Question #1: If the lightning-struck tree that fell on Lea in her wedding nightmare is followed a couple months later by the “real-life” metaphorical equivalent, does the latter start out sounding like a creaky floorboard?

They’re not all going to be as complicated as that one… but get ready for more questions. Maybe some answers along the way too, but mostly questions. And probably some statements disguised as questions. Partly because we have time to fill, now that the “winter finale” (which aired a full month before winter begins, let’s be clear) is upon us. But also because “Expired” (5x7) left me with many, many questions. You, too? (Another question…See what I did there?)

My intent was to come up with 18 questions; if you were to parse it out until TGD’s springtime return date of April 4 (a date that was “tweeted” but then deleted by TGD writers’ account), that would be one question for every week till then.

But I ended up with more than twice that (39), along with a most interesting parallel throughout the episode that I noticed… so you spread it out (or not) however you like. Or read ‘em all at once. Either way, there will continue to be posts from State of the #Shea with some regularity throughout this month and the early months of 2022!

So let’s move through this chronologically, for the most part, breaking it into Acts (each continuous segment without a commercial break/dip to black is an “Act,” which means I count the parts that are immediately before and after the opening credits as ONE “Act”).

2. Can we pretend, while asking the questions for these first 2 acts, like the final 2 acts didn’t happen? 

No? Well… (checks rest of post) maybe you have a point. Because things get complicated in a hurry. OK, let’s just move on… 

3. But neither Shaun nor Lea has ever appeared particularly religious or spiritual. So why were they seriously considering a church wedding? 

Because both onscreen and IRL, not-particularly-religious-or-spiritual people get married in churches all the time? What can I say… this didn’t bother me.

4. Who was immediately hit with the Warm Fuzzies when Shaun intended to dash to the altar so that Lea could make believe she was walking down the aisle to him?

Me! So much me. Cursed floorboard symbolism…! Gah! Ruined the whole moment.

5. Who thinks that, once they get to a point where Shaun can* marry Lea again, they will use this church for the wedding?

Who thinks it’ll be booked by that time?

Who thinks they won’t want to use it because of memories of crumpled paper hurled dropped to the ground of the St. B Pharmacy full of expired meds?

Who thinks it’s all a moot point because the church wouldn’t be able to fix the floorboards to Shaun’s satisfaction anyway? 

(Wouldn’t a thick, padded runner laced with rose petals help muffle that sound? Won’t music help drown it out a little? Aren’t these more moot points because it’ll be booked and/or #Shea won’t want to use it?)

*= To be discussed later

6. Who is relieved Lea at least made a couple of independent attempts to talk to Shaun about her mistake? Her timing wasn’t any good-- was she going to break that news on the church steps? Or in the St. B parking lot? Really?-- but the point was that it was weighing on her, and she was trying.

A PARALLEL…? (Part 1)

Shaun taking the Next Big Step towards the marriage (settling on a wedding location) while…

Glassman takes the Next Big Step away from Shaun (putting his house up for sale)

🤔🤔 🤔

More Glassman/Ilana, now in Glassman’s living room

8) Does Glassy’s Ex #1 look as you pictured? Act as you pictured? 

I have to sheepishly admit I never really wondered about her, not even during Glassman’s delirious episode with GhostMaddie. But I like her, and can totally believe they had a relatively compatible but still highly challenging marriage that finally became untenable after Maddie died.

(I’m assuming they remained married until that point--? Does anyone know for sure?)

More Shaun/Lea/Alma, still on the scene

9) Who took one look at the contraption Shaun assembled while sitting shotgun in Alma’s front seat, and thought of the bottle/pump thing he devised on the spot in the pilot episode?

The thing that Melendez fanboy’d over big time (“THAT is cool!”) before ever meeting Shaun… and then being an asshole towards him as he was in the early days)?

And at this point in the episode, it was lovely to think of how Shaun has come since he saved the boy’s life in the airport over four years ago. His innovative measures are as good or better, but now he has a little bit of seniority, having survived into the fifth year of his residency… he has colleagues/friends… he has a fiancee… and especially in emergency situations like this, he has an assuredness and confidence that feels reflective of all the good in his world right now.

It also underscored a stunning contrast to the Shaun we saw at the episode’s end. (TGD is good at that sort of thing.) 

Back to Aaron/Ilana again (I’ll have a bigger question block about them later)

Next, the Locker room: Salen/Morgan; Morgan gets the double-date invite (“Marcussss… Marcus Andrews?”)

10) Is Salen giving Morgan suck-up lessons every time we see them together? “I like the level of humility you’re projecting right now, Morgan but remember not to outlast me the next time we share a bikram yoga class. MmmmK?”

Just kidding. I’m not sure Morgan needs (or accepts) suck-up lessons from anybody.

11) And just to get this out of the way… is it MarLen? SaCus? MarcuSalen? CrazyCrunchyCricketEaters? Someone let me know.

Meanwhile, Shaun arrives at St. B w/Alma…

And Sunil has his first “spell” in the presence of Glassman, Ilana, and Park.

A PARALLEL…? (Part 2)

Glassy’s plan to sell is interrupted by a big factor in keeping him there (Ilana, as is revealed throughout)... while…

Shaun and Lea’s trip from the wedding venue is “interrupted” by the accident-- and the woman-- whose case will be Shaun’s tipping point a little later.
🤔🤔 🤔

Later in the St. B’vites Lounge: Morgan/Park… Glassman comes in. News about Salen/Andrews.

ACT 2

In the OR: Lim/Shaun/Jordan… the “socks at the wedding” convo

13) For you trivia buffs: what’s the last OR conversation Shaun has about his upcoming nuptials before the world seemed to cave in around him? 

Why, it was this one. 😢

In the hallway: Glassman/Ilana… 

Then, in Alma’s room: Alma/Shaun. 

14) This is the first time in the episode that Alma mentions she’s having a girl… is this where the story gets more personal for Shaun?

Many have noted that the happenings of “Expired” also represent Shaun finally tapping into the pain stemming from the loss of his unborn daughter in S4. While I think it’s very possible… and the decision to make Alma’s baby a girl may represent some mighty fine multi-tasking on the writers’ part… it didn’t appear to me that anything specific was done via writing, directing, or even Freddie’s acting, to indicate Shaun had “Berry'' in mind as Alma shared her frustrations with long-distance babydaddy Matthew.

Still: a baby girl, 26 weeks along (Lea miscarried at 22 weeks)... whose parents weren’t sure they wanted to keep at first, but then changed their minds…? It’s tough to imagine writing this story without tying it back to Shaun and Lea’s very personal tragedy.  (More about this when we get to the final scene.)

I know there’s irony run amok here; Glassy’s constant minimizing his importance in Shaun’s life of late would only be superseded by a certain hole to be within his heart if really left… but damn, did you see the way Shaun dropped into that chair as he processed what Glassy was telling him? 

(No, you didn’t, because at that point director Mike Listo focused on Glassman. But it was the body language following Shaun’s quietly wrenching “Oh” just before that was important.)

16) Who was a little bummed that this scene confirmed Glassy as the best man rather than Park? 

Yes, but more than ever we get why it needs to be Glassy, right? Even if he’s anything but “best” right now…

Meanwhile, in Imaging: Morgan/Park; she’s still bargaining to get Park to be her date tonight

Then, the Loft: Shaun/Lea, and the confession

18) Was one of the reasons we dreaded this conversation that we weren’t quite sure what to expect from Shaun?

Anyone who had seen a promo from “Expired” knew that a big meltdown was coming, and that Lea’s confession was A factor but not THE factor. But this is really the first time Lea has let him down since they officially coupled up. We know what Lea gets like in this situation… but Shaun? 

19) Here’s a detail that should have driven me crazy, but I don’t know how they’d have worked it: Shaun came home to discuss the church option, then mentions Glassman to Lea… but DOESN’T mention that he’s moving away? 

But if he had, the scene would have been more like:

S: And Dr. Glassman is moving to Montana permanently–

L: He’s WHAT???

S: Yes, but he also said you have things you need to tell me…

L: I do, but that’ll have to wait until after I go wring Glassy’s neck!

And then Shaun would have to find out Lea’s bad news via a daytime drama trope (someone else blurting it out with an OH! I ASSUMED SHE TOLD YOU ALREADY!), which would never work because who else knew besides Lea and Glassy? And why would Glassy spill the beans when he just verbally passed that jar of beans back to Lea? 

Why the hell am I talking about beans??

So I was looking forward to this scene about as much as I look forward to an annual pelvic exam, but it was straightforward, low-key drama… no additional histrionics… and given what was still to come, it was more than enough. 

ACT 3

Starts in Sunil’s room: Glassman/Sunil/Ilana… the real diagnosis

Then Alma’s room, where Shaun/Alma have the following exchange:

S: He says one thing and does something different… how do you know if he loves you?

A: He does… someone can love you and still let you down.

S: That doesn’t seem right. 

A: No. No it doesn’t.

S: Knowing what to expect of others is difficult. People can be very unreliable. That’s why I always wanted to be a doctor… science and biology and medicine are very reliable. I like that. 

A: (THINKING A MOMENT) She’s (the baby) relying on me…  

(SHE THEN TELLS SHAUN SHE’S DECIDED ON THE C-SECTION) 

20) Wasn’t it nice to see Shaun and a patient doing the pseudo-relationship bond thing again-- you know, when the patient talks about their situation, and when Shaun responds you know he’s connecting it to his own, current situation, but the patient usually doesn’t?

It WOULD’VE been nice if I hadn’t gotten so hung up on the foreshadowing. “Science and biology and MEDICINE are very reliable”... until all the medicine expires with no backup lot available…!!!! DAMN YOU SALEN!!!

Ah well, I got to that a little early, didn’t I. 

Certainly!!!  I’ve decided Ilana is the MVP of “Expired,” and I know a lot of you have said the same. She’s kind of a mini-catapult (for those of you familiar with the way I throw that word around now and then) the way hers and Sunil’s medical crisis not only prompted closure and healing between she and Glassman, but blessed/reinforced the need for an ongoing Shaun/Glassman connection AND gave Dr. Aaron Glassman (the neurosurgeon) his mojo back… as we see later in the show.

I wish she could stick around, or at least pop in every now and again. I know she won’t; I know we’ve probably witnessed her only appearance on TGD and that she’s served her purpose (beautifully).  I wish there was a place for her in flashbacks that aren’t necessary. I wish we could watch her watching Shaun and Glassman together. I wish she and Lea had a reason to meet over coffee-- she’d surely admire Lea simply for what she did when she first met Glassman! (For those who don’t remember-- she threatened to call the cops on him. See “Islands, Pt. 1” (1x11)). What can I say-- I LIKE her. 

And I’m sure it has nothing at all to do with Ilana being played by Ann Cusack, of the Chicago-raised acting freaking royalty Cusacks, sister to Joan (Broadcast News, Working Girl, In and Out) and John (Say Anything, High Fidelity, and one of my favorite rom coms of all time The Sure Thing). No, nothing at all to do with that.

Next up: Sunil’s room; his outburst that slammed Ilana against the wall (Sunil/Ilana/Glassman/Park)

Then to Lea’s office (Lea and Shaun again discussing her decision to omit records)

25) Is it true-- is that data really unretrievable? Or are there loopholes that the show is ignoring (if you go back and watch the data deletion scene in “Crazytown”)? 

Yeah, maybe, but I wouldn’t count on TGD to dive much further into the details (if at all). It takes enough time to get through all the medical jargon in each episode. Besides, the point is not whether she can retrieve it… but how she’d likely refuse to do so even if she could.

26) Was anyone surprised that Shaun suggested Lea should be fired?

After Your Apology is Not Accepted? Sadly, no I wasn’t.

Next: Glassman/Ilana’s heart to heart

A PARALLEL…? (Part 3)

Glassman finds closure, and peace, with his ex-wife …

While Shaun and Lea become mired in the significance of Lea’s score manipulations, creating a wedge unlike anything we’ve seen before with them.
🤔🤔 🤔

Meanwhile, in Alma’s room: … delayed reactions from crash; c-section mandatory now

ACT 4

Sunil’s room: Sunil/Ilana/Glassman.... Off to surgery

In OR1: Shaun/Lim/Jordan

In OR2: Park/Glassman

(Stand by as Parallel #4 sets up: Shaun in one OR, Glassman in another)

OR 1: Baby delivered, but there is trouble…Shaunvision detects heart defect/call the pharmacy

ACT 5— BUT FIRST…

28) Has TGD ever had an entire Act within an episode devoted to OR scenes and nothing else?

I’ll say yes, surely it has had several at this point in the series. I’m wondering because, once the Morgan/Park fluff was over in Act 4, we had NINE consecutive OR scenes in a row (including Shaun’s first dash to the pharmacy at the start of Act 6) as Shaun and Glassman’s respective situations played out.

OK, ACT 5…

Shaun/Lim/Jordan working to save the baby

Glassman/Park working on Sunil’s tumor

Shaun/Lim/Jordan continue…

Glassman/Park- Glassman gets tumor removed

Shaun/Lim/Jordan- the medicine they need is expired (all lots); Shaun has a last-minute idea for a fix and heads to pharmacy because “It’ll be faster if I do it myself”

ACT 6

What I mean by that: though we couldn’t tell the specific tragedy that occurred, we knew if we’d seen the promo that it was BAD– bad enough to prompt one of Shaun’s biggest meltdowns to date. Would you rather not have known in advance? Speaking for myself, I’m glad the promo was a relatively straightforward one. Compared to that of, say, “Dr. Ted” from last season (which left us vulnerable to blindsiding, IMHO), I much preferred what we got here.

One more time in Sunil’s room: Ilana’s parting words to Glassman– “Don’t go to Montana. You still need Shaun. He makes you better.”

30) She’s not wrong, but how did Ilana know this about Shaun and Glassman– particularly when she didn’t appear to encounter Shaun at all in this episode, or hear anything about where he’s at in life?

I started to think “maybe there was a deleted scene where Ilana either spoke to Shaun (however briefly), or witnessed something lovely between him and Glassman from afar.”

Except… of all episodes that might have something lovely to offer for Shaun/Glassman, “Expired” was NOT IT.

In other words, we may have to chalk it up to sheer intuition on her part. That’s a little too vague for my liking, but, again, I was very fond of Ilana and am willing to give some leeway there. 

And now, for That Final Scene in the Pharmacy…

So.. was he channeling delayed grief on top of everything else? The writers left that open-ended, but for whatever it’s worth… Mark Rozeman co-wrote both this episode and “Teeny Blue Eyes” from S4, which is when Shaun and Lea made the decision about going forward with the pregnancy. In fact, “Teeny” was Rozeman’s most recent TGD script contribution until “Expired.” 

In any case, I doubt if we’ll see much other behavior from Shaun this season that hints at delayed grief. So I stand with those who say this was it, even if it was only one (implied) ingredient in the pot that boiled over.

And with time, and realization, comes understanding… and, I believe, forgiveness. I’m not spending much time on it in this post because there’s so much to discuss without jumping ahead, but in case there’s any question– Yes, I fully believe #Shea will work through this, and be stronger for it, and that the wedding will still happen before S5 is over.

There’s something similar to note with him saying the words “I can’t marry you” to Lea. Amy Danko and others took note on Twitter of the language Shaun used– not “I don’t want to marry you anymore,” not “I won’t marry you,” but I CAN’T marry you. Again, it’s that black and white world he lives in: if a tenet of trust is broken, a wall has to go up in its place. Not a permanent wall– not yet– but certainly one that pushes back the matrimony dream for a while. He’ll likely listen to what Lea and others have to say about the matter in time, but when he does, he’ll have that wall up.

To be clear, I’m not finding fault with any aspect of this scene, technically or otherwise. Quite the contrary! Imagine being Freddie, getting to that critical part of the scene (sinking against the wall), only to know you’ll have to do it all again the moment that stupid paper ball decides you didn’t drop it gently enough…! 

Well…she came on the scene hoping she could talk her fiancé off the metaphorical ledge, regardless of their past two conversations… and instead, he pushed her away (literally) and told her he couldn’t marry her.

Then she watched Glassman FINALLY doing what she begged him to do a few episodes ago… and that he, too, seemed to be making things worse instead of better for Shaun at this point.

Then, as she saw Shaun folded up against the wall, she must’ve felt something quite similar to the compassion she had when she came to Shaun’s room the night his father died… 

Except this time, she couldn’t be the one to comfort him. In fact, she may have been the LAST person he wanted by his side in that moment. What a horrible feeling that must have been. How many fears it must’ve dredged up about her not being good enough, mature enough, etc. to handle this relationship.

Glassman was there, at last, and she was surely grateful that Shaun eventually broke down in his arms. But as she stepped forward to gather the wadded-up contract, aching sorrow for the situation all three found themselves in was etched in her face.

As for what she might do with that contract? Hard to say… but speculate away if you’ve got something; as I said earlier, there will be more TGD posts to come and “what’s next” will surely continue to be a hot topic as we make our way through the winter!