The Good Doctor Season 6 Release Date, Cast, And Plot - What We Know So Far

The ABC medical drama "The Good Doctor" has been a staple on the cable channel for five seasons now. Executive produced by "Lost" and "Hawaii Five-O" performer Daniel Dae Kim, the series follows the staff of the St. Bonaventure Hospital in San Jose, California. David Shore, who was previously behind the medical drama "House," serves as the showrunner on "The Good Doctor."

The series' fifth season ended on a number of ups and downs, with the most joyous moment being Dr. Murphy (Freddie Highmore) finally getting married to Lea Dilallo (Paige Spara) on the hospital rooftop with their friends in attendance. However, while re-entering the hospital to refresh supplies for the celebration, Dr. Lim (Christina Chang) finds Nurse Dalisay Villanueva (Elfina Luk) stabbed and bleeding out. Nurse Villanueva warns Dr. Lim that she was stabbed by her abusive ex-boyfriend, but before Dr. Lim can react, she is stabbed twice, leaving her life in peril with her friends nearby, seemingly oblivious to her condition.

A sixth season renewal for the show was announced prior to the fifth season finale, with producer Liz Friedman joining David Shore to become co-showrunner (per Deadline). Here's what we know about "The Good Doctor" Season 6, which premiered on October 3, 2022.

Many members of the main cast of "The Good Doctor" returned for Season 6. This includes Freddie Highmore as the show's main character, Dr. Shaun Murphy, as well as Hill Harper as Dr. Marcus Andrews, Richard Schiff as Dr. Aaron Glassman, Will Yun Lee as  Dr. Alex Park, and Paige Spara as Lea Dilallo. Following the nail-biting Season 5 finale, it was unclear if Christina Chang, who plays Dr. Audrey Lim, and Fiona Gubelmann, who plays Dr. Morgan Reznick, would return for Season 6. Showrunner David Shore, however, confirmed in an interview with TVLine immediately after the finale aired that both characters will be returning, which means that Chang and Gubelmann are in the cast during Season 6 as well.

The medical drama also added two new cast members: Brandon Larracuente and Savannah Welch, as noted by Deadline. Larracuente, who appeared in a guest turn on Season 4 of fellow ABC series "The Rookie" (per IMDb), plays Daniel, one member of a new class of interns who is both enigmatic yet displays a preference for flying solo. Daniel will no doubt ruffle feathers due to his unusual medical opinions. Welch, who is best known for playing Barbara Gordon on the HBO Max superhero series "Titans," plays Danica, another member of the fresh intern class. Danica is, according to Deadline's reporting, a graduate of the Naval Academy Annapolis. While she prefers to be as fair as possible in the line of duty, she's not afraid to break the rules for the greater good.

In a post-Season 5 finale interview with TVLine, showrunner David Shore spoke about what fans can expect in Season 6, saying that the immediate focus of the initial episodes will be on the aftermath of Dr. Audrey Lim (Christina Chang) getting stabbed twice by Owen (Terry Chen). Shore also confirmed that Dr. Lim is not going to die from the attack, but is not going to recover easily either. As he put it: "We don't do anything that's not meaningful. As writers, we want to make sure that each story is significant. That's not saying that we're going to lose her. We love her. But there are challenges up ahead." He also added that giving Dr. Lim a physical challenge to overcome was an interesting way to explore the character, given the strength of character she has displayed in the face of other challenges over the course of "The Good Doctor."

Shore also spoke about the job offer Dr. Morgan Reznick (Fiona Gubelmann) received, which would entail her moving to New York, jeopardizing her relationship with Dr. Park (Will Yun Lee). While Shore said that Dr. Reznick is not leaving the show, the new season will explore the issues in the relationship between the two doctors.

"The Good Doctor" showrunner also added that there will be a time jump early on in the season, to get to when Dr. Murphy (Freddie Highmore) and Dr. Park become Surgical Attendings, rather than Senior Residents. The show will delve into the challenges Dr. Murphy faces, and how he shoulders the responsibility of his new role. One place Shore assured there wouldn't be any trouble is Dr. Murphy's marriage to Lea Dilallo (Paige Spara), saying that there would be "nothing but wedded bliss" for them.

If you need a refresh on everything that's happened in the last five seasons, the entire "The Good Doctor" catalog is available for your streaming pleasure. Seasons 1-5 of the drama are available to stream on Hulu. Season 5 Episodes 14-18 are also available on ABC's website and app for those without Hulu subscriptions who need a last-minute catch-up on things before Season 6. The five episodes can be watched without a cable subscription but will feature ads throughout. If you don't have cable, you can catch episodes of Season 6 of "The Good Doctor" the day after they premiere on the network. This means they'll be dropping every Tuesday on the streamer. 

For the massive "The Good Doctor" fans out there, if you'd like to have a hard copy of the series for when this whole digital fad dies down, every season is available on DVD from sellers like Amazon. You can also buy digital copies from app stores like Apple and Prime Video, should it ever leave streaming.

Ahead of the October 3 arrival of "The Good Doctor" Season 6, ABC released a trailer for it on August 31 on YouTube. Though it only runs for around 30 seconds, it packs in quite a bit to build anticipation for the impending batch of episodes. It opens innocent enough, with the now-married Sean Murphy and Lea Dilallo slow dancing together. They express their happiness toward the marriage, only then for the tone to shift dramatically. A severely wounded Audrey Lim is shown attempting to contact Marcus Andrews before she passes out in a puddle of blood.

From here, the teaser kicks things into another gear. Despite the danger, Murphy goes to check on Lim, worrying his partner and several of their friends in the process. There appears to be an active hostage situation at St. Bonaventure Hospital, courtesy of Owen, who's clearly only escalated things since stabbing Lim and Dalisay Villanueva. Murphy seemingly puts himself into the thick of things as we see him covered in blood and panicking. Overall, this is an intense, somewhat frightening trailer that appropriately follows up the end of Season 5 and sets the tone for the episodes to come.