The Good Doctor season 5 ending explained: Did Dr. Lim and Nurse Villanueva die?

Dr. Audrey Lim in The Good Doctor (Image via ABC)
Dr. Audrey Lim in The Good Doctor (Image via ABC)

The Good Doctor just aired its last episode for this season on May 16, 2022. With this episode, the prolific ABC medical drama finally ended the will-they-won't-they debate about Dr. Shaun Murphy ( played by Freddie Highmore) and Lea Dilallo's (played by Paige Spars) wedding.

While the wedding was a big affair in this episode, and there were several essential side plots, such as the one with Dr. Asher Wolke (Noah Galvin) and his father, the ending was both shocking and disturbing. It relied on a typical TV show trope of following a big event with a tragedy. The end was based on a recently developing plotline featuring Dr. Audrey Lim (Christina Chang) and Nurse Dalisay Villanueva (Elfina Luk).

Read on to find out what happened to the two women at the end of The Good Doctor season 5.


The Good Doctor season 5, episode 18 ending: Big event followed by grave tragedy

The final episode of the season was packed with some fascinating storylines. Dr. Asher's story was one of the most entertaining ones in this episode, despite the focus being on Shaun and Lea for most of the runtime.

After wrapping up the emotional journey of Dr. Asher and his father, the episode proceeded to finally depict Shaun and Lea tying the knot with their well-wishers surrounding them. Fans had anticipated something going wrong with Dr. Aaron Glassman (Richard Schiff), but thankfully after numerous sweet moments and a great speech, nothing happened to the veteran doctor.

After Shaun and Lea were officially married, the party started in the hospital. After running out of champagne glasses, Dr. Lim went into the breakroom to get some glasses, but she saw a horrific sight.

She found Nurse Dalisay bleeding on the floor. An injured Dalisay told her that her ex was present on the premises. Suddenly, Dalisay's ex-boyfriend came from behind and stabbed Dr. Lim. A bleeding Lim and Dalisay lay on the floor, with the party going on in the background and no one to hear their screams.

This storyline started as a small side plot, but it seems the major crisis moving on to season six. The show was supposed to have two more episodes in the season, but those two were saved for the next season. As of now, fans are left with no clue about either Dr. Lim or Nurse Dalisay's well-being.


The fifth season has left us with a massive cliffhanger, which may feel a little forced, but it will prove to be an important reason for the sixth season's popularity.

The finale episode of The Good Doctor is now streaming on Hulu.

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