State of the Shea Pt. 56: True Confessions Within “The Shaun Show”

I’m finding this “analysis” surprisingly hard to write.

Obviously, one reason for that is the timing– two episodes remaining in any season of TGD is a kind of weird place…

In S1 at this point, Claire’s mom was re-entering her life (and taking advantage of her)... Andrews was dealing with infertility complications in his marriage, and Shaun was finding out (via Park) that his new neighbor Kenny was “not Lea” in more ways than one... he had a criminal history.

In S2, Dr. Han’s era of leadership was taking its toll on most everyone at St. Bon’s, but no on more than Shaun (who had just been transferred to Pathology, and was one episode away from getting fired altogether by Han).

In S3, Shaun had just come thisclose to destroying the Striped Tomato in a drunken rage… his and Lea’s relationship (such as it was at the time) was in tatters… Morgan was about to get a procedure done that might or might not spare her surgical career from the grip of RA… and Claire had just admitted to her therapist that she was in love with her boss (Melendez).

And in S4, Shaun and Lea were healing from the loss of their unborn child at varying paces… Claire had finally found her way to some forgiveness with her estranged father… Park and Morgan were on the outs… and Glassman and Debbie were (seemingly suddenly) over.

We’re used to being on the precipice at this point, and yet here’s what my scorecard says about S5 thus far…

The biggest dramatic and/or climactic moments of the season came in two waves, much earlier than usual, via “Expired” (5x7) and “Cheat Day” (5x10).

Any “will they or won’t they?” drama with regards to Shaun and Lea actually becoming husband and wife, has already come and gone. (Unless you mean will they or won’t they get married with Sophie’s cameras rolling– which does indeed remain TBD.)

Any post-Salen power struggles at the top were resolved by way of the “Potluck” episode (5x13), thanks to Asher’s sweet potatoes and a mutual love for Spiderman between Andrews and Lim. 

And any end-of-fifth-year-residency drama that might play out…? It would seem that, as of “The Shaun Show,” we’ve seen that too. Though to be honest, I’m not sure what milestones we’re supposed to be looking for… or if five seasons equates to five years in TGD time. (I’m thinking of Lea’s comment during “Cheat Day” that indicated Shaun still had one year to go in the St. Bon’s program.)

Aside from #Shea becoming Mr. and Mrs. #Shea– which I have no doubt WILL happen, one way or another– what awaits us in “The Lea Show” (5x17) and “Sons” (5x18)? The how will they ever overcome ________ by season’s end questions of the past 3 years aren’t in place this time. And though many of us feel we could be suitably entertained with a wedding and/or extended reception galvanizing these upcoming two hours of airtime, we know that’s not how David Shore and company will see it– right? 

So will it be some sort of next step involving St. Bon’s financial situation, assuming things haven’t magically improved with Andrews back at the helm? Is there big trouble ahead for Park and Morgan? Is someone leaving the cast? (Not trying to start anything here; just acknowledging we’ve seen a major character depart the series twice in the past two season finales.) Or will an issue emerge that we’ve yet to lay eyes and ears on?

WARNING, EPISODIC SYNOPSES AHEAD

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WARNING, EPISODIC SYNOPSES AHEAD 〰️

Here is the “official” synopsis ABC released for “The Lea Show” (Which, you may note, is very different from the 100% Lea-free promo we were given for the same episode) :

Sophie (Hollis Jane Andrews) takes Lea out for a day full of luxurious wedding planning.

And after a near fatal oversight, Dr. Lim senses an underlying issue is behind nurse Villanueva’s (Elfina Luk) unprofessional behavior.

Guest starring is Hollis Jane Andrews as Sophie and Antonia Thomas as Dr Claire Browne.

If you are interested in taking a look at a very short CTV promo for the above episode– and yes, it is MUCH MORE SPOILERY than ABC’s offering– you should be able to see @EndgameShea’s Twitter post about it here.

And here’s what for provided thus far for “Sons,” the season finale airing May 16:

Shaun and Lea make a big life decision and are pleasantly surprised by the support they receive from their friends at the hospital. Meanwhile, when Dr. Wolke’s parents show up with a revelation, Asher struggles to accept that he and his father may never truly understand one another in the season finale.

While concern for the unknown is, no doubt, fueling a fair amount of anxiety, I decided to grab that “big life decision” bull by the horns and turn it into a Twitter poll… or two…

I should add that I don’t think a lot of fans are particularly delighted with the idea of St. Bonaventure as a wedding venue “on paper”… nonetheless, it’s considered a very real possibility.

I feel like I should have put some laugh emojis on this one!

Or, I shouldn’t have put an option on this list that was halfway feasible, like a road trip…

But enough about what may or may not be to come… let’s talk some SHAUN SHOW.

OK WE'RE DONE TALKING FUTURE EPS NOW

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OK WE'RE DONE TALKING FUTURE EPS NOW 〰️

I hope you’re not disappointed that I left my stopwatch in the other room when re-watching this episode… in retrospect it would’ve been interesting to compare the amount of time spent on the “reality recording” to the amount of regular TGD we saw… (be warned, I might do that with “The Lea Show!”)

But maybe that’s because there was a lot to take in, for I tried to take note of the most valuable parts of the reality show storyline… which amounted not only to some of the things that were said, but ways and means to get them said. And honestly, the whole Shaun-getting-to-study-Sophie’s-footage thing was an interesting conundrum to me as a producer (for in a less cut/dried situation, it’s tough to imagine a program’s subject being allowed so much access to the raw footage) The real ethics question at hand, though, was the decision to use Shaun’s OR mistake in the program. So I’ll stick with that. 

Before we get to the #Shea stuff, though, there were several happenings in “The Shaun Show that deserve a mention… 

Such as the way Asher was cheesin’ it up in front of Sophie’s cameras early in the episode…

When he and Jordan weren’t trying to capture the perfect SHAUNVISION look, that is.

On a much less lighthearted note was Nurse Villanueva opening up to Lim about the abusive relationship in which she finds herself. Villanueva has been on TGD for years, but aside from the miscarriages she’s had (as revealed to Lea during last season’s “Letting Go” episode), her personal life has stayed as personal as any other minor, recurring character on the show. The timing of this subplot is interesting, late in the season as it is. To be continued…

Meanwhile, Park’s “test” as a resident left me a little curious as to Park’s future as a doctor. Not so much his handling of the case– nearly un-handling it to Lim as he did– although that certainly did speak to possible confidence issues. My bigger interest stemmed from his overwhelming need to grant his firefighter patient’s wish to return to work. Maybe it was all about the profession at hand, and its proximity to the police force Park used to be a part of. But could it be that Park is on his way to finding out he isn’t cut out to be a lead surgeon?

Or am I simply comparing his demeanor too closely with Shaun’s?

It’s very possible. It’s not like he gave up the case. But he sure did think about it…

And last but hardly least of the “mentions” goes to Glassman’s brief interview with Sophie. Wow, did TGD nail it with this part. For starters we had Glassman gently being reminded by Sophie to please incorporate her question into his answer; saying “No” in response to something makes absolutely no sense if you’ve no idea what the something is. As many times as producers find themselves giving those same directions before an interview starts rolling, there are plenty who need it repeated… and repeated…

(And “can you elaborate”? On Sophie’s part is another way to get reluctant, taciturn subjects like Glassman to please, please do their part.)

I especially enjoyed that Glassman conducted the entire interview in the doorway of his office– why let Sophie and her crew get comfortable in his workspace when he can convey the can’t-be-bothered look of keeping everyone in the hallway?

As for his responses about not being Shaun’s protector anymore– they were honest, forthright, and (to me, at least) still quite sad. Not because he conveys an ounce of dismay or disappointment in admitting Shaun “grew up and met Lea”-- for he doesn’t. But at the heart of it all, despite his re-dedication to St. Bon’s, Glassman is still a man unsure of what to do with the rest of his life now that his relationship with Shaun is changing.

Speaking of relationships with Shaun… It’s easy to see why, at least in the beginning, Lea was hoping to tell a sanitized version of their story for the cameras. “Bonding over a mutual love of pancakes and karaoke” is adorable, and did indeed sound great as she and Shaun strolled into work hand-in-hand.

But she had to know Shaun would have a lot more to say on the subject– and that Sophie would follow up on it eventually.

Perhaps Lea thought they were on a safe enough track with Sophie pitching softball questions like What do you love about each other?

And maybe Lea truly felt in control of the situation with the realization that Sophie would ditch Shaun’s “mistake” footage at Shaun’s request…

(I thought it clever of them to have Shaun pose it as a truth-vs-hope question, only to realize by episode’s end that the truth WAS hope in this particular case.)

So by the time Sophie seized a Shaun-less moment and asked this particular “what changed?” question… "

So by the time Sophie seized a Shaun-less moment and asked this particular “what changed?” question… 

Lea’s smile took a gut-punch and quickly withered away in anger.

What followed between Sophie and Lea immediately afterward was brilliant. (I mean, look at the eyebrow pop on Lea! Damn!)

But think about it. Lea was two years removed from those tough, crushing days of words she didn’t want to say at the time and dread even more in their recollection. 

Then came the conversation with Shaun a few months back that brought it all up, freshly unbearable.

And now, Lea finds herself in the midst of a producer urging her to share that “low point” (as Sophie called it)  with the rest of the world. I’d probably run too. At first. 

But Sophie was dead-on in her urging for Lea to be real about the situation. She HAD to be, after all… how do you do a show about an ASD/NT couple, find out said couple almost didn’t get together at all because of the NT side’s misgivings… and NOT include something about it?

As I watched Lea’s long-awaited “confessional” on the matter, my first thought was Did she cover it all? I mean, of course it wasn’t much time… were they really going to have her recalling the long, awful night of the earthquake as part of her realization story? 

(I reserve the right to retract that rhetorical question if the earthquake comes up in “The Lea Show”)

What we had instead was the following…

For a long time, I didn’t think I could be with someone like Shaun. I thought we were too different, that I would have to compromise too much.

And I worried what people would think of us… of me… and I didn’t want to be seen as different.

(What changed?) Me… because of how Shaun saw me, he made me believe that I am stronger than I give myself credit for.

And that together, we are enough… more than enough.

Case in point— at the start of all this, Lea didn’t see herself as strong enough to deal with this critical issue from their past But she was. (Oh look, Shaun was right about that too!) All in all, it was as thorough an analysis of Lea’s “initial rejection” as we’re ever likely to get and I think it was beautifully written (and magnificently acted by Paige Spara, of course).

So NOW can we see them married soon? Like soon soon? PLEASE??