Is Elfina Luk Leaving ‘The Good Doctor’? Fans Want to Know
Updated Oct. 3 2022, 10:23 a.m. ET
Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for the Season 6 premiere of The Good Doctor.
During the Season 6 premiere, viewers were on the edge of their seats waiting to see whether Christina Chang or Elfina Luk would be leaving The Good Doctor. The ABC show’s Season 5 finale left their characters — Dr. Audrey Lim and Nurse Dalisay Villanueva, respectively — in mortal peril, bleeding out on the floor of St. Bonaventure Hospital, as their coworkers celebrated Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) and Lea Dilallo’s (Paige Spara) wedding on the hospital rooftop.
In that cliffhanger, Audrey Lim goes down to the break room to get more glasses for the wedding reception. On the way, she almost trips over Dalisay Villanueva, who has been stabbed and is close to death.
Nurse Villanueva tries to warn Dr. Lim that her murderous ex, Owen (Terry Chen), is nearby. But it’s too late: He ambushes Dr. Lim and stabs her twice in the abdomen. Season 5 ends with both characters circling the drain.
So what happens next?
Both Dr. Lim and Nurse Villanueva survive the attack, but Dr. Lim is paralyzed.
Because this is The Good Doctor, the episode takes several turns (think hostage situations, flashbacks, etc.) before we finally learn that Nurse Villanueva is OK. And so is Dr. Lim (sort of)! As Dr. Lim begins waking up from her own surgery, she immediately asks — via a penned message — about Dalisay. "She's recovering," Dr. Harper tells her. "She had trauma to her carotic, trachea, and jugular, but we were able to repair it all."
Whether Nurse Villanueva lives or dies in Season 6 is still a closely guarded secret, TV Insider reports. But co-showrunner Liz Friedman told the site that Dr. Lim, at least, will survive and return to work, while “having to deal with a long-term [disability] and seeing how the rest of her life fits around that.”
Dr. Lim, on the other hand, has a long road ahead of her. Ahead of the premiere, co-showrunner Liz Friedman told TV Insider that Dr. Lim would survive and return to work, while “having to deal with a long-term [disability] and seeing how the rest of her life fits around that.” At the end of the episode, we learned what Liz was referring to with that comment.
Right before the closing credits of the season premiere, we learn that Dr. Lim is paralyzed, most likely due to complications from her surgery. There's no word whether her immobility will be permanent, but Dr. Lim clearly has a hard road ahead of her.
Regardless of Nurse Villanueva’s fate, actress Elfina Luk is feeling the love from the ‘Good Doctor’ family.
Prior to the Season 6 premiere, Instagram account @gooddoctorlovers gave high praise to Elfina and Christina, writing, “You are talented, beautiful, and inspiring, and the pride that [we], the fans, feel for you is enormous."
“I believe the same goes for me… no words,” Elfina wrote back. “Just emojis and a whole lot of love and gratitude.” (She added three sparkling-heart emojis, three person-with-folded-hands emojis, and three smiling-face-with-three-hearts emojis.)
Tune into The Good Doctor Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.