‘The Good Doctor’: Why Melendez Never Should Have Died
The TV show The Good Doctor is going to air its fifth season in late September. The medical drama has drawn in millions of viewers. Thousands of fans have their favorite characters, but several of them still miss Melendez.
His death surprised fans of the show. While some viewers still ponder if Melendez truly had feelings for Claire, others still want the doctor around. Some fans even gave their reasons why he should have lived instead.
Melendez was a surgeon until his death in season 3
When viewers first meet Dr. Neil Melendez, he is an attending surgeon at the San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital. People regard him as a highly skilled and intelligent person, and the doctor has a no-nonsense work ethic. However, Melendez does show a humorous side.
Melendez appears in The Good Doctor for three seasons. However, he shows up a couple of times in the fourth as a hallucination. An earthquake injures the character, and he dies due to septic shock. His death saddened other protagonists and fans alike.
In the show, Melendez developed multiple close relationships with his colleagues. He also has a few romantic relationships with the staff. For instance, Melendez has a romance with Dr. Audrey Lim, but they keep it private at first. Later, they pretend to break up to go back to secrecy.
One major backstory of Melendez is that he has a younger sister named Gabrielle. Gabrielle suffered from a traumatic brain injury as a child, and Melendez took care of her basic needs. The actor who plays Melendez is Nicholas Gonzalez.
Fans explain why Melendez should not have died
Many fans of The Good Doctor were sad to see Melendez die in season 3. Some of them felt a bit of anger after the series killed off a beloved character. BuzzFeed asked members of their community about which TV characters should have lived. Melendez was one of them.
“It was the most pointless death ever. He was such a great character, and not to mention POC representation! He grew so much throughout the show, only to be killed so pathetically. I will forever be angry about it,” one person stated.
The characters were in a dangerous situation, so it would be natural for someone to die. Melendez got the chance to say goodbye to his friends. Still, the emotional moments left viewers wishing the show did not decide to kill him off.
People can binge-watch old episodes to see their favorite doctor again. Still, some diehard Melendez fans may continue to be upset with the character’s death.
Other beloved characters whose deaths upset viewers
Melendez is not the only character whose death made fans mad. In Grey’s Anatomy, a few people met their ends. However, the audience grew to love Henry and Teddy together. Henry’s health took a turn for the worst, and he died on the operating table.
When fans of the show go back to rewatch old episodes, they tend to “ugly cry” during his death. They believed Henry was perfect for Teddy. In other cases, fans feel that specific character deaths made no sense or felt forced.
In Skins, Foster shows up to kill Freddie out of jealousy. Some viewers had something to say about this plot point. One person even expressed, “His death was uncalled for and made no sense. The writers messed up on that one.”
Veronica Mars is a classic show to many people, but a portion of them wished Logan got to live. A few fans determined that his death was pure shock value.
