How ‘The Good Doctor’ Wrote Out Osvaldo Benavides’ Mateo

Meredith Jacobs November 2, 2021, 11:30 am

Osvaldo Benavides as Mateo and Christina Chang as Lim in The Good Doctor — ABC/Jeff Weddell

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for The Good Doctor Season 5 Episode 5 “Crazytown.”]

Dr. Mateo Rendón Osma’s (Osvaldo Benavides) time at St. Bonaventure didn’t last long, and The Good Doctor, specifically Dr. Audrey Lim (Christina Chang), said goodbye to him before he could leave her hanging (for much longer).

Mateo was nowhere to be seen in the latest episode of the ABC medical drama, and while at first, he’d just been “called away on a medical mission in Guatemala,” something “urgent” that “should be just a few more days,” as Lim put it, it became clear that he wasn’t coming back. In fact, history was repeating itself, she would soon discover, after talking to his ex-girlfriend Rosa, whom he’d sent to his current girlfriend for bypass surgery for her acute kidney failure (due to the lack of equipment in Guatemala).

When Lim told Rosa about how they met and Mateo’s subsequent move, which, in her mind was “a little crazy,” his ex-girlfriend said, “he moves fast when he knows what he wants.” They practically moved in together by their third date, but they were only together about six months. He kept being needed elsewhere. “But I am glad he’s found a place to settle down,” Rosa added. “I wasn’t sure that would ever happen for him.”

But had it? Mateo wasn’t answering Lim’s texts, and she told Dr. Marcus Andrews (Hill Harper) that he might be back a day later than planned. It’s Dr. Asher Wolke (Noah Galvin) who realized she didn’t know when Mateo was coming back. “Before I got into this program, I had heard so much about you. How you were smart and talented and tough and fair, and at first, I was like, ‘Oh my God, stop, I get it,’ but I didn’t,” he told her. “Until I met you. Everyone who works for you is a better doctor because of it. and I would hate to see you put everything you’ve worked for on the line for someone who isn’t willing to do the same for you.” She thanked him, but added: “Don’t ever give me advice again.”

Christina Chang as Lim, Hill Harper as Andrews in The Good Doctor

ABC/Jeff Weddell

Then Lim found out that while Mateo might not be responding to her texts, he did speak with Rosa before her surgery and told her he’d be back soon. But his ex-girlfriend also revealed how it ended for them, and so even if Mateo did come back, he’d likely leave again. “He would go on medical missions all the time, sometimes with no notice. I would wake up and find a little gift, like a book or a bottle of wine and a sweet note. After a few days or weeks, he would come back and everything would be good. And then one time he didn’t,” she said. She waited “too long” for him.

And considering that Mateo did the same with Lim — leaving her with a note and a bottle of wine promising to “be back soon” — is it any wonder she took matters into her own hands to ensure she didn’t end up in the same cycle and left him the following voicemail: “If you’re coming back for work, I’ll see you Thursday. If you’re coming back for me, don’t.”