‘The Good Doctor’ Season 3 Finale Killed Off a Major Character Last Night and Fans Are Furious

The Good Doctor did something very bad last night: the show killed off fan favorite character Dr. Neil Melendez (Nicholas Gonzalez) in a super melodramatic way. Melendez dies of internal injuries sustained during last week’s earthquake, but more than that, he dies right after he and Dr. Claire Brown (Antonia Thomas) finally declare their love for each other. Good Doctor fans had been rooting for a Melendez/Claire romance for a while and the show gave it to them in a tragic bait and switch.

The Good Doctor Season 3 finale “I Love You” picks up where the last episode left off, with the characters scrambling to save lives after an earthquake rocks San Jose. Melendez believes he has only suffered a minor injury and chafes at being spirited to San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital in an ambulance. However, when he is admitted to the hospital, it is revealed that he has sustained critical internal injuries to his bowels that can’t be operated upon. He has time to say goodbye to only a few of his friends and colleagues, but it’s his farewell to Claire that really tugged on the heartstrings. As he’s laying in his deathbed, he comforts Claire, telling her that she’s going to be okay, and then the two declare their love for each other. And, yeah, he dies.

Needless to say, fans took to Twitter to express their frustration over the shocking turn of events. While some mourned the death of Melendez and Claire’s love story, one viewer shared a private conversation with a real doctor suggesting the medicine on The Good Doctor was “trash.”

For fans still holding on to the hope that Melendez will return in The Good Doctor Season 4, we have some bad news. Actor Nicholas Gonzalez confirmed to TVLine that he has left the show for good. “It was a creative decision [that] just kind of came at a good time, you know? There’s a lot about this job that I loved and was honored to do, and a lot of that came out of the family that we created behind the scenes. But there also comes a time when you feel it’s time to move on, and I feel like I’m leaving Good Doctor at a really great place,” he said.

So weep for Melendez, for he is truly dead.

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