The Good Doctor season four has been greenlit but earlier this year it was confirmed Dr Carly Lever (played by Jasika Nicole) would not be returning to the role. The actress recently took to Twitter to reveal more about her exit and has opened up about how she felt in a statement to Express.co.uk.
Fans fell in love with The Good Doctor’s Carly Lever when she was first introduced in season one of the show.
Many were therefore overjoyed when she was promoted to a season regular in season three as her storyline grew.
Throughout the third series, Carly and Dr Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) began dating as they struggled to adjust from a friendship to a relationship.
However, this came to an end in season three over Shaun’s growing feelings for Lea Dilallo (Paige Spara).
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In a statement to Express.co.uk following the tweets, Nicole revealed more about how she felt about her exit from the show, including the most “painful” part of it.
She said: “It has long been recognised in our community that POC [person of colour] characters are often brought onto shows with majority white audiences in order to propel white characters forward, and it usually occurs with girlfriend/boyfriend relationships on TV.
“A white leading character will date a POC guest star or recurring character for a while and will either learn more about themselves or learn more about what it is they truly want, and ultimately they will find their way back to the other white romantic lead that the show has set up for them.
“The role of this POC character is closely tied with the trope of the Magical Negro, having entered a white character’s life just to teach them something important, and then just kind of disappearing once their ‘work’ is done.
“It also feels peripheral to the Bury Your Gays trope that is super common in television – that wasn’t specifically my experience on TGD [The Good Doctor], but the frequency with which gay characters (also a marginalised community) are killed off in order to propel a leading character’s story forward has long been documented amongst us.
“When you don’t see yourself in media very often, you try to savor each morsel you are given, but it becomes apparent pretty quickly that we aren’t valued in the same way when the people that represent us onscreen are so frequently and easily discarded.”
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Nicole also went on to speak about how she didn’t feel The Good Doctor had bad intentions with the creation of Carly on the show.
However, she did reveal how she expected the character would continue on past her relationship with just Shaun.
She added: “I think that TGD had the best of intentions from the start.
“Instead of remaining as a recurring character as she had the first two seasons, Carly was brought onto the show in season three as a series regular.
“This was very exciting for me personally and professionally, as I think the cast is supremely talented and I have an intimate connection to the main premise of the show and love getting the opportunity to push conversations about autism and ableism into the spotlight.
“I assumed that an invitation to become a series regular meant that whether or not Carly and Shaun’s characters stayed together, she would exist beyond their romantic relationship, having other storylines and relationships with other characters in the show, and at the very least remaining an important person in Shaun’s life.
“Unfortunately that was not to be the case. Regardless of what the original plan was for Carly, she still ended up in the same place as a lot of POC characters in network tv, having been discarded after her purpose was served.
“These circumstances are familiar to lots of marginalised communities, and I think that’s the most painful part of it – most white creators and audience members don’t even know it’s a thing that we regularly experience.”
Express.co.uk has contacted ABC for a response to Nicole’s statement.
Fans will certainly be sad to see Carly go when season four returns later this year but many are excited to see what’s next for Nicole on screen.
The Good Doctor is expected to return to ABC later in 2020.