Season four of The Good Doctor is definitely a transition year for the show. The first two episodes were geared toward dealing with the pandemic, with, as you would expect, a focus on how it affects the medical professionals. The characters on the show were also dealing with the loss of Doctor Melendez after his death at the end of season three. Nicholas Gonzalez did make a couple of appearances early in the season, but I have a feeling that storyline was cut back quite a bit because of the pandemic-specific episodes. From there, the show then pretty much went back to its format of a combination procedural/serial medical drama. It was mostly a case-of-the-week format with story arcs that wove through the season. There was also more cast turnover this year, mainly through additions to the cast with Noah Galvin and Bria Henderson essentially becoming series regulars as first-year residents. The season is full of emotional ups and downs for many of the characters with almost everyone facing some kind of crisis, or relationship issue at some point during the season. I will not give anything away, but there is a lot of drama pretty much all the way through the season. The show continues to be well-written and acted with all of the characters getting a chance to have good arcs and development. Freddie Highmore continues to do a great job in the lead role, but Paige Spara and Fiona Gublemann were also standouts this season, with very different story arcs.
For those who get the DVDs, it does have a few extras including about 13 minutes of deleted scenes, a short gag reel, and a goodbye package to one of the characters/actors who left the show this season. Most fans of the show likely know who that is, but again I will not spoil it.
Overall, I would say if you have been a fan of the show you will probably like this season. If you have not liked the prior seasons then this one is not likely to do much for you. Like most medical dramas, it can get a bit soap operaish, but for the most part, it focuses on the medical cases, so the soap opera-like elements do not distract from the show or dominate it. It is definitely a good season and worth watching.
