I love you too, kisses him, then… hands Eden off to him as if she’d had this moment in mind for weeks. “She has a dirty diaper, and I have 30 lab reports to review.” Welcome to “moving forward,” Park!
(The raspberry by Eden at end is perfectly timed; the baby’s future as an actress is bright!)
C: Danny’s Hospital Room
Jordan and Danny, now with candles and roses, and whatever the hell this man is really allowed to eat on this day of near death?
But he gives her an extended thank you (again, Frickin’ FINALLY) for all the little joys of the past year… she makes him believe he can do this. They’ll miss each other.
(And, again…she missed the baby’s birth because of all this. Sure, she probably had Lea’s blessing, but… one more reason for me to growl at this relationship that never got off the ground. )
D: St. Bons Parking Garage, Top Level
Lim and Glassman bring Unresponsive Blonde out to watch the sun go down because of a study Glassman knows of where this sort of brain stimulation helped recovery from internal decapitation. (He nicknames it “Operation Sunset.”) While up there, Lim gets the notification that the #Shea baby is born. (I think we see a teeny pop of excitement from Glassy before he darkens again.) Does Glassman want to go meet him?
“I think I’ll stay here, thank you.”
Lim tries one more time. “I know losing surgery is devastating… don’t let losing one great love cost you another.” Knowing she’s done all she can, she walks away. Unresponsive Blonde becomes Semi-Responsive Blonde in an instant as she gives a small smile in Glassman’s presence, which he watches with some astonishment.
(And don’t some of us think Hey, that smile is going to propel him to Lea’s room at the very last minute, right?)
E: Andrews’ Office
Andrews brings the Board Lady into his office for a heads-up that he’s resigning… capping off this very strange arc, sort of, for now.
(This is him putting his “relationship” with Villanueva over his job? Have I got that right?)
F: Shea Birthing Suite
Shaun and Lea are now joined by #Jasher, Morgan/Park/Eden, Lim, and Jared. Morgan hands “Peanut” (now sleeping) off to Lea.
Shaun asks Lim “Do you think Dr. Glassman is coming?” and Lim can only shrug.
Jared takes the first “family photo,” complete with the beanies. When Shaun gets his and Lea’s hats, he sees the Grandpa one again, lingers on it a moment, then says a little “okay” as he puts it back. A quiet acceptance that Dad isn’t coming.
Meanwhile, “Dad” appears in the hallway with a gift… sees the activity in Lea’s room from a distance…then spots Nurse Hawks in the foreground. (Leave it to a DOCTOR to make a NURSE do the most important stuff!)
A little later, the friends have dispersed and Shaun and Lea are alone, admiring their son, when Nurse Hawks delivers the box. Shaun opens it promptly to find a personalized baby blanket.
“How did he know his name would be ‘Steve’?” he wonders.
(WE ALL KNEW HIS NAME WOULD BE ‘STEVE,’ SHAUN.)
“Because he knows you,” Lea responds.
(OKAY, THAT TOO.)
We see Glassman one more time at the Glass Shack, sitting alone, drink in hand.
But we end on one more shot of the Murphy family, now with the new blanket swaddling the child.
“Steven Aaron Murphy,” Shaun tells his son as Lea looks on, “This is a gift from your Grandfather.”
**
OK, gang, that’s a wrap on PART ONE…! Part TWO will hopefully get done sooner than this did; keep checking
What did YOU think of “Love’s Labor”? Scroll on down to the comments and share your thoughts!
