This episode has lots to unpack, so I’ll start with the OST because it’s the simplest.
슈퍼스타 (Superstar) (syupeoseuta)
Original song by Lee Hanchul
Thanks, @Ori, for the jotting down the lyrics from Netflix!
[IJ]On a whim, without a plan
[JW]
you moved to Seoul
that bewildered look on your face
reminds me of myself years agoyou look like an athlete with a nice tan
whose single focus has been training hard
It’s scary but exciting
because it’s your new beginningCHORUS [IJ]
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
[JWan]
you have a bright future ahead of you
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
We believe in youYour reason to live
[SH]
no matter what that may beJust live a life with no regrets
and you’re a superstarCHORUS [IJ]
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
[IJ]
you have a bright future ahead of you
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
We believe in youAll the things that stressed you out
and all the sweat and tears you have shed
Let’s have a drink
and forget all about themCHORUS [All]Shwa singing out of tune
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
You have a bright future ahead of you
You have a bright future ahead of you
It’okay, you’ll be fine
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
We believe in you
We believe in youNa na narana naa
narana nanaranaranananaa
narana narannanaaa
narana narananaaTransition to original version.
[Scenes with several interns]Back to 99z
CHORUS [IJ]
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
[IJ]
We believe in youAll the things that stressed you out
and all the sweat and tears you have shed
Let’s have a drink and forget all about themCHORUS [All]Shwa singing out of tune
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
You have a bright future ahead of you
You have a bright future ahead of you
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
We believe in you
We believe in younananarananaaa
[IJ]
narananaranaranarananaa
narana naranarannaaa
naranna narananaranaYou’re your superstar
🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸
There are various interpretations to this song.
1. The obvious one: the song refers to “frightening interns.”
JH: The new interns who are scarier than the devil have arrived. They say you should never get sick in March.
Because if you get sick in March, these interns will look after you. And you’ll bound to experience their incompetency.
JH: They were just med students up until February 28. But as of March 1, they’re interns. They know nothing but suddenly become interns overnight. I’m really hoping for a not-so-eventful year. Only small blunders, nothing major.
And sure enough, we saw the interns making mistakes at the beginning of the show, but they were corrected, supported, and given encouragement at the end of the show.
2. Another obvious one: the song refers to Jang who still felt incompetent after blotching a surgery. IkJun comforted her.
Note: If you notice, in the beginning of this episode, JW told that Jang was “feeling under the weather” (i.e., down in the dumps) so he hung out with her. But we weren’t shown JW comforting Jang. “Show, don’t tell.”
This is a cardinal rule for screenwriters, and writer Lee knows this. If she didn’t show that scene, there’s a simple reason for it. JW comforting Jang isn’t as relevant as this scene when IkJun comforted her.
IJ: Are you upset because of that surgery?
Jang: Yes. I don’t seem to have improved at all. I’m a fellow, yet I still make mistakes. I don’t think I can ever perform a liver transplant. I don’t have a talent for it.
BTW. Do you GET why she was treating those new interns out?
Don’t be naïve like JW, okay? Sure, she was excited to have company now in her department. But she was also FLEXING. To flex = to show off that one is superior to others.
Earlier with Jaehak, she was claiming bragging rights that her General Surgery department had more interns than the cardio department. She was treating them to food to show off that her department had better benefits, and that she was the “senior” of this motley group.
IJ: You were a resident until last month. You became a fellow less than two weeks ago. March is a difficult month. You’re just starting out. It’s a difficult procedure so just watch and learn. It’s okay. You started your fellowship to be trained in more surgeries and build experience. You’ll improve as you garner more experience. EMGS. Do you know what that means?
Jang: No.
IJ: Of course you don’t. I coined it just now.
Sigh. IJ really does like to show-off how superior he is whenever he was with her. Remember how he bragged about being on the quiz show?
IJ: Experience Makes a Great Surgeon. You need to build experience, no matter what. I assisted in 500 liver transplants before I performed one. I watched my professors perform the procedure countless times before I performed one as the lead surgeon, so be patient. You’re eager to learn, and you have more experience with surgeries than your peers or other fellows do, so it’s okay. You’re doing fine and you’ll do better. You just need more time. That’s all.
There! That’s the theme of the song. Right?
But I want you to call your attention to the difference between IJ’s and SH’s definition of a good doctor. Remember: last season when Minha had to make an emergency surgery and SH came to “save” her – like IkJun “saved” Jang. This is what SH told Minha:
SH: Minha, I prefer people who are responsible over those who are brainy and smart. On my way here, the taxi had to stop at a few red lights. But every time that happened, I got so anxious thinking that you might quit if we lost the patient. Do you know how worried I was? I know that you’ll be a good doctor. You dealt with it responsibly. You didn’t run away, and you did your very best. You know what? You did an excellent job today.
SH defines a great doctor by her DEDICATION to her patient. And we watched how dedicated SH was to help a mother with at the start of this season. He saw that the mother and baby were determined to get through the crisis. So instead of fearing what the consequences would be if he failed, he focused on “What is the best I can do now?”
In contrast, IJ defines a great doctor by her TECHNICAL skills.
And that’s why Jang will never become a SUPERSTAR doctor. She’ll certainly become an expert doctor. But she won’t be a superstar because she doesn’t advocate for her patient.
If you think I’m being biased here, I’m basing my arguments on the script, and on the screenwriter’s own words. And this isn’t the only time that the writer had shown (“shown, not tell”) her perspective on what constitutes a great doctor. SH’s words to Minha in Season 1 were in fact echoed by Songhwa in her stern lecture to SeonBin in this season. Like SH, she valued taking responsibility and she urged SeonBin to fight hard for her patient. This is what Songhwa told SeonBin:
Songhwa: You should have fought him earlier. You should have pushed ahead with your decision if you believed so. You’ve been closely monitoring the patient. That means you know best when it comes to that patient. So you should have trusted your judgment and fought for it. Had anything bad happened to him, it would have been all on you. His condition worsened because you wasted time being hesitant and indecisive. You’ve been working hard to study the case and monitor him, so fight hard. That’s the only way you can save your patients.
In other words, SeonBin had the technical expertise to assess patient correctly so she should have trusted her judgment. Do you see that? Like SH, Songhwa defines a great doctor by her DEDICATION to fight for and save her patient.
In comparison to SH’s and Songhwa’s definition of a great doctor, IJ advised Jang to hone her TECHNICAL skills.
3. More examples: the other residents
a. Songhwa’s SeongYeong who hails from the same area, Chuncheon, as their ER patient.
b. JWan’s ChangMin who shares a name with their dying patient.
I’ll explain how these characters were used as plot device on another thread, okay?
4. How’s the song relevant to IkJun?
For IkJun, the song actually exposed his twisted need to cut down “Supermen” to size. Here’s the conversation again between IJ and Jang. (I wish the other sites had a translation different from Netflix so I could compare, though….)
IJ: Does this not cheer you up at all?
Jang: No.
IJ: You have the talent. I see it.
Jang: Professor. Tell me about a mistake you made. That will make me feel better.
In other words, “Misery loves company.”
Seriously, Jang has a yucky personality. She derives pleasure from seeing other person’s misfortune. The German word for this is schadenfreude.
source: sketchplanations
IJ: A mistake? I’ve never made a single mistake.
Jang: (doubtful)
IJ: Just kidding. I’ve made plenty, and so have Junwan and Seokhyeong. But it’d be more comforting to hear about the mistakes those purehearted souls like Songhwa and Jeongwon made.
There you go! To him, Songhwa and JW were supermen, and it was fun — or “comforting” quote-unquote — to nitpick and find fault with them in order to inflate his own self-importance. Why couldn’t he just admit to his mistake and laugh about it? Why did he have to tear down Songhwa and JW just to lift himself up and raise her mood?
Toxic is as toxic does.
But the pairing here of the four people here was glaring.
The pure-hearted duo Songhwa and JW vs the not so pure-hearted couple Jang and IkJun.
IJ: I bet Jeongwon has never told you about the mistakes he made in the past.
Jang: No. He’s advised me on my thesis and surgical procedures. But his mistakes, no.
IJ: (looking “evil” – lol. this is what Jeon Mido called his “angry bird” look on the Netflix interview.)
When his eyebrows are emphasized like that, it meant he was up to no good. lol.
IJ: You know that he’s a perfectionist, right? You must know.
Jang: He isn’t perfectionist. He’s just perfect.
IJ: Yah!
I agree with IJ. What a weirdo. She still idealized her boyfriend like a saint. Remember this?
Jang: (changing tune) Yes. He’s a total perfectionist.
IJ: He’s a perfectionist, and he knows everything.
Jang: Right.
IJ: From stock investments to camping and skiing. My gosh, he’s such a smarty-pants. One day, back when JW and I were interning in Surgery…
Then, he regaled her with the (fake) story of JW mixing up the word for tongue depressor for drawer. Later, he explained why he lied. In reality, he was the one who didn’t know what a “seolabja” was. He thought it was a combined word for “seolab” (drawer) and “ja” (ruler).
IJ: If I told her it was me, then it’s no fun, you know? It’s no fun to hear about the mistakes that Junwan, Seokhyeong or I made. It’s called dramatization. I figured it would cheer her up more if she heard that it was Songhwa or Jeongwon who did something like that.
JW: (wanting to fork him) Why you little…
Let’s call it what it is, okay? It’s called envy. He’s a recognized expert in his field but he’s still insecure of himself when he’s in the company of “super-good” people like Songhwa and JeongWon. He attributed one of his embarrassing moments onto Jeongwon because he couldn’t admit to himself that:
a. he felt inferior and
b. he was jealous of JW.
But I’m not really surprised. I pointed this out to you already, didn’t I? I said IkJun liked to steal the limelight from these two people. All he had to do was praise these people for their goodness.
But he had to re-direct the attention to himself.
When Songhwa turned down the German interview because she wanted to share glory with her residents:
When JW told them that his ultimate goal in life was to build a children’s hospital:
It’s simple to see this. IkJun is a good doctor, but in this episode, he’s SHOWN (“Shown, not told.”) to be a not-so-good person. And he knew it.
5. So what does the song “Superstar” mean for JW and Songhwa?
This is the easiest to spot. But oddly enough, it’s also the most difficult for WGers to recognize.
It’s about this refrain:
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
You have a bright future ahead of you
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
We believe in you.
JW was upset not only because IkJun maligned him in Jang’s presence but because IkJun falsely attributed his own mistake to him. He would have felt no shame admitting his own mistake, but his sense of justice was affronted by IkJun’s slander.
JWan: Jeongwon, are you seriously sulking right now? IkJun only brought it up to cheer up Dr. Jang. It’s all in the past.
JW: It wasn’t me.
Songhwa: Okay, we believe you.
Actually, what Songhwa said was “Okay, I’ll pretend it’s not you.” (“Arasseo. Neo anin geollo halge.”)
This meant that she’d take his word for it. If he said it wasn’t him, then she’d accept it. Without further verifying it or even when it was contrary to the truth, SHE believed in him.
After she said that she believed in him, JW revealed the facts.
JW: The seolapja incident. It was IkJun.
Everybody was stunned, of course.
In contrast, JW couldn’t convinced Jang that IkJun was lying no matter how hard he tried.
JW: I’m telling you. It wasn’t me. It was IkJun. IkJun did that. No! You’ll believe me? Don’t say that. I’m telling you. IkJun did that, not me. Why wouldn’t I know what a seolapja is?
Do you see the red flag?
This is Songhwa who believes in JW, no matter what. Even when he behaved like a sulking child.
Then there was Jang who thought JW was a perfect man…but a liar. hahaha. Do you see the lack of logic there?
She wouldn’t believe him when he speaks the truth.
So here’s the refrain again, and notice the camera shots, okay?
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
You have a bright future ahead of you
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
We believe in you.
Do you get the meaning of the song now? I’m sure there are more interpretations but these are mine. I’ve to limit myself to five because I’ve to write about other things. 🙂
Like most everything in this drama, what’s shown explicitly in the episode still escapes a lot of viewers.
@packmule3 Saranghe!
It is important to know that someone believes (in) you, no matter what…
@packmule3, As you so wisely showed, Shin Lee provided yet another example of how they compare and contrast the characters using another set of traits. What sets IJ aside from Jang is that he actually communicates with his patients, their guardians and their families. He actually listens to them. But Jang is either unable or unwilling to do this. Her preference is for the mechanical and technical, but her interactions with patients and their loved ones comes from her internal crib sheets (look back at her coffee with grieving mom).@pm3, 6ou did such a great job showing how she flexed with the interns. My fear here is that when Jang makes a mistake she will attribute it to one of the interns. Jang has zero moral center and only seems to want to get ahead. She has attached herself to gossip professor, Ikjun and PaBo, all senior professors, with two being highly regarded. And IJ a n d paBo are in thrall to her. I reject that she will be an expert doctor. Her poor communication skills and lack of judgment just screams mistakes. And as you have noted so any times, @pm3, Shin Lee does so much intentionally. A large portion of this episode dealt with mistakes and Jang was the most curious about the mistakes her seniors made to assuage her own concerns-the schadenfreude desire. I can’t help but think that this episode foreshadowed things to come, particularly as they relate to Jang’s hospital relationships. Who will, she throw under the bus? Will that be the cause of heartbreak for our WG friends? I don’t think this episode is a stand alone…
Again, @Packmule3, thanks for bringing clarity to what I saw in the show. Yes, I felt bad for JWon when he was getting frustrated on the phone with Jang because she believed the word of IJ over him. You are right: it is illogical to deem someone perfect, then think they’re a liar. Is JWon capable of lying? Yes, by his own admission. Is it wrong to think of JWon as perfect? Yes. No one is perfect, and to think of someone as such is delusional. But to dismiss JWon’s version of the story in favor of IJ’s, despite IJ’s record as a jokester, displays stubbornness and prejudice in Jang’s thinking.
@Packmule3 Feel free to delete this post once you have write down the lyric on the main post.
The “na naranna” part might not be accurate.
[IJ]
On a whim, without a plan
you moved to Seoul
that bewildered look on your face
reminds me of myself years ago
[JW]
you look like an athlete with a nice tan
whose single focus has been training hard
It’s scary but exciting
because it’s your new beginning
CHORUS [IJ]
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
you have a bright future ahead of you
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
We believe in you
[JWan]
Your reason to live
no matter what that may be
[SH]
Just live a life with no regrets
and you’re a superstar
CHORUS [IJ]
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
you have a bright future ahead of you
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
We believe in you
[IJ]
All the things that stressed you out
and all the sweat and tears you have shed
Let’s have a drink
and forget all about them
CHORUS [All]Shwa singing out of tune
-It’s okay, you’ll be fine
-It’s okay, you’ll be fine
-You have a bright future ahead of
you
-You have a bright future ahead of you
-It’okay, you’ll be fine
-It’s okay, you’ll be fine
-We believe in you
-We believe in you
Na na narana naa
narana nanaranaranananaa
narana narannanaaa
narana narananaa
Transition to original version.
[Scenes with several interns]
Back to 99z
CHORUS [IJ]
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
We believe in you
[IJ]
All the things that stressed you out
and all the sweat and tears you have shed
Let’s have a drink and forget all about them
CHORUS [All]Shwa singing out of tune
-It’s okay, you’ll be fine
-It’s okay, you’ll be fine
-You have a bright future ahead of
you
-You have a bright future ahead of you
-It’okay, you’ll be fine
-It’s okay, you’ll be fine
-We believe in you
-We believe in you
nananarananaaa
narananaranaranarananaa
narana naranarannaaa
naranna narananarana
[IJ]
You’re your superstar
Very nice discussion, as always your observations surprise me , that is talent wight there 👏🏻👏🏻🌹
Oookay everyone, just watched the episode
I’m barely managing my schedule since i have exams at the moment but oh well can not skip this
First of all i would like to adress the more and more little details yet big ones that our dear director is giving us , first , the coffee scene , ikjun and SH , the difference between the two cups , he ordered iced coffee, she ordered hot one , his is cold , hers is warm and the difference in the shaped and sizes of the cups .
The second difference that was brought up is the scene where SH has just finished her surgery and is resting on the couch while ikjun is talking to UJu , and then song hwa talks about how food just pops up in her mind just like music , while she mentions bethoven , and at the same very moment ikjun mentions mozart.
Let that sink in , they just don’t harmonize!!
While on the contrary we are shown by ikjun himself saying that both our flower garden couple are pure hearted souls , that they are different from the others . These two , both had surgeries in this episode , and after such long surgeries the first thing they’ve done is talking to the family of the patients to assure them and to help them understand the process.
They are on another level of professionalism and humanity both in one. Also andrea has defended the mother of the child infront of her mother in law in order to teach her a lesson in a polite way , this reminds me of When SH did the same thing when one mother tried to mock her abilities without recognizing that she was the neurosurgeon responsible for the upcoming surgery thinking she was too young to be her.
Also ,not to forget the two identical cups that ikjun poured coffee in for him and jang 🌚🌚🌚
This was such a lovely reminder that all is fitting slowly into place
Just wait you guys
Also , as a person who’s studying to be a paramedic, this episode was a lovely reminder that mistakes are part of the process , so never lose hope 🥰🥰
Thank you @Packmule3 for this thorough and insightful analysis. Here again we got a proof that Jang is in the limelight now while Songhwa is always there for JW even in the smallest things. We got a whole scene with JW trying his worst aegyo to persuade Jang that it wasn’t his mistake while Songhwa’s remark ‘I believe you’ was so natural and subtle that it could have passed by unseen and unheard, at least for a common viewer.
Ant this little scene yet another occasion to show how mismatched they are. Jang doesn’t know JW at all. Almost from the start it was pointed out that JW is the one that nags other when something is unfair and he keeps a record of all those examples of unfairness) so for him it’s very important to set the record straight while Jang can’t uderstand why he is so eager to make her believe him. It’s not about her (although she thinks that he just wants to remain perfect in her eyes) it’s about him and his sense of what is fair. But somehow she prefers IJ’s dramatic story.
And her eagerness to look for flaws in others in rorder to feel better. I begin to think that she only admits her lack of competence to get consolation and attention from IJ, in order to get pampered by him.
Thanks @pkml3 and @ori!
Here’s the YouTube version of the song where Mido sings in tune! LOL.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QANXDfPVIV8
Superstar (by Mido and Falasol)
“On a whim, without a plan
you moved to Seoul
That bewildered look on your face
reminds me of myself years ago
You look like an athlete with a nice tan
whose single focus has been training hard
It’s scary but exciting
because it’s your new beginning
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
You have a bright future ahead of you
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
We believe in you
Your reason to live
no matter what that may be
Just live a life with no regrets
and you’re a superstar
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
You have a bright future ahead of you
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
We believe in you
All the things that stressed you out
And all the sweat and tears you have shed
Let’s have a drink and forget all about them
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
You have a bright future ahead of you
It’s okay, you’ll be fine
We believe in you
Nananananana nanana nanananananana na
Nananananana nanana nanananananana na
Nananananana
You’re the superstar of your own life”
====
Here’s that scene from The Swoon. Love how the young IJ looked with that hair!!! Cho Jung Suk was practically unrecognisable!
Thanks for the YouTube link to the Mido and Falasol version of Superstar, @GB! I replayed the video twice now, it’s such a happy and uplifting song. 🙂 (I laughed at your comment about Mido singing in tune this time.)
(Side comment: It’s amazing one can tell whose singing voice is whose even without looking at the vid. And side comment no. 2, I dont know if it was intentional but Mido harmonized just with YYS and CJS’s singing parts.) Anyhoo, happy song! 🙂
@Growing Beautifully, thank you for the song and the video.
Ik-jun is becoming known for sowing discord, intentionally or not. He did it with Ik-sun and Jwan and now he’s doing it on purpose with Jang and J-won. Schadenfreude is the perfect term, thank you, @packmule3. It’s like he wants to poke little holes in Jang’s perception of Jwon. Instead of praising his friend, he’s tearing him down in the eyes of his girlfriend. It’s nasty.
Thanks @packmule3 🍪🍪🍪
Every time Jang has a crisis, it’s IJ that comes riding in to rescue her. Every. Single. Time. The allergy scene in S1. When she was depressed about PaBo’s lying to turn her down for the date. When she ran in with the liver and stood there awkwardly in the OR. When she was had a disciplinary hearing for her obtuseness. And now this time with the surgery. He’s her knight in shining armour. He knows to seek her out when she’s not feeling the best. And yes to the “show don’t tell”. ShinLee keep thrusting Romantic Winter at us consistently.
I am with you when it comes to IJ. He always needs to be the centre of attention. He loves the adulation. He cannot stand it when someone else threatens to upstage him. It stems from insecurity. It’s attention seeking. It happened with ChiHong in S1 when he felt that his spot with SHwa was being threatened. And it’s happening now in S2 with SHwa (rushing in to sit in the front seat all the time). He’s so needy and needing affirmation that he’s not being sidelined. He needs to learn to share. That his self worth shouldn’t be something that takes a hit because someone else is “better” than he is.
He has all the time in the world to find out about everyone else and all their details, yet he doesn’t know that UJu knows about cicadas and their life cycle? I would bet SHwa invited him to camping for UJu’s sake. Poor child has been waiting all year. IJ is missing out on the most important thing in his life. His son. He claims that UJu is his universe but his actions don’t say it. Wouldn’t surprise me if UJu invited Mone and her dad too. 😂. Just like it was suggested that ChiHong and SHwa were on a lunch date only to have the other NS residents show up. 😂
Thank YOU, @GB!! Bravo Mido and Falasol!!! Love it!
Yesss, we got to enjoy Mido’s real singing voice 😍 LOL
Thank ladies, esp. Packmule3 for another insightful post. Yes @nrllee, I agree perhaps Shwa’s invitation to camping is an excuse so that Ikjun will take her ‘niece’ (re. Ep. 10 S1) Uju to camping. Just like she visited Shyeong and have a heart to heart talk with him, I think Shwa is gonna give Ikjun some advice and for him to spend quality time with his son on this camping trip. She would know if he quickly agrees would mean he is still hung up on her. I would if I were her lol. Why? Because without this invitation from his own crush, he would continue going on a delaying tactic and spend time with others instead of his own son. It has been a year since the kid first ask! 🤦🏻♀️
@miracle23 didn’t JJS mention in an interview prior to premiere that we get to meet Mone as well? If so, then the camping trip is probably the best place to introduce her (and maybe her dad 😂). It’s like UJu is bringing his gf to meet his dad? He wants to get married remember?
IJ’s phone has UJu tagged as “My Everything” (sure doesn’t look like it 🙄)
UJu – Mone’s family is taking their campervan this week. They are going all the way to DongHae to eat snow crab. I want to go camping too Dad!
IJ – Mone’s family is going camping again? I wonder what Mone’s father does for a living?
UJu – let’s go camping too please? I want to sit by a campfire and relax.
IJ – I am surprised you know these things. Okay, we’ll go. I promise.
(SHwa comes into her office.)
SW – Hey.
IJ – seriously you have my word. When? When are we going then? Well, before the cicadas start singing. Yes I promise we will go camping before the cicadas start singing.
UJu – but the cicadas won’t start singing for a while?
IJ – really? Then…
SW – how about when cicadas molt?
IJ – hey he won’t know what molt means.
UJu – sounds good. We’ll go when the cicadas start molting! When the nymphs reach the imago stage. We’ll go camping then okay?
IJ – what’s he saying? What’s an imago?
SW (sticks her legs out – 💪 FLEX 😂) – it’s the same as molting.
IJ – okay we’ll do that UJu. You have my word. When the cicadas start molting, we’ll go camping together. Yes I love you too.
@nrllee LOL IKR. When SHwa was stretching her legs and feet, and making shapes or whatever in the air with them, I felt she was smiling in delight that she knew more than Mr Know-it-All next to her. She was just too polite to say so to his face, so she flexed her legs!
@pkml3 When you remind us of how Seok Hyeong told Min Ha that he was worried she’d quit if they lost the patient, he’d said:
It occurred to me that Jang had sort of run away when she called in IJ to save her surgery.
She let him take over entirely and I didn’t see that she stayed on to assist. She’d looked at the time and I believe the elapsed time was only 41 minutes into the surgery. So she ‘gave up’ pretty soon after she began. When IJ questioned her, she hadn’t done some basic things yet. She had every right to be depressed with her lack of performance, but she shouldn’t have asked to know IJ’s mistakes ‘because that would make her feel better’.
@Growing Beautifully, I don’t think Jang had the right to be depressed for her lack of performance. In most of the surgeries the doctors prepare in advance, especially for those operations c where they are inexperienced and they study the protocols. Jang didn’t do her homework. She had interns who couldn’t assist. She had already been an intern and resident and had I bserved and assisted at lots of surgeries, interjecting herself into some. In this surgery, she was absolutley unprepared. She used IJ to take over. She manipulated him. I am sure she would take credit for something good another person did. she took IJ’x words about mistakes, diverted him from hers for stories of others’ errors. I also bd.ieve that she is c a neutralizer to certain people; IJ, Pabo and on occasion Minha, who will ignore her bad behavior and/or buy into it. @Growing Beautifully, I think you are too kind. This old bicycle is unwilling to give her a pass.
.
Yay thank you for the post @packmule3..
I believe this is another life lesson that we could learn from this episode. Don’t make Schadenfreude a habit. I realized that many insecure people often do this just to make themselves feeling better. But when they do this over and over again, they will lose the conscience to sense that it is wrong to do..
Something that Songhwa will never do.
Again thank you packmule for this reminder.
🌷🌷
This week’s band song, with lyrics referring to “an athlete with a nice tan whose single focus has been training hard,” is perfect for the opening week of the Olympics. And congratulations to the South Korean women’s archery team who smashed Olympic records, individually and as a team, in their quarterfinals. With as many changes as COVID has wrought on the Olympics and the schedule of HP2, it is a wonderful coincidence this musical message is featured this particular week. My money’s on it having been carefully planned by ShinLee despite all the unprecedented variables.
Oh, good point, @Welmaris! 🤯
I don’t understand one thing about ShinLee minds. On the surface it seems they are rehab-ing this useless Jang role. But in the script, they put all these red flag characteristics, sarcasms thrown to such characteristic via Ikjun who functions as her mirror. They told the actress that her character is not a bad person but hey… do you even understand what you are doing here, writernim? This character has a toxic personality. That is bad enough for me. Is it culturally acceptable to have such attitude and mindset in Korea, I wonder??? 🤔🤔🤔 They prided her as someone who is really good, never makes mistake then out of the blue she blurted she keeps mistakes, she can’t follow through with her surgery despite being the sole resident in every freaking gs surgeries for the past 4 years… did she sleep throughout all of them? errrrrrrr…. make up your mind writernim… geezzz… if you keep contradicting yourself in writing this character, she will end up being the most shady character, or mayhap this has been your initial plan, no?😏
Thanks for this write up, @pm3. Good to know that there are more posts in your locker, take your time to upload them, as we have 2 weeks to while away 😫 (BTW, @Welmaris your theory of having a break due to Olympics fits nicely with what @nrllee said about it being “planned”, good catch there 👏)
@GB I felt the same thing, why didn’t Jang even stay back to assist?! I’ve seen my fair share of medical dramas and every time a new intern or resident is unable to proceed with a surgery (for whatever reason), they ALWAYS stay back to assist. It’s an “honour” to scrub in on a surgery so when they fail midway, they *want* to stay back to understand how to correct their mistakes.
ShinLee have been so meticulous with the medical procedures so far in this drama, even aspiring/real doctors have lauded them on the authenticity of it, how are they slipping up so badly in S2? First the bizarre snow crab allergic kiss scene and now this. Why are there all these big loopholes in the writing? If you want Jang to be incompetent, then show her to be incompetent, not incomplete. Making a fellow do these mistakes seems all the more unrealistic, she has scrubbed in on so many surgeries, she absolutely has to know the basic protocols and if she doesn’t then it is the fault of the writing, not the character. Her schadenfreude attitude is a character flaw, but her jetting out of the surgery as soon as a superior comes to her rescue is a writing flaw. Maybe it’s time for me to not hold ShinLee in such high pedestal. Or should I give them the benefit of doubt for being novices of this seasonal format? Such discrepancies in writing can be discounted once or twice, but this is far too many and affects the viewing experience. Maybe they have bit on more than what they can chew. Aigoooo, we’re in for a rough 2nd half if the quality of writing in the 1st half is anything to go by.
@Miracle23, I was thinking they wrote that scene to highlight that mistakes and growth occur in various stages of being a doctor, not just to newbies?? Plus I sincerely think it was written in there to allow for the subsequent IJ/Jang interactions.
@dashman1010, did she leave the OR??? I dont remember now (memory of a goldfish 😂). Why would she?!?!
I’m trying to imagine myself in her place but within my professional setting. If I blundered and asked my superior to save me (essentially, do that I was supposed to do), I wouldn’t leave the boss to do the work alone, no matter how mortified/ashamed I was! For one, I would want to see how the work should be properly done ; for another, it’s just basic etiquette/decency — superior is taking the burden to do the work, least I could do is be there and not leave the superior alone (unless superior asked me to). How unprofessional. And frankly, how odd.
My theory is that Jang spread herself too thin as the sole GS resident (jack of all trades, master of none), especially after adding Pediatric Surgery to spend on-the-job time with JWon. She should have chosen to scrub into more of IJ’s surgeries if she knew she’d eventually choose a fellowship in hepatology. Her shadowing JW during his rounds was a professional waste of time if she knew that wasn’t the surgical subspecialty she’d pursue.
We’ve heard others in the show characterize Jang as not making mistakes, but from IJ’s questions when he entered the OR, it becomes obvious that there were two important–but basic for this type of surgery–things Jang overlooked, which is why she had trouble.
We’re only given a split second of the continuation of the operation after IJ talks with Jang, but it looks like Jang is across the operating table from IJ. She didn’t leave the OR. The reason I think it is her is because that person across from IJ is wearing the big surgical loupes (magnifying eyeglasses) with headlight. We’d seen Jang wearing those moments before; no-one else in the OR was wearing surgical loupes.
I noted that when she was a resident, Jang wore surgical loupes with less magnification and no headlight. As I wrote in another thread, the status of the doctors seems to be indicated in this show by the size of their surgical loupes. Now that she’s a fellow, Jang appears to be classing herself with the professors by wearing the same kind of surgical loupes they wear.
@pandamilktea so I went back and rewatched that scene because you brought it up, and you’re right she stays back (I think?). It’s not that evident because we don’t have face close-ups or conversations to recognise them by their voices (which was what gave *me* the impression that she left), but the number of OT personnel once IJ joins is one more than before he arrived, meaning that Jang also stayed back and is actually standing opposite him (timestamp ~1:01:27).
Ok, so that settles it, she stayed back but is dejected that she can’t lead a surgery yet. I stand corrected on seeing any writing discrepancy there (apologies for getting overly defencive). So, I agree with you then that it may be to show that experienced doctors can also make mistakes (and leading up to the Romantic Winter heart-to-heart sprinkled with lies and schadenfreude).
Yes @pandamilktea I thought it was highly odd for her to just walk out like that. Like you said, she should’ve stayed and watched how it should be done? And treat it as a learning experience? Rather than just walk out? Was she annoyed? Granted there was another resident there to assist (I recall her telling the GS resident to suction to clear the surgical field because the liver was bleeding?). It was just a very strange thing to do? She was already sterile so she didn’t need to walk out. All she needed to do was step aside. Was it because she didn’t like being upstaged in front of the new GS resident? Couldn’t recognize her behind the mask but was she the same one who asked if PaBo was married? 😂
O wait. I thought she walked out but I was mistaken. Maybe she did stay. 😂
Yup she stayed. You can see her surgical loupes standing opposite IJ as the camera slowly pans so I assume she took the GS resident’s spot (she wasn’t wearing surgical loupes) after IJ came in. It was interesting that IJ came in even before he was called? He was already scrubbed up and standing by 😂. Jang told the nurse to call IJ, she turned and walked towards the OR door and voila, IJ waltzes in already scrubbed and good to go. 😂
@pandamilktea, yes I get it that they wanna show mistakes are done at various levels. But remember Ep. 1, the nurses praised Jang as someone who rarely/ won’t make mistakes, good with patients yada yada yada? Even HPO ig promoted her as the kindest with the mother in Ep. 1. 🙄🙄🙄🙄 Subsequently, we are SHOWN the number of mistakes she did. From these subsequent scenes would I say she is the kindest person out there at Yulje? Nope. Sorry, that is not sincere potrayal of what kind is. It was forced. She did it after being instructed. She is not kind because she lacks understanding of the word. She did not practise kindness since Ep. 1 S1. A kind person won’t seek to know others mistakes to make herself feel better. And that is shown in Ep. 6 S2, just saying.😏
These inconsistencies in the write up of this character and its plots, that is my whole point. 😊
They can always pick another topic for ikjun x jang scenes. More meaningful topic like the one Shyeong x Minha, Shwa x SB and Jaehak x Jwan had when they are a residents and then their growth happens organically. But nope. They make her looks like she is all that i.e. best experience in surgery yada yada yada and then they made her did mistake at a fellow level and then they make her happy by listening to others mistakes. Jolly good roller coaster fun, eh?. 🙃
The theme in this episode are interns mostly. Jang has been there since ages. She has passed the interns level of doing mistakes. Move on writer nim. Move onnnnnnnn…… it is S2 already!! We are in 2021! Geez how slow can she be growing as a doctor 🙄
@dashman1010 @nrllee @pandamilktea
@Welmaris is right. To be fair (@OAL calls me kind!!! LOL) I went back to check if I missed Jang in surgery after IJ came to help. YES she is there.
I missed her when the camera moved to the right and she was hidden.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/110jbDeGqSyKola3SRWN7EzxoALh-nWwO/view?usp=sharing
So at least she didn’t ‘run away’ but stayed to watch. It was the least she could do.
IJ asked : Did you remove the adrenal gland?
Jang : No, I’m not there yet.
IJ : What about the seeding?
Jang: I’m sorry. I haven’t checked it yet.
IJ : That’s the first thing you need to do for cancer.
Jang : I’m sorry (and she sighed to herself).
She made a basic error and she panicked when there was bleeding, and did not remove the adrenal gland. These, I gather, are the first couple of things that need to be done in the liver transplant surgery. So she didn’t manage to make it to ‘first base’.
@nrllee from a few other medical dramas that I have seen, usually senior doctors stand by for a resident’s first few surgeries (I think it was shown in the Doctors 2016 series as well) until they get a hang of things.
Amazing post and comments here!
@pm3 you really have a way to express my thoughts better! I got an impression that while FG is playing in the background, this ep screamed romantic winter to me.
IJ and Jang bonding over FG’s failure really shows how petty these two are. IJ’s way of making fun Seokhyung and Junwan for crying also sealed the deal for me on why iksong isn’t endgame. He isn’t emotionally mature like songhwa.
I love the blink and miss it comparison between songhwa’s immediate trust to JW and Jang’s reluctancy. Idk why people call it a cute quarrel when for me it shows how childish and shallow their relationship are. It is a red flag for Jang not to believe JW, especially if she really thinks he’s perfect. I am guessing that she trusts Ikjun more AND that fact made her feel better about herself. She is still an insecure person after all. Even the way she was threaten by the new resident/intern was weird 🙄
@Miracle, what you’ve just said about what people ‘say’ about Jang and what we are ‘shown’ strikes a chord!! It’s similar to how we ‘hear’ that that JW spent time with her when she was out of sorts, but we don’t see it.
With this PD-Writer duo who craft their shows with such deliberateness, I feel it is significant that we are only told stuff that does not get verified by being shown to us, ie the proof is hidden from us. In fact, we find that what people said about Jang, is contradicted by what Jang does. We are being teased or challenged … as if we are asked “Do you believe blindly from hearsay? Or will you believe because you have seen it?
Or, we are being disorientated, until we no longer know what to think?
We used to think the world of JW, but now that is being challenged. So can we trust ourselves? Or trust the Show? It’s a painfully disorientating thing, to be following something closely, only to find that we are not on the same page after all, or that the rug has been pulled from under us, without our knowing!
And it feels like Show is laughing as we flounder.
@GB yes I went back and changed my point of view. My bad. She did stay. She took the spot of the resident and it looked like she assisted IJ the rest of the way. 🙂
@GB thanks for sharing that screenshot. And very well said about confusing the audience to the point where we don’t know whether to believe what we’re watching or not (“disorientated” is the most apt word to use in this situation). I remember when the S2 presscon aired and we were told that they’ll be delving deeper into the lives of the lacking five, this is not what I was expecting.
The thought that comes to me is that IJ has always considered himself the superstar. He thinks he is good at everything (except in being really good?). He has also allowed himself to be put on a pedestal, which is a precarious position, and keeps him insecure. He knows he can’t afford to slip.
When Jang asks him, of all things, to tell her his mistakes, he can’t do it.
The song says: “Just live a life with no regrets and you’re a superstar.” That’s a tall order, because even the mighty IJ has regrets. He is divorced and not even able to go camping with his son, and he has made silly mistakes that he cannot acknowledge.
He’s the character who appears in strange costume now and then. We recall him as Darth Vader, a ‘good’ guy who went to the dark side, and who would later be converted (by his son) to sacrifice himself and to return to the side of the force.
It would be nice to see a growth arc in IJ’s character, initiated maybe by Uju, where IJ could happily play second fiddle to truly good people (and acknowledge it!), instead of keeping the limelight all to himself. Is it too much to expect that Darth Vader may become Anakin Skywalker by the end of the series?
I want to be the devil’s advocate when it comes to the disorienting Jang. My take is that she:s a bad apple.She’s poison. She has managed to fool IJJl and PaBo who have covered for her and consistently gone to bat for her with little to show in return. Her surgical errors in this episode show a lack of basic preparation that even a lowly intern would know. We’re talking basic protocols here. This calls into question how was she ever allowed to be promoted. We have seen her so-called technical skills but her gross surgical errors at what is probably an entry level, belies even that assumption. I can:t buy that Shin Lee meant to show us that even fellows make mistakes.Sorry all you trusting commenters.Could our gal be a narcissist,? In any event she seems amoral sure she panicked, but not in the interest of the patient, but in self-preservation I don’t care that she stayed.She had to to make sure that the patient doesn:t die on the table and for show,especially to ziJ.
I think not all five of our leads are lacking,but yes-IJ and PaBo are because of their blind spot for Jang. My hope is that in the next half of the season, our “villain” Songhwa comes to her friends’ rescue.
And please Shin Lee don’t give Jang to anyone.PaBo has to build his children:s hospital (do you think Jang would stand for it).And can you picture Jang as U-Ju’s stepmother That would be child abuse.
The scene between Romantic Winter was meant to be a contrast to Bear couple. It started with the 2 cups of coffee. Despite IJ being there to support Jang in her distress and SH as well when MinHa was confused about the 2 differing opinions by her Profs. There is one glaring difference between the pair. SH was vulnerable in front of MinHa. He told her he was scared stiff about making a wrong judgement call. He let her in on his fears. IJ on the other hand, refused to reveal his inadequacies. Instead painting himself as “perfect”. The true test of any relationship is the ability to be truly honest with your partner/spouse. To “know” them. Romantic Winter isn’t going to sail either. IJ isn’t willing to be open and honest with Jang.
Thank you all for the posts and comments. I agree with everyone’s thoughts on Jang not being prepared adequately for the operation.
Here’s my bit of schadenfreude: it almost felt to me that it was a set-up by IJ. @nrllee, you said that he waltzed in like her ‘knight in shining armour’. He knows her level of experience, yet he told her to take the operation and that he would be available to help, but he didn’t verbally mentor her or even observe from within the operating room. (@Old American Lady had good points about this.) Instead IJ was all scrubbed up and got to the door even before the nurse could reach the hallway. This was after Jang was in well over her head – as though he knew something would happen.
To me this endangered the patient and I’m one who is glad that Jang asked for him when she did. She has hubris in some things, but here she verbally admitted that she was struggling, both in the OR and later with IJ. I don’t like her character, but I’m glad that her pride didn’t extend to trying to carry on alone.
Is Ik-Jun so jealous of JWon that he wants to become ‘saintly’ in Jang’s eyes? To be her own personal St. George?
@GB I was thinking the same thing about IJ, that he wants to be like a superstar. I remember in one of the Dr. Bong gossip sessions in S1, he described IJ as doing everything and being good at all of them and said he doesn’t have any complex or hang ups because he’s so competent at everything. IJ also seems to be everywhere and know everything about everyone like a superhuman. However, we’re seeing that’s not really the case, he can’t do everything and do everything well. For one, it’s been pointed out he’s not completely there as a dad for Uju, and now he’s doing things that show his insecurity. He definitely has room to grow and I feel we’ll see him being a better dad to Uju by the end of the season.
Thanks for the clarification, everyone! 😊😊😊 (@GB you are kind and fair lol)
@Miracle23, ohhhhh. I see what you mean and you are perfectly correct. Her development is just not organic, and I agree with everyone in that we are “told” and “shown” contradicting things about her. If her “character brand” is supposed to be a doctor who is technically proficient but lacks warmth, she isn’t really very technically proficient at all, if she was written to have missed those two basic-and-crucial steps. 🤷♀️
Are the inconsistencies the result of the ongoing revamp, I dont know.
But I really suspect that they are expediting her growth and likability for the ultimate Romantic Winter.
We’ve had several hints of Romantic Winter this season, especially this episode. (And I’m re-watching Season 1 now, to pass the time. I remember now that Romantic Winter was even constantly present that time, even in early episodes.) Im beginning to wonder if IJ is really unaware that he likes Jang!
@GB, good point on Darth Vader! Maybe that indeed will be his growth arc.
@nrllee, I agree with your SH/MH vs IJ/Jang contrast! I understand the human instinct to not make yourself look bad to others (especially to your crush ? ? ?), but yes, SH is the better person for admitting his vulnerability to Minha.
Woah @Fern!!! This is something to consider! Could IJ have set it up so that he’d look good before all in the OR, and of course, in front of Jang?
I can just imagine the talk that would have gone on after this operation. The news of what ‘Super Competent Surgeon’ IJ did to save Jang will be all over the hospital. It’s just the kind of news/gossip that would stroke his ego.
While we may be ‘fair and kind’ to say that at least Jang didn’t let pride keep her from calling for help quickly, can we say with any approval that at least IJ didn’t wait too long, – before Jang might have done her worst to the hapless patient – to come and save the day? Of course we are just guessing …but if there’s a grain of accuracy in our guess, then IJ’s ego is leading him to act unconscionably.
@packmule3, this is refreshing. I did wonder why Jang suddenly being so nice and generous to take the interns out for dinner. My first thought, Maggot wanted to establish her reputation among the newbies that she is a nice and kind SENIOR. She looks so proud being a SENIOR. Like you said, purely showing off. I never trust her aegyo and her trying-hard-to-be-cute and nice.
Abour Jang believes IJ’s lies, I think she refused to believe JWon’s version partly because she was happy that finally, Jwon can be reduce to her level. She is happy to believe IJ’s version because that makes her think, Jwon is not that perfect after all. She will bring the worst out of Jwon so they could become a perfect pair at the same level. Devilish.
That picture of WOW, notice how nasty IJ’s face compare to Shwa. IJ’s is very devilish. His face is really like devil. His WOW was mostly about his jealousy that he turned it to be a laughingstock towards JWon. While Shwa’s face is angelic and full of admiration. Her laugh was sincere.
@OAL interesting question. Who will she throw under the bus. I can imagine she can be very nasty when it comes to her needs.
@BulmaGoku Your comment about the WOW and the contrast btw IJ devilish face and Shwa’s angelical one reminds me of a Bernini’s bust sculptures. One represents the damned soul, a male contorted face; the other a blessed one, a female happy face. 🤣
@GB, thank you for YT link. It’s nicer to hear the Mido Falasol version hahaha.
And you point it out about how we only hear what people said about Maggot being a skilled competent doctor while showing many mistakes she did. It reminds me of S1 where she refused to take the sweet, saying she doesn’t like sweet while swallowing a bunch of cocopies. I believe it is intentional from ShinLee to do so. Shows not tell as @PML3 pointed it out.
@nrllee @miracle23, ohh that’s a good point. As stated by her friends, Shwa knows best. She has 800 years old soul in her. So hearing IJ’s convo with Uju might ring an alarm in her that she needs to talk it out with IJ. The invitation is not a romantic call, it is a twins call to shake out of IJ’s sense. He keeps on promising that camping, jeezzzz and he never did up until now. I had a feeling that Shwa knows that IJ doesn’t know how to do with camping, he prefers go to clubbing, hence the invitation. It is the right thing to do.
@OAL I share your sentiment towards Jang. You write beautifully about her being narcissistic and only do the things as self-preservation. It is in her character. Can’t do much to revamp her. Sorrybutnotsorry
😂 Wait.
In the beginning of the episode, Jang mentioned to JaeHak, SeokMin and SeonBin, how “greedy” she was to perform surgeries. She was on a group chat with other fellows wishing to perform more surgery.
So her wish to perform surgery was granted by IJ. IJ had confidence in her to do a simple surgery on her own. She however didn’t count on the excessive bleeding. She couldn’t see. She knew she was in trouble because she was behind schedule. The anesthesia had ?? An hour and 15 minutes left?? And she barely even started and couldn’t proceed because of the bleeding.
She had to call for help.
But remember now: This was Songhwa’s advice to Capt Ahn for a successful brain surgery. “Always control the bleeding.” 🙂
That’s why she was dejected after that. She’d been wanting, asking, wishing to perform a surgery on her own. But when she was given the opportunity, she couldn’t do it.
IJ was right. There’d be more opportunities later. Just keep on trying. But IJ must also rethink his way of assigning duties to her, too. He could NOT delegate tasks to her and leave her to do it solo.
Even SH and Songhwa didn’t do that with Minha and Capt Ahn and they’ve been there much longer. Same thing with JWan and JaeHak. The PROFESSORS were always there to watch over their fellows when they performed their first solo surgeries so they could instruct them.
I think IJ was at fault there too. 🙂
@pkml3, This seems to tie in with the idea (first mooted by @nrllee) that IJ could have set Jang up to need to call for his help, so that he could come sailing in to be her saviour. Either this or he was too careless or too trusting. Any of these reasons still put him in a bad light. This is strange of IJ, an troubling, because even if we could find fault with him in other areas, at least as a doctor, we held him in high enough esteem. Now this is also called into question!!!
@GB No she made a big error. It’s a rookie error not to check for seeding in a cancer patient. That’s the first thing you look for when you open a cancer patient up. How extensive is the spread? Did the cancer “seed” (migrate) to surrounding organs? Because that would determine prognosis. If the cancer has spread, then chances are even if you remove the main tumor, the prognosis for a full recovery is a whole lot lower because it’s spread. You would potentially have to follow up with chemotherapy. She probably got so excited to fly solo that she forgot this basic first step. She would’ve seen heaps of these surgeries and known this. But she was lost in the whole excitement of doing her first solo surgery that she didn’t run through all the necessary initial steps before heading straight into resection of the tumor.
Sorry, I meant the idea first mooted by @Fern.
Yes. She made an error. But it’s still PROFESSOR IJ’s fault. Just like it was the interns’ fault, but the resident/fellow takes the blame. It’s a chain of command.
🙂
That’s why I asked what episode last season did Songhwa have that shaving accident. I checked and she took full responsibility for it, although she wasn’t there.
The buck ends with whoever’s in charge. Part of leadership. 🙂
@GB, @nrllee made the observation first about IJ repeatedly being the knight in shining armour to Jang and I expanded on it a bit, so you were correct 1st time.
@packmule3, I know that in many places the person at the top takes the blame, but in many kdramas it seems like the higher ranking person is happy to let an underling take the blame. (Like Seong Bin and the fellow above her.) I’m glad that Song-hwa’s character is not like that.
I did notice that IJ didn’t enter the OR until someone had moved towards the exit door, but I don’t think that IJ would go so far as to blame Jang. I agree that he should have been inside looking on.
I guess this is also the flaws in writing. Weak writing, or intentional? Let’s see what the writer overdoes for this character:
1. Brag her around for her expertise, experience gathering and commitment i.e. the only gs resident and involves in most surgeries than others.
2. Have no empathy in 29 years
3. Selective empathy in between her 29th year of living to present
4. Reckless, cold and blunt when with others and patients
5. Meek and weak when with Ikjun and PG
6. Presumably came from abusive family yet failed to detect signs of abuse in patients i.e. 2 cases
7. Not one to make mistake.
8. Passionate in patient care.
9. Keep making mistake.
10. Stagnant growth, dying snail growth.
11. Did well on her first surgery as a resident under supervision.
12. Flop on the basic requirement in her first solo surgery as a Fellow.
When you wrote someone as blur and incompetent as a banana and then painted her as an intelligent and competent resident/ fellow who can even beat God, you get a Jang Gyeoul.🤪 See, if you prided yourself for beating God, you should be able to conduct your simple solo surgery. Common sense, simple expectation, right? /sarcasm.
Ikjun said he will drop by later since she said she only has minimal knowledge of the surgery. What she is expected to do is perform as per what she has learnt and he will still be there to supervise her. Although, he should be there from the very beginning 🤷♀️. Intentional plot to make her feels bad and confides in him. And to further showcase her toxic personality.🤣🤣
From the beginning, she is just all talk but no walk. When it comes to doing her job properly… she cracks.
When she flopped in her basics, it raised questions on what has she been learning from all those surgeries she attended as intern and as the only gs resident. She has been in the surgery room too many times. This is since 2019 or years before the 99ers came to Yulje. Now is 2021. There must have been events of her other surgeries in 2020 where she did her solo surgery observed by her other professors (just like Chihong did because they are both 3rd year residents in 2019, 4th year in 2020), including Ikjun, since her first one in Nov 2019 which was led by PG.
So, taking everything since 2019 and prior into consideration, the expectation from her by Ikjun is understandable. She should at least be able to perform all the basics really well in her 1st surgery as a fellow. Of course, as her professor Ikjun would be responsible for her mistake because he assigned the task to her given her ‘vast’ experience assisting in surgeries, /sarcasm. Sadly, she did not even try her level very best as she promised (🤦🏻♀️).
Conclusion: Weak writing 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 this is what happen when writer can’t make up her mind how to write this character. She gave Jang all and nothing at all. In the end, Jang becomes a banana, either this ‘&’ that, no logic, no common sense, just banana. Forget doctoring, her main function is to feed on her cheesy highschool romance with her teacher.🤪
This surgery scene reminded me of the liver transplant surgery in s1 with Ikjun doing surgery A (daughter) and a male fellow doing surgery B (father). Ikjun finished early and dropped by to see how the fellow was progressing. Iirc, the fellow could not control the bleeding, Ikjun asked if his assistance is required and he stepped in after given the greenlight by the lead surgeon i.e the fellow. Similarly, in RDTK, the lead surgeon will have to decide if he wants to allow other surgeon to take over. Unless permission is given, the assisting surgeon can’t take over the lead surgeon. I think the scene with Shwa and the older NS prof in Ep. 2 S1 also showcased this.
If Jang is the lead surgeon, and Ikjun supposedly to supervise, Ikjun can only take over if she gives the greenlight, in which she did.
KDJ in RDTK did similar mistake of not checking the condition of a traffic accident patient who has history of cancer, due to the emergency situation he missed out, resulting in him unable to control the bleeding. Mid Surgery:
Teacher Kim: You’re calling the shots on that operation. If your decision is to give up and call it done, nobody’s going to blame you. But if you do so, you’ll look back on that moment for the rest of your life.
KDJ: I’m sorry, I don’t feel confident enough to save this patient (still traumatised by the death of similar case operated by him previously)
Teacher Kim: Do you know what’s worse than death on operating table? It’s the regret you get thinking you might have been able to save the patient by not giving up. That thought will haunt you for the rest of your life. If there’s something worse than failure, it’s regret.
Post surgery:
KDJ: What were you going to do if I really gave up and stitched him back up?
TK: I wasn’t going to do anything. It’s not my responsibility that you gave up and killed him. You are the one who will live your life filled with guilt and regrets.
“Principles never change under any circumstances. Changing your words according to people and circumstances can’t be a principle. It’s merely an excuse.” – TK
TK mayhap is harsh but his words get to KDJ.
Jang makes mistake but instead of asking the right questions to improve herself, she basks in other’s failure to make her feel better instead of taking a lesson or two on how to avoid/stop excessive bleeding.🙄🙄🙄 No wonder she is still at that rookie intern level after all those years. 🤪🤪🤪
I had a thought about IJ. It has been established that everything came easily to him.He didn’t have to study much. He went unbing before tests.He got the best grades.
However, Mr. Lucky’s karma has changed. His wife is divorcing him for another man. He is entangled in Jang’s web (for better or worse). And he continues to misinterpret signals.
Right now,my concern is for U-ju. IJ doesn’t even know his own son. I think the camping trip with Songhwa will be an eye opener.Am interested to see whether this is the beginning of Songhwa’s ,’villainy’. it is time for Songhwa to break through. When you come to think of it, this might represent the sinking of the IJ Songhwa ship because we all know that she is honest. I hope she tells Izj what he needs to hear, especially when it comes to his neglect of U-Ju.
Happy to be paddling the canoe 🛶🛶🛶🛶
This thread ties into IJ’s fatal flaws- inattention, fast judgment, bias towards those he likes, failure to study as things came easily to him,-clubbing anyone. You can see how it will get HIM into trouble. Somghwa has to have the “come to God” conversation with him. After all she is the best of friends and his good twin.
@Miracle23, Could it not be bad writing but writing that shows IJ’s and others’petception of Jang? Are we actually seeing her through others: eyes in some scenes and as she actually is in other ones. I think this may be part of the Shin Lee tool set.
Another t her random thought. Contrast Jang’s hunger to do lots of surgeries to IJ’s advice to Songhwa(who was doing VIP surgeries to make money b for DLL and who was super competent) to do fewer surgeries. If you were a patient, who would you prefer to have holding the scalpel.
Thank you packmule for a great post. That trust between Songhwa and JWon is the reason that these two will be a great pair. What an awesome post. While JWon had to convince Jang about it and was still talking and whining about it, he did not have much difficulty with the rest of the gang. That trust is implicit between the two. IJ has low self esteem. That is why he needs to act superficial and has to have the limelight on himself. Such persons will go into mental depression if they don’t have it. Hopefully the rest of the gang understand this and leave him be. This happens among friends too. We all know who those are in the group. And who the pure hearted souls are too.
Jang derives pleasure seeing others pain. I did not know that they have a perfect word in German. what a convoluted brain. Since English is my second language, I would just go with Jang the twisted and crazy brain. IJ fits her perfectly. He lies about Jwon and calls it dramatization since he does not want to be in the hot seat and feel the disdain from Jang about him making mistakes. You can see he made mistakes to (tell but not show), but the mind only registers with example and he provided a false example. Putting himself up on the pedestal and throwing Jwon under the bus.
Also, he was so confident of Jang that he gave her the patient to operate and was called in when she could not handle it. Why would they want a fellow to operate solo without being watched. Even Jae hak was monitored by Jwan when he did the surgery. IJ became arrogant when he did that without the patient’s approval. I am surprised that the patient was not told ahead of time about Jang operating – isn’t it the first order of business when the OD, comes and tells about the procedure and what they would do and such. I was so surprised about it.
Actually I am wondering if IJ’s reluctance to take UJu camping is because of his ego. He knows he won’t be able to perform all the fundamentals of camping well (he’s a city slicker with country bumpkin origins?). He doesn’t like to be shown up as being incompetent? So if he fumbles at pitching a tent or starting a campfire etc, in front of UJu, instead of laughing at it and taking it as a bonding experience, he will hate himself for looking stupid? So he stalls. I think SHwa knows him well enough to see right through him. So she steps in to help by offering to do all the heavy lifting because she knows how it’s done. He just needs to turn up and offer assistance where necessary.
@packmule3 I agree about IJ needing to shoulder the blame for letting her believe she could do it on her own. But she’s always been one to lord it over others. That’s why she still comes across as sanctimonious when she was recounting the whole surgical process of the baby to girl twin. She loved to be in that position of authority where she is fawned over and put on that pedestal. Hence the “show me affection once a day” command to PaBo. He’s her subject who attends to all her needs. She’s the Princess.
Thank you @pm3 for this post! I also agree with most of what has already been said in the comments.
Indeed, when it comes to WG, the writer always tells but does not really show. We were also told about how JW rarely comes home early to be with Jang yet we never really get to see it. Even after one year, the relationship between the two was not shown to have any depth. That’s why that proposal idea was out of the blue for me because I don’t think they are already at that level. I also can’t say that it’s just how the writer portrays relationships in her stories since we know that the writer can make meaningful relationships even without all the touching (Bear couple), and even when the characters are busy or on an LDR (Bidulgi couple).
JW is a main character yet his relationship story as of now is just like how we were told about SM and SB’s relationship, just with an addition of a lot of touching 🙃 At least even SB and SM were shown to have disagreements while WG just have the perfect relationship. Really? The way the two are polar opposites of each other does not really convince me that they won’t argue on a looot of things.
Thank you too for introducing the German word schadenfreude. Jang seems to only feel better if others are also on the same boat as her. I also find it weird that even after a year of dating, she still views JW as perfect. Is she still on that honeymoon phase? Or their relationship is still not at the level where JW can truly be himself like when he is with his friends? If that’s the case, why then with the proposal talk?
Jang thinks JW is so perfect, yet when he calls to tell his side of the story, Jang refused to believe him. Once again, she prefers to believe IJ since IJ gave the story that would make her feel better. IJ’s story won’t make her feel that JW is too good for her. SW believing JW no matter what was gold. It also showed how SW does not have insecurities and she does not need to reduce others to a lower level than her for her to feel better about herself.
@Miracle23 I like how you explained how the writer can’t seem to decide what really is Jang’s character, and I agree. She is supposedly a really good resident with vast experience (all GS professors wanted her to assist in their surgeries), yet she was not able to do even the most basic part of her operation. I also liked how you compared what happened to that of RDTK. Jang always gets treated like a baby, gets consolidated whenever she makes a mistake, and someone always helps whenever she’s in trouble. This would really not allow her to grow as much.
A@OldAmericanLady – Who will she throw under the bus? — Did the liver patient that she operated on live? If ShinLee has to throw someone out, I would think this would be it. Both IJ and Jang would be in trouble.
Thank you @pacmule for this very cool post.
Yes, this song is really about it’s okay to cry and make mistake.
ShinLee used the new residents and also Jang in order to show and tell the 5’s flashback when they were interns.
Finally, there is a flashback about the 99ners.
And the cameo for ep.6 is the chief from Prison Playbook.
And one of the new resident who said that Jwon was her type is really impersonate Jang … hehehehe. The meeting between Obgyn and Pediatric is also a paralel to previous episode on season 1; but this time Jwon got a credit to have his name given for the baby from the parent.
And yes, Jang looks trying hard to be a superior in front of the new residents, and Ikjun is always shown to save her.
I am happy that finally there is a word coming from Ikjun about our pure hearted duo: FG. He stated them as a pure hearted person.
I think the theme for ep.6 is Mistake and Loneliness
The mistakes that we are discussing and the loneliness of Junwan.
@angelweingsst, I can think of several people she might throw under the bus depending upon who she needs to blame for her own mistakes. IJ is the first to come to mind. PaBo might be implicated for tel.ing her to buy coffee for grieving mom. She might turn on her only friend, Minha. And then, heaven help the new interns who might not assist her in the c ways she needs. We have now established that she expects to be served. She has an wct-the plain little hard working doctor who wants others to do her work for her or to support anything she does.
There are two wild card cgpharacters that could impact her relationships; Rosa and UJU. Rosa may have early onset dementia requiring PaBo’s attention, taking away tinpme for his adoration of herI can see her c resentment and potential tantrums. I can also see her mistreating UJu.
There are a lot of possibilities for her bad behavior. This, of course, is speculation on my part but the set u0
Thank you pm3 for this thread! 🥰
It’s so funny if only jang made mistake in this episode (minha, jaehak, seokmin ,seobin has passed that stage). Only jang who fellow resident still make mistake in this episode. Minha lead twin in good way, she doesn’t hubris. I like she give ramen cup secretly. She learn a lot from seokhyeong. Seobin, minha, jaehak better than jang because their mentor not baby-ing them. They fight for their patient. Jang give up in this operation remind me when she told jwon to give up when liver transplation. Heuuhh.. 😒
Ikjun always save her (or being superstar), and other side shwa let seobin to fight and confident. Iksong not compatible each other 🙅🏻♀️🙅🏻♀️
Shinlee fix jang character description, and praise her hardwork but she not improve in reality (in same episode or next episode). They just want viewer see jang equal with songhwa in each episode with her false improve, but shwa is real villain entire yulje hospital. LOL
Sometime i got clickbait and hope jang improve but that false hope. She still same until 18 episodes. OMG!! 18 episodes!! 🤷🏻♀️
*ah seokmin got scold shwa because he only think about his thesis not patien. So he not equal with minha, jaehak, seobin. Sorry dear !
@OAL @miracle23 thanks for breaking down Jang’s character. She is one of the worst character i have ever seen. I was also confused whether this is bad writing (because the writer was torn between rehabilating her character and showing her bad side) or all intentional.
I am leaning on the latter at the moment because over and over again we see how much Jang is constantly cocky and make mistakes. Do doctors make mistakes? Of course, they are humans after all. But unlike others, she didn’t learn from them. And one of the reason why is IJ mentored her in such a way that enabled her to continue her old ways.
@nrllee i love your point on how IJ might be stalling the camping because he refused to show any flaws. It made sense, and his ego is probably big enough to reach help from songhwa or jeongwon. That is probably why she initiated taking them to camping. We can see how much he loves to be in the spotlight and how he takes every chance to be a knight in shining armour. His son witnessing his struggle might be scary for him.
@angelweingsst just like OAL said, IJ and JW were the first 2 ppl came to mind. But remembering how she blamed one of the twins while apologizing, i think it is highly possible for her to blame interns/residents, and IJ/JW will notice how she didn’t take full responsibility.
I have a questions regarding who performs surgeries. When a patient is in line to get surgery, does she choose the surgeon. If so, in our case was the surgeon of record IJ? Did IJ mess up by substituting Jang as the lead surgeon to please her? Who then is ultimately responsible and who tells the family (IJ, in this case saved his and Jang’s cookies, but what they both did was unethical). What interests me is that there were lots of witnesses in the operating room. Does that mean there will be a formal inauiry. I don’t know the Korean medical system,but Jang’s screw up would seem to require a post op examination. There are liabilities to think of and IJ didn’t seem to be helping out due to pure altruism. Zny thoughts?
I have a questions regarding who performs surgeries. When a patient is in line to get surgery, does she choose the surgeon. If so, in our case was the surgeon of record IJ? Did IJ mess up by substituting Jang as the lead surgeon to please her? Who then is ultimately responsible and who tells the family (IJ, in this case saved his and Jang’s cookies, but what they both did was unethical). What interests me is that there were lots of witnesses in the operating room. Does that mean there will be a formal inquiry. I don’t know the Korean medical system,but Jang’s screw up would seem to require a post op examination. There are liabilities to think of and IJ didn’t seem to be helping out due to pure altruism. Any thoughts?
@OAL I think it is decided beforehand who does the surgery and the patient is made aware of the same closer to time. I think I remember in S1E2/3, SHwa is faced with a similar dilemma where (I’m hazy on the details here) she would have liked to help a patient with their surgery “but only if they request for me”, she tells her intern (I think it was SeokMin, he reached out to her to help with this patient’s case that another doctor was overseeing). So, it is a plausible presumption that Jang will be the one taking the lead with this patient, pre-/during/post-surgery care + communicating with their family, however, if IJ took over the surgery from her, then he may be the one administering the post-op care. However, this should be made clear to the patient/guardian.
Did you see in the E7 preview, a woman screams “isn’t there a doctor here? How much longer do I have to wait?” followed by “are you sure the surgery didn’t go wrong? How can I trust this hospital if something like this keeps happening?” and a zoom in on IJ’s face looking apologetic I think (although the woman who screams seemed to be grabbing her belly, so maybe the two dialogues are not related to the same case).
We may be closer to a medical malpractice scenario that you have been advocating for a while now, @OAL.
Thanks @OAL, – Jang might throw anyone under the bus. It might be sad that others would witness such behavior when she has been the princess in GS for the last 3+ years and 13+ professors have been assisted by her. That should be an eye opener for JW. Tired of seeing him being a teenager in his love life.
I also had the same question as you. It looks like it was IJ’s patient and he let Jang do the surgery and was confident that she would be able to make it. But there might be questions since the hospital is a gossip mill and news about how Jang was not able to finish the surgery and how she was not able to stop the bleeding and how she did not even do the basic procedure might spread in the hospital and reach the higher management and they would want to question Jang.
IF I am having a surgery, I would definitely want the surgeon and no t the fellow cutting me up. I don’t even allow them to draw blood from me. For some it might look like I am being nasty, but one time a student drew some blood (I think from the wrong place ) and I have suffered with hand pain ever since. When I went and checked with the doctor, she said, it could not be so. But that was the only change in my life. So, I am saying, I would definitely not want Jang operating on me.
I think it’s obvious that with the twins as interns, ShinLee were attempting to contrast their respective mentors (Jang for girl twin and MinHa for boys twin). Whilst externally it looked for all intensive purposes that Jang seemed to be the better mentor, she shouldered the blame for girl twin’s nasogastric tube incident by apologizing on her behalf (and we didn’t get to see her angry with girl twin), it was actually MinHa that was the better mentor. She was angry with boy twin and muttered “you’re so dead” in that “Richardson out” incident. We never get to see her (MH) reprimand. Instead she did the very thing that Jang was asking of IJ – tell me your mistakes so that I can feel better (strange how she can ask IJ to do that but she doesn’t do it herself for girl twin 🤔). MH got down to his level and admitted to “making worse mistakes when she was an intern” with the ramyeon note. 👍❤️ Which mentor empathized with their mentee and made them feel better? 😂
About IJ’s hesitancy to go camping with his son, Uju, despite Uju begging his dad to take him for more than a year: I think IJ dismisses the importance of camping to Uju just as he dismisses the importance of camping to SHwa. Because IJ’s not into camping himself, he thinks others are misdirected in their interest. Remember, he criticizes the camping equipment purchases SHwa makes with her own hard-earned money. My guess is that if IJ went clubbing, he’d spend as much money in one evening on drinks and not give it a second thought.
I would think an attentive parent would try to find out why their child is asking for something over and over. Why is it important to them? To not pay attention, to not care, is belittling the one who considers the matter important enough to make the request.
@nrllee well said.
For MH + boy twin:
MH: I’m sorry, professor.
SH: Didn’t you do a proper handover?
MH: I did. I’ll train him again. (to herself) you’re so dead.
For Jang + girl twin:
Jang: That must have been very uncomfortable. I’m sorry. Our intern hasn’t done this before, so she only remembered to put in a new one. (as an afterthought) I should have trained her better.
I should have done something vs. I’ll do it again properly / wallowing in the past vs. reassuring a second chance / ratting one’s mistake out on the spot vs. taking responsibility to do it again but better this time – which approach would a newbie prefer? MH is definitely the better mentor.
It’s funny because the scenes were presented back-to-back and yet people didn’t pick up on it the way you did 🙂
Also, it is beneficial to note how the conversation followed (as well as the interns’ reactions):
SH said to MH “this is contaminated now, we’ll have to carry on without it” but in Jang’s case, the patient was gracious to point out how his elder child was also learning something new and made mistakes all the time, so it’s okay. Note that SH did not offer MH solace in that moment (but MH knows how SH is, he means well for her so she didn’t feel bad about the way he reacted), but with Jang, that poor patient had to literally assuage her broken ego “I should have trained her better” (she is so sly with her words, I must say) – like she is some poor little damsel who cannot ever do any wrong, awww 🤦🏽♀️
Boy intern stepped outside the OR *but continued to wait by the door, looking at the patient with concern* (perhaps also a bit of apprehension whether he’d done his job correctly). The girl twin, however, poor thing, she was so embarrassed and guilt-tripped in front of the patient (another schadenfreude instance from Jang?), ack!
Wait!😂
Dramatization = tells story of the pure hearted souls PG x Shwa
Is Show giving us the heads-up that we will be getting a heavy dose of dramatization in the 2nd act? 🤔🤔🤔 Via Ikjun to JGU? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Bring it on Ikjun! 😈😈😈 Lol
@OAL, weak writing or intentional. Only the writer knows what she wants. Maybe cultural factor plays a part here. Maybe this is ok for them 🤷♀️😅 For me, JGU is the worst written and elaborated female character in HP (both seasons included). The wasted efforts when they can work on other more meaningful story, geez. 🙄 The writer can try shoving 100x JGU on my face and down my throat but I will just throw each one of it in the trash, where it belongs. 😏
@nrllee @dashman1010 You are both right on the comparison between MH and Jang with the twin interns.
I agree that Jang was sly on her words. It was like she was apologizing, but at the same time she was putting Yunbok at fault. When Jang explained what Yunbok did wrong and said “I should have trained her better”, it felt like she was saying, “I have already trained her and she did not get it so I’ll have to train her again”. This was also reflected on Yunbok’s reaction afterwards. Although at first it seemed like Jang was taking the blame, Yunbok still felt guilty and shamed about it. Whatever Jang said did not help her at all. She feels it even up to the day the patient gets discharged.
I was also somehow hoping for a follow up scene between Jang and Yunbok after the incident since you know, I was thinking that they may be rehabilitating her character, but we get none of it. There was no consolation whatsoever. While with MH, even when she acted all annoyed at Hongdo, she left him those snacks with a note that she too made mistakes.
Several times in the ep, we have seen how the mentors had consoled their mentees by telling them that they too used to make mistakes (SW, MH). For Jang however, she still hovered between being a mentor and a mentee. She can’t console her mentee the way the other mentors did, but she needed the consolation herself. This made me think. If she knows what IJ should do to make her feel better, then she should also know what to do to make Yunbok feel better – she could just do the same. But she didn’t.
@jwave, because she can’t empathy, remember? 😏 They are still sustaining that part of her. She needs to be fed empathy her whole life and she still won’t ge able to give one, sincerely. That is JGU. Cute? 🤷♀️
@jwave just to add one final point to your observation, the writer has only “told” us about Jang being happy to be mentoring interns (via her own admission to Jae-hak). However, it is MH’s training that the makers decided to “show”, not Jang’s. We know exactly what MH told HangDo, it was clear instructions. He was inexperienced to not grasp it fully, but then MH explained it all the same to him in her own way later on. Their mentor/mentee arc felt “complete” by the end of the episode.
With Jang though, nothing was shown to us but everything was only told. We have no clue HOW she trained YunBok/what instructions were given/pertinent reference books to look up and so on. So, that alone makes the arc seem “incomplete” and “unbelievable”. The only “teaching” that Jang undertook in this whole episode was while she and YunBok were watching JWon operate on Song Jeong Won (😍), that too her tone felt so condescending, like “look here little lady, I’m putting so much efforts into giving you XYZ information about this surgery, better store it in your brain and not make me repeat it or else…”
Is it just me that felt like that after watching that scene? And not once did she praise JWon for his competence, interns learn a lot just by *listening* to stories of doctors saving lives, they look up to great doctors. But with Jang, she hogged all the spotlight by showing off to YunBok the bookish knowledge that *she* knows, not the actions and decisions a learned doctor like Ahn Jeong-won makes. Stories connecting people to doctors is way more impactful than conveying theoretical knowledge. Theory =/= application, as much SHwa also advised SeonBin while reading her thesis. At the end of the day, Jang is all brains and no brawn, a waste of screen space and time as @Miracle23 says.
@dashman1010 I know. She sounded all sanctimonious didn’t she? She just loves to lord it over others. I think that’s why she’s so happy to have “subjects” (the 4 new GS residents) and girl twin. They hang on her every word. She revels in her newfound status as a “fellow”.
Well PaBo is back to doing surgery without her now. He has the other Pediatric fellow who looks so much like SHwa (with her haircut). 😂. Jang picked IJ’s specialty. In Ep7 I think she’s opposite IJ in the OR again. Love is definitely blooming in GS 😂.
@Dashman1010 @Nrllee I agree. She underlined to Yunbok that she had seen a smaller baby going into OR.I think writernim is comparing again ways of mentoring. Remember Yunbok has already chosen NS.Shwa was the reason to go there and she has seen how is she as a mentor.
@Miracle23 Hahaha. Totally not cute. They are at least still very consistent about her being unable to empathize. I just hope she won’t suck JW dry with her lack of empathy.
Since she seems to follow through with instructions, “consoling mentees” should be added on her job description as a mentor for her to actually do it. Probably with a few specific notes on how to. I’ll stop frustrating myself on her not being able to learn cause it seems like she never will 😒
@dashman1010 Ooh you’re right. We never got to see how Jang actually trained Yunbok. During the operation, I was also somehow waiting for Jang to praise JW’s competence as a doctor since he is her boyfriend and all, but it was all just technicalities.
Since you highlighted the difference on theory and application, it is very likely that Jang was only able to teach all the theories needed to get the job done. Without sharing actual experiences, those theories wouldn’t have much impact to her interns and will easily be forgotten.
I was so grateful to the patient with the nose tube when he thanked Yun Bok at the time of his discharge. We could see that his empathy was passed down to his family when his daughter helped him tie his shoes. So sometimes the practice of empathy is taught – or re-ignited as we saw with Jae-hak and JWan and with Song-hwa and Seok-min in episode 1.
I think that empathy can be a choice. Even if one isn’t feeling empathetic, sometimes one must make the effort to appear so. This relates to dealing with the public as well as at work, within friendship groups and families. I’ve worked in situations where empathy is encouraged and where it is not – when the customer is right (respected) or not, or where workplace competition between staff mates is healthy or supportive as well as fierce and nasty.
We have seen Jwon, SH and others being empathetic when patients and family are being unreasonable. I’m sure that they are giving their clientele the benefit of the doubt and are responding in a manner that sounds empathetic even if their thought clouds might be saying something much more blunt.
@nrllee @dashman1010 @jwave great comparisons on Minha and Jang. Minha fluorished as a mentor while Jang still needs someone to baby her. On-screen we’re shown how she point out the twin’s mistake in front of the patient, while Minha scolded the other twin and showed her support in a not flashy way.
@felixthecat if i remember correctly, the part where Jang told JW to give up is also in ep 6. This must be intentional. When things get hard, she quits. She much rather self-preserved than prioritize the patient and do the work professionally. She is basically incompetent, like she said in ep 5.
I really think the best way to end her arc is by putting her in a malpractice. I’m tired of seeing her lack of growth and stupid decisions as a doctor. Her insensitivity to patients didn’t help her case too. I think a malpractice case like this will open everyone’s eyes on how bad she actually is.
@Sasa13 That one posdibility, she’s like the fox on OBS. She’s fooled everyone.
However, I suspect Rosa is seriously ill.
Her forgerfullness has evolved, also add the reference of the CS’s mother illness, the PD fellow so alike Shwa that couldn’t help JW during surgery and the focus on mother-in-law interactions lead me to think is probably first stages of Alzheimer or senile dementia.
JW will suffer becouse of that and want to take care of her. If, a great if, he proposes to Jang, Rosa will be living with them. Jang has not deal yet with a moody JW, even less a distraught one. There is no way Jang would be able to become an anchor to JW. She’d give up.
@Sasa13 Ah.. they mirroring her mistake like season 1. I also tired watch her scene, why writernim not make her character better through 1 year already. If they put her in malpratice, ikjun and jwon will save her again and again. All fellow resident have better improvement, but why she at same stage? Make viewer feel pity for her?
But this is not fun, because this is about save someone live. She is doctor and will be professor one day.
Hi Everyone on this thread, You are why I grateful to BOD for being. The presence of or the lack of empathy makes all the difference in our lives. There are people who will never have it and some with an over abundance of it. I think one of the best parts of HPL is how they’ve incorporated this topic. We are exasperated by Jang for her complete lack of empathy. We now see how the extremes impact our characters’ lives. We see misguided empathy in IJ. We see the total lack of empathy in Jang
Her character frustrates, enrages, baffles us. That’s why Jang is so polarizing. Her fans can:t see her fatal flaws. And we FGs see her flaws all too well and know viscerally what these mean. What this thread does is put into words our frustration with the WGs for their character blindness and our empathy for characters like Somghwa whose understated empathy, knowledge, humor,bad singing carry the day. I remain hopeful that Shin Lee will follow through on these good life lessons.
@ori exactly! And here we see how different IJ is with SH too. Seokhyung sees right through fox and appreciated Minha’s effort. IJ ate all of Jang’s act up. From ep 5 we can see that JW even as a bf does not deny Jang when she said she is not competent. JW is blinded by his lust, (🤮) but as a doctor he knew Jang had a long way to go.
I also agree that Jang won’t come through if something bad happens to Rosa. She lacks the empathy. I also don’t understand why they haven’t interact again. She is literally the pushing factor for her to ask JW to stay? Won’t she feel grateful? Idk what the dating culture is in Korea but i would assume after a year of dating, you’d already be introduced to the parents especially if you’re going to marry. I understand why DS and Taek hide their relationship at that time, as well as Bora and Sunwoo, but here we’re talking about Rosa who is always pushing JW to date.
@felixthecat yes, i think the writers did that on purpose. Even with the new coat and title, she still lack growth. She doesn’t have the same eagerness to save the patients.
I recall one of the lovable character in PP, Looney, can’t resist drugs again and then returned back to jail. Not only does this raised awareness on drugs, this also shows that perhaps not everyone will get a happy ending in the wise series. That’s why it is possible that Jang’s lack of empathy and blunders will lead to her failure as a doctor.
@OAL i agree. Putting Iksong and WG together will “reward” bitterness, lack of empathy and so on. I am even surprised Jang can get away with so many of mistakes that doesn’t only hurt the guardians feelings but also endanger their lives. If the writers want to rehab this character fully, they should’ve done it already. Here we see her taking 1 step forward 3 steps back
I just did a quick rewatch and realized that the “Show don’t tell” applies to MinHa and Jang “training” their respective interns? We are shown MinHa training Boy Twin (it was quite a protracted explanation by MinHa).
https://i.ibb.co/fDCqNZZ/8-E7-EE60-B-34-A6-4639-961-B-35-AC38-CEB918.jpg
We are never shown Jang training Girl twin. Girl twin is just asked by the nurse to change the nasogastric tube for a patient because it was blocked. Did Jang even train her? Or did Jang just say that to cover for the mistake? 😂
I am currently watching The Good Doctor (American version, starring Freddie Highmore) season 4.
I found a bit similarity to HP which made me think perhaps ShinLee had the same idea with David Shore (the story developer).
On TGD season 4 ep.4 there are new interns coming to the hospital, and dr. Shaun Murphy (the doctor with autism and savant syndrome same as with the character on Good Doctor Korean original version) now he is a fellow and has to guide, mentor the new interns and face their faults too.
It reminds me to Hp ep.6.
Meanwhile on season 3, dr.Murphy tried to know about love. He dated a doctor from pathology and shared his ‘first times’ with her. Their relationship reminds me to WG: catching ‘the first times’ were more about exploring the physical touch only. At the end of the season 3, he got back to his original love interest: his former neighbor, best friend, turn to roommate named Lea; because his pathology gf said that she saw them had extra something to each other.
I think they remind me to FG too.