I read about the brouhaha to suspend the broadcast of this kdrama after Episode 6 came out, and laughed at the Chief Producer’s pithy response.

Two words in English: No fear

That tells me all I need to know.

One, he must think he has a compelling show if he’s willing to stand behind it.

Two, the irony isn’t lost on him. The episode about a group of influential doctors denying a surgery because they can’t politicize it to their advantage is being denied broadcast by a group of vociferous critics because they can’t politicize it to their advantage. Just like the leaders of Magnolia society want to control who gets VIP treatment in the Guseo Hospital, these critics want to dictate how a national trauma is depicted in mainstream media.

And three… let me finish my review of this episode.

Question: Why did SuJeong (SJ) stage a reenactment of that ill-fated day in Gwangju for Oh SangBeom (SB)?

Short Answer: For catharsis.

The way I see it SJ realizes in the nick of time that she has the order of procedure wrong. Her original plan is to operate on SB so she can retrieve the bone fragment. But as SB refuses to undergo surgery, she’s in a bind.

SJ: I need to think. I need to think harder. I need to find it. If I’m just able to find a way for me to operate, to get in there and remove it, then there’s a real chance.

See that? Her first priority is the operation.

At this point in time, she already knows that a bone fragment is inside SB’s head, not a bullet. She wants to operate on SB, take out the bone fragment, and give it to SB as a piece of his hyung. Like a memento or if you’re Catholic, a relic.

SJ believes that once SB has a physical connection to his hyung to hold on to, he’ll have courage to live on. Remember now, SB was deeply attached to his hyung. Even when he was a child, he held on tightly to his hyung and wouldn’t leave his hyung’s side because he was afraid of losing him. If SB has the bone fragment now, it can be his tangible link to his hyung for the rest of his life.

However, as SJ’s mulling over the words of SB’s doctor, Dr. Woo, she remembers what he told them. According to him, SB would seek his brother whether he was asleep or awake. If he was sleeping, he’d wake up and sob, “It’s too heavy” over and over again.

She realizes then what SB meant by “too heavy” and what she ought to do first. She must help him confront his suppressed memory BEFORE she can perform the operation.

Hence, she stages the reenactment.

SB needs to resurface his repressed trauma into his conscious awareness so he can purge it out of his system. That’s what a catharsis is: to release pent-up emotions in order to feel cleansed and restored afterwards. The Greeks knew the benefits of catharsis since 4th century BC when they began performing tragedies in their theaters. They didn’t hide the negative, “unhealthy” feelings. Instead, they performed and watched them so they could expel these harmful feelings from their mind and body, and in the end, regain peace.

Sidenote: Dr. Kim isn’t just being silly when he obsessed about “MacBeth.” If you know what this Shakespeare tragedy is all about then, then you’ll get the reference to the other VIP patient in Guseo Hospital.

A reenactment allows SB to simulate the tragedy in a safe environment. He’ll remember what happened and why he suppressed it in his memory in the first place. Through the reenactment, he can process the grief, guilt, anger, and all other intense feelings he’s locked up inside with the memory of that day in 1980.

Then with a bit of guidance and reflection from SJ, he’ll be ready to undergo surgery and be healed.

Do you see the reverse order of procedure?

SJ must heal the mind first, before the body. And not heal the body first, then the mind.

After the catharsis from the reenactment, SB no longer resists the surgery. He quietly its to get his hair shaved off. I think the head-shaving is symbolic. He’s bald as a baby; he’s being reborn.

When he’s asked what music he wants during the surgery, he requests for his hyung’s favorite piece, “Träumerei.”

By the way, the screenwriter knew the historical significance of that Schumann piece. Like the interjection of “MacBeth” into the story, Träumerei, especially the version played by Vladimir Horowitz, is germane to the story. Mr. Horowitz, a naturalized American citizen, returned to his homeland the Soviet Union after 61 years of exile for a performance. For an encore, he played this famous short piece by the German composer Robert Schumann. I don’t think there was a single Russian soul in the audience that wasn’t moved by the moment. You see, this music was played when the Nazi surrendered in 1945. The Soviets played it to honor the 26,000,000 of their citizens who died during the Nazi occupation. And it’s been played for memorials of the dead ever since then.

If you listen to the short piece, you’ll understand that it’s human nature yearn for those simple innocent days of childhood. I’m sure SB’s hyung would have preferred to live in nostalgia, too, if he didn’t need to fight the military regime to preserve those idyllic days.

Träumerei means “dreaming” and it’s a piano piece from Schumann’s “Kinderszenen” or “Scenes from Childhood.” Just as the music’s title suggest, when SJ’s in surgery, he dreams of meeting his hyung again, the most important figure from his childhood.

However, this time, he meets his hyung no longer as a child, but as the old man that he’s become. In his imagination, they’ll do the things they would have done together had his hyung lived.

Like ride a bus, share a popsicle, give him the black shoes he brought for him that spring day in 1980, sing in a noraebang, play video games outside a convenience store, buy him a suit, drink soju, carry him home on his back, and cover him with blanket at night.

In SB’s mind, these scenes are connected to his childhood. They’re a continuation of those idyllic days.

When SJ finally finds the bone fragment, however, it’s time to end this nostalgic dream. His hyung wakes him up to invite him to eat. He delivers his final words to him, telling him to keep his strength up.

Hyung: Beom-ah. Take care of yourself. Make sure you eat well. And that you stay strong. You should stay a little longer.

His hyung caresses his head and, sensing that his hyung is about to leave him, SB takes hold of his hyung’s hand with both of his.

Then, as SJ removes the bone fragment, his hyung departs from him.

Bravo! I think this is another stirring, cathartic moment, but it’s intended more for the viewers than for  SB. If you notice, SB lets go of his hyung in peace. Because he let go of all his pent-up emotions during the reenactment, he’s able to release his hyung, and accept his passing in peace.

And to me, that’s the whole point of these episodes on Gwangju.

While the critics want to suppress the depiction of the massacre on the media because it supposedly causes “viewer discomfort,” the show’s message is actually the opposite. It exhorts the viewers to confront the memories of this tragic event and to acknowledge the gamut of feelings associated with it.

Only after catharsis can the nation begin to heal.

Hence, the Chief Producer’s “no fear.”