Saying goodbye and looking ahead: Freddie Highmore reflects on the final season of 'The Good Doctor'

LOS ANGELES -- "The Good Doctor" returns for its seventh and final season. Star and executive producer Freddie Highmore says that when it's all over, viewers will feel satisfied with swan song season of "The Good Doctor."

"As you move through, you know, these last 10 episodes, there's definitely going to be something special that feels right for everyone involved," Highmore said.

For Freddie's character, Dr. Shaun Murphy, that something special is fatherhood.

"It's a pretty big, crazy season," Highmore said. "Obviously, we left off season six with Shaun and Leah's newborn baby. And we're going to be following, you know, Shaun as he has the joys and also the struggles of fatherhood and sort of juggling those two roles."

Highmore reflected on saying goodbye to this favorite character.

"The analogy that someone gave me to me and I've been borrowing is that it' feels a bit like graduation in the sense that it's this big momentous event and sort of goodbye, and it makes you nostalgic and at the same time excited for the future and looking forward to other opportunities," Highmore said.

This final season will be dramatic... and as always, unexpected.

"It will be genuinely conclusive for everyone. I think, you know, the way that the stories are being written and continue to be written at the moment, it will feel satisfying for everyone involved," Highmore said. "I think that's our aim. Certainly a few surprises along the way."

The surprises begin Tuesday, Feb. 20 on ABC.