Let me get this out of the way.
I understand that it makes for great drama when one of the parties in a litigation takes out evidence in the middle of the trial – the so-called “smoking gun” – and the opposing side stammers, “W-what is that? That’s not mine!” Outside TV shows and movies, that rarely occurs. You see, at the beginning of a case, the parties meet to seek and gather information from one another and to disclose the evidence and witnesses they have. This process is called discovery. The discovery is designed specifically to avoid what just happened to JungWoo, the male lead in this drama – a “trial by ambush.” The discovery would have a) protected him against the unfair surprise, and b) allowed his attorney to examine, evaluate and authenticate the item. JungWoo’s attorney should have objected vociferously that withholding the evidence during discovery and introducing it at trial were extremely prejudicial to her client.
It exasperates me when a screenwriter creates an unscrupulous prosecutor, unprepared attorney, and unlikely scenario to drive the plot. That’s laziness to me.
That said, I like that this drama raised awareness on two occupational hazards of doctors, namely,
— mental health issues, like depression and burnout (also suicide) as seen in HanEul’s situation,
— and medical malpractice, as seen in JungWoo’s crisis.
Thus, to me, the title “Doctor Slump” refers to two things. First, it means the PROLONGED downhill slide in performance and mental health as shown by HanEul. Second, it means the SUDDEN sharp downturn in business activity and personal friendships as shown by JungWoo.
I like how the screenwriter compared the two.
Now let’s do HanEul’s character analysis.
HanEul: (voiceover) I still vividly remember when I walked out of the hospital. A patient being helped by her guardian. A delivery scooter. A dog going on a walk. Caffeine. Trees. Everything in the world was normal. (begins to cross the street, then falls to her knees in the middle of the crosswalk) But all it took for my everyday life to fall apart was three minutes. During that short amount of time, some people have a smoke, some solve a math problem. Some feel happiness. (then a truck of doom barrels down the road) And some die. (scene in JungWoo’s operation room) And some fail to save their patient. The time it took for us to fall from our once stable positions as doctors was just three minutes. The incident that occurred that day was more than enough to ruin our lives.
After you rewatch Episode 1, you’ll come to realize these:
1. This is most likely the first time that HanEul took notice of the world around her.
In the flashback to Busan 2009, she zoomed past the street celebration given by her mom and uncle in honor of her topping “the” test. She had her head buried in her textbook as she ran, ignoring the congratulatory party. Her mother bragged that she never saw her walking.
This flashback to her youth was a great contrast to the present time. Unlike before when she had been the center of attention in town, the Seoulites were going about their busy lives in their usual way. She was a nonentity now. Though she was limping and showed sign of obvious distress, she was ignored. When she fell to her knees in the middle of the street, nobody ran to help her up.
Now only that.
In the present time, she was able to observe the people around her because the pain in her body was forcing her to move in slow motion and pay attention to them.
I like the clear contrast. In Busan, she was admired for being a genius, and she ignored the common folks, like her brother and aunts, and their petty problems. Now, in Seoul, she was just an overworked doctor, and it was the common folks who ignored her because she was nobody distinguished.
It wouldn’t shock me if this was the first time that she paid attention to her surroundings. Obviously, her character arc is being set up so that she’ll learn to stop being a workaholic, and “smell the roses” in the end.
2. Three minutes is relative, or to quote Einstein, “Time is relative.”
In high school, she segmented her day to maximize her time in accomplishing the tasks on her to-do list. She had no time for things which she considered frivolous and irrelevant to her goal of getting into the top medical school at Hanguk National University. Her mother bragged that she didn’t want to waste time.
But in 2023, HanEul had an aha! moment. She realized that all those years, months, weeks, days, hours, and minutes spent pursuing her goal of becoming a doctor could be wiped out in an instant.
“The time it took for us to fall from our once stable positions as doctors was just three minutes.”
Hmmm… In my opinion, it took JungWoo less than three minutes to fall from grace.
Why?
Because the time between life and death is measured by a pulse. If with pulse, alive. If without pulse, dead.
Same with HanEul’s decision to suddenly quit her job. I say it took less than three minutes, too, if I measure it with that swift kick she delivered to her supervisor’s shin. Before the kick, she was his medical fellow. After the kick, she didn’t care.
(The time she spent taking off her white coat and ID was extra; it was procedural. 😂)
However, for both of them, their fall of grace could feel like an *eternity.*
The gravity of the death of his patient while in surgery must have shaken JungWoo to the core, especially in light of his belief that “plastic surgery isn’t a life-or-death procedure.” His future was dark, but he must survive it.
As for HanEul, she knew that after quitting her position, her future in the medical field would be in limbo. Her health was paramount so all else would have to take a back seat.
3. Success in high school doesn’t necessarily translate into success in medical school.
In high school, she learned that her input would equal her output…just like that mathematical equation she solved in class. If she put in X effort, then she would get the corresponding Y success. Her hard work was praised and rewarded. Life is fair (well, relatively fair) in high school.
That didn’t happen in medical school.
She had to relearn how to study and rethink her goals. It was no longer about getting A’s but saving lives.
She already put in a lot of hours, yet she still was asked to put in more, in both the operating room and in the lecture room. She put in X effort, but there was no matching success nor recognition. In fact, her director pressured her to take the blame for him.
Instead of praises, he harangued and made her feel small at every turn. She had to hide her feelings and pretend that she was okay through it all. Her own physical and mental health became secondary to her medical duties.
To top it all, she was passed over for promotion while somebody who had connections in the hospital was the shoe-in.
It’s an understatement to say that she was treated unfairly. Hence, the news that she quit spread like wildfire. I would take it as a sign that the medical staff found her move gutsy and admirable.
4. To me, her slump didn’t merely happen in three minutes.
It was the product of her prolonged –
a) normalization of the abuse she received from her direct supervisor,
b) internalization of the insults, humiliation, and failures,
c) expectations of invincibility, self-sufficiency, and sacrifice, and
d) lack of self-care.
I’m glad that the writer and director managed to pack all these and convey them in two episodes.
I expect HanEul’s story to present the process of being rehabilitated from depression and restored to a semblance of normalcy. Her story is character-driven. She’ll have the character arc. Meaning, she’ll transform from this put-upon, exploited doctor to a poised, confident, and successful doctor. Because she has the character arc, I consider her to be the “dynamic” character.
As for JungWoo’s character, I expect him to be different from HanEul.
For one, I expect his story to be action-oriented, rather than character-oriented. This is where we’ll get the mystery, danger, and suspense. Already, we see a few mysteries:
1. Who killed the Chinese heiress? What’s the motive? Why did they choose him?
2. Who was the dark stranger who paid a visit to his rooftop room?
3. Who sent the anesthesiologist to him? Who paid him to disappear?
4. Will his old med-school mentor, Bin Dae Young, be part of his downfall/comeback?
For another, I see JungWoo as a “static” character. I doubt he’ll have a SIGNIFICANT character change. By significant change, I mean a 180 degree transformation.
But note here: when I say “static,” don’t confuse it with “flat,” okay? Though JungWoo may/may not have a significant character change in the future, this doesn’t mean he’s flat or one-dimensional. He will be layered and have nuanced qualities.
Take for instance Episode 1, after his courtroom date.
JungWoo: (voiceover) They once said in a movie, that failure and defeat meant different things. Anyone can fail, but defeat was an utter fiasco usually found in legends. I was defeated. Nevertheless, I still had friends who believed in me.
According to him, defeat was worse than failure. Thankfully, he still had friends to rely on.
I don’t know the movie he was referring to, but this is the way I see the difference between failure and defeat —
Failure: involves one person: him. He failed to succeed.
Defeat: involves an adversary. He failed to succeed because they defeated him.
In both cases, he may or may not give up. Next time, he can try to avoid failure and succeed. Next time, he can try to avoid defeat and win against them.
But defeat is worse than failure when there’s a betrayal involved. It hurt him to discover that his friends whom he relied on to be at his side were also his adversaries, or his antis.
Anyway, here’s what I expect to see from JungWoo’s story.
1. High EQ
That’s one reason he was successful both in high school and med school. Sure, he had a high IQ, but in life, a high EQ was just as important.
I like how he perceived HanEul’s sadness and silently dealt with it. He didn’t draw attention to her problem, and pretended that *he* wanted to talk with someone to help her out. He acted like he was the needy one.
JW: Just have a drink with me. I’m feeling pretty down today and need someone to talk to.
HE: One drink isn’t enough.
JW: Huh?
HE: I’ll go if it’s at least three bottles.
He allowed her to boss him around because he sensed that her being bossy, and having the last word in gave her the semblance of being “in control.” She needed this because her lifework was shattering.
And I like it even more because he was able to see beyond his own pain and his own problematic situation and he comforted another person.
2. Action speaks louder than words.
This goes to his “nuanced” character. He SHOWS that he cares for her while mocking/roasting/scolding her.
HE: Ugh! What are you doing? I just got chills down my spine.
JW: (embarrassed) I got chills too as I was doing it. I’m just embarrassed to drink with you in those scrubs.
HE: Right.
JW: I get that they’re comfortable, but you can’t wear them outside. Hurry and zip it up.
HE: Gosh, it’s too long.
JW: Good. That’s a bit better.
I think he was worried that she’d feel cold walking around in just her scrubs. The sun had already gone down.
Long live his chill-ness.
3. Loyalty doesn’t mean being pushover.
I like that he knew the limits of their friendship.
Friend #2: We were ruined too because of you.
JW: Really? Did you really quit your jobs because of me? Yours was going bankrupt and was about to ask you to resign. And you quit while drunk because you hated your job. I knew you were secretly taking most of the ad revenue. But I kept quiet because I thought you needed it. I didn’t want you two to suffer because of what happened to me so I paid off your penalties first. But what did you say? I guess only I thought we were friends. Have a good life, you two.
He called them out. Good for him.
4. The strong and silent type
I get that many viewers just saw him acting childish, especially because of the flashbacks and the current moments when he was petty-ness personified.
But don’t miss an important connection.
For instance, at the end of Episode 1, HanEul surprised him on the rooftop, and he was thunderstruck to see her, and he unobtrusively wiped a tear from his face.
He had been shedding one tear at a time while he was alone. He seemed to be restraining himself from breaking down in tears. His phone call from his mother wasn’t exactly supportive and encouraging. He obviously needed comforting, but he needed to act tough.
Then, at the end of Episode 2, he was bawling his eyes out with HanEul.
JW: Seeing you cry is making me want to cry, too. I was barely holding back my tears. You’re making me want to cry too! (begins to wail)
HE: (voiceover) Once I sober up the next day, I know I’ll regret hugging him.
JW: (voiceover) But the warmth she gave me that day was so comforting, it helped me forget all the pain in that moment.
I like that they were both helping each other recover from their slump. And I like that whether he was acting like a boy or a man, masculinity meant that it was okay to shed tears.
5. More flannel shirts
Lol. I get what the costume director attempted to do here. Flannel shirts denote a laidback and warm personality.
I like that JungWoo had managed to breeze through life up until now. I’m sure he’ll need to show the competitive spirit once again in order to defeat those who framed him and caused him to lose his medical license and business. But in the end, I would like him to go back to his easy-going, good-natured self. He balances HanEul that way.
That’s it for me. Gotta go.
Great! Some Shows I just sort of know I won’t regret not watching… this one, will take a few more episodes to know if it’s really going north or south or if it’s on a twisty detour. See you around @pkml3!
Hey hey, You tease us. Using same technique than the drama. 😏
🐒 Monkey see, monkey do, @WEnchanteur. 🐒
See you later, @GB.
Kalimera @Packmule3!
I am waiting for your thoughts. I am not happy with the jakkanim after watching these two episodes… o.O
The suspense is inextricable… 😬😬😬🥶
@WE, your impatience for the full post is uproariously funny. Looks like despite Doctor Slump being a show for the dump, you cannot extricate yourself from this thread!
@GB, nah nah, I’m just impatient for screenshots pm3 promised! 😜
I personally enjoyed the first two eps. I’m pretty simple-minded when it comes to dramas; I can put up with a lot of stuff in a show if I’m invested in the leads (see: 90% of the Cdramas I’ve ever watched). And by the end of episode 2, I’m invested in our leads here. So don’t mind me as I watch the drama with rose colored glasses 😁
Yay!!!
Yes I enjoyed the first 2 episodes. I like both leads. Particularly feel for the female lead’s character. On one hand, I would totally want a girl like her, self motivated, top student, matured,got into med school. On the other hand I also find the denial of depression relatable. Interested to know how they will tell the story of why the ‘ideal daughter didn’t get the med school spot but the male lead did.
I’m wondering if the male lead character arc is more for contrasting purposes? Hard working vs laid back? Ordinary family background without a father vs father is a prominent doctor? Not smooth career path vs very successful career path?
Enjoyed reading your thoughts and insights, @pm3. Now I want to go rewatch the episodes 🙂
Thank you. 🙂
Thank you @packmule3 for segmenting the points in this drama that I find it important – selfcare, high IQ vs high EQ, defeat vs failure, etc.
I am also an ordinary viewer of Kdrama, just like @Stacy I am “pretty simple minded”. This blog always made me have an extra take, so I’m hooked up even if I am more of a lurker than a sharer.
I hope that both of the leads will rise up to the challenges and the show will give us exciting twists.
PHS looks good in his flannel shirts, they gave him more weight as he looks a bit slim these days (or maybe he is always this slim).
About the court scene. I have no legal knowledge, so I can’t detect the flaw you cite. I understand that it’s annoying for professionals. Like a bit of everything else on TV as soon as it concerns a field.
However, two points to consider:
– The drama makes it clear that Jung Woo is the victim of a plot. And perhaps the plot also includes the way he is defended. In episode 1, at 47:12, one of his friends (or business advisor) advises him on lawyers (it tilts my intuition, nothing for free in a script). And I thought this person might be a traitor. So the lawyers aren’t there to help him but to help sink him. It makes sense then that they wouldn’t react to the flaw you mention.
– Otherwise, the courtroom scene was a success (the direction, wow!). These scenes often need shocking revelations. It’s often better to sacrifice a little realism for dramatic effect. Experts in a profession are bound to be disappointed, while the general public sees nothing. I was happy to be hit hard by the scene, no matter the details. 🙂
I enter SHAMAN mode and drop bad premonitions. 👹
🍡 GLING! GLING! (shakes the bell sceptre)
😩 They will work together and open a medical cabinet. (what’s still ok)
😩 The drama enters procedural mode. One episode, one medical case.
😩 Conspiration plot drags until the end and last episode rushed like crazy about that.
😩 The mysterious stalker is a joke, anything, chicken robber.
😩 The drama switchs to slice-of-life with cabinet life and FL’s family around.
😩 Comedy stops being funny and becomes loud and cringe with family weirdos.
😩 Countless slow scenes with the two lead staring, speaking, repeating same things.
😩 Same but alones, after some conflicts or breaks-up, staring sadly, angs.
😩 Mass flashbacks proliferation on five minutes drama songs.
😩 Second part reachs greatest level of nothing-happeness.
😩 GB freaks out like Seo Jin in The Penthouse, and acts like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT_NWAptUGo
😆😜😎😇🤓🤪
LOLOL @WE, before I watched Seo Jin and before I got to your stalker being a chicken thief!!!, I was already planning a quick exit from this Show!!! 🤣🤪😆
It looks like My Demon (and other bad dramas) has given you the list of BIG writing mistakes to look out for in every drama.
Wow, how can Kim So Yeon bear doing all that screaming! I hope she insured her voice if her role demands so much stress on her vocal chords. It really will affect her voice, give her laryngitis and vocal nodules. I’m always battling loss of voice myself, but because of viral attacks on the vocal chords, not because I scream like Seo Jin!!!
@WE, I’ll be all eagle-eyed now to catch each misstep of the Writer/PD based on your list of premonitions!!!
Yeah, I just say jokes here, but maybe some could become true?
At least, even if things turn bad, the drama have good directing and the queen of crying!
The character has a voice-extinction at some point. What’s a problem, as she’s opera singer, but no wonder why, when she screams everytime she’s angry. (what is every five minutes)
@pkml3, @WE,
As expected, @WE spoke from the perspective of one who wants to up the dramatic in a drama, regardless of some degree of lack in real life verisimilitude. I understand his viewpoint as a fellow viewer. I understand that reality is routinely sacrificed on the altar of making a ‘good’ dramatic show, and so I often don’t nit-pick, especially concerning a profession that I’m little acquainted. However I can understand how @pkml3 and other professionals may feel.
I too liked that Show looked into mental health and depression. I find that more recent shows are highlighting this as a matter of course, so that hopefully it becomes less and less of a taboo subject in real life (everywhere and not just in S. Korea).
Good point about the time factor in the slump. I transcribed the same voiceovers as @pkml3. What Ha Neul thought took only 3 minutes, was actually the sort of ‘end’ of the long, slow downward slide that she’d been on, unwittingly for years. It’s a good alert to us who have been under stress over time, to consider whether we, too, have been just ‘taking it’ and continue to appear okay. Are we on the slow downward slide and in denial?
It’s amazing that in her pain she was able to take note of what was going on around her. I’d have been consumed by just my own concerns!
Yes, Show did a good job in giving us the set up and background to Ha Neul’s character, hence we will be more invested in her development. It’s interesting how Show is doing this. Ha Neul offers us a more character-driven show, while Jeong Woo’s portion of the story is more plot-driven.
It’s good that JW felt defeated by an external party, rather than that he failed. He seems to have been a regular nice guy. He was nice to his friends and fair in competition. He was thoughtful of his subordinates, and treated those who claimed to be his friends sincerely. However he was victimised and abandoned. I hope that the only ‘friend’ who is helping him, is sincere and not out to get him in the end as well. So far his friend gave good advice, practical help, and told JW to be strong.
Yes, I liked how despite his own problems and causes for depression, JW put HN’s needs first and did it deliberately so that she would not realise that he was caring for her.
Perhaps in the same way, from time to time, we’ll see that JW will be crazily petty and childish to hide his more sensitive and broken side. Yes, he had been crying on the roof at the end of Ep 1, so he was really at his lowest when HN happened upon him. And it’s just so right that at Ep 2’s end, she’s the one who helps him bring on his tears that he’d held back in Ep 1, so that he could bawl with complete abandon and let out some stress. I do like that HN was able to judge JW correctly. Despite considering him her irritating rival, she was fair in acknowledging that he had been falsely accused. That was already about to open the floodgates of tears for him.
I agree that the reason this OTP complement each other is that HN is rigid and task oriented, while JW is relaxed and more people-oriented. They will both be able to help each other regain their pre-slump positions, but with greater happiness.
@WE, I’d definitely lose my voice if I screamed even 1 quarter of the amount of screaming that Seo Jin does. Playing the part of an arrogant, spoilt brat is a hazardous job!
Kalimera @Packmule3. I was waiting for your thoughts!
Regarding Ha Neul’s Arc I agree with all your points. The main problem on the drama for me has to do with Jeong Woo’s Arc.
As I have written to the main thread, what is actually happening to Jeong Woo is not a mere slump, but a character assassination.
As someone who loves psychological thrillers and procedural dramas, I find the way his story was shown very lacking. Yes, of course incidents like this can happen in real life. But where is the Police’s proper investigation? The anaesthesiologist vanished, when he is the one who injected a substance to the patient’s IV without being questioned at all, just because he declined to give his statement to the Police and he was excluded so easily, really?
CCTV Data were erased, when Jeong Woo didn’t go to the Server room and they didn’t find any evidence that he tampered the cameras. Someone else did and erased only that video, but they didn’t find any online traces.
If they show us something else in the upcoming episodes, I won’t believe it. Simply because I know that there is a AI program that can tampered your facial characteristics to look like someone else in order to scam them. BTW, you can see such a case in the C-Drama “Under the Skin” with Tan Jian Ci.
Jeong Woo was indeed framed and the audience knows it, but the way it was handled is lacking. Also, the whole portrayal of the scene with the Procecutor, although I am not a lawyer, was cringey to say the least.
I also feel that the direction the jakkanim is trying to go with the show is very simplistic and kinda archaic. Yes, we do know that in SK they don’t talk about Mental Issues at all. But, this is not a way to handle such a complex matter.
Depression or any other Disorder is not cured simply only by being in Love or having people love you. It helps. Of course it does. There are cases, though, that need specific subscribed medication, along with psyciatric counseling, in order to be able to live day by day with some disorders. There are also those people who cannot handle it even when they have help, medication and people who love them.
So, although Ha Neul has depression for all the reasons stated above. Jeong Woo could / would get manic tendencies because of what happened to him. His state could
/ would be much worse than Ha Neul’s. Yes, JG was defeated. Some can fight back, while others won’t, because such a thing is paralyzing. They can become numb and give up on life.
So, although the jakkanim might have written the show to light up incidents like these, at the same time, I am wondering if she has done her research in depth about the matters at hand.
Those are my objections with Jeong Woo’s Arc and that’s why I am frustrated about it. It is okay to watch a show because we love the actor, but I cannot overcome issues that are triggering my common sense.
Still, I will continue to watch the show to see how they will handle the next (two to four) episodes and then I will decide if I will drop it or not.
And that’s all I wanted to say. 😊
Thank you, @packmule3. I watched eps. 1 & 2 this evening. I’m going with @Wenchanteur’s theory that one of his friends or acquaintances is betraying him. Perhaps his mentor. Why? Jealousy?
When Jeong Woo said, plastic surgery isn’t a life or death procedure, all I could think of was ‘famous last words’ – even without the prequel of the operating room mayhem it was a set-up. There is always a risk with ANY surgery and a patient would normally sign a form indicating that they understood. (That isn’t to say that malpractice should not be prosecuted.)
@packmule3, I understand about discovery on a case from working on a large class action suit with rooms full of boxes of documents and tapes. The document that won the case (years later) was one of the earliest ones produced. All sides had it for that long.
I found it interesting that people, even her doctor friend, downplayed Ha Neul’s depression believably. Her mother didn’t believe it until her brother found her meds and looked them up online. I was cheering for Ha Neul to stand up to her supervisor, but wondered how realistic it was. A person who is profoundly depressed, who had been gas-lit and physically and mentally abused at work that much, might have accepted all of the blame.
I thought this started out full of tropes and a predictable progression, but by the end of the 2nd episode, I was curious about the story. I think you are correct about their character arcs. Jeong Woo will get back to his nice guy wins life. I think the plastic surgeon friend who was shown to be jealous at the awards show was helped by JW at some point because he became supportive at the time of the trial. He was bumped by HN’s doctor friend and we know what that means for their future…
Annyeong ~
Thanks PM3 for your Ep 1&2 impression. i love it. just coz it adds to my watch experience. a lot of weight. makes me look back and smile in regards to the ending of both Episodes. from crying in hiding to bawling in public. hilarious! so many things happening in these 2 episodes.
When HN was in pain and walking to her death – i wouldn’t be able to walk period and and idk about deep observation either.
yea i can’t believe her BFF is down playing HN’s depression.
i just love that both episodes ends with our OTP together. one, reunited. two, hugging. hahaha