Spoilers ahead for the midseason premiere of The Good Doctor, “Rebellion.”
Season 5 of The Good Doctor keeps bringing the surprises and it won’t stop! After an early midseason return, the ABC medical drama has its own in-show return on the way in the form of a former St. Bonaventure doctor. Antonia Thomas, who portrayed Dr. Claire Browne, is heading back to the hospital later this season, and it’s likely going to be an emotional return.
Fans were devastated to learn that Antonia Thomas was departing from The Good Doctor at the end of the fourth season, citing a desire to take on other projects. The silver lining at the time was that Thomas was open to returning to the series in the future, and it looks like that will already be happening. The actress is set to appear in two upcoming Season 5 episodes, according to TVLine. Just how it'll happen and when those episodes will air is unknown, but Claire being back on our screens is something to look forward to.
Claire's return to St. Bonaventure will definitely be an emotional one. She and Freddie Highmore’s Shaun were pretty close, and while Shaun was sad that his friend was leaving the hospital, he appropriately understood, so there wasn't any bad blood. It was an exit full of feels, considering what Claire went through personally with her family, and following Melendez's death.
Fans said goodbye to Claire after the team’s mission trip to Guatemala in the Season 4 finale. The trip proved to be a very eye-opening one for her, as she was thriving and loved getting to help people who wouldn’t usually have access to that level of medical assistance. Despite not really speaking the language, and not really knowing the environment all that well, Claire instinctively knew that it was where she belonged. As her friends and colleagues left to go back to the States, she stayed behind. It was a tear-filled situation by all counts, but it definitely fit Claire’s journey to find herself.
Meanwhile, Season 5 of The Good Doctor has been a roller coaster already. With the hospital under new ownership, things have not been going the way they should, like having needed-but-expired pharmaceuticals in the pharmacy. Claire’s return is a definite need for Shaun, who broke off his engagement with Lea after she doctored Shaun’s patient scores to make it look like he got more positive reviews than negative.
It will be interesting to see what will bring Claire Browne back to St. Bonaventure, and just what exactly she’s been up to since we last saw her. There hasn’t been much mention of Claire since Season 5 began, but the St. Bonaventure team have had much more to deal with, so it’s not too surprising. It will be nice to see Antonia Thomas as Claire once again, so maybe this can open up even more opportunities for her to return in a later season? Lest her second exit be just as heartbreaking as the first.
However, Thomas has been keeping herself busy since leaving The Good Doctor. She’s set to star in the upcoming crime drama Suspect, which is an English language adaptation of the Danish series Forhøret. The show centers around a detective who figures out what happened to his daughter in the days leading up to her murder. There is currently no set premiere date, but hopefully that will be announced soon.
There is no word on when Antonia Thomas’ episodes will premiere, but they will be showing up later this spring. In the meantime, new episodes of The Good Doctor air on Mondays at 10 p.m. EST on ABC! If you like that series, be sure to check out some similar shows!
