Things I didn’t like:

1. Cha Eun Jae, again.

Here’s why:

a. Her daddy issues suck.

As much as viewers want to vilify her father, Prof Cha Jin Man, he had good reasons to take her to task.

CJM: Are you saying that if the results are good, the process doesn’t matter?
EJ: I’m just saying that for good results, a little flexibility is necessary.

That’s a good enough compromise. Prof Cha is right that the process does matter. I keep saying this: The ends (i.e., the good result) should not justify the means (i.e., the process or method to achieve the ends). But EunJae has a point, too that sometimes, a bit of flexibility is necessary.

Hmmm…I wonder how Prof Cha’s moral principle applied to his son’s malpractice case last season?

CJM: In all things, there are fundamentals and principles. If you keep changing the fundamentals and principles according to convenience, the foundation is ultimately doomed to collapse.

True. The pertinent phrase here is “keep on changing.” He’s saying that if a doctor CONSTANTLY changes the rules to suit his convenience or to accommodate his needs, then in due course, all rules become discretionary or negotiable, and no rule is indispensable. Moreover, as we’ll see later when Dr. Kim rebuked the resident Dr. Jang, he too thought believed that some medical principles were sacrosanct.

EJ: Master Kim has never broken the fundamentals or principles. More than any doctor I know.

True. But it seems to me that one conceit of this drama series is that Master Kim is the “god” of the ER. He can’t do any wrong. While I do like the idea of a “perfect” hero in a kdrama, I do know that there’s no such perfect doctor in real life. So I’m waiting with bated breath for his misstep.

On a side note, if I were Master Kim, it would scare me to have junior colleagues who worship the ground I walk on and believe that I can do no wrong. This kdrama almost portrays a cult of personality.

CJM: I’ve neglected you for too long.
EJ: Daaaad.
CJM: Professor. Call me Professor in the hospital. Keep your work and personal life separate.
EJ: (chastened) I know that much.

Well, if she knew that then why did she keep calling him “Dad” at the hospital?

From the beginning, it struck me odd that she called him “appa” in the hospital. To me, after her initial shock at seeing him at the Doldam Trauma Center, she should have kept their relationship strictly professional at work, and called him by his title. Duh. Even my goddaughter who interned at my office one year knew better than to address me as “Aunty Packmule3″ in public. She called me by my first name like the other interns.

CJM: What you think you know is different from what you actually know, Eunjae-ah. You should know how to differentiate the two.
EJ: What about my surgery? I want to know what you thought about my surgery.

This is ridiculous. Why is she this needy for affirmation from her dad? She’s a grown-ass woman.

CJM: Regardless of skills, I want you to become a doctor that upholds principles.

If I were EJ and my father had said this, I’d take his statement to mean that: a) he was downplaying my skills because he alrleady recognized that they were impressive, b) he was behaving like a typical Asian parent who’s reluctant to praise his daughter lest her success gets to her head. Instead, CJM was reminding me that I had a lot to learn, c) beyond skills and talents, CJM put premium on me being a “good” (meaning, “principled”) doctor, and d) he was lousy at expressing himself, but he wanted the best for me.

Too bad that EJ’s insecurity hindered her from reading between the lines.

b. Hiding her relationship with Seo WooJin from her father was juvenile. 

I get that there was bad blood between Dr. Seo and her family. But it had been years since that malpractice case. She was an adult. She had the right to live her own life. How long must she keep unfairly blaming Dr. Seo for what happened to her family?

IMO, she was acting like a teenager sneaking a boyfriend in her parents’ house when the father was the one temporarily living with her. Her house; her rules.

Moreover, if she had to hide things, how dumb was she not to get rid of all traces of their cohabitation from their bathroom? Really? Leaving Dr. Seo’s toothbrush on the ledge and shaving cream in the cabinet?

To me, if she wasn’t willing to stick up for him, then she had no business leveling up in their relationship.

c. It was a jerk move to share that tomato juice with that new doctor and let him drink from the tumbler. 

If the situation had been reversed and the hero shared the drink with another woman, many female viewers would have called him a jerk.

What vexed me more was that she didn’t want to admit her mistake and apologize when he found out what she did.

Sigh. Can’t they break up this Season 3?

2. The elephant metaphor

The title of Episode 2 was “Putting an elephant in the fridge, Part 2.” Where’s Part 1? I’ll just assume that Part 1 happened in the previous season, and that this was favorite modus operandi.

Kim: Do you know how to put an elephant into a fridge? The answer is simple. Open the door. Put the elephant inside. Then close the door.
Park: Master Kim.
Kim: But just because something is simple doesn’t mean anyone can go it. A simple solution doesn’t make it easy. You and I have only just grabbed the doorknob.

I think this metaphor is silly.

Did anybody ask the elephant if it wanted to go inside the fridge in the first place? Why would the elephant want to cram itself in a small, cold box? Wouldn’t it want to roam free in its natural environment, a warm habitat?

Things I like:

1. Guessing who the elephant metaphor referred to

a. The obvious elephant in the room is Prof Cha.

For one, he’s like an elephant because he was a big name in the medical profession. Dr. Kim and Dr. Park wanted him to work in their small countryside hospital. They were pushing him aka the big elephant to work in the Doldam Trauma Center aka the fridge.

For another, it was hinted at the beginning of Episode 3 that Prof Cha was about to fall from grace.

Prof Cha’s narration: Generally speaking, it’s important to make it down well. But this darn thing called pride makes a man act petty. If you’re going down anyway, you might as well look cool doing it. But greed and arrogance make you try so hard. Only after you’ve become a wreck will you finally be able to let it go. Is there no way for a man to look graceful while falling?

It wouldn’t be surprising if his fall from grace might have something to do with the mother hanging outside his office with the sign, “Professor Cha Jinman! Give me an answer for my son’s death!” Her grievance could have role in his departure from his job.

You see, I found it baffling that someone renowned like him had no other job lined up  when Director Park called. His books and belongings were already packed but it seemed to me like they had nowhere to go.

It occurred to me then that Director Park had unwittingly offered him a lifeline. He had nowhere to go so when the job offer to go to Gangwon province came up at the eleventh hour, he took it.

Given Gangwon’s northernmost location in South Korea, it could be considered the metaphorical icebox in winter. The province was the site of the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Thus, like the elephant, he was resisting entering this cold region. As he said in the voice-over, he was looking for a way to look graceful while falling. He could be alluding to his exit from his previous job. He wanted to look cool, and working for this Trauma Center would have done the trick. Despite the Trauma Center being located in a provincial town, it would appear noble of him to lend his name, reputation and expertise to an unknown institution.

But, just as he said in the voice-over, his greed and arrogance got in the way. Hence, he pettily demanded Director Park to choose between him and Dr. Kim Sabu.

I guess we would have to wait and see how he would turn into a total wreck for him to let his pride go.

b. Apart from Prof. Cha, the other elephant in the hospital seemed to be the lazy resident, Dr. Jang.

He obviously didn’t want to be in the ER, but he had to be pushed to work there like the metaphorical elephant in the fridge. His chief, Dr. Seo expected him to slack off any time. But after he was rescued by Dr. Seo in last week’s episode, he became more conscientious about his duties.

The way I see it he resented that Dr. Seo made him feel like scum so when he saw Dr. Seo make a mistake, he took the opportunity to hit back at him.

I’ll transcribe the conversation because I like Dr. Seo’s explanation of how he handles mistakes on the job.

Seo: What did you think you were doing in there?
Jang: I was just telling you my opinion. Am I not allowed to do that?
Seo: Are you sure it was an opinion? You weren’t being derisive?
Jang: Not necessarily. But it can’t be helped if that’s how it sounded.
Seo: What is it? Why are you doing this?
Jang: Do you really not know?
Seo: I don’t. So tell me what it is.
Jang: (yelling) I said we should let him rest!

I guess he of all people could sympathize with the skier. How many times had he wanted to get away from the ER and to rest by goofing around with the computer games?

Jang: (continuing) You told me not to be nosy. So look at what happened to the patient. Master Kim was able to connect the patient’s nerves. But there’s no guarantee that he can go ski jumping anymore. Imagine how hard he must’ve worked to become a national athlete! You could have let him rest for those few hours. Then, he might not have been hurt.

To be fair, the skier must take some responsibility for his actions, too. Methinks, he deliberately ignored the warnings NOT to jump and took the risk to end his career once and for all.

Seo: Then, why didn’t you tell me from the start? Without being around the bush, without being sarcastic? Just straight up. You could have looked me in the eyes and told me what you were thinking. So I could give you a proper answer. So I could tell you why you were wrong and why I thought differently.

He meant that Jang hid his resentment by being passive aggressive.

Jang: Don’t you ever feel sorry for that national athlete? Don’t you feel guilty?
Seo: No, I don’t.

Good answer. I wouldn’t, too.

Seo: A doctor makes diagnosis, not prediction. We don’t deal with people who might get hurt. We deal with patients who are already hurt, sick, and broken or on their last breath. Patients come in every day. I can’t hang onto those unfortunate situations. It happened because I wasn’t good enough. To avoid making the same mistake all I can do is focus on the patient in front of me. That’s how I repay my shortcomings. Does that answer your question? So hurry up and go focus on doing your work.

Good points. He isn’t psychic. He’s human. He’ll make mistakes. But he’ll continually become a better doctor by learning from mistakes and not repeating them. Sure enough. He proves that he learned from his mistakes when he didn’t ignore Dr. Jang’s opinion again on the norepinephrine.

Jang: (grumbling) Acting like he’s better than me. He’s so full of himself.

Then, he received a private dressing-down from Dr. Kim himself.

Kim: There are only two types of doctors in the operating room: one who wants to save the patient and one who wants to learn. If you aren’t one of them, you don’t pick up the scalpel and stand at the operating table.
Jang: Are you scolding me?
Kim: At least you’re not so dull.
Jang: Why? Is it because I talked back to Dr. Seo Woojin?
Kim: It’s okay to talk back if you have different opinions. You can argue, especially if it’s for the patient’s wellbeing.
Jang: Then?
Kim: But that’s not the case for you. You’re not voicing opinions. You’re trying to pick a fight.
Jang: Then, how am I to understand? He sent a national athlete away for “faking an illness.” But is trying his best to save an old lady who committed arson!

And Dr. Kim was flabbergasted.

Kim: What kind of nonsense are you spouting? What are you saying? That we should have kept the national athlete in the hospital even if he was faking it, but it doesn’t matter that an arsonist lives or dies?
Jang: (whining) Sir.
Kim: A doctor, as soon as he puts on his surgical gown, must not discriminate against any patient. All patients should be treated equally and fairly. Whether they be a national athlete, arsonist or even murderer. That’s the fate and responsibility of being a doctor, understood? Why are you arguing about faults and debating over who is good and who is bad in front of a dying person? Hey, you might as well go be a judge or prosecutor then, instead of being here. From now on, you’re not allowed in the operating room until I permit it. Without the intention to save or learn, the operating room is off-limits.

Powerful words. I’ll talk more about this later.

For now, let me just say that Dr. Kim must have been dismayed too when the old lady’s own son wouldn’t sign onto the surgical release form because a) he didn’t have money for the procedure (that’s the ostensible excuse), and b) he believed his mother to be the arsonist (that’s the real reason).

While it’s instilled in doctors that they cannot withhold their professional expertise and assistance even from a suspected arsonist, it cannot be instilled in the son to love his mother faithfully. He was too quick to judge her guilty and condemn her to death when he denied her the operation.

Thank goodness for neighbors who made him see reason.

As for Dr. Jang, he realized too late that there was no way he could look graceful when falling. He knew that he made a fool of himself when he learned that he accused the wrong person of starting the fire. The mother didn’t do it. Drs Seo and Kim were right to reprimand him severely. Their words rang in his head.

But I guess there is one way to look graceful falling down after all. It’s through magnanimity. Dr. Seo magnanimously, generously attributed the saving of old woman’s life to him.

Seo: Still, the surgery was easier, thanks to what you said.
Jang: What?
Seo: About the norepinephrine. What I’m saying is that you saved that old lady, Dr. Jang Donghwa. You did well. Go clock out. You must be tired.
Jang: (holding back tears)

3. Abracadabra

Episode 4 is entitled, “Abracadabra.”

And I think it refers to two things in this episode.

One, the skills and dexterity of all the doctors trained by Dr. Kim. They were so competent at their job, it’s like they’re performing magic when they operated on their patients.

Two, the sleight-of-hand or deception performed by Prof Cha at the last minutes of the episode. Instead of bringing in doctors from Seoul whom he had worked with before in Seoul, he poached Dr. Kim’s staff to work for him in the Trauma Center. He was like a magician performing a disappearing act. He made them all disappear except for Nurse Oh, Nurse Eom, Dr. Yoon, and the two newbies, Drs Lee and Jang.

In Nurse Oh’s words, “He’s basically cleaning house. He acted like he wouldn’t take anyone with him.” I’m interested to see whether he riled Dr. Seo sufficiently enough to make him join his team or stay with Dr. Kim.

4. Lessons from these two episodes.

I’m limiting myself to three because I’m pressed for time.

a. What a romantic doctor does:

CJM: Cha EunJae, are you saying you will go into that surgery?
EJ: (flustered) What?
CJM: You will participate in that impulsive and reckless surgery?
EJ: It’s not reckless. He sees what we can’t see. Master Kim has a lot of experience with dealing with trauma.

I don’t think she meant that Dr. Kim is psychic. I think she means he’s intuitive, visionary, innovative, ingenious, genius. Remember what I wrote in my First Impressions?

Seo: (stepping in) Yes. That’s right. Whoever it is, no matter what he does, or what position he is in, he doesn’t think about anything else. He just keeps one thing in mindL save the patient. Save the patient, no matter what. That was Master Kim’s first lesson that he taught us.

This is interesting. Remember at the beginning to episode we saw a woman waiting outside Prof Cha’s office demanding why her son had to die.

CJM: Do you think that’s a surgery to save a person’s life?
Seo: For that patient, his life as an athlete is a part of his life.
CJM: You guys…you’re just as crazy as he is.
Seo: Sometimes there are levels that you can’t reach without going crazy. And Master Kim…calls it romantic.
CJM: Romance. In a field when people’s lives are at stake, he talks about finding romance?
Seo: Yes. That’s how we’ve been saving people until now, Professor.

True. Being romantic means doing something radical, extraordinary, off-the-wall, and extreme to achieve the unthinkable.

b. What a doctor does:

Not only is this important to remember but it’s also important to reflect on the responses and attitudes of so many people during Covid, especially people in the medical profession, towards those who are unvaccinated.

I was truly appalled and disgusted whenever I heard people support and laud the exclusion of unvaccinated people from medical care, and the withholding of critical care and life-saving procedures from them. I condemn those who refused to grant people equal access to health care because of their vaccination status. In that instance, they lost their ethical and moral judgment…and humanity.

c. What a master does:

He isn’t jealous or intimidated when his pupil surpasses him. Rather he delights in his pupil’s success and encourages it. This is his way of sending “ripples of change” in the world.

Nurse Oh: Dr. Seo is much more generous with his compliments than you, Master Kim.
Doil: Is this what they call “a pupil surpassing his master?”
Kim: That’s an idea I will always welcome.

Moving on to other dramas…