TV - Movies
The Real Reason
That Nicholas
Gonzalez Left
The Good Doctor
By ALEX WELCH
Since its premiere in 2017, fans of "The Good Doctor" have had to say goodbye to some beloved characters, but not always for the same reasons. Dr. Neil Melendez played by Nicholas Gonzalez wasn’t just a beloved character, he was a fan favorite because of his compassionate personality, but here’s the real reason he left the show.
In a March 2020 interview with Deadline, "The Good Doctor" creator David Shore commented on Neil's death in the Season 3 finale, saying, "Nick was so great, but you want to go where the stories take you." The writer added that "none of it is personal," noting that Gonzalez "was fantastic."
In the end, Shore said the decision to kill Neil came down to the show's writers wanting to "confront mortality" in the series. "We wanted to lose a character that we would feel something about, and feel pain about, and certainly, he's a character that so many of them have been in touch with."