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Freddie Highmore and Paige Spara walking out of a hospital in The Good Doctor

Image via ABC
The Big Picture
The Good Doctor leaves a legacy of challenging stereotypes about autism and savant syndrome.
Freddie Highmore expresses pride in the show’s autism representation, showcasing that people on the spectrum can change and evolve.
The series finale brought heartache with the death of a major character.
The Good Doctor may have ended with a bang, but it leaves a legacy for fans. Following the finale, The Good Doctor star Freddie Highmore sat down with Variety to talk about that final episode, and what he’s most proud of in the wake of the show’s end. The series has opened up many important conversations surrounding autism and savant syndrome. Fans recognize The Good Doctor as a staple of importance in how we communicate with neurodivergent people in the workplace.

“It’s not really for me to say whether we’ve been successful or not,” he said, “but if in some small little way, this show has been able to challenge stereotypes and misconceptions and bring awareness to autism, then that would be the thing that I’m certainly most proud of and would be the most meaningful conclusion for this show.”

“I think one of those misconceptions is that people with autism can’t change and evolve in the same way neurotypical people can, which obviously isn’t true,” he continues. “Hopefully, we’ve been able to show that by telling Shaun’s individual story. But I’m also aware that Shaun is and never should represent everyone who’s on the spectrum, and we’ve always focused on telling his one, individual journey and story, and hopeful that that will be a starting place for people who perhaps didn’t have as much awareness of autism before coming to the show.”

The Good Doctor focused on the ups and downs of Dr Shaun Murphy (Highmore) in the workplace as a neurodivergent doctor. For the past seven seasons, the show has shown Shaun’s growth, not only his professional growth, but his personal growth too after his troubled past. Now, fans have tuned into the final episode of The Good Doctor and said farewell to Shaun and the doctors and nurses of St. Bonaventure Hospital.

‘The Good Doctor’ Season 7 Brings the Series to an End
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Image via ABC
Season 7 of The Good Doctor brought heartache to the viewers. Asher Wolke (Noah Galvin) unexpectedly met his end in a hate-driven attack. This just comes to show that not everyone will have a happy ending. The heartache continued when Antonia Thomasreprised her role as Claire Browne, as viewers saw her cancer return. Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff) also broke the tragic news to his surrogate son Shaun that he too will soon meet his end after a terminal cancer diagnosis.

The universe of The Good Doctor ends here. The planned spin-off series, The Good Lawyer, was cancelled by ABC. That series was supposed to starFelicity Huffman and Kennedy McMann, but never made it past a backdoor pilot.

All episodes of The Good Doctor can be streamed on Hulu.

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The Good Doctor
The series follows Shaun Murphy, a young autistic surgeon from the small city of Casper, Wyoming, where he had a troubled past. He relocates to San Jose, California, to work at the prestigious San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital.

WATCH ON HULU