"The Good Doctor" is a new show that premiered on ABC on Monday, September 25, at 10 pm. ET. The show tells a story about a young man named Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) who has autism and is diagnosed with savant syndrome. He decides to change his pace of life from secluded country life to become a surgeon at San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital. Having survived a traumatic childhood, Shaun has been left alone in a world that seems not to have any room for him. But he plans on using his extraordinary medical skill to help save others lives.

The science behind it all

Freddie Highmore takes on the difficult role of accurately portraying an autistic man, but it's not like he hasn't played someone with a mental illness before. He is most known for his role as Norman Bates in "Bates Motel" and as the episodes go on it is very clear that Norman suffers from personality or identity disorder. In "Bates Motel," his character is much scarier and even dangerous while in "The Good Doctor" we can see Shaun is simply a misunderstood and brilliant man.

Savant syndrome is a form of autism in which a person otherwise limited in mental ability has an exceptional specific skill, which in Shaun's case is an eidetic memory for medical information. When one part of the brain becomes damaged or lacking in necessary skills, neural plasticity helps repair the brain making one area overcompensate for the other's absence.

This helps Shaun tremendously as a doctor for his heightened intuition, candor, and ironclad memory helps him think on the spot, identify the problem, and essentially save people's lives.

A not so happy family

Because of his diagnosis, Shaun's life has gone in a different direction than most of ours since the day he was born.

In "The Good Doctor" flashbacks that appear in fractions throughout the episode, we get to see Shaun's childhood, and it was no walk in the park. He was the neighborhood punching bag with every kid in school wanting to take a jab at him. We see in the premiere episode how he gets beat up on the school's soccer field by other students, leaving him bleeding, bruised, and covered in dirt.

Because of his tough school life, it would make sense that home would be Shaun's safe-haven, but instead, it is a place that he fears just as much. His father is abusive to him verbally and physically because of his autism and blames him for not being a "normal" kid. The only one who is there for him is his brother who protects him from all the bullies, their dad included. After their father throws Shaun's beloved pet bunny at the wall, killing it, his brother tells Shaun they're running away, so nothing like this ever happens. With nowhere to go and no money, they hide out in an abandoned bus barely getting by.

One day they are playing on an abandoned train when Shaun's brother tripped and fell off, dying on impact.

At the end of the episode, Shaun says both of these deaths are what made him want to become a surgeon. He gave an incredibly heartfelt speech (that had me shedding a few tears) in which he said that they deserved to grow up, be adults and have kids of their own. They had their whole lives ahead of them, and he wants to save people so that they can have the opportunity to enjoy life.

If you are already as touched as I am about Shaun and his story tune in tonight, October 2, for the second episode of "The Good Doctor" on ABC.
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