As always, this is my interpretation of the title. Feel free to interpret the drama your way.

There are two effects of being the underdog: he either rises to the challenge and proves his critics and detractors wrong, or he quits.

The ex-soldier elected to do the second option. Because the world was so unjust, he believed that it was futile for someone as disadvantaged as he was to do his best. From his perspective, he was the underdog and the world conspired against him. Ergo, in his self-righteous indignation, the only path out of this unfair world was to commit suicide – or to be more precise, to commit murder-suicide since he wanted to kill Dr. Seo because killing himself.

On the flipside, there were numerous characters in this episode who chose to use their “underdog” status to improve themselves. I’ll mention three.

1. First, there was Cha EunJae.

I told you from the beginning that I found her weak, right? I don’t get her:

a) weird childish affectations. She comes off as needy when talking to her boyfriend, like she wants to be babied and cossetted all the time.

EJ: (sighing) I’ve been waiting for spring but it’s snowing instead.
Dr. Seo: These days, you can only predict that the weather will be unpredictable. Just expect it.
EJ: (sighing) I’m jealous you’re off today. I want to play in the snow, too.
Dr. Seo: Should we eat lunch together?
EJ: Forget it. You don’t need to do that. But if you join me, I’d appreciate it. I’d be so grateful. Thank you very much, indeed.
Dr. Seo: I’ll see you soon. Have a good day.

I get that this aegyo is acceptable behavior for girlfriends in Korean culture, but this is so cringe-y for me. Even Jane Austen’s heroines, Elizabeth Bennett, Emma Woodhouse, and Anne Elliot were nothing like her and they were written at the turn of the 19th century.

b) and daddy issues. Not only is she needy for love and attention from her boyfriend, she’s also needy for approval and affirmation from her dad. Yuck!

I’ll bring up the conversation in the previous Episode 7 when she deferred to her father’s professional opinion. Her reason indicated that she saw herself as the underdog AKA the junior doctor while her father was the topdog.

EJ: Let’s insert another tube tube on the right side and move him to the OR.
Prof Cha: You inserted a tube on the left. Why do you need another on the right?
EJ: The right side still shows signs of pneumothorax and subcutaneous emphysema. The broken bone must’ve damaged the lungs.
Prof Cha: The subcutaneous emphysema could go past the midline. It could start on the left and go to the right.
Dr. Seo: (stared at him pointedly)
Prof Cha: If the pneumothorax isn’t that serious, inserting tubes on both sides is too much, Dr. Cha.
EJ: But…
Prof Cha: If you have time for that, look at the patient’s history instead. In the cardiopulmonary area, the surgical procedure and outcome may change depending on the patient’s operation risks. (walking away)
EJ: (looking downcast)
Dr. Seo: (reminding her) You decide. He’s your patient.
EJ: (sighing)

Nurse Oh interrupted them to assign the duty roster. When she left, Dr. Seo reminded EJ again.

Dr. Seo: Dr. Cha EunJae?
EJ: Let’s move the patient to the OR.
Dr. Seo: (frowns at her)
EJ: (forcing a smile) My dad knows better than I do. It’s fine.

My comments:

a. She felt AND acted like the underdog here. Her father was Professor Cha; she was “only” the daughter of Professor Cha. She was sighing like a kid that she was in her mind. Seriously? If she was this lacking in self-confidence, I don’t want her near me on the operating table.

b. This is a fine example of the underdog-QUITTER mode I mentioned earlier. She dismissed her expertise and excellent track record just because in her mind, she was less experienced than her dad. She relinquished her responsibility to her patient because her father’s record intimidated her. In short, she quit on herself.

c. If I were her, I would have thanked Prof Cha, taken his observation under advisement (like I would any other esteemed colleague’s opinion), and checked that the pneumothorax wasn’t serious like he said. That way, I could make an informed decision, not just decision based on “because Daddy said so.”

d. Ultimately, she had nobody to blame for the disaster during surgery but herself. Like a weakling, she was focused on her father’s approval, instead of her patient’s care.

But thankfully in this Ep 8, she learned from her colossal blunder.

Prof Cha: By the way, are you upset because I missed the rib fracture in the pneumothorax patient?
EJ: (not answering)
Prof Cha: If that’s the case, my answer wasn’t wrong. That patient was a special case. Normally, if there’s little to no pneumothorax, you don’t put in tubes on both sides. And there aren’t many cases where it gets to hypertension. Then, it’ll be a case of excessive medical treatment.
EJ: (nodding) Yes. That’s usually the case. But this is the trauma center, right?

Her comment reminded Prof Cha of his earlier conversation with Master Kim. EJ’s words echoed Master Kim’s remark verbatim.

EJ: (continuing) Here in the trauma center no treatment is excessive. It’s a place where you have to do everything you can to save a patient. I spent the past three years learning that from Master Kim. You didn’t miss it, Professor Cha. I missed it.

They smiled at each other. And when she was gone, Professor Cha said, “You’re brilliant, Eunjae.”

My comments:

a. I think I heard Prof Cha say, “You’re brilliant, my daughter.” But I’m not sure….

Either way, he’s proud of her daughter. As I said before, many viewers malign this character because they’re besotted with the main character, Master Kim. But we need to remain fair. As a father, he’s proud of EunJae. But as a doctor, he’s even prouder of the fact that she’s turning out to be a doctor with moral principles and high integrity.

More importantly, if he’s proud of his daughter, then deep inside, he also admires Master Kim for inspiring his daughter’s growth and development as a doctor.

b. I like the fact that he didn’t avoid the issue of the pneumothorax patient. He didn’t beat around the bush. He wanted to clear misunderstandings.

c. Did you notice a pattern here? Professor Cha is a minimalist when it comes to medical treatment/intervention.

Like Master Kim, he expects doctors to do their best. But unlike Master Kim, he doesn’t want doctors to expose themselves to malpractice suits by doing extreme measures. He’s the best equipped with surgical skills to treat people who are severely hurt and/or with life-threatening injuries. Yet he proceeds with caution (or “puts on the brakes” as Master Kim said in Ep 6) lest he opens himself up to failures and lawsuits.

In comparison, Master Kim seems rather reckless because he focuses only on doing what he can to save the patient, no matter the cost, no matter the material lost or professional liabilities.

d. EJ learned that despite being an underdog, she must act with the self-confidence she acquired by working with Master Kim these past three years. She might not have operated on as many surgeries as her father had but she could trust herself to make the right calls on her patients.

e. Being an underdog is not bad when she uses her challenges to improve herself. When she claimed responsibility for missing the sign,  instead of blaming Prof Cha, she showed growth and maturity.

2. Second underdog nurse was EunTak.

I like what he said to the Bully.

Bully: Yah. Do you really want me to kill you?
ET: Do you even know what it is to die?
Bully: What?
ET: While Wonyoung was dying, I ran 30 minutes with him on my back. I can still remember the way his body became stiff on my back. If I had found Wooyoung faster that night, maybe he could have lived. The regret of not stopping him from befriending scums like you, the self-recrimination for his death that weighed me down endlessly….I ran for the last 10 years, carrying all that burden on my back. But you’re going to destroy that in five minutes? (removing the bully’s hands from his collar) Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t even touch my collar, Seokgu. Can you guess why? No matter how much you try to rattle me, I won’t be rattled. I haven’t lived in such a sloppy way to be rattled by the likes of you.

My comments:

a. This scene reminds me of how reviled drug addicts are in South Korea that screenwriters immutably portray them as bad guys in kdramas.

I wonder though if fans of “Dr Romantic” would sympathize with this druggie character if that real-life druggie named Yoo Ah In had played the role? Will they see the druggie in a different light? Will they empathize with his bullying nature? Will they try to contextualize his bullying ways as a result of his drug habit?

b. Returning to Euntak, he demonstrates the classic “underdog effect.”

According to British Psychological Society, the “underdog effect” is the theory that “successful individuals need to have those disadvantages because the struggle to succeed against seemingly insurmountable odds is important for growth.”

Euntak’s past became the impetus for him to make something of himself. Unlike the bullies, he didn’t live a “sloppy” existence. He pushed himself to become better.

c. He changed into a new leaf when he met Master Kim.

I’m not so sure that Master Kim could be said to “incite” hope in him, because “incite” for me often involves urging something violent (e.g., incite a rebellion). But I’m sure Master Kim was the catalyst for his desire to turn his life around.

d. Being an underdog worked for him. He wanted to prove to himself that he could do better. He said as much in his conversation with Areum.

Areum: Did you feel guilty about his death?
ET: I’m not sure. Whether it’s guilt or remorse. Regardless my friend died, and I went astray for a while before I got into a car accident. That’s when I was brought here. To Doldam Hospital.
Areum: Nurse Eom, you were a patient here? At Doldam hospital?
ET: That’s how it started. After I met Master Kim I came to my senses. (sighing) Perhaps Wonyoung couldn’t stand seeing me being a mess, so he sent me here. I get that thought sometimes.
Areum: So I see.
ET: You’re disappointed, right?
Areum: About what?
ET: By my past, my friends back then, going astray, the accident, and so on.

Then, Areum shared her own bad past.

Areum: …As a result I was called a freak and a nutjob. Are you disappointed in me?
ET: No, I’m not.
Areum: I believe that without a past, you don’t have a present. If you love the present, then there’s no past that you can’t understand. I like the present EunTak.

Awww. Her lines are such cliché, but they were still a romantic thing to say.

3. The obvious underdog was Dr. Seo.

It was funny when the ex-soldier was moaning about his hard life, and Dr. Seo obliterated all his arguments with his “Oh, you thought you had hard life? Wait till you hear mine” sob story.

Ex-Soldier: Hey. What would you know as a doctor? All you did was study from a nice home where you had everything handed to you on a silver platter. You go to medical school or law school, getting to be the doctors, prosecutors, and judges you always wanted to be. Do you even know what it’s like to live a life like ours?
Dr. Seo: Yes, I do. I never had a nice home. I was never born with a silver spoon in my mouth. After my father’s business failed, my whole family died in a murder-suicide. I was the only one who came out alive. Sure. The world is an unfair place. And it’s unjust. But still don’t assume that others had it easy while achieving the things they worked so hard for. That would really infuriate me because I worked myself to the bone to get here.
Ex-Soldier: You’re full of yourself. Don’t act so high and mighty, you bastard. Despite all that, we’re just the same when we die. Don’t you know that? So let’s keep it fair and die together. (pulling the gun on him) How about that?

His phone rings; it’s Eunjae.

Dr. Seo: (moves to pick up the phone)
Ex-Soldier: Don’t move.
Dr. Seo: (leans to get the phone and stands up)
Ex-Soldier: I told you not to move, you bastard!
Dr. Seo: I’m sorry. But I’m going to live some more. I want to live some more. (continues walking)
Ex-Soldier: Yah!

My comments:

a. Gutsy move. I’d hate to turn my back on a guy with a gun.

b. There are two underdog stories going on here. The obvious one is Dr. Seo vs life. He was telling the ex-soldier that he was the underdog in life. He was a victim of sad circumstances and unequal starting points. But he didn’t let his sad life get to him. He worked hard to prove that he would end up better than dead like the rest of his family.

But there was another underdog story.

Dr. Seo believed from the start that as a doctor he could make a difference to this ex-soldier. At first, he only needed to bandage the big gash on the stranger’s leg, all the while ignoring his belligerence. Next, he carried him all the way to the hospital when he could have left him on the road. Then, he confronted him with his false excuses and justifications. Even when he knew that he was dealing with a violent man, he tried to reason with him, hoping he’d make him see that death is not the answer. And finally, he pulled off the improbable by walking away from the encounter alive.

To me, that’s the ultimate underdog story: the determined unarmed doctor vs the desperate gun-toting soldier. He rose to the challenge and proved that he could handle the situation…even without Master Kim by his side.

Master Kim: Are you okay?
Dr. Seo: Yes.
Master Kim: (hugging him)

Master Kim: Next time, don’t run into danger like you just did, got it?
Dr. Seo: Other people could have gotten hurt. You would have done the same, Master Kim.
Master Kim: There’s no need for you to be like me in that way, Dr. Seo. What if you had gotten hurt?
Dr. Seo: Then, you could fix me up, Master Kim.
Master Kim: What? My goodness.

c. Later, he wondered if he could make a positive impact on someone’s life, in the same way, that Master Kim and his girlfriend had made him for the better. And I think that he did already. The fact that the Ex-soldier didn’t shoot him though he was given the chance to, could be viewed as the start of his rehabilitation.

4. Then, there’s this team of underdogs.

They knew they had their work cut out for them. But they managed it on their own without Master Kim. This is part of their growth. At the end of the day, they also knew they handled the crisis well.

5. Lastly, there was also a “faux underdog” in this episode and that was Dr. Jang.

He refused to budge from his patient’s bedside when the Ex-soldier threatened to shoot him. He certainly rose to the challenge in this episode and surprised his detractors with his bravery.

However, I call him a “faux” underdog because he’s mostly perceived to be a loser due to his own careless and reckless behavior. In his mind, however, everybody’s ganging up on him for no good reason.

To me, Dr. Jang is the characterization of the Millennials.

It’s funny how many young viewers are upset with Dr. Jang, but they don’t realize that they’re being parodied in his character. Let me see….

Dr. Jang only does what’s required of him.
He clocks off as soon as he can.
He acts like he has no stake in the hospital.
He’s addicted to games to the exclusion of everything else (like some viewers are addicted to kdramas).
He needs recognition for a job done well. Too bad Master Kim doesn’t hand out participation trophies.
He acts entitled, e.g., when he asked Dr. Seo for the expensive orange juice as a reward.
He shows no deference to his superiors and talks back to them.

Do you see what I mean? These are the traits of the Millenials writ large in Dr. Jang’s character.

That’s why I call him the “faux” underdog. He thinks his superiors, especially Dr. Seo and Master Kim, are ganging up on him because he’s a junior staff.

Master Kim: I heard you performed the mesentery surgery.
Jang: (beaming with pride) Did you already hear about that?
Master Kim: How did it feel?
Jang: (self-praising) Well, my hands weren’t as dull as I thought they were. My reflexes weren’t so bad either. I’m a third-year resident now so I should know how to do that much.
Master Kim: (scoffing) You’re late. When I was your age, I did everything from hemoperitoneum to a panperitonitis in my last residential year. Back in my day, a single mesentery assisted by a professor…(sighing) that was nothing to write home about. (chuckling)
Jang: So you’re a “when I was your age” kind of person too.
Master Kim: Yah! Everybody has his own “when I was your age” stories. I wouldn’t be here today if not for those experiences. Don’t you think so. (fixing his jacket). So keep that in mind. Today will be one of your many “when I was your age” stories.

If we reflect on Master Kim’s words, we can see that they actually tie back to the title of this episode, “Underdog effect.” In essence, the “When I was your age” stories are “underdog” stories. They’re recollections of a boomer of a time when he had to overcome untold hardships and insurmountable odds. Despite being an ordinary, insignificant youth, he worked himself to the bone to accomplish great things. As a result, he became the topdog.

It’s a privilege of the wise to look back on those “underdog” days as moments of opportunity and transformation.