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“And who by brave assent, who by accident

Who in solitude, who in this mirror

Who by his lady's command, who by his own hand

Who in mortal chains, who in power

And who shall I say is calling?”

— From “WHO BY FIRE” by Leonard Cohen (the song that played at the end of the episode)

The official synopsis for TGD 7 X 5 (season 7, episode 5) reads like this:

Asher’s views on the construct of marriage complicate his future with Jerome.

Meanwhile, Asher also briefly revisits his religious past to aid a patient’s conversion to Judaism for his fiancée.

If we hadn’t been tipped off to the “shock” of this episode by way of the ABC promo created for it, this summary might have done the trick. I mean, when is the last time the “meanwhile” in a TGD synopsis constituted anything besides a secondary storyline? SOMETHING was clearly going down with Asher and/or Jerome.

So we started “Who At Peace” with limited knowledge of its contents, and emerged an hour later with the following notes:

The subplots, and their respective resolutions, in three sentences or less…

(so we can get back to discussing Asher)

Next up: FANS PLAN, SHOWRUNNERS LAUGH

(A variation on the Hebrew saying “Man plans, God laughs” used in the episode)

“By brave assent”… we lost Asher Wolke in the final moments of this episode.

Maybe it was just me, but the narrative structure of “Who By Peace” was reminiscent of another heartbreaker of a TGD episode…

With “Who At Peace” we had a warning, and once we’d determined the “crash cart!” shouted by Asher in the promo was not the shocking part (though it was Asher that was featured… foreshadowing, anyone?), we were tripping over ourselves trying to brace for impact.

(Viewers were DM’ing ME on Twitter ahead of the episode hoping for spoiler info; I had none to share.)

Like “Dr. Ted,” there were seemingly more frivolous fish to fry in the first part of the show– Shaun and Lea dealing with Steve… Shaun dealing with Charlie via “compliment sandwiches” (Shaun’s exasperated “I am out of bread!” made me laugh, even though I knew something like that was coming)...

Lim dealing with her mother and Glassman’s declarations of terrific sex, a matter that felt less funny when it was revealed near the end that Lim had parted ways with her own “terrific sex” (partner) a while ago.

I pulled together some facts (about TGD and those that are a part of TGD’s creation) and laid them alongside opinions– some are mine, some are others…

FACT: Dr. Asher Wolke was a character who had struggled with his religious identity throughout his tenure at St. Bonaventure.

• Opinion: This episode was designed to give Asher clarity, which helped him be “at peace” (nodding to the episode’s title). It also gave him irony in that stating he was “a Jew… a gay one, in fact” ultimately led to his demise. That’s an irresistible pairing for storytellers.

FACT: Asher and boyfriend Jerome (#Jasher) had hit a wall a time or two before which was usually perpetuated by Asher’s reflexive self-righteousness.

• Opinion: As the episode progressed to Scott and Ronit’s wedding, I was a little frustrated that #Jasher’s problems were resolved without explanation. Yeah, I know Jordan’s (very limited) time on the episode was to help propel Asher towards a positive decision about his future with Jerome… but I feel like we missed a big step between that scene and the one that had #Jasher kissing in the same space where the wedding had just taken place. 

FACT: Noah Galvin (the actor portraying Asher) was ready to go. His IG posts just after “Who at Peace” aired were a testament to his eagerness to return (from Vancouver, where TGD was filmed) to his fiance Ben Platt, his dogs, and the rest of his family. I’ve heard conflicting reports as to whether or not Galvin had to leave this abbreviated season early for the sake of a new project, so for now consider that a “possible fact” at best.

• • The answer to that lies in a quote given about the episode by its co-writer, Adam Scott Weissman:  "We came into this [episode] with the thought that life doesn’t always have happy endings. Sometimes things happen suddenly and in a tragic way. Oftentimes [these issues] become real when it happens to someone you know, or someone we love on TV, so this horrible thing happens that also brings it home for our viewers."

  • But I don’t need my shows to reflect real life. I watch TV to ESCAPE real life! I hear people say regularly.  And a part of me wants to respond Maybe a medical drama is the wrong place to expect “escape”... but a part of me counters that response too, especially in regards to TGD. I’ll circle back to that in a minute. 

  • There have been times when I’ve applauded the show for making the best of a bad situation… the sudden-but-necessary departure of Mateo in S5, for example, or the buildup leading to Claire’s exit later that same year.

    Is this one of those times? On the one hand, they needed to end a storyline. On the other hand, they had many ways they could do that. On another hand, they had little to no time to build a story arc for the exit because the show has only been given 10 episodes to “live”. On yet another hand, they need the ending of the show to match the general vibe of the show BUT so much (emotional footage, storyline material, etc.) is generated from a tragic surprise that it’s almost irresistible to find a place for it somewhere near the end… 

    And now I’m walking around with FOUR hands like a baboon. 🐵

FACT: TGD’s showrunners have a history of giving viewers what they don’t want just as they’re (finally) giving them something they do want. Some of us have coined it The Shore Tax, crediting TGD’s creator David Shore as the reason Menedez succumbed to his injuries from the Earthquake (as Shaun and Lea finally became a couple)... the reason Lim was brutally attacked and became paralyzed (shortly after Shaun and Lea got married)... to save time, just list your unhappy development alongside a #Shea milestone I suppose…

• So what’s the tradeoff with Asher’s death? A series finale where we don’t have to watch with our stomachs in knots fretting over who’s going to be sacrificed?

• As universally displeasing as many series finales have become in recent years, I think there’s a sense that “if you’re making everyone happy, you’re doing it wrong.” Feel-good finales aren’t cool; tying everything up with a big shiny bow is predictable and trite. But we still look for it, especially in a show that banks on hope, positivity, and triumph over adversity. 

 It’s quite a tightrope TGD will walk with these final episodes. Was Asher’s death a way of making the “walk” easier?

In thinking about “Who At Peace,” I’ve also been thinking about TGD as a whole…

… And how The Good Doctor is a show about broad STATEMENTS:

• Differently-abled people deserve a chance to thrive.

• Make the most of the time you get in this world.

• Don’t give up.

• The family you create may be better than the one you’re born with.

• Stand up for yourself.
  

That’s a noble thing, an appreciated thing, even a necessary thing.

But sometimes the statements seem determined to outshout any questions that they generate, and THAT is an extremely unsatisfying thing. 

In this particular case, given there were only five episodes left after “Who at Peace”, perhaps they felt they had nothing to lose and much to gain via the after-effects of Asher’s death. But I tend to think that, as with most of this abbreviated final season, they’ll do much less with this option than we’d like (see Shaun and Glassman’s rift for details).

Blame it on a lack of time, perhaps… but I’ve learned to appreciate TGD more for its MOMENTS anyway… some beautifully shot, some wonderfully written, all exquisitely acted. 

Take the scene in this episode with Shaun, Lea, and Steve which occurred in the St. Bons Atrium… the one where Lea countered Shaun’s typical “I have to go” with “Haven’t you forgotten something… it smells of adorableness and diaper cream?” 

Watching Shaun take those few precious moments to step forward, lean in, kiss Steve’s little head, then truly revel in that “baby smell” we know and love… it was lovely. The music choice (which I don’t recall hearing before on the show), the connection between father and son, the pause between Charlie/Shaun aggravation where we’re reminded why we love #Shea so much.

But, alas, they are just moments– certain scenes, certain minutes, occasionally entire episodes. They do little to quell all the questions that circle behind TGD’s STATEMENTS, creating little holes in the show’s tapestry that just don’t need to be there. 

I think it was just a day or two after “Who At Peace” aired that ABC released the cast photo for TGD that you see below. It looks like it’s designed to mirror the cast photos from the early seasons (there hasn’t been one since S3, to my knowledge). “Asher” isn’t in the new one. But to me, it’s incredibly odd that they waited until just after his exit to release it. It’s not like the faces reflect the sorrow of his departure, or the body language reflects a group of people bonded together in their grief. It looks like eight cast members photographed separately, at the start of the season, in character, then assembled onto one backdrop. Why not photograph “Asher” similarly and release the photo back in February? Or is it TGD trying to make another STATEMENT?

They’ve said a lot already, and yet somehow I’m not sure they’ll ever say enough.

ATTENTION READERS!

While you’re here, please follow this link and take a simple 3-question survey for me. Thanks!