Explained: What happened to Richard Schiff's Dr. Aaron Glassman in The Good Doctor season 6 episode 20?

The latest episode of The Good Doctor had some important and heartbreaking revelations. The long-running show, which has seen many unexpected developments over the past few years, saw a big one added to the list. Richard Schiff's Dr. Aaron Glassman became the subject of bad news that could potentially affect the surgeon in the foreseeable future and change things completely for him.

The Good Doctor season 6 episode 20 dealt with the sensitive and complicated matter of Dr. Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore) trying to decipher the cause of Dr. Aaron Glassman's memory impairment, with many negative possibilities in the air.

The episode was filled with numerous twists and dealt with some heavy plotlines, including an adoption.

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The Good Doctor: Dr. Aaron Glassman suffers from the side effects of a ministroke

One of the most prominent characters in the show's history, Dr. Aaron Glassman is a neurosurgeon at St. Bonaventure Hospital and was the hospital's president for several years. Over the years, he has gotten closer to Shaun Murphy and has been like a mentor and father figure to him.

Dr. Glassman and Shaun's dynamic often drives the plot, with the latter often feeling suffocated by the deep care. Dr. Aaron Glassman's health issues were first explored at the end of Shaun's first year of residency when it was revealed that he may have brain cancer. It was, however, treatable.

After quite some time, this latest episode brought back some of this drama, with Dr. Glassman increasingly suffering from memory impairment. This episode finally saw Shaun making an attempt to reach the cause of the illness and solve it.

After scans ruled out a recurrence of brain cancer, Shaun and Dr. Lim (Christina Chang) discover that Dr. Glassman was suffering from the side effects of a ministroke.

These irreversible side effects, mixed with the radiation that Glassman received earlier for his brain cancer diagnosis, had created a hole in his brain, making it difficult for him to retain his memories.

This meant that Dr. Glassman would not be able to perform surgeries anymore. On the plus side, this illness would not kill him, but he will not be himself in the long run, especially with the veteran doctor unable to do what he does best.

While this news seems exceedingly sad, executive producer David Shore had previously said that the sixth season will hold something good for Dr. Glassman's character.

He revealed this in an interview with TV Line where he spoke about the sixth season:

"The first episode has a huge amount of intensity and fun, but it's difficult because it's the immediate fallout [from the finale]...Lim's journey is going to be a big part of it, we have some nice things planned for Glassman, and, of course, nothing but wedded bliss for Shaun and Lea."

This means that The Good Doctor may manage to take the arc elsewhere, where the character ends up in a better place.

The Good Doctor is available for streaming on Hulu.