Spoilers ahead for the March 13 episode of The Good Doctor Season 6, called “The Good Lawyer.”

The Good Doctor is going strong in Season 6, with heartache like Dr. Glassman (Richard Schiff) losing almost all of his earthly possessions when his house burned down being balanced by Shaun (Freddie Highmore) and Lea’s (Paige Spara) preparations to become parents. ABC took a break from setting the drama at St. Bonaventure this week, with a backdoor pilot called “The Good Lawyer” that could launch the network’s next legal drama.

With Shaun being sued for malpractice, he turned to Joni DeGroot (Nancy’s Drew’s Kennedy McMann) and Janet Stewart (Felicity Huffman) for help. The episode subverted my expectations in some good ways, which raises the question: does a good episode mean a good series?

What Is The Good Lawyer About?

News broke back in August that The Good Doctor could be the next ABC hit to get a spinoff, following The Rookie: Feds scoring a series order. Not much was known at the time except that it would be via a backdoor spinoff that would air sometime in the second half of Season 6.

The project would go on the cast Kennedy McMann as lawyer Joni DeGroot, who struggles to become a trial lawyer due the obsessive compulsive disorder that has led her peers to believe she’s best relegated to a research role. Felicity Huffman also joined the pilot to play Janet Stewart, a partner at the same law firm as Joni. When the backdoor pilot aired on ABC, there was no guarantee of a series order.

How The Pilot Subverted My Expectations

I’ll admit it: I didn’t go into “The Good Lawyer” with especially high