I didn’t coin this term “binary opposition.” The French anthropologist, Claude Levi-Strauss, did. He observed that in many stories told in books and films, the plot is driven by characters, values and/or concepts that are directly polar opposites.

Think of Batman vs. Joker, hero vs. villain, rich vs poor, religious vs secular, engineering vs. feng shui, war vs. peace, crime vs. punishment, individual vs society, science vs. superstition, objective vs subjective, good vs. evil.

Binary opposition is the theory that we can understand one character, value, or concept better when we juxtapose it with another character, value, or concept. We can see details better when there’s contrast.

That’s why I brought up — several times now — that Songhwa is the antithesis of Jang. link: Songhwa’s first love

And why I wrote the Tale of Two Cities for Episode 3. You didn’t think I was just spouting nonsense, did you? link:
Tale of two cities

Binary opposition is seen throughout Director Shin and Writer Lee’s work. It’s their go-to method to communicate their themes.

Here are the examples in this episode.

1. Winners and losers

Read more about the tournament here: Reading between the lines

2. Songhwa’s embarrassment

JW: Coming straight from the OR?
Songhwa: Yes. I probably reek of sweat. (embarrassed)
JW: No. Why did you come straight here? This match isn’t even important.

She was feeling self-conscious. She was blocking her body.

In contrast, she didn’t show any self-consciousness exercising her tired (and probably smelly) feet in front of IJ.

3. JW’s phone call to Jang

JW: I want to see you even for just a moment. Where are you?
Jang: I’m in the Medical Office now, but I have to go home. I’m supposed to have dinner with my mom.
JW: I see. Okay, then I’ll see you at the hospital tomorrow.
Jang: Alright. I’m sorry.
JW: Why are you sorry? I’m totally fine, so don’t worry about me. I’ll see you tomorrow.
Jang: Okay.
JW: (sighing)

Comments:

a. We all noticed that he spent a lot of time watching IJ’s game. He could have called up Jang earlier or dropped by to see her earlier. He didn’t have to wait to call on her until he was about to go home. It seemed like she was an afterthought.

b. @Cleopatra (was it you?) also mentioned that Jang actually lied again. Jang could have told JW what she told Minha – that she was coming back and that she was worried about her mom. Instead, she omitted important details.

This two scenes are a binary opposition.

Jang: I’m sorry, Minha. I have to go home.
Minha: Didn’t you say you had to work on your paper all night?
Jang: I’m going to come back later at night.
MInha: What?
Jang: I want to go home to fix dinner for my mom. I’ll come back after she falls asleep. That way, I’ll be less worried.
Minha: Is she badly hurt? Why don’t you check her in? What happened though? What kind of injury?
Jang: I’ll tell you everything later. Right now, my head is all over the place. I’m sorry, Minha.

Jang didn’t want to tell her own boyfriend any of these. She didn’t want to open up to him about her family problem or to rely on him for emotional support. Her behavior says a lot about the way she viewed their relationship.

But I’m sure ShinLee are setting us up for another sob story to rehab Jang and turn her into a sympathetic character.

c. Jang could lie.

Isn’t it ironic that she was lying to these two persons? Back in Ep 6, she told JW she wasn’t a good liar,

and she told Minha that she couldn’t lie.

Writer Lee made sure that her lying skill was mentioned twice in Ep 6 to show her illusion vs. reality.

4. SeonMin and SeokBin’s stairwell meeting

SB: I have nothing to do at home anyway. Shall I stay?
SM: I’m busy. I have to finish my thesis, and Professor Min is on call tonight, so I’ll have to take care of most calls. I can’t hang out with you.
SB: Then give me a kiss.
SM: (pecks him)
SB: (leans in to kiss her)

a. Just like the tournament segment, this scene isn’t superfluous. This is a binary opposition to JW’s phone call. SeokBin sought her out as soon as he had a moment free because he wanted to spend time with her. She wasn’t his last-minute deal. Then when she gave him a small peck, he wanted more.

b. Remember in Ep 7, Jang knocking on JW’s car window and pecking him? She got in the car, and all he did was pat her hair like she’d been a good kid coming home from school. Meanwhile, she SIMPERED like a bashful miss.

Binary opposition.

c. Also, do you remember in S2:Ep1 when JW offered to hang out at night with Jang because she was on night duty a lot? She didn’t like it.

JW: Are you on duty tomorrow? I saw the schedule. You’re working all the night shifts this week except for today. Are you going to be okay?
Jang: (staring at him)
JW: but I can stay with you at night.
Jang: (blinking, then staring at him again)

The pout! lol. IJ parodied that ugly pout here.

He was mimicking her sulky face, complete with the fake  innocent eyes, and pouty lips.

This is the director inserting himself in the scene again and leaving a meta-joke.

JW: I mean, I’d be in my office working, obviously.
Jang: (smiling, then looking down)
JW: I can’t help you with your tasks, but I can stay up all night with you.
Jang: (shaking her head) No, it’s okay. I got it.

In my commentary on their first Dinner Date, I said her reaction was unnatural for someone who should have been excited to spend more time with her new boyfriend. After all, this was her first-time dating. She sounded worried that he was going to sexual proposition her.

JW was only asking her an innocent question, but SHE made him look weird. By clamming up like that, she made him sound like he was propositioning her to go to bed with him. All he wanted was to spend time with her in company…which is rather natural when people just started dating.

She just clammed up when he asked if he could keep her company during her night shift.

Now, she had a different excuse not to meet up with him: her mother.

5. Minha vs. Jang

Here’s another binary opposition for you. I wrote about it in the same Dinner Date thread, and I’ll repeat myself here. There’s a rational and compelling reason why I cheered for Minha for going after her man, but I booed at Jang for going after JW.

The difference between them was evident in their “two questions.” Minha was interested in SH as a man, while Jang was only interested in JW as a mentor. To Jang, JW was a “conquest,” somebody who was out of her reach but was able to snatch. That’s why she looked smug and pleased with herself back in Ep 4 when the Nurse admired JW’s kind nature,

Simpering face again.

and why she didn’t silence Minha and IJ when they crowed about her beating God.

For me, the “two questions” scenes back in Ep 1 showed ing great detail how opposite Minha and Jang were in regard to their love interest.

Let me repeat myself out here in the open.

Jang: By the way, there’s something I want to ask you.
JW: What is it?
Jang: I have one personal question and one work-related question.

JW: Well… (pours water in his cup) What’s the personal one?
Jang: Can we go to the movies this weekend?
JW: Yes. Now, the work-related question.

Note well: her personal question was perfunctory. She displayed minimal interest or reflection about it. And in return, his answer was just as desultory. It was a token answer. He answered in one word, “Dae.” The Netflix subber actually extended it to “Of course, we can.”

There was no follow-up to her question. They didn’t eagerly plan what movie to watch. They didn’t google the cinema location or the viewing time. They didn’t talk about how to get there. There was zero excitement about their movie date. And most bothersome, neither of them showed curiosity about the other person’s taste in movies.

In my lengthy post about their Dinner Date, I said that their noticeable lack of interest in getting to know more about the other person is a RED FLAG.

In contrast, here’s Jang’s work-related question. Unlike her personal question, she had a long-winded introduction to her problem. He, too, gave a lengthy advice to her. I transcribed the entire conversation from netflix to show the binary opposition.

Jang: Well…It’s about Yeon-u. The kid who died last fall. Professor Lee JiYeong’s patient.
JW: Mmm.
Jang: Yeon-u’s mother has been visiting the hospital since about a month after Yeon-u died. Sometimes, she’d intentionally book and appointment to visit us, or she’d say she stopped by because she was in the area. She visits the hospital often for no reason. And she looks for me every time. I get the feeling that she has something to say to me, but I can’t figure out what it could be.
JW: (drinks water)
Jang: Should I politely ask her what it’s about? Or should I just continue to feign ignorance like I’m doing now? I don’t know what to do?
JW: She keeps visiting the hospital because she wants to talk about YU. There’s no other reason. No one else remembers her child, you know. The relatives must have only met YU once or twice. And YU didn’t go to day care, so there are no teachers. YU practically lived in the hospital since birth, so no one outside the hospital remembers the kid. As a mother, she wants to talk about YU but she has no one to talk to except for the doctors and nurses who took care of him for a long time. She’s grateful to you for all your help, but she also wants to talk to you about YU. She might make you uncomfortable or avoid the subject altogether, but next time you see her, go talk to her first and buy her a cup of coffee or something.
Jang: (nods head)
JW: No one keeps visiting forever. She too will stop eventually. Because we all have to forget and move on. So just until then give her a warm welcome whenever you see her.
Jang: Okay.
JW: Let’s eat.

See that?

It should be obvious to viewers that the highlight of their FIRST dinner date was the work-related question between a mentor and a mentee. The romantic ambiance was missing in their date. lol.  The director didn’t even give us a raised shot (or an over-the-head shot) of their dinner meal, and this director LOVED to spotlight the food during mealtimes in this drama. The omission was glaring.

To me, their dinner conversation underscored how little they have in common. IkJun and work were their only points in common. But on the subject of work, they weren’t even on par with each other. She treated him like a professor, not like a boyfriend.

In binary opposition, here’s Minha with her two questions.

She’d been peeking through SH’s office window and pacing outside his door. He put her out of her misery by opening the door himself. He told her that he could see her outside all along. By this, he was implying that he found her a nuisance but he was taking pity on her.

Minha being Minha, she ignored this slight.

He made instant coffee for BOTH of them. Note: he wasn’t like JW who babied Jang and mixed the drinking water for her.

Minha: (noticing) Professor Yang, I guess it is winter indeed. You’re drinking hot coffee instead of an iced Americano today.
SH: (laughing) I guess you’re not scared of me at all.
Minha: I am. I’m really scared of you.

Here, you could tell that they were at ease communicating with each other. They were saying the opposite of what they actually mean, yet they understood each other. SH was mocking her when
when he observed that she wasn’t scared of him. And she wasn’t scared of him although she said so. They were on the same wavelength and could joke with a straight face.

SH: So what’s up? I’m tired. I want to go home.

SH was being blunt her to throw off Minha. In normal situations, he would have done the polite thing and filter his words to spare her feelings. But here was letting her know that he was actually tired…and grumpy. But Minha wasn’t the least bit disconcerted by his bluntness.

Minha: I have two questions for you.
SH: Just ask one.
Minha: Just one?
SH: Yes, just one question a day. Only one a day. Then I’ll answer it nicely without getting angry.

He was joking, of course. He was a very mild-mannered doctor, and rarely became angry. Also, as she was his resident, he couldn’t outright limit her questions since her questions could pertain to patient care. Unlike Jang, Minha didn’t tell SH that she was going to ask personal questions.

Somehow he knew that her questions were going to be personal. And this indicated that he understood Minha’s personality more than he showed.

Minha: Oh! What should I do? What if the two questions are combined into one?

Strictly speaking, this constituted as one question. Minha already asked her one question of the day.

SH: (laughing) No, you can’t do that.
Minah: Okay. Patient Kim Sujeong…The PROM patient who was admitted today. What made you make such a decision in that situation? No one can guarantee the treatment will be successful. So why did you make that decision knowing the chances are slim? I was so impressed.

Her question and Jang’s had a glaring difference. Jang was ROBOTIC. She wanted a ready solution to her work problem so she asked JW. JW explained the situation to her, then solved her problem himself by directing her on exactly what to do. “Do A, B, and C.” She then complied like an automaton. JW fed her the INPUT, she produced the OUTPUT. Her initiative was absent. She just had to follow as prescribed.

Minha’s question, on the other hand, sought understanding.  She wanted to know what SH was thinking when he made the decision. Minha wanted to know the right approach and the right perspective in case she had to deal with this situation again.

Moreover, her line of questioning indicated Minah’s interest in SH as a person. She admired the way he treated his patients, his philosophy in life, and his values. Jang, on the other hand, liked JW because he was a competent doctor and wanted to emulate him. Do you see the difference?

SH: Well, I just wanted to help the patient and her baby. She felt her baby sooner because she’s on the slimmer side. The fact that she can feel her baby shows us the baby’s will to live. If both the mother and the baby are determined to get through this, I think helping them is the best choice I can make in this situation even though the chances are slim.
Minha If something bad happens to the baby and the mother as well, what if her family blames you for it? Aren’t you afraid of that?

Minha was concerned about SH the Man. She was worried about the impact of a failure on his career and his mindset. In comparison, Jang never showed concerned about JW’s burnout. It was no secret that JW was the only one in Pediatric Surgery, but Jang hadn’t inquired him how he was coping — or even bothered about his food.

SH: I am. I’m afraid too. But if I think about that now, I won’t be able to do anything. “What is the best I can do now?” That’s what I try to focus on.

Note well. SH was opening himself up to Minha. She didn’t view him simply as her advisor at work, but as somebody close to her with tremendous responsibility on his shoulders.

To me, it’s mind-boggling that JW and Jang were already dating though they’d never engaged in this kind of heart-to-heart talk. That’s why I’ve been saying that the WG’s relationship is shallow. Even more than a year later, they exhibited little connection and no communication. The basis of their love is the basest of all reasons: their “feeeeels.”

Minah: (quietly taking all of this in)
SH: Get going. It’s past midnight.
Minah: I’m sorry.

She got up to leave then had an idea.

Minah: Professor Yang.
SH: Yeah.
Minah: It’s past midnight.
SH: I know. I’ll go home soon.
Minah: No, it’s not that. It’s a new day so I can ask you another question.
SH: (looks at her)
Minah: May I ask you the question of the day?
SH: (laughing) Sure.

Again, strictly speaking that was her first question of the day.

Minah: Well…It’s about Professor Yoon Seonju in Room 7009. What’s your relationship with his daughter? Rumors say she’s your girlfriend.
SH: She’s my ex-wife. Professor Yoon SeonJu’s daughter is my ex-wife.
Minah: I see. What are you doing tomorrow evening? You don’t have any surgeries or outpatient appointments booked, and I’m not working the night shift.

This was her third question of the day!

SH: I have my band practice right after work.
Minah: But Professor Chae is in Sokcho now.
SH: Songhwa is in Seoul now. She got a new car, so she’ll give us a ride….Why am I telling you these things right now?
Minah: (bowing) Goodnight.

That’s my analysis of Jang’s and Minah’s Two Questions. ShinLee set up the binary opposition here.

a. Jang was only interested in getting free advice from JW on how to improve herself because JW had a “sympathy gene” that she lacked. Minha displayed keen interest in knowing SH the man.

b. Jang asked HER personal question FIRST — not because she prioritized it over her word question. She posed her movie invitation first because she wanted to get it out of the way and focus on her real question: the work-related question.

In contrast, Minha asked SH the work question FIRST and her personal question LAST. Her first concern was SH. She knocked on his door because she wanted to know how he was coping, and if he felt burdened by his decision. She wanted to put herself in SH’s shoes so she could understand him because she admired him. Her invitation to go out with him was the afterthought.

Look: if her main priority was asking him out on a date, she wouldn’t have been pacing outside his door. She would have walked in there, like she had done before, with a cup of coffee or energy drink and ask him out in her roundabout way. The reason she hesitated to knock on his door was because she didn’t think that she had the right to pose a PERSONAL question about HIS decision-making process.

Do you see the difference?

That’s why I’m cheering for Minha, and not for Jang. Despite Minha’s numerous faux pas, Minha and SH were getting to know each other in a deeper and more personal level than Jang and JW ever did.

6. Last one, Songhwa vs. Jang

The mothers of these two women were undergoing a crisis which impacted the ability to concentrate on their work. Songhwa coped well. She told IJ that her brothers stepped in. Jang wasn’t coping. She was overwhelmed by the situation.

In my opinion, Songhwa’s mother was purely a plot device to move her romance with IJ. The appearance of the mother wasn’t necessary. All the writer wanted to show was whether she would rely on IJ for physical comfort and emotional support.  (She didn’t.)

The story of Jang’s mother seems to be on different level. To the cynical me, this appears to be ShinLee’s last-ditched effort to rehab Jang into a pitiful person, and give her an UNEARNED win in the end.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

So, there you go. Six examples of binary opposition in this episode. Keep your eye on it in the next one.  🙂