'The Good Doctor' Season 3 Kicks Off Tonight With Shaun and Carly's First Date

From Good Housekeeping

• The Good Doctor season 3 will premiere on Monday at 10 p.m.

• Fans of The Good Doctor can expect season 3 to focus on Dr. Shaun Murphy's budding love life.

It's official: ABC is bringing back its beloved medical drama The Good Doctor for a third season on Monday, and ever since the show's drama-filled season 2 finale, fans have been anxiously awaiting the return of Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) and the rest of the St. Bonaventure staff.

Before you sit down for the show's big season 3 premiere, here's a look at everything we know about The Good Doctor season 3 so far.

When will The Good Doctor return for season 3?

The Good Doctor will return on Monday, September 23 at 10 p.m. as part of ABC's fall TV lineup. Here's the official season 3 trailer:

How can I watch The Good Doctor season 3?

You'll have a couple of different options when deciding how to watch The Good Doctor season 3. First, you'll be able to watch the show live on ABC during its regular 10 p.m. time slot on Mondays. If you can't catch the new episodes as they air, however, they'll also be available for later viewing on the ABC website, in the ABC app, or on-demand. (PSA: If you have a Hulu subscription, you can also catch up on — or re-watch — all of the episodes in seasons 1 and 2 now.)

Will the cast be the same in season 3?

Most of your favorite The Good Doctor cast members are returning for season 3, as was initially evidenced by the below photo featuring Paige Spara, Freddie Highmore, Antonia Thomas, Hill Harper, and Tamlyn Tomita at a season 3 table read. Nicholas Gonzalez and Christina Chang were also featured in other behind-the-scenes posts from the set of the show, and we know based on interviews with showrunner David Shore that Richard Schiff is coming back, as well.

Jasika Nicole is also returning for season 3, but this time, she'll be a regular character, TVLine reports. Considering season 2 ended with Shaun asking Jasika's character, Carly, out on a date, this change in her status makes sense. (It's worth noting that Tamlyn's role as Dr. Allegra Aoki has also shifted, changing from regular to recurring.)

Meanwhile, Dr. Jackson Han was removed from his position as chief of surgery at St. Bonaventure in the season 2 finale, and it's unlikely that he'll remain a recurring character in season 3. In a March interview with Entertainment Weekly, David hinted that, while he's largely done with Dr. Han's storyline, the door is still open for actor Daniel Dae Kim to make another appearance: "I liked the character and had fun with it ... The arc that we were dealing with is now complete, but that doesn't mean the character can't come back, and I very much would be open to that," he said.

Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for a special guest star, as well: According to TVLine, actor Robert Sean Leonard (who worked with showrunner David on House) will make an appearance in episode 3.

Are there any season 3 spoilers yet?

From what we know so far, a lot is going to happen in The Good Doctor season 3 — but it won't all go down in the operating room. Shaun will still face workplace struggles upon returning to his job at St. Bonaventure, but his love life will also play a much bigger role in the upcoming episodes. After Shaun got up the courage to ask out his coworker Carly in the season 2 finale, David told EW that this will be a major storyline in season 3 — and the romance-focused trailer seems to confirm that.

In a recent interview with TVLine, David expanded on this romantic twist to the show, revealing that "things don't go perfectly" on Shaun's date with Carly. (We're guessing this has something to do with a joke that doesn't land the way Shaun wants it to, as is evidenced in this episode 1 clip on EW.) "How [Shaun] reacts to that, and how he reacts going forward, is going to be an ongoing [storyline]," he added.

Meanwhile, Dr. Melendez and Dr. Lim will be dealing with some relationship drama of their own: In the season 2 finale, Dr. Lim was promoted to chief of surgery ... which makes her Dr. Melendez's boss. Unsurprisingly, actor Nicholas Gonzalez (who plays Dr. Melendez) has said this will be a source of tension in season 3.

"We're dealing with this promotion of hers that makes this a forbidden love, which is the tastiest kind," Nicholas told TVLine. "Last season, Melendez was genuinely happy for Lim and realized that she would be great at this job. [But now she's] going to be the person that is making these decisions ... [and] she's not asking his opinion."

While plenty of drama is promised to go down on screen, the The Good Doctor cast seemed to be having a great time on set over the summer. On June 19, the show posted a behind-the-scenes video of Freddie (featuring his real-life British accent!) to its Instagram page:

The following day, a video of actors Christina and Nicholas was posted to commemorate the second day of filming:

At this point, the actors have definitely learned at least some of this season's juiciest spoilers — but only time will tell if they'll spill any more of those secrets to the rest of us.

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