As part of St. Bonaventure hospital's international humanitarian program, the team takes on the case of a young boy from the Congo who has severe congenital heart anomalies. Dr. Neil Melendez has doubts about the safety of the procedure, while Dr. Shaun Murphy works out the best course of action. Meanwhile, Murphy's latest encounter with his neighbor Lea has him confused.

Dr. Shaun Murphy questions the need for an elective surgery that will allow his young patient to smile for the first time. Meanwhile, Dr. Claire Brown and Dr. Morgan Reznick discover that their patient lied about her identity.

Dr. Neil Melendez, Dr. Morgan Reznick and Dr. Claire Brown grapple with a patient’s wish to perform an operation that would keep him from acting on his pedophilic urges; and Dr. Shaun Murphy learns a lesson in empathy.

The new chief of surgery, Dr. Jackson Han, believes Dr. Shaun Murphy is a liability more than an asset and works to keep him out of the operating room permanently.