“We were playing the long game.”
The Good Doctor’s co-showrunner has opened up about the divisive Dr Danny Perez decision in the show’s season 6 finale.
The latest run of the ABC series wrapped up last night (May 1), and before it aired it was confirmed that Brandon Larracuente’s character would be exiting after one season on the show.
In the finale, Danny is involved in an ambulance crash, which results in grave internal injuries. Despite his wishes to the contrary, Jordan (Bria Samoné Henderson) gives the recovering addict fentanyl in order to prevent a fatal cardiac arrest and thus save his life.
This means the end of their romance, though afterwards Danny says she made the right call. However, Danny decides to head back to his family in Texas in order to avoid a potential relapse.
Speaking about Danny’s exit, co-showrunner Liz Friedman addressed how the series appeared to be playing the long game with Danny and Jordan, before this decision to end their romance.
“We were playing the long game with the two of them, and there was something that felt right to us as storytellers about them not being able to get their timing right. It felt real,” she told TVLine.
“When we came up with the notion that Jordan, in order to save his life, would have to let go of the idea of having a relationship with him, that really was pleasing to me.”
Friedman noted how it “felt like the ultimate kind of declaration of love”, elaborating: “A sacrifice of the love, in a sense. It’s a dynamic I’ve been fond of ever since they used it between the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman.”
Following on from the finale, it was confirmed last month that The Good Doctor will be back for a seventh season.
