31 Comments On “Doctor Slump: Eps 3 & 4 Open Thread”
Cleopatra
Kalimera @Packmule3!
Let us see what we will see tonight… o.O
Fern
Thank you, @packmule3.
The two leads have a conversation after eating tteokbokki, going to the arcade and karaoke. Ha Neul is mourning the things she gave up. (35.57) Jung Woo consoles her by saying she did her best. Then he says something I liked him for:
JW: Since you’ve hit rock bottom…
HN: I should stay strong?
JW: No, just stay down. Let’s take a break while we’re at rock bottom.
I think he was trying to tell her that striving and ‘being strong’ won’t help her as much as relaxing, smelling the roses and taking things one day at a time. This is an important thing for people with clinical depression to hear. Afterwards HN, who expected something grand to turn her depression around, realises that the tteokbokki, arcade and his ‘ridiculous words of comfort’ were indeed helpful to her and helped her sleep well.
Also in this episode, when Jung Woo reflects on his time before going to University, he thinks his life was perfect. Smart, good at sports, a good personality, good looking – he thought his entire life would be like that. He thought that Ha Neul interrupted his glowing life by competing with him for first place. I think it’s easy to be generous when things are going your way.
At the same time, as contrast, we know that Ha Neul spent every waking moment studying and that the competition they generate between each other took a toll.
When both of them fainted at school from exhaustion, we saw the difference between their mothers who both come into the school infirmary. Both mothers pushed their children to be at the top of their year, but Jung Woo’s mother registered little concern about his health (despite being a doctor herself) and complained to his teacher about his academic results because he was no longer 1st place. She didn’t seem to care about him as a person. But Ha Neul’s mother was worried about HN’s health and offered to take her for a transfusion at the hospital. Although she wanted her daughter to succeed, she was coming from a loving and empathetic place.
Someone in the thread from the first episodes mentioned that love itself won’t save another from depression, but loving support will certainly help.
It makes me wonder, as others did, if JW’s family is so well off and concerned with appearances, why didn’t they hire the best lawyers and investigators to help JW win his case? He seems to be on his own in this struggle at this point, except that now Ha Neul seems to have joined his team.
I couldn’t make out what was left in Jung Woo’s office – was there a camera or recording device? Perhaps someone else saw it more clearly.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
Ad hoc Thoughts
PSH never fails to just be about the same, look the same, act the same, in every role I’ve seen her. PHS has more range. PHS is doing more crying in this show than PSH so far LOL … and she’s supposed to be the Queen of Crying!
The question, expectation and relief in the looks exchanged between HN and JW in court was great. His shoulders relaxed.
The way JW walked diffidently into his dark, closed clinic and wondered where his office was, was in stark contrast to how he’d strutted into it in Ep 1 and greeted all his staff with coffee.
They both downplay their being nice to each other, pretending that the reason for their niceness is something else. For eg. When JW thanks HN for going to the court for him, she dismisses it as her not wanting to be indebted towards him for his comforting her. They are more caring towards each other than they want to admit to themselves and to each other.
I wondered at first if it was out of character of HN to suggest that she treated them to some enjoyment with her severance pay, but the Epilogue showed me that it wasn’t (more on that below). After the trial, HN wanted to cheer JW up this time, possibly because he’d comforted her before and because she’s more caring than we are aware of. It’s good that they see the mistake of going to Sokcho to see the sunrise on a cloudy morning as still a way to make memories.
I rewatched the part where we cut back to JW’s clinic and it did look like there were 3 places where some kind of camera or recording device (in the shape of a pen) or bug was placed. And I missed this part on first watch … but the lights outside the office came on. That means that someone had just entered the outer door. We cut back to HN and JW on the beach, so we know it’s not them.
Their voiceovers at the beach where despite not seeing the sun or not knowing their futures, they still waited for the sun to rise, coupled with the zoom out to show us the vast open sea and clear sand all around them, struck me 2 ways. Either negatively that they were all alone in that vastness or positively that they were willing to embrace all the unknowns around them and all the possibilities that the waves were bringing in. I’m going with the positive, of course, not only because the vibe and the music are positive, but because the main theme of this Show is that no matter how far down one may sink, there is hope.
It was funny that in their competing with each other, even in the fainting, JW was upset that HN had fainted first and he had come in second! I realised that I had only glanced at the Epilogue and missed that in the school infirmary, HN had actually made a friendly gesture in writing a note to encourage JW. She had advised that they both stayed strong and everything would be okay. However that note was dropped and forgotten. As a result, JW had fumed at her for leaving him without even a word.
So their enmity was not only based on their rivalry, but also on some misunderstandings. HN was not only robotic and uncaring, but was warmer than she had appeared to be, except that she had not been able to show that side of herself. 🙂
Fern
@Growing Beautifully, yes, the appreciation of the beach was a ‘cup half full’ rather than half empty moment. The sea was still beautiful, boundless and powerful, right? (and if I were having a Ha Neul moment, I would say that the negative ions generated by the waves might help to alleviate depression.)
Didn’t you like the moment at the arcade’s dancing machine when they were both shown as students – as though Ha Neul had accepted Jung Woo’s invitations to eat tteokbokki and go to the arcade afterwards? I’m more skeptical about her saying that she didn’t know any K-pop whatsoever because it must be ubiquitous in SK, even if she didn’t listen to it herself.
I was looking for the dropped note moment last night- thanks for writing that it was in the epilogue.
I haven’t seen the actress in other roles, so I can’t comment on her acting, but she seems fine for this role to me. I liked their exchange of looks both inside and outside of the courtroom. She was like oxygen for him. –The little smiles saying, ‘I shouldn’t be smiling but can’t help it’. She immediately understood that her severance pay issue is nothing compared to his critical position as defendant in this lawsuit. Do you have the feeling that she is going to go into battle for him in his lawsuit and find the best evidence? The press would take her apart if she is known to be his researcher or expert witness, yet, she is an anaesthesiologist and I believe it was the anaesthesiologist during Jung Woo’s operation who administered extra drugs to the patient.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
Hello @Fern! Thanks for mentioning that negative ions help to alleviate depression. I looked it up for fun and see that it’s something touted but more research is needed to confirm it. It reminds me that someone wanted me to buy a negative ion mattress for health benefits LOL. I thought it was too pricey for something not quite proven.
Yes, the sea is indeed boundless… the possibilities that lie beyond it limitless. Despite the dull, grey morning, hope still remained.
I was thinking to myself that it was not bad for PSH, now a mum in her 30s, to be able to do all that jumping around in the arcade and look like she was still in her teens. It was sweet to think that they were making up for lost time, when the costume change to them in school uniforms popped up.
I feel show intentionally takes things to extremes in some areas. For eg showing that HN hardly drank and even hardly ate to save time (soooo unhealthy) … and in the same way never once paid attention to any Kpop. Similarly, show makes Jeong Wooout to be too over-the-top crazy in his expressions (mad eyes!), postures, and overall behaviour when he was being childishly competitive.
It’s strange that Show opts to do this, because it is not based on the Japanese ‘Dr Slump’ manga or anime at all, as far as I can tell. It seems to be an original story. Show seems to want to make parts of the characters caricatures, perhaps as a comment on how unrealistic our main characters were in the way they thought and acted in the past. Ultimately the caricatures will also make their more realistic, human moments stand out better, by comparison.
I expect that HN will continue to be supportive in any way she can. Her voiceovers have told us that she’s aware that JW was going through a lot more than he let on, and that he was just enduring a great deal. She believed that if knew he was not alone, it would be easier for him, hence it’s likely she’ll be ‘by his side’ as far as she can.
You’re right that her area of specialisation is particularly suitable in helping JW, because it’s likely the anaesthesiologist that administered the anti-coagulant to cause the death of the patient.
Early on I was thinking that these two would do well to open up a clinic together. No hospital might hire them, but they could possibly start anew in the countryside.
I take notes:
Depressed people doing nothing but staring at the sea and waiting the sun to rise.
I wonder how many time the sun takes to rise.
I should had think about that before: but a drama with depressed people should obviously get many scenes with sad people staring at something while doing nothing.
And also sessions with a psychologist.
Oooops, I go out! 😮💨
Stacy
Enjoyed these 2 eps even more than the first two. Loved the progression between the leads, JW is definitely developing ~feelings~ lol.
Cleopatra
Kalispera,
So we have a recording pen that someone was looking for, in the end of Episode 3 and tonight we find out who is the culprit behind JW’s malpractice case.
The other one recording pen that has evidence is still at the clinic.
The thing is getting even weirder, because that dude is also an anaesthesiologist!
And here is the big question, I was asking one week ago…
What kind of procedures the Police actually did in the clinic in the first place?
Especially when new evidence appeared from nowhere in Court, that was not in their search and seizure, while at the same moment, other critical evidence was collected from the scene of crime from the real mastermind and was not found by the Police?!?
Seriously, this is a major plot hole. Forensics is not that sloppy…
So, in the end of Episode 4,we get to see that the Police did not do its job properly. They “missed” important evidence that shows who is the real killer and not Jeong Woo.
This is a whole new level of not doing your job right, while someone else is being destroyed…
P.S. The baddie has Jeong Woo’s fingerprint.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
🌾🌷🪻🌼🌸🌺 🌾🌷🪻🌼🌸🌺 🌾🌷🪻🌼🌸🌺
Hi @pkml3 I believe my comment has gone missing! I replied to @Fern.
🌾🌷🪻🌼🌸🌺 🌾🌷🪻🌼🌸🌺 🌾🌷🪻🌼🌸🌺
Hi @Stacy, @WE,
Show is still as enjoyable. There is movement in all areas… the mystery and betrayal, HN’s character growth, JW’s feelings, and a bit on the family front with HN’s mum.
Mum needs to find out what can help those in Depression and not expect to be able to administer a quick fix. It’s good that Show touches on this as well. 🙂
I also found a few posts by @monmor in my spambox. Hmmm. I don’t know what happened there.
Sorry, @monmor.
Good Twin
I’m probably the only person on this blog who liked the Heirs. PHS had a small role, but PSH was the FL. I thought she was great. I like her voice, her casual vibe and natural good looks. I’d watch her in almost anything (she was the best thing about the Doctors).
There was an allusion to Strong Woman during the beach scene. PHS writing on the beach with a stick and PSH telling him it was cheesy. In Strong Woman his character courted the FL by drawing a huge heart on the beach.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
Thank you @pkml3! Yes, poor @Monmor was wondering why her comments on the Nine: 9 thread did not display. She could not join our conversation.
I guess I should make it a habit to check that everything I post gets displayed immediately, or I might not even realise it went missing.
Yes, I do prefer to shop online to avoid the crowd and save time. But for perishable goods and frozen food, I can’t get those delivered. By the time I organize everything though I usually need a drink. lol. It’s not just a matter of stuffing them in the fridge and freezer. The salmon fillet must be sliced up so we don’t have to defrost the whole thing and can just grab the right portion during the week. The meat, like steak, beef chunks and ground beef, have to be apportioned then repacked before storage in the freezer.
I feel like a housewife! Like a neat and organized housewife on a Youtube show. Lol. But I see how consumerist Americans (me included!) are whenever I shop at Costco.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
LOL @pkml3, you sound like me! I don’t actually buy in big bulk but still the only way to defrost what we need is to repack all the frozen stuff in smaller packs. It’s a horror when everything is stuff in willy-nilly and I can’t recognise one kind of meat from another!
Cleopatra
Kalimera @Fern et al,
I was the one who wrote about love in the first thread.
Although the romance is going smoothly between them and I enjoyed it very much. I still don’t like some cringey scenes where the leads have to be cute and the fact that they are dragging JW’s malpractice case.
Yes, we knew that JW was framed and we found out that his Hyung is the mastermind.
Not only he did what he did, but also badmouthed Ha Neul to another Doctor in order not to get another job!
What does it mean she doesn’t have social skills? She is brilliant at work and everyone knows it that she is more capable than her Professor Kim.
So, we have two problems at hand.
One that there is a misogynistic enviroment where a very good doctor left a hospital and no action is being taken against that awful Professor by those who were present to the OR with the pregnant VVIP where HE was the one who damaged the patient’s veins and he tried to make HaNeul pay for it.
At the same time, Professor Kim stole Ha Neul’s dissertation, and downgraded her as a contract worker and noone is doing anything about it, when she should go and see a lawyer specialized in labor and employment for it. If she didn’t sign about it, it is illegal and the Hospital is responsible for it because they should have an HR department and not let a Professor do all these stuff.
Ha Neul is being called DIFFICULT as every woman in every workplace around the world, because that Huyng is afraid she is better than him.
And
Second, Jeong Woo’s malpractice case where that Hyung who knows him since highschool destroyed him, because Jeong Woo is better than him not only in his occupation but also a better person.
Ha Neul after the dress shopping described exactly Jeong Woo. He is someone who cares about others.
That aspect of the drama is well written. The mystery nope.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
Hi @Cleo, @Fern, @Good Twin, @Stacy, @WE
Episode continues to give us more info and backstory so we are no longer in the dark.
While I agree with @Cleo that not much care has been taken to portray the due process of investigation, law, security, etc… I came long ago to the conclusion that the ‘mystery’/character assassination part of the show was to be merely the vehicle by which the enemies would become friends and lovers.
I’ve read general criticisms that romance dramas should not include crime/detection in them because one or both aspects would be badly written/produced. In the same vein, unless the writer is adept at it, the genre of crime/mystery (which is how this drama began) with romance thrown in, is probably not going to satisfy fans of at least one genre.
I still find this worth the watch for the burgeoning romance, to know how the Main Leads are going to get themselves out of the rut and to see what else Show says about Depression. Even PHS’s crazy mad-eye expressions have become expected, and so, passable and accepted.
It’s obvious that despite the down-and-out situation for our leads, Show is determined to not go over-heavy with the suffering and to emphasise instead, how the characters can still choose to be positive and life-giving instead of vengeful or self-absorbed. In the process of making Show lighter and funny, it has chosen to go the other extreme in crazy acts by JW. I’ll just take it as it is.
Cleopatra
Kalimera Unnie!
Yes, that is exactly my problem. The jakkanim doesn’t know the thriller genre at all and yet, she is using it poorly in her script, thus making it difficult for us who watch such shows to like the show.
Yes, I can overlook things to some shows in order to enjoy them, but in this one, the chosen JW’s arc is not something to overcome. There are massive plotholes and when @WE will read this will most likely agree with me.
I would like to answer to @Fern if I remember correctly who asked about the pens. It is not the first time, I see one.
The first one was in Hospital Playlist. Kim Jun Wan had one. I just don’t remember in which episode I have seen it.
And, the other show is “Man to Man” where there were black op NIS agents that were had such pens in order to record what was happening.
So, we have two pens that were inside the clinic that were recording and sending the signal somewhere else. Also, there would be other device(s) in the OR that hijacked the cameras and the video was erased when the beauty procedure was done.
So, we are waiting literally for the time, when someone will find that recording pen, in order Jeong Woo’s name to be cleared.
All the above are what I am not enjoying.
What I am enjoying is the main couple’s interaction. How they are communicating with each other, console each other and how they are embracing what is happening to them and trying to overcome it one day at a time…
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
@Cleo, in the epilogue, the baddie, Min Kyung Min, took one of the pens home. We got to see unnecessary naked male torso in a shower, before they showed us his face, as he looked at the pen. Just for that one short scene, the actor probably agonised over the look of his chest and stomach LOLOL.
I take it that the pens may transmit sounds and/or pictures, or they may just be recording devices. Either way, I guess the baddie has to go retrieve them before they are discovered.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
One more thing I forgot to say, it’s heartening to know that HN was actually doing what she enjoyed when she studied like crazy. She was not forcing herself. She may partially have done all that excelling to give her dad a chance to smile, but she also enjoyed reading dissertations and studying. That’s not to say that she might not have enjoyed being with friends as well, but she did not seem to give them any priority at all.
Hence the source of her Depression began mostly with the injustice she faced at work with bad mentors, and possibly having to bear the weight of her mother’s expectations.
Cleopatra
Unnie,
This scene was unnecessary. Why should I see his naked torso? What was the purpose of it? That this Hyung is good looking too without his glasses? I would have seen his face without the glasses and that would be okay. Such minor -let’s say- details are spoiling the fun.
No, the pen that stayed behind is the one the baddie didn’t find and won’t go to look for. That pen is for Jeong Woo. Someone will find it and that piece of information that has inside will clear his name. Hence those long shots in both Episodes 3 + 4.
Regarding your second comment. She found solace in reading, because that was the memory she shared with her father. That doesn’t mean that she wasn’t burned out because of it.
I really like reading as well, but I have been burned out and I cannot read anything since July 2020 that I have finished my second degree. I am reading a book here and there, but I am not reading as I used to. Why? Because my brain said “No”.
I read one book during my summer holidays in last August and two weeks ago I have started “The Three-Body Problem” because I want to watch the Chinese version before the Netflix one uploads its own.
As for the lack of friends. Since she was reading all the time, she didn’t use her social skills to befriend someone. When they were inviting her over, she constantly said no. And one day, they stopped coming for her.
Her Depression is a puzzle of all those things, along with living a life inside the books and not really living. I mean she didn’t do what she really wanted to so i.e. travel away because she believed she could do it later.
She lived without actually living except working, letting years passing by, not enjoying Life at all. It is one poem of Constantinos P.Kavafy “Since Nine O’Clock” that explain this pretty well. I really love it.
“Half past twelve. How the time has gone by.
Half past twelve. How the years have gone by. ”
Also, I found the poem narrated by the late greek actress Elli Lampeti in greek. I think it will be interesting for you to listen to it.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
@Cleo
I certainly hope baddie left that pen behind or forgot all about it. JW needs a break to help him win the trial.
Thanks for the poignant poem (which I read in English and listened to in Greek) that is a good reminder of how we let time slip by, while not doing as much as we could or should. At the same time, we also need to rest, therefore there needs to be a balance. Enjoy what we are doing and rest.
I am drowsy now, and listening to my body and mind, I may take a nap!
Cleopatra
Unnie,
Go and rest! We will talk later!
Yes, that is my take on that remaining pen scene. That JW will find it or it will be handed over to him.
Cleopatra
P.S. I am happy you enjoyed the poem. I really love Cavafy.
Fern
Thank you for the poem, @Cleopatra. It is very appropriate to Ha Neul’s character
Cleopatra
You are welcome @Fern.
Cavafy has written some of my favorite poems of all time!
Fern
I agree with others that the romance storyline is more appealing and more realistic than the mystery storyline. I like how each of them is becoming the breath of hope for the other.
I did find it strange that Ha Neul’s parents didn’t seem to notice that she had no friends and was happy like that. For me it would have been a source of great concern that she preferred studies exclusively over friends. I appreciate that her father was dying and her mother worried about Ha Neul’s future, but yet…
Fern
Comparing this to Flowers in the Sand, which I’m trying to finish, I am much more drawn into the plot, mystery, characters and romance of ‘Flowers’.
Monmor
I’m not watching this show yet for a few reasons. My impression is that the script writer is reaching pretty far to get her drama and not basing it in how things might be in reality. The promotional material was all about burn out. And then we find out in the first episode that this show is a thriller. Burnout is long term stress reaction to one’s work environment. Also I have never liked PSH.
For example Did he not have malpractice insurance? If he did or didn’t is this addressed?
Do either of the characters actually have burn out? It is not the same as depression.
although from reading these posts I like
The way they are handling the idea of depression.
I guess I would have preferred an exploration of what burnout means. Burn out is more about work overload and systemic issues in medical work environments And their long-term impact on health professionals..
Because of covid, Burnout is a very topical issue.
And I really Do not like it being conflated with the trauma of medical malpractice.
Since I have not watched this show maybe they are addressing these issues In a way that was not evident from what I know about the first episode.
Kalimera @Packmule3!
Let us see what we will see tonight… o.O
Thank you, @packmule3.
The two leads have a conversation after eating tteokbokki, going to the arcade and karaoke. Ha Neul is mourning the things she gave up. (35.57) Jung Woo consoles her by saying she did her best. Then he says something I liked him for:
JW: Since you’ve hit rock bottom…
HN: I should stay strong?
JW: No, just stay down. Let’s take a break while we’re at rock bottom.
I think he was trying to tell her that striving and ‘being strong’ won’t help her as much as relaxing, smelling the roses and taking things one day at a time. This is an important thing for people with clinical depression to hear. Afterwards HN, who expected something grand to turn her depression around, realises that the tteokbokki, arcade and his ‘ridiculous words of comfort’ were indeed helpful to her and helped her sleep well.
Also in this episode, when Jung Woo reflects on his time before going to University, he thinks his life was perfect. Smart, good at sports, a good personality, good looking – he thought his entire life would be like that. He thought that Ha Neul interrupted his glowing life by competing with him for first place. I think it’s easy to be generous when things are going your way.
At the same time, as contrast, we know that Ha Neul spent every waking moment studying and that the competition they generate between each other took a toll.
When both of them fainted at school from exhaustion, we saw the difference between their mothers who both come into the school infirmary. Both mothers pushed their children to be at the top of their year, but Jung Woo’s mother registered little concern about his health (despite being a doctor herself) and complained to his teacher about his academic results because he was no longer 1st place. She didn’t seem to care about him as a person. But Ha Neul’s mother was worried about HN’s health and offered to take her for a transfusion at the hospital. Although she wanted her daughter to succeed, she was coming from a loving and empathetic place.
Someone in the thread from the first episodes mentioned that love itself won’t save another from depression, but loving support will certainly help.
It makes me wonder, as others did, if JW’s family is so well off and concerned with appearances, why didn’t they hire the best lawyers and investigators to help JW win his case? He seems to be on his own in this struggle at this point, except that now Ha Neul seems to have joined his team.
I couldn’t make out what was left in Jung Woo’s office – was there a camera or recording device? Perhaps someone else saw it more clearly.
Ad hoc Thoughts
PSH never fails to just be about the same, look the same, act the same, in every role I’ve seen her. PHS has more range. PHS is doing more crying in this show than PSH so far LOL … and she’s supposed to be the Queen of Crying!
The question, expectation and relief in the looks exchanged between HN and JW in court was great. His shoulders relaxed.
The way JW walked diffidently into his dark, closed clinic and wondered where his office was, was in stark contrast to how he’d strutted into it in Ep 1 and greeted all his staff with coffee.
They both downplay their being nice to each other, pretending that the reason for their niceness is something else. For eg. When JW thanks HN for going to the court for him, she dismisses it as her not wanting to be indebted towards him for his comforting her. They are more caring towards each other than they want to admit to themselves and to each other.
I wondered at first if it was out of character of HN to suggest that she treated them to some enjoyment with her severance pay, but the Epilogue showed me that it wasn’t (more on that below). After the trial, HN wanted to cheer JW up this time, possibly because he’d comforted her before and because she’s more caring than we are aware of. It’s good that they see the mistake of going to Sokcho to see the sunrise on a cloudy morning as still a way to make memories.
I rewatched the part where we cut back to JW’s clinic and it did look like there were 3 places where some kind of camera or recording device (in the shape of a pen) or bug was placed. And I missed this part on first watch … but the lights outside the office came on. That means that someone had just entered the outer door. We cut back to HN and JW on the beach, so we know it’s not them.
Their voiceovers at the beach where despite not seeing the sun or not knowing their futures, they still waited for the sun to rise, coupled with the zoom out to show us the vast open sea and clear sand all around them, struck me 2 ways. Either negatively that they were all alone in that vastness or positively that they were willing to embrace all the unknowns around them and all the possibilities that the waves were bringing in. I’m going with the positive, of course, not only because the vibe and the music are positive, but because the main theme of this Show is that no matter how far down one may sink, there is hope.
It was funny that in their competing with each other, even in the fainting, JW was upset that HN had fainted first and he had come in second! I realised that I had only glanced at the Epilogue and missed that in the school infirmary, HN had actually made a friendly gesture in writing a note to encourage JW. She had advised that they both stayed strong and everything would be okay. However that note was dropped and forgotten. As a result, JW had fumed at her for leaving him without even a word.
So their enmity was not only based on their rivalry, but also on some misunderstandings. HN was not only robotic and uncaring, but was warmer than she had appeared to be, except that she had not been able to show that side of herself. 🙂
@Growing Beautifully, yes, the appreciation of the beach was a ‘cup half full’ rather than half empty moment. The sea was still beautiful, boundless and powerful, right? (and if I were having a Ha Neul moment, I would say that the negative ions generated by the waves might help to alleviate depression.)
Didn’t you like the moment at the arcade’s dancing machine when they were both shown as students – as though Ha Neul had accepted Jung Woo’s invitations to eat tteokbokki and go to the arcade afterwards? I’m more skeptical about her saying that she didn’t know any K-pop whatsoever because it must be ubiquitous in SK, even if she didn’t listen to it herself.
I was looking for the dropped note moment last night- thanks for writing that it was in the epilogue.
I haven’t seen the actress in other roles, so I can’t comment on her acting, but she seems fine for this role to me. I liked their exchange of looks both inside and outside of the courtroom. She was like oxygen for him. –The little smiles saying, ‘I shouldn’t be smiling but can’t help it’. She immediately understood that her severance pay issue is nothing compared to his critical position as defendant in this lawsuit. Do you have the feeling that she is going to go into battle for him in his lawsuit and find the best evidence? The press would take her apart if she is known to be his researcher or expert witness, yet, she is an anaesthesiologist and I believe it was the anaesthesiologist during Jung Woo’s operation who administered extra drugs to the patient.
Hello @Fern! Thanks for mentioning that negative ions help to alleviate depression. I looked it up for fun and see that it’s something touted but more research is needed to confirm it. It reminds me that someone wanted me to buy a negative ion mattress for health benefits LOL. I thought it was too pricey for something not quite proven.
Yes, the sea is indeed boundless… the possibilities that lie beyond it limitless. Despite the dull, grey morning, hope still remained.
I was thinking to myself that it was not bad for PSH, now a mum in her 30s, to be able to do all that jumping around in the arcade and look like she was still in her teens. It was sweet to think that they were making up for lost time, when the costume change to them in school uniforms popped up.
I feel show intentionally takes things to extremes in some areas. For eg showing that HN hardly drank and even hardly ate to save time (soooo unhealthy) … and in the same way never once paid attention to any Kpop. Similarly, show makes Jeong Wooout to be too over-the-top crazy in his expressions (mad eyes!), postures, and overall behaviour when he was being childishly competitive.
It’s strange that Show opts to do this, because it is not based on the Japanese ‘Dr Slump’ manga or anime at all, as far as I can tell. It seems to be an original story. Show seems to want to make parts of the characters caricatures, perhaps as a comment on how unrealistic our main characters were in the way they thought and acted in the past. Ultimately the caricatures will also make their more realistic, human moments stand out better, by comparison.
I expect that HN will continue to be supportive in any way she can. Her voiceovers have told us that she’s aware that JW was going through a lot more than he let on, and that he was just enduring a great deal. She believed that if knew he was not alone, it would be easier for him, hence it’s likely she’ll be ‘by his side’ as far as she can.
You’re right that her area of specialisation is particularly suitable in helping JW, because it’s likely the anaesthesiologist that administered the anti-coagulant to cause the death of the patient.
Early on I was thinking that these two would do well to open up a clinic together. No hospital might hire them, but they could possibly start anew in the countryside.
I take notes:
Depressed people doing nothing but staring at the sea and waiting the sun to rise.
I wonder how many time the sun takes to rise.
I should had think about that before: but a drama with depressed people should obviously get many scenes with sad people staring at something while doing nothing.
And also sessions with a psychologist.
Oooops, I go out! 😮💨
Enjoyed these 2 eps even more than the first two. Loved the progression between the leads, JW is definitely developing ~feelings~ lol.
Kalispera,
So we have a recording pen that someone was looking for, in the end of Episode 3 and tonight we find out who is the culprit behind JW’s malpractice case.
The other one recording pen that has evidence is still at the clinic.
The thing is getting even weirder, because that dude is also an anaesthesiologist!
And here is the big question, I was asking one week ago…
What kind of procedures the Police actually did in the clinic in the first place?
Especially when new evidence appeared from nowhere in Court, that was not in their search and seizure, while at the same moment, other critical evidence was collected from the scene of crime from the real mastermind and was not found by the Police?!?
Seriously, this is a major plot hole. Forensics is not that sloppy…
So, in the end of Episode 4,we get to see that the Police did not do its job properly. They “missed” important evidence that shows who is the real killer and not Jeong Woo.
This is a whole new level of not doing your job right, while someone else is being destroyed…
P.S. The baddie has Jeong Woo’s fingerprint.
🌾🌷🪻🌼🌸🌺 🌾🌷🪻🌼🌸🌺 🌾🌷🪻🌼🌸🌺
Hi @pkml3 I believe my comment has gone missing! I replied to @Fern.
🌾🌷🪻🌼🌸🌺 🌾🌷🪻🌼🌸🌺 🌾🌷🪻🌼🌸🌺
Hi @Stacy, @WE,
Show is still as enjoyable. There is movement in all areas… the mystery and betrayal, HN’s character growth, JW’s feelings, and a bit on the family front with HN’s mum.
Mum needs to find out what can help those in Depression and not expect to be able to administer a quick fix. It’s good that Show touches on this as well. 🙂
Give me half an hour, @GB. Must put away groceries. Don’t know why I’m still shopping in bulk at Costco when there’s only my husband and me. 🤣
OK @pkml3,… I thought you’d do more online shopping and get stuff delivered!
Done, @GB.
I also found a few posts by @monmor in my spambox. Hmmm. I don’t know what happened there.
Sorry, @monmor.
I’m probably the only person on this blog who liked the Heirs. PHS had a small role, but PSH was the FL. I thought she was great. I like her voice, her casual vibe and natural good looks. I’d watch her in almost anything (she was the best thing about the Doctors).
There was an allusion to Strong Woman during the beach scene. PHS writing on the beach with a stick and PSH telling him it was cheesy. In Strong Woman his character courted the FL by drawing a huge heart on the beach.
Thank you @pkml3! Yes, poor @Monmor was wondering why her comments on the Nine: 9 thread did not display. She could not join our conversation.
I guess I should make it a habit to check that everything I post gets displayed immediately, or I might not even realise it went missing.
🙂
Yes, I do prefer to shop online to avoid the crowd and save time. But for perishable goods and frozen food, I can’t get those delivered. By the time I organize everything though I usually need a drink. lol. It’s not just a matter of stuffing them in the fridge and freezer. The salmon fillet must be sliced up so we don’t have to defrost the whole thing and can just grab the right portion during the week. The meat, like steak, beef chunks and ground beef, have to be apportioned then repacked before storage in the freezer.
I feel like a housewife! Like a neat and organized housewife on a Youtube show. Lol. But I see how consumerist Americans (me included!) are whenever I shop at Costco.
LOL @pkml3, you sound like me! I don’t actually buy in big bulk but still the only way to defrost what we need is to repack all the frozen stuff in smaller packs. It’s a horror when everything is stuff in willy-nilly and I can’t recognise one kind of meat from another!
Kalimera @Fern et al,
I was the one who wrote about love in the first thread.
Although the romance is going smoothly between them and I enjoyed it very much. I still don’t like some cringey scenes where the leads have to be cute and the fact that they are dragging JW’s malpractice case.
Yes, we knew that JW was framed and we found out that his Hyung is the mastermind.
Not only he did what he did, but also badmouthed Ha Neul to another Doctor in order not to get another job!
What does it mean she doesn’t have social skills? She is brilliant at work and everyone knows it that she is more capable than her Professor Kim.
So, we have two problems at hand.
One that there is a misogynistic enviroment where a very good doctor left a hospital and no action is being taken against that awful Professor by those who were present to the OR with the pregnant VVIP where HE was the one who damaged the patient’s veins and he tried to make HaNeul pay for it.
At the same time, Professor Kim stole Ha Neul’s dissertation, and downgraded her as a contract worker and noone is doing anything about it, when she should go and see a lawyer specialized in labor and employment for it. If she didn’t sign about it, it is illegal and the Hospital is responsible for it because they should have an HR department and not let a Professor do all these stuff.
Ha Neul is being called DIFFICULT as every woman in every workplace around the world, because that Huyng is afraid she is better than him.
And
Second, Jeong Woo’s malpractice case where that Hyung who knows him since highschool destroyed him, because Jeong Woo is better than him not only in his occupation but also a better person.
Ha Neul after the dress shopping described exactly Jeong Woo. He is someone who cares about others.
That aspect of the drama is well written. The mystery nope.
Hi @Cleo, @Fern, @Good Twin, @Stacy, @WE
Episode continues to give us more info and backstory so we are no longer in the dark.
While I agree with @Cleo that not much care has been taken to portray the due process of investigation, law, security, etc… I came long ago to the conclusion that the ‘mystery’/character assassination part of the show was to be merely the vehicle by which the enemies would become friends and lovers.
I’ve read general criticisms that romance dramas should not include crime/detection in them because one or both aspects would be badly written/produced. In the same vein, unless the writer is adept at it, the genre of crime/mystery (which is how this drama began) with romance thrown in, is probably not going to satisfy fans of at least one genre.
I still find this worth the watch for the burgeoning romance, to know how the Main Leads are going to get themselves out of the rut and to see what else Show says about Depression. Even PHS’s crazy mad-eye expressions have become expected, and so, passable and accepted.
It’s obvious that despite the down-and-out situation for our leads, Show is determined to not go over-heavy with the suffering and to emphasise instead, how the characters can still choose to be positive and life-giving instead of vengeful or self-absorbed. In the process of making Show lighter and funny, it has chosen to go the other extreme in crazy acts by JW. I’ll just take it as it is.
Kalimera Unnie!
Yes, that is exactly my problem. The jakkanim doesn’t know the thriller genre at all and yet, she is using it poorly in her script, thus making it difficult for us who watch such shows to like the show.
Yes, I can overlook things to some shows in order to enjoy them, but in this one, the chosen JW’s arc is not something to overcome. There are massive plotholes and when @WE will read this will most likely agree with me.
I would like to answer to @Fern if I remember correctly who asked about the pens. It is not the first time, I see one.
The first one was in Hospital Playlist. Kim Jun Wan had one. I just don’t remember in which episode I have seen it.
And, the other show is “Man to Man” where there were black op NIS agents that were had such pens in order to record what was happening.
So, we have two pens that were inside the clinic that were recording and sending the signal somewhere else. Also, there would be other device(s) in the OR that hijacked the cameras and the video was erased when the beauty procedure was done.
So, we are waiting literally for the time, when someone will find that recording pen, in order Jeong Woo’s name to be cleared.
All the above are what I am not enjoying.
What I am enjoying is the main couple’s interaction. How they are communicating with each other, console each other and how they are embracing what is happening to them and trying to overcome it one day at a time…
@Cleo, in the epilogue, the baddie, Min Kyung Min, took one of the pens home. We got to see unnecessary naked male torso in a shower, before they showed us his face, as he looked at the pen. Just for that one short scene, the actor probably agonised over the look of his chest and stomach LOLOL.
I take it that the pens may transmit sounds and/or pictures, or they may just be recording devices. Either way, I guess the baddie has to go retrieve them before they are discovered.
One more thing I forgot to say, it’s heartening to know that HN was actually doing what she enjoyed when she studied like crazy. She was not forcing herself. She may partially have done all that excelling to give her dad a chance to smile, but she also enjoyed reading dissertations and studying. That’s not to say that she might not have enjoyed being with friends as well, but she did not seem to give them any priority at all.
Hence the source of her Depression began mostly with the injustice she faced at work with bad mentors, and possibly having to bear the weight of her mother’s expectations.
Unnie,
This scene was unnecessary. Why should I see his naked torso? What was the purpose of it? That this Hyung is good looking too without his glasses? I would have seen his face without the glasses and that would be okay. Such minor -let’s say- details are spoiling the fun.
No, the pen that stayed behind is the one the baddie didn’t find and won’t go to look for. That pen is for Jeong Woo. Someone will find it and that piece of information that has inside will clear his name. Hence those long shots in both Episodes 3 + 4.
Regarding your second comment. She found solace in reading, because that was the memory she shared with her father. That doesn’t mean that she wasn’t burned out because of it.
I really like reading as well, but I have been burned out and I cannot read anything since July 2020 that I have finished my second degree. I am reading a book here and there, but I am not reading as I used to. Why? Because my brain said “No”.
I read one book during my summer holidays in last August and two weeks ago I have started “The Three-Body Problem” because I want to watch the Chinese version before the Netflix one uploads its own.
As for the lack of friends. Since she was reading all the time, she didn’t use her social skills to befriend someone. When they were inviting her over, she constantly said no. And one day, they stopped coming for her.
Her Depression is a puzzle of all those things, along with living a life inside the books and not really living. I mean she didn’t do what she really wanted to so i.e. travel away because she believed she could do it later.
She lived without actually living except working, letting years passing by, not enjoying Life at all. It is one poem of Constantinos P.Kavafy “Since Nine O’Clock” that explain this pretty well. I really love it.
“Half past twelve. How the time has gone by.
Half past twelve. How the years have gone by. ”
Here is the whole poem in English:
https://www.onassis.org/initiatives/cavafy-archive/the-canon/since-nine-oclock
Also, I found the poem narrated by the late greek actress Elli Lampeti in greek. I think it will be interesting for you to listen to it.
@Cleo
I certainly hope baddie left that pen behind or forgot all about it. JW needs a break to help him win the trial.
Thanks for the poignant poem (which I read in English and listened to in Greek) that is a good reminder of how we let time slip by, while not doing as much as we could or should. At the same time, we also need to rest, therefore there needs to be a balance. Enjoy what we are doing and rest.
I am drowsy now, and listening to my body and mind, I may take a nap!
Unnie,
Go and rest! We will talk later!
Yes, that is my take on that remaining pen scene. That JW will find it or it will be handed over to him.
P.S. I am happy you enjoyed the poem. I really love Cavafy.
Thank you for the poem, @Cleopatra. It is very appropriate to Ha Neul’s character
You are welcome @Fern.
Cavafy has written some of my favorite poems of all time!
I agree with others that the romance storyline is more appealing and more realistic than the mystery storyline. I like how each of them is becoming the breath of hope for the other.
I did find it strange that Ha Neul’s parents didn’t seem to notice that she had no friends and was happy like that. For me it would have been a source of great concern that she preferred studies exclusively over friends. I appreciate that her father was dying and her mother worried about Ha Neul’s future, but yet…
Comparing this to Flowers in the Sand, which I’m trying to finish, I am much more drawn into the plot, mystery, characters and romance of ‘Flowers’.
I’m not watching this show yet for a few reasons. My impression is that the script writer is reaching pretty far to get her drama and not basing it in how things might be in reality. The promotional material was all about burn out. And then we find out in the first episode that this show is a thriller. Burnout is long term stress reaction to one’s work environment. Also I have never liked PSH.
For example Did he not have malpractice insurance? If he did or didn’t is this addressed?
Do either of the characters actually have burn out? It is not the same as depression.
although from reading these posts I like
The way they are handling the idea of depression.
I guess I would have preferred an exploration of what burnout means. Burn out is more about work overload and systemic issues in medical work environments And their long-term impact on health professionals..
Because of covid, Burnout is a very topical issue.
And I really Do not like it being conflated with the trauma of medical malpractice.
Since I have not watched this show maybe they are addressing these issues In a way that was not evident from what I know about the first episode.
I really like PSY.
PHS