Funny that we’re up to “part 77” of my Shaun and Lea documentation this week, as that number SEVEN is looming large in TGD fandom’s mind right now… 

Will there be a 7th season of The Good Doctor?

If there is, will it be its final season?

And will they announce it as such, or will fans have to sit and wonder if the ratings and the plans for ABC and all the showrunners and actors associated with the series will align for S8?

{And you thought all we had to wonder about was the potential spinoff The Good Lawyer…! Ha!)

I’m probably getting ahead of myself, so let’s stick with the first question. Because if you’ve paid attention through the years (or just watch enough network TV to know how it works), you are aware that ABC has usually announced TGD’s renewal by early April at the latest.

Yet we’ve now tipped into the back half of April, and still no word. Should we be worried?  

Not necessarily. I’ve been citing this article from Deadline for the past few weeks, which addresses the situation at ABC in general…

 …and then offers its 2 cents about TGD (and TGL):

As of this writing (4/17), filming has wrapped on S6 and S7 remains TBD as far as I know. Ratings have slid downwards a bit with each season (as is the case with most long-running network series I think), but of the 19 episodes that have aired thus far, the past 5– “Old Friends,” “The Good Lawyer,” “Second Chances and Past Regrets,” “A Blip,” and “Half Measures”-- have been among the most-watched of S6.

As Glassman might say… “We’ll know when we know.”

Now let’s talk about other numbers relevant to the show… this episode in particular. It started with the title– “Half Measures”-- and, for me, persisted in a number (PUN!!) of ways beyond that. Some are obvious… some took a little more effort. Shall I count those ways? 

BUT BEFORE I DO… (I fought saying “but first…”)

It’s time for another shoutout to the TGD time/space continuum of S6– where time leaps forward, proceeds in real-time, AND drifts backward. There are now off-the-rails examples of each:

In an effort to stay sane, let’s get to those whole numbers of the “Half Measures” episode… for the most part, I’ll list these act-by-act, as Episode 617* unfolded:

*= It was the 19th episode of the season, but since the first two episodes were actually holdovers from S5… yep. It’s #617. Just go with it. Season’s almost over!

1 in 2500: Number of female births worldwide with Turner Syndrome…

It is, in fact, the most common sex chromosomal abnormality affecting girls and women. (Eden!)

15-30: Percentage of people who die annually from sepsis out of the 1 million in the U.S. who develop it.

(My mom was one of those in the 15-30 percent, so when they stated Jasmine’s diagnosis I had a bad feeling about her fate instantly. 😥

4: Approximate number of looks thrown in the OR by Nurse Villanueva…

Who, given what we saw in the previous episode, had to be thinking Damn, Marcus, when I broke off whatever-sort-of-relationship-we-kind-of-had last week, I expected you to take it a lot better than this.

5: Number of weeks Jasmine had been on a mood stabilizer for her bipolar disorder prior to being hospitalized…

which pulled Morgan further into her corner with the belief that “babies change people.”

4: Stage Glassman’s cancer would be in if he has it, but he doesn’t (SPOILER)…

but his troubles may have only just begun anyway; stand by as I’ll circle back to this later of course. SIGH.

4- Number of surgical techniques ultimately involved in saving Brady’s entire body.

8- Number of hours (approximate) of Brady’s surgery.

(This was the scene that had Andrews snipping “I can read!” at the residents, who he was prolly pissed at only because they’d come up with the option he couldn’t refuse. Seriously, dude. Cool it.)

ACT 5

6: Minimum number of overhead shots used by Freddie Highmore in directing this episode.

Can’t remember if he used a lot of overheads when he directed S4’s “Decrypt,” but from the opening shot (Glassman’s scan), they were his signature move in “Half Measures.”

60: Number of minutes of the code run by Nurse Jerome when Jasmine went into V-fib… to no avail, sadly.

ZERO: The number of lines spoken by any Patients Of The Week, including surgical miracle man Brady, 7-week-old Eden, and Eden’s birth mom Jasmine (R.I.P.)…

Has that ever happened before on TGD?

And last but sadly, not least…

2: The number of damn screws left on the floor after Glassman finished the Shea crib.

If it turns out to be some form of dementia, I definitely have some things to say to that. But nothing’s certain yet, so I’ll hold my words for now.

Except for this: If TGD was seeking a solid “bitter” to accompany the “sweet” that will surely be the #Shea baby— and why wouldn’t they be; drama is drama, after all— they’ll certainly find it in the slow fade of a beloved character.

What did you think of “Half Measures”? Or of the way it leaves things for Morgan, Andrews, Jordan, and obviously Shaun and Glassman?

Hit up the comments and let me know!