Beautiful Mind: Episode 2

74 June 27, 2016

by murasakimi

Beautiful Mind continues to fascinate with its complex characters and hidden agendas, even from those you least expect. Right when you’ve settled into one opinion about a character, a relationship, or even an ideology, the ground shifts and suddenly you find yourself asking larger questions about what it means to be a compassionate doctor, a righteous enforcer of the law, a good father, and most of all, a decent human being.

EPISODE 2 RECAP

Before continuing with last week’s cliffhanger, we jump back a little bit into the past where we find Suk-joo frantically running through the hospital in search of a long-haired Jin-sung. He discovers her on the rooftop with a soju bottle in hand. He wrestles it from her, shouting that her surgery is tomorrow and thus she should not be consuming anything.

She shoots back that she has no intention of undergoing the procedure because she refuses to financially burden her family.

He responds by uncapping the soju and downing its contents in one long gulp before she can ruin her chances and asks her tenderly if she could put her trust in his hands one more time. This of course is the bottle cap we recognize from the previous episode.

It seems Jin-sung’s reticence isn’t the only barrier to her surgery; it’s lunchtime and a first-year resident Suk-joo desperately pleads with his superior to redo Jin-sung’s surgery. Evidently, Jin-sung was born with a heart valve deformity, and although she underwent an operation once before, the procedure failed, and now she is waiting for an artificial valve implant.

Suk-joo implores the senior surgeon to right his wrong and help lend his assistance for the second time since his performance in the previous one was clearly malpractice. Suk-joo insists that his senior will be forgiven if he helps do the right thing since surgeons are human too, and we all make mistakes.

Suk-joo receives a violent wallop to the head for his audacity and the senior threatens to fire him, but Suk-joo is not deterred and vows never to live merely as a monster wielding a scalpel.

Chief Director Shin follows the young surgeon out into the hall where Jin-sung listens from her hiding place under the staircase. Chief Director Shin implores Suk-joo to apologize to his superior and beg for forgiveness. With a glint in his eyes, he explains that if Suk-joo doesn’t apologize, he cannot ask his colleague to allow Suk-joo to assist him with the surgery. He smiles and says he will figure out a way to get the hospital to cover the payment for the procedure.

As the men leave, Chief Director Shin knowingly tells the hiding Jin-sung to go back to her room since it is almost time for their rounds. A short time later, Jin-sung has the surgery with presumably great success.

Then, we return to the present where Jin-sung awakens with a start in a hospital bed and immediately begins piecing together the events of the previous night. Perhaps predictably, Young-oh’s scalpel attack served an emergency medical purpose, which ultimately saved Jin-sung from cardiac arrest. In fragmented flashes of memory, we see Suk-joo swoop in and extract some fluid from Jin-sung’s heart using a large syringe.

Basically, Jin-sung has a condition called cardiac tamponade whereby excess fluid builds up and places potentially fatal pressure on the heart, preventing it from expanding fully and resulting in insufficient blood circulation throughout the body. What Young-oh did was puncture precisely between the myocardium and pericardium of Jin-sung’s heart, then used a syringe to aspirate the excessive fluid and alleviate the building pressure.

When one of the younger doctors commends Young-oh for the precision of his cut, and the overall coolness factor, Suk-joo quickly points out how risky the procedure was. What Young-oh did was brilliant, but exceptionally arrogant, and ultimately dangerous.

Despite his misgivings, Young-oh did save his patient, so Suk-joo pays him a visit to express his gratitude. Young-oh, disinterested in his thanks, pragmatically responds that if the police officer who suspected him of killing the motorcyclist were to suddenly wind up dead in his office, he may as well tattoo the word “criminal” on his forehead. Therefore, saving her was only logical and perhaps more importantly, a matter of self-interest.

Suk-joo attempts to correct any residual misunderstandings by explaining that the CCTV footage of surgery was deleted and Jin-sung was keen on seeing it, so Young-oh gladly hands it over right before cryptically advising that he should tell Jin-sung to take better care of herself.

At her follow-up appointment with Suk-joo, Jin-sung squirms, pleads, and bribes Suk-joo to let some other doctor do her dressing—she isn’t a kid anymore after all. Oblivious to her feelings, Suk-joo says she’s stuck with him.

When she goes on to thank him for saving her last night, he says she should thank Young-oh instead.

Meanwhile, in another part of the hospital, Young-oh contends with a suicidal patient (cameo by Seo Joon-young) rapidly becoming homicidal. Armed with a scalpel, the belligerent patient threatens to kill anyone that comes close, so naturally Young-oh approaches in his usual impassive way. Young-oh swiftly disarms the assailant then proceeds to instruct him on the most effective way to kill himself the next time he tries. Young-oh points out that the feeble cut the patient previously made to his own wrist was hardly fatal, illustrating just how nonexistent his desire to truly die must be.

He encourages the patient to settle down and stop making such a fuss with such weak intentions. Humiliated, the patient launches into another attack directed at Young-oh, but Jin-sung dives to save him just in time.

As they dust themselves off, Jin-sung announces they’re now even in terms of life-saving acts. Young-oh doesn’t think so and leads her away to the stairwell to talk privately. As she follows him, Jin-sung notes how steady Young-oh’s heart rate was despite the hoopla.

Continuing from the conversation of the previous night, Jin-sung asks why the video of the motorcyclist’s surgery was on his computer. He notes that it is probably in Suk-joo’s room as well. She doesn’t back down and tells him how she saw him in the mortuary the night the bodies were allegedly switched before the coroner’s examination. Unflustered by her suspicion, he asks if she believes him to be a murderer who deleted damning evidence of his crime, shouldn’t she be afraid right now?

She realizes immediately the reason he saved her before. She matches his cold delivery with her own and says:

Jin-sung: “Doctors save people and the police catch bad people. Just watch, I’m definitely going let everyone know what you did. Then no one will be on your side, not the doctors, or the hospital. You are all here for the patients, that’s what I believe.”

Unperturbed by her avowal, he argues that belief means nothing, it’s only an abstraction. Pushing her against the edge of the stairwell he then pulls her back just as she stumbles backwards ‘saving’ her for a second time and affirms that he too believes hospitals serve patients.

Back at the police station, Jin-sung tries to persuade Sergeant Park to let her proceed with the motorcyclist murder case. He explains that without any evidence they can’t conduct an investigation. All they have is Jin-sung’s suspicions that the bodies were switched, which isn’t enough to start with. Heck, even the coroner okayed the autopsy. She begs for the chance to try, even for just one day, she can’t let this be dust swept under the rug without doing anything.

Moved by her insistence, Sergeant Park sends her on paid vacation to carry out her investigation strictly off the books. However, she encounters her first obstacle quickly and without a warrant the hospital refuses to release any information.

Instead, she seeks out Chief Director Shin and voices her suspicions about Young-oh. Chief Director Shin adamantly defends his colleague and cites the upcoming live surgery of Assemblyman Kim as a reason to leave Young-oh alone. Frankly, the hospital can’t afford the scandal of a murder investigation. His hands are tied.

Min-jae and Suk-joo attend a lecture held by Young-oh about said live surgery and exchange pleasantries, but their relationship is unclear. Young-oh moves to begin his lecture, but is interrupted by Jin-sung who projects the video of him inspecting the motorcyclist’s deceased body in the mortuary to the entire audience composed of the hospital’s doctors.

Jin-sung boldly decries his involvement in the murder, forcing his father to remove him as the attending physician for the live surgery and appoint another neurosurgeon, Dr. So Ji-young, as his replacement. Young-oh asks for a chance to explain himself, but his father coldly tells him to do so before the ethics department.

Suk-joo and Chief Director Shin meet up for drinks after the kerfuffle and it’s clear the years have formed a strong bond between them. He tells Suk-joo his dream is for all surgeons to disappear and for people to be healed without needing surgery. Adorably, he brags about how cool and grown up their little Jin-sung looked today.

Satisfied that the motorcyclist will get the investigation he deserves, Jin-sung calls to let Sergeant Park know she’ll be in for work tomorrow.

Elsewhere, Dr. Lee confronts his son about what was going on in the CCTV footage, however, Young-oh only wants to talk about how important the live surgery is to him. His father reaches over and places his hand on his shoulder, which seems to shake something in Young-oh, and he comes out of his tantrum. Dr. Lee advises his son to pay attention to other people’s emotions and to stop only focusing on his wants and desires. He commands Young-oh to read his face now and tell him what he is feeling.

After breaking down the various facial gestures then piecing them back together, Young-oh concludes that his father is furious with him, and goes on to note that he is still under his father’s control, his eyes shining.

His father warns Young-oh not to forget all the time they’ve spent together and that he can start all over again if it’s for Young-oh’s sake. He then asks Young-oh again why he was down at the morgue. Young-oh confesses that he was trying to confirm what happened to cause the table death.

Young-oh continues that the two patients, the one that died naturally, and the one that died on the table… something occurs to him as he hesitates to answer, and he eventually says they have no difference. Dr. Lee seems pleased with his answer and advises him to say it just like that to the ethics council. When asked by Young-oh if Dr. Lee trusts him, he confirms it, then swiftly shifts the conversation to tell Young-oh to add a shot of quetiapine, which controls impulses, to his treatment.

We flashback to learn the nature of Young-oh’s condition: he was diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder, which is characterized by a person’s inability to read or empathize with emotions in others.

Dr. Lee had begun a long process of painstakingly teaching Young-oh the various emotions and facial/visual cues for him to memorize, using charts and drawings Young-oh still uses in the present day. Young-oh recalls his father’s face when he asked if he trusts him, and realizes his father was lying in order to conceal his fear.

The day of the live surgery finally arrives and tensions run high as the entire country watches to see one man and modern medicine straddle the line of life and death. Before a crowd of reporters, Assemblyman Kim wears the face of a confident politician with unwavering belief in modern science, but alone in the operating room he lets his anxieties show.

Suk-joo runs into Young-oh outside the ethics department. Having already pled his case, Young-oh asks Suk-joo if he told Jin-sung to take care of herself. When Suk-joo hesitates, he replies, “Oh no, guess I better do it myself.” Suk-joo rushes to call someone, but who do you call when the police are in trouble?

In the meantime, Jin-sung escorts a group of elementary schoolers across the street, unaware of a suspicious car speeding toward her. This time it’s Young-oh who saves her as he cuts off the murderous car’s path, leaving her unaware of what almost happened. He rolls down his window and tells her blankly that he’s here to turn himself in.

Young-oh brings Jin-sung to the hospital and advises her to watch very closely whatever happens from here on out.

In the operating room, things go south quickly, the replacement surgeon loses his cool and no one looks like they will be able to contain the situation. Director Kang, thinking fast, cuts the live feed to the surgery, as Dr. Lee and Chief Director Shin rush out to prevent the worst.

Dr. Lee takes over the now private operation but hesitates to do anything, clearly crippled by the pressure or by some other psychological inhibition we don’t yet understand.

In Director Kang’s office, Young-oh begins brokering a deal which would give him full authority over the hospital’s neurological center in exchange for successfully completing the now derailing surgery. After agreeing to his conditions, Young-oh says he just needs one more thing in order to execute the procedure: Suk-joo.

The Young-oh/Suk-joo alliance is reformed, and they suit up again for action, this time, hopefully, the results will be better.

Everyone watches with bated breath as Young-oh performs the impossible and saves the presidential candidate from near certain death. He explains that the reason he was able to identify the issue so quickly is because both Assemblyman Kim and the motorcyclist suffered from the same infectious fungus which eventually killed the latter.

Young-oh further explains that since he failed to save the motorcyclist he decided to rewatch the footage and investigate the mysterious fungus. He consulted the microbiologist Suk-joo questioned previously, who told him it is a fungus that occurs commonly in drug users, immunosuppresant users, and endocarditis sufferers, which both the motorcyclist and Assemblyman Kim each qualify as at least one of. The microbiologist requested that Young-oh keep this information a confidential since she would like to use it in her research.

After the surgery, Dr. Lee confronts his son asking why he chose to come to his hospital. Even though Dr. Lee told him not to become a doctor, he promised he would become a better person and help people. Instead, as soon as he arrived, he made a deal bartering with someone’s life to advance his ambitions. Young-oh replies that he’s come to realize that his hollow heart is the best asset he has as a doctor, and that the only reason he was able to save Assemblyman Kim was because he was not distracted by silly emotions. He sardonically apologizes for not keeping his promise of becoming a good doctor. Instead, he claims that he’s already a better doctor than the rest.

At the post-surgery press conference Chief Director Shin and Dr. So Ji-young stand shamefaced before the media horde trying to explain their nearly fatal operating room meltdown. Director Kang arrives in time to cover up their mistakes, and refuses to apologize because after all, every surgery has risks.

In the locker room, Suk-joo timidly approaches Young-oh once more to ask about his visit to the morgue and inquire if he noticed anything strange about the motorcyclist’s body. Before he can finish his thought Young-oh pointedly asks if he’s talking about the fact that the body had no heart.

He chuckles, knowing Suk-joo went down to the morgue that evening as well. He pulls Jin-sung into the room and says plainly that he didn’t take the heart, but, he knows who did: Suk-joo.

COMMENTS

For someone who doesn’t understand basic empathy Young-oh certainly has a keen sense of drama. He waits for exactly the right moment to reveal the fungus, then again to voice his suspicions about Suk-joo. As he says, instead of being bewildered by the emotions he doesn’t understand empathically, he’s learned to intellectualize the various nuances of human behavior and exploit them. In fact, he seems to take some pleasure in playing around with people.

I thought he was simply unable to understand people’s emotions, like a much weaker version of face-blindness, and lacked empathy like a sociopath. But sometimes the way he describes it, particularly during his showdown with his father after the surgery, he’ll claim not to feel any emotions, which I take to be completely different. In fact, that doesn’t seem to be true, what I think is more likely is that he feels very subdued versions of the entire emotional range. For example, when he was displaying his anger with his father about taking away the live surgery from him, he still was able to communicate his anger and therefore, feel his anger. However, what I think is more accurate is that he does not experience rage. He has versions of all emotions, like fear when his father touched his shoulder, but they never seem to manifest in such an extreme way as to compromise his reasoning. Perhaps he is actually emotionally stunted and certain emotions affect him more acutely as it might a child, but in order to protect himself, he projects a false mastery (or ignorance) of emotions as a defense mechanism. Whether I’m wrong or right, I do expect the drama to further define what his disorder means for him.

I find it very interesting that the current building blocks of Young-oh’s often cryptic behavior are leaning heavily toward conventionally villainous territory, but what that does is hinder the believability of a potential romance. At this point I would prefer to see them continue this cat-and-mouse dynamic between Young-oh and Jin-sung and keep those elements strictly unromantic. That would explain this casting to me much more. Not that the two actors aren’t doing a fantastic job in their portrayals; in fact their scenes together are some of my favorites, but is it hard for me to imagine her asking Sergeant Park which hairstyle is cuter on her way to meeting with Young-oh. That said, I’ve seen people fall in love when presented with much less; who am I to reject a loveline?

On another note, I really would like to understand Jin-sung’s internal logic. For someone that cites laws left and right as a way to force people to adhere to her definition of right and wrong, her investigative technique is sometimes off the rails. Her persistent belief in her own interpretation of justice is honestly a little terrifying and relentless. Within the confines of the drama, I’m sure she’ll remain on the side of justice, as the end will always justify her means, but without realizing it she’s playing into the problematic power paradox that plagues modern-day police forces (say that ten times). In the hands of someone even slightly less moral and upright, the methods she employs could be far more nefarious. I mean, she broke into Young-oh’s office to see the CCTV footage, expected her police badge to give her unlimited access to hospital files without a warrant, harassed Chief Director Shin to help her take down Young-oh without any evidence, and she left those kids to cross the street on their own. Did they get across safely? That road was rather perilous!

All kidding aside, I do actually enjoy that Jin-sung’s belief in the pursuit of justice cannot be swayed even if the man she is accusing is the same one who saved her life even before she knew why he did it. Nevertheless, I wonder if dogged belief and being a hot-head are the best combination when your opponent has neither of those to hinder him. The juxtaposition between the two characters makes for some exhilarating clashes, but I wonder how fair the match-up is when solving mysteries is involved. In this round, Jin-sung bet against Young-oh and she lost.

On the production side, this episode was paced well, with the mystery of Young-oh’s motives drawing us through the hour. Since he has essentially achieved his goal of escaping his father’s oppression I would be a little disappointed if we lose the opacity of his character that I find so intriguing, so quickly. The direction is doing a good job of staying out of the way, meaning it doesn’t often draw attention to itself, and when it does, it picks its moment carefully. This makes those moments more memorable and ultimately successful in my mind, particularly for a drama of this type. Really stylized dramas rely on those techniques, but mystery thrillers are all about the writing, acting, and pacing.

The relationship between Suk-joo and Chief Director Shin is adorably parental. It’s clear they each also deeply care for Jin-sung. I’m scared for this relationship now that Suk-joo is suspected of taking the heart (please don’t break mine). I need the fuzzies to continue since there are so little elsewhere! Their relationships contrast sharply with the show’s (so far) only actual blood relation: Young-oh and his father. Presumably this relationship showcases the Dr. Frankenstein aspect, where Dr. Lee is slowly watching his grip loosen over Young-oh as he becomes something very inhuman.

Speaking of Dr. Lee, so far he is one of the most interesting characters to me. Certainly Young-oh is interesting, but only really in a clinical and anti-hero type of way. Perhaps, because his son can be described as less than human, Dr. Lee on the other hand is so thoroughly human. He essentially gave Young-oh the tools with which to defeat him. While Young-oh was incessantly learning how to decode the human social paradigm, Dr. Lee learned very little about Young-oh. His focus was on how to suppress the traits that withheld normalcy from his son, but Young-oh was able to master what he viewed as human weakness and gain autonomy over his own life. I think Dr. Lee has a great deal of love for his son, but it is often eclipsed by his fear of Young-oh’s callous intelligence and insufficient humanity. That fear drives him to do what so many scared parents do, which is to ostracize himself from the one he loves most.

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1 sorrynotsorry

June 27, 2016 at 5:51 PM

I like the show thus far. I actually would be fine with them holding back on more surgeries...less about the medicine and more about the characters who just happen to work in a hospital. I also agree about the police officer. She needs to chill and think things through but I guess I should let the writer know that. Ha! I had no expectations for this drama and that's the best way to go into one because I'm enjoying it so far.

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2 Callie

June 27, 2016 at 6:02 PM

"I find it very interesting that the current building blocks of Young-oh’s often cryptic behavior are leaning heavily toward conventionally villainous territory, but what that does is hinder the believability of a potential romance. At this point I would prefer to see them continue this cat-and-mouse dynamic between Young-oh and Jin-sung and keep those elements strictly unromantic."

I wholeheartedly agree. I of course hope that Young Oh evolves throughout the course of the drama, but as of now, it feels like they would have to completely compromise both his and Jin Sung's character in order to open up the possibility of a romance. And I would hate for the writers to take away the thing that makes Young Oh such an interesting main character to do so.

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Sylvia

June 27, 2016 at 7:36 PM

Ugh, agreed.

As much as I find Jang Hyuk sexy and stuff, the romance would kinda weaken the quality of the show. There are only so many ways a character can qualify as a romantic kdrama hero; no matter how douchey or unappealing a male character is at the beginning of the show, if he is the designated lead who ends up with the girl, the writing will brute-force him into a recognizable, cliched mould to justify the grand question of 'Why He Deserves Her'.

Basically if BM is to go the conventional romance route, we know Lee Young Oh is going to go through the following transformations:

- moral redemption... we learn he is a decent guy after all, and he'll do stuff to demonstrate why he is morally reformed, and why he cares about patients/humanity/world peace.

- fall in love. Fall crazy in love the way only Kdrama heroes can. Become passionately devoted to the girl, and maybe risk his life saving her from Trucks of Death (except! Oh wait! He's kinda already done that this episode with his car...)

- healed. Frontal lobe injury be damned. Antisocial personality disorder be damned. Medical science be damned. The kdrama gods have spoken, and so it shall be.

OH WHATEVS. In any case, I'm on board and will watch for as long as I can. I'd love it if the story does something surprising with LOY's character arc. If not ... hey, typical kdrama romance with hot genius surgeon ain't so bad either LOL. Why Jang Hyuk dials down the overacting, he really is mesmerizing. 0___0

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3 gerry13

June 27, 2016 at 6:16 PM

Watch episode 3 last night, now waiting for eng sub. Very interesting storyline, still want to know who stole the heart and why. Great acting by everyone esp jang hyuk

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4 junny

June 27, 2016 at 7:33 PM

Thanks for the recap, and the very interesting analysis, it was very well thought out. I caught bits of this drama and liked Jang Hyuk's performance - I hope Young-oh isn't going to turn into a straight-up villain or something, because he's too interesting right now and there are still facets to explore. Also, Jin-sung is too reckless for my liking, especially being a law enforcer and all.

I actually misread your username as "murakami", oops.

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5 michykdrama

June 27, 2016 at 7:50 PM

Thanks for the recap! As I was watching this I thought that this would be a very hard show to recap and explain. It was this episode that made me hope that DB was going to recap it because I was so confused by all that was going on!

Ignoring the crazy medical parts (you don't get discharged immediately after having cardiac tamponade, neither do you shove a knife into someones chest but never mind....),
I am confused at how firstly, there was supposed to be a body swap for the corpse (no scar right?) then now, there is a heart missing? So is it the murdered guy's heart? or is it the heart of the swapped body? Or is it they swapped the body before the autopsy, but after Young Oh and Suk Joo saw it and ?took the heart??

Or maybe this is just part of the mystery and Im not supposed to know yet. :( At least I can't complain that the plot isn't moving fast- its just going so fast I can't keep up!

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jojo

June 27, 2016 at 11:12 PM

Im not exactly sure either bc im also hella confused but i think its the heart of the murdered guy b/c they're trying to cover something up? but then if that was the case the body swap should have been fine on its own why would they need to steal the heart?

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michykdrama

June 28, 2016 at 12:08 AM

Yeah.... Which is why I'm as confused as you are. Haha. Not to mention doctors are NOT supposed to take parts out of people's bodies. And the coroner would have noticed if the heart wasn't there. So... Yeah. I'm going to watch the next episode later, hope maybe some questions will be cleared up!

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kbaswithneko

June 28, 2016 at 10:56 AM

The body in the morge with the missing heart was the murder victim. Before it was sent for autopsy it was switched out for an intact body, thus insuring a clean autopsy report. The fungus was diagnosed from the sample taken by Young Oh during the failed surgery. I think a third person took the heart, but Suk Joo has some knowledge of what was being covered up. Medical malpractice? Illegal drug trials? Something in the past bubbling up again because that guy is running for office.

Jin Sung is not a trained investigator nor under proper jurisdiction. A murder was attempted violently in front of her and the hospital where she has a long term caring relationship with has become sinister with suspicion and deadly intentions which explains how she is running on righteous indignation rather than sound procedure. Yes, she is running around half-cocked, but someone has to stir the pot/plot for the action to unfold.

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6 dramaspresso

June 27, 2016 at 7:53 PM

I actually think that most of what we consider villainous is actually misunderstanding, and I love that about this show. I was especially struck with the rooftop conversation after rewatching the show, yeah the whole 'wanting to see your expression' thing can be taken at face value (hah), but I think he actually did want to see it? He collects expressions on his wall, what if he'd actually never seen it before? It also explains why he gets all up in people's personal space - he has to see their face to gauge their emotional state. He's not a particularly nice person and that works to his detriment, but I think he seems ominous because we're projecting, and that's fascinating.

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Elizabeth

June 28, 2016 at 7:41 AM

Nicely said. And I agree. I was a bit shocked when Jang Hyuk touched her mouth and had his hand around her neck in what looked like a choke hold at the end of episode one before he jabbed her in the chest with the scalpel - but in the back of my mind, I thought, "he didn't do that because he's a salacious beast."

He touched her mouth again in the stairwell conversation in this episode - and once again, it was as if he was checking something rather than being lascivious. Only Jang Hyuk could do that and be sensual and detached simultaneously. I did get the sense that he was enjoying their verbal sparring.

The thought crossed my mind that he was misdiagnosed as a boy. His relationship with his father is odd because there was fearful expression (fear is an emotion) on his face when he was conversing with his father. It's really hard to know what is going on between them. Children often have repressed rage against their parents and too, they can be compulsively wanting parental approval. I think Young-Oh may have something to prove to his father -- or maybe to himself - to prove that the diagnoses regarding him was wrong. It's a shot in the dark so early in the game. I have no clue where this drama is going - and that is exhilarating to a degree - especially with Jang Hyuk in the helm. He eats the camera as they say.

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kbaswithneko

June 28, 2016 at 11:07 AM

I think he wiped her lips the first time to check if they were blue-tinged, if her heart was impaired by the fluid built up she would have been poorly oxygenated. I don't know why he did it the second time, but I agreed that it was not with liceneous intent.

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7 Sylvia

June 27, 2016 at 8:30 PM

Okay, can someone help me in case I missed crucial details due to spotty Viki subbing?

... because while I'm obsessed with this show, the following also irks me like crazy:

In the very beginning we have that hospital conference scene, with the assemblyman (Mr. Presidential Candidate) as the featured speaker. I think this is a very important scene because the entire cast of characters were literally present. From this opening scene, we are given these details:

- There is a political / financial link between the assemblyman and Hyunsung
- The delivery man (motorcyclist guy) who is later murdered is also the same dude who crashed the event, attempted to attack the assemblyman with a flag pole, and threatened to reveal to the world what the assemblyman has done.
- poor delivery man is dragged off by what looked liked the assemblyman's security forces and *shoved into a sketchy van that's not affiliated with the police*.

LOL. COME ON.

The murdered delivery man is the very image of a popular kdrama stock character: the socioeconomically disadvantaged and powerless common folk who ends up a victim of Large Corrupt Forces (often as a consequence of 'dead men tell no tales', because they were privy to some Terrible Secret that can bring down entire corporations/political parties/governments etc.) We see this setup in tons of dramas (e.g. Healer, Pinocchio, etc.).

So when officer Jing Sung witnesses A SKETCHY VAN depositing and running over delivery man in a murder attempt, shouldn't her initial train of thought be something like this?

"Dead guy ---> murder attempt --> sketchy van ---> dead guy last seen alive being shoved into sketchy van ---> why was he shoved into sketchy van? ---> oh yeah, he attacked a presidential candidate and promised to reveal the *Truth* ---> holy sh!t this is a coverup attempt ---> they want to silence him ---> how is the delivery man linked to Mr. Assemblyman? What does he know? And why did that information get him killed? ---> need to prove murder intent and motive."

"Also, we need to open a case and obtain a warrant. Maybe. Or I should be careful not to announce it to the world just yet. In case the assemblyman tries to silence me as well by sending a sketchy van after me."

But instead Jin Sung runs around and tells everyone she's going to find the murderer, and mucks about the hospital looking to prove the delivery guy was murdered on the operating table (hard to prove alone without a police medical forensic team -- and also, ever heard of medical malpractice? How is she going to prove it's criminal intent rather than professional incompetence?).

Besides ... didn't she already witness THE murder attempt when sketchy van ran into the guy? If the victim was murdered on the operating table, it would be a case of accessory to murder, because the primary murder attempt was unsuccessful. But that only proves that the assemblyman is connected to Hyunsung hospital .. which she...

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Sylvia

June 27, 2016 at 8:52 PM

... already knows.

So I'm confused as to why every single character forgot about the assemblyman, when every single character was present when the murder victim threatened to reveal the truth and got dragged off beaten and brutalized.

Jin Sung's persistence in wanting to prove the murder occurred on the operating table is logically frustrating too ... because prior to the surgery, all medical data/vital signs pointed to a 90% chance of table death. Why? BECAUSE SKETCHY VAN. He got ran over and was on the verge of death ...

However, once the information that the dead body and surgery video was tampered with, Jin Sung did have good reason to be suspicious of foul-play. But again a logical train of thought would be something like this:

"Murder attempt --> but victim still alive, just barely --> sent to hospital for surgery ---> surgery fails, as expected due to high probability of mortality ---> but shady post-surgery maneuvers suggest table death may be an attempt to 'finish' the first murder attempt ---> oh my god, the lead surgeon Lee Young Oh is scheduled to perform a highly publicized live surgery on Mr. Assemblyman ---> if assemblyman is arrested due to information revealed by that delivery man, live surgery will not happen, and Hyunsung might be dragged under as well ---> conclusion: there is a reason to be suspicious of Lee Young Oh as a possible murder accomplice."

But instead Jing Sung and everyone seems to be running around like headless ants? Am I missing something big here? Anyone want to give me their 2 cents?

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coco

June 27, 2016 at 9:15 PM

imo lack of communication, what viewer knew and what the character knew is different, they haven't talked face to face and believe each other testimony

I need to watch again for more detail since it feels like this ep happen a week ago

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javi

June 27, 2016 at 9:28 PM

+1000000 to your comment I thought I was the only one confused!

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CR

June 27, 2016 at 9:29 PM

A lot of the stuff you pointed out definitely baffled me too. I feel like maybe I don't understand how the legal system in Korea works well enough or something. She saw him get thrown out of a van and then purposely run over and she's a cop. How is that not enough for a murder investigation? It's not enough to convict someone, but it's enough for more than her to go digging surely.

And all the "I'm just going to be mysterious and ominous instead of saying Hey, I'm trying to figure stuff out too." just baffled me. Maybe Young-oh's lack of human understanding made it so he didn't understand how suspicious he was acting?? but it seemed like he was enjoying being suspicious. idk. I enjoyed the ep, but was frustrated and confused all the same.

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Sylvia

June 27, 2016 at 9:40 PM

lol omg, so glad there are people confused as well.

After watching the first two episodes, I was so excited (moody, stylish thrillers are totally my cup of tea) ... except when I really sat down and thought about the chain of events, I was like "wait ... things don't add up."

"And all the “I’m just going to be mysterious and ominous instead of saying Hey, I’m trying to figure stuff out too.” just baffled me. Maybe Young-oh’s lack of human understanding made it so he didn’t understand how suspicious he was acting?? but it seemed like he was enjoying being suspicious."

THIS. That smile into the security camera. Man oh man.

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neslinin

June 27, 2016 at 11:57 PM

(+): facts, (->): interpretations

+ Delivery man crushed the event.

+ He bevcome the victim of an attempted murder.

-> There must be a connection between the ones who are involved in the event and attempted murder.

+ The ones who are involved in the event: candidate and hospital director.

A. Candidate wanted to have him killed.
B. Hospital director together with some of the doctors wanted to have him killed.
C. Candidate and hospital (director and some doctors) are in this together.

Pick B or C.

+ Murder attempt failed. Man still alive.

-> Gotta kill him at the hospital. Surgeon ordered to do that. And here it is, the table death.

Now, you are the police. And your chain of thought ended up as above. What is next? To find a clue to start your investigation.

1. Minivan plate is fake, cannot reach the owner.
2. Do not know the back story of the victim, why he made a scene at the event. Cannot learn, beacuse well, he is death.
3. If table death is the completion of the attempted murder, only thing you know is the surgeons in that operation room.
4. First thing you would do to find something that can support your (B) or (C) hyphothesis. Are doctors in this? Is there anything suspicious about the surgery?

*** Yes. A doctor smiling to the security cam in the morgue, a lost security footage. Now you have your only clue, and a case:

"Hospital either together with the candidate, or not, tried to kill the man, and eventually did so in the OR."

I think the police investigation was logical. I would not be surprised the candidate and hospital made some unethical experiments on a bunch of people including either victim, or his son.

The only thing that I cannot understand is the vicious smile to the security cam. Really, why? He looked like he is teasing people. But then again, this fits to the character, he must be a few steps ahaed of everyone, and could be making his moves to shape everyone's mind for the truth to be revealed.

michykdrama

June 28, 2016 at 12:18 AM

I don't think that Young oh's character is meant to be evil. He is often misunderstood because he doesn't convey emotions the way normal people do, so "reading" his emotions from his facial expressions will always give you the wrong idea, and it makes him look like he is plotting something. All his otherwise "questionable" behaviour I can attribute to his strange emotionless/pragmatic character. But I don't understand why he whispered to his dad that he "didn't get caught". That bit is odd.

Sylvia

June 28, 2016 at 6:44 AM

@Ane

I like your list!! If only you were on the script writing team. Separating the facts from interpretations (though I think 'inference', 'deduction', or 'conjecture' may be better word choices here) is totally helpful.

Hmmm ... I really like your theory that the some kind of medical malpractice or experiment was committed on the deliveryman. Maybe he entered the hospital seeking treatment, or maybe he was recruited through one of those medical studies/ trial programs that offers payment for participation, and Hyunsung did something seriously wrong to him because he's powerless and thus easy to silence? This would explain why the hospital seems to play a role in his death and coverup. When the assemblyman was speaking at that publicity event, he did mention something about 'medical technology' being one of the channels through which he was going to improve the country. So who knows ... These docs may have gotten way too ambitious and broke ethical boundaries.

"2. Do not know the back story of the victim, why he made a scene at the event. Cannot learn, beacuse well, he is death."

Okay, now this I don't agree with. Death does not preclude a competent investigation. I don't understand why Jin Sung or the police didn't make a decent effort at looking into deliveryman's identity, background, history, employment etc. No human can exist in society as an invisible entity ... There are always trails: bank/credit card/financial statements, insurance info, census/social security data, online/cyber trails such as web history and emails, tracking down his motorcycle plate and figuring where he's been traveling for work, interviewing co-workers and neighbors and friends and relatives.

neslinin

June 28, 2016 at 8:20 AM

@Sylvia

Glad that you liked my list! I also liked your comments that yielded a good brainstorming.

Yes, "Deduction" would be a better choice of word, I am not a native speaker.

About your comment on:

“2. Do not know the back story of the victim, why he made a scene at the event. Cannot learn, beacuse well, he is death.”

If it was an official investigation, yes they got to investigate the victim and his family. But I am not sure if this is an official full on investigation. It is just this officer who thinks she got a case and digging it a little bit.

abseoklutely

June 28, 2016 at 12:47 AM

this. Just this. Right here.

Seriously, it's made me put Jin Sung into the completely oblivious idiot category, which makes me have a hard time believing in her character as a detective or police officer. So my theory is that she is actually a goldfish...she had some damage to her brain which makes her like a baby who when something disappears from their line of sight forgets about it.

Question: Is she supposed to be a detective or a traffic cop? She feels like a traffic cop...

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gerry13

June 28, 2016 at 1:58 AM

She is a traffic cop but next episode she wants to transfer so she can investigate the crime

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angieya

June 28, 2016 at 2:41 AM

+15 plus alpha!!

From the moment she had to actually contemplate whether the car accident was actually attempted murder (come on, you don't have to be a detective or some genius to see it straight away) to her obsession with Young-oh being the murder to basically every single action of hers involving the case in the first 2 episodes made me believe: yup, she must be dumb, not just a dumb police officer but generally dumb. :-P

But hey, who knows, a lot people are saying this drama might be this year's IRY and since the dad in there also made very questionable choices albeit being a psychologist, maybe the writer here will still give us a good plausible story later on (though dad was only a side character and here we're dealing with our heroine). We shall see. ;-)

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windsun33

June 28, 2016 at 8:22 AM

I am not sure if she is dumb, or just so fixated on nailing our doctor that she ignores all the other clues. She seems to have gotten it into her mind that he is the bad guy, so ignores any clued that does not support her belief (Cognitive Dissonance).

On the other hand I think murdered guy was a victim of someone in the hospital, not the politician.

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TM

June 28, 2016 at 4:12 AM

I'm a 100% with you and felt equally frustrated because to me the attempt murder is much more important than the table death. She was there and saw the guy being killed. I get the whole "fake plate" plot but the feeling I got is that the police did not believe Jin Sung and passed over investigation to whatever team. I know that there is no hard evidence but shouldn't they take more into account a witness testimony (a witness who is a freaking police officer!)? I think I would have liked it if they tried more to find the truth behind the whole hit-and-run. And I also don't understand why Jin Sung didn't follow the motorcycle guy when he was being dragged around. The look on her face at that moment seemed to me as if she somehow cared and yet she was super passive because she did not act (which is strange because she seems to not be afraid of a lot, always running and screaming to people that it's a murder).

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angieya

June 28, 2016 at 4:58 AM

But there is a black box in her car which recorded the whole "accident" but of course nobody even thought of it, urgh.

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Sylvia

June 28, 2016 at 8:17 AM

OMO. Good point.

Those evil henchmen driving that sketchy van must be dumb as well.

Why why why commit murder in a public street in a busy metropolitan city such as Seoul. Did they really think there won't be witnesses?

Even small-time kdrama loan sharks know to cut off fingers in abandoned warehouses and murder people by throwing them off isolated ocean cliffs.

Writer-nim, you better give me a good reason.

!! Like a mis-direction or a setup! The true murderer wanted there be witnesses in order to implicate the assemblyman.

.... Except sweet, dimwitted Jin Sung failed to take the bait!

unitedred

June 28, 2016 at 10:59 AM

Really? Attention to detail is really important for a show to be great. They could have at least mentioned that the black box wasn't working or was turned off.

TM

June 30, 2016 at 1:01 PM

That's one thing that really irked me here! In each and every drama I've watched they ALWAYS seem to have a blackbox that is used as hard evidence in most cases. Why is there no blackbox camera in her car? Plus she IS a police officer.

Lynn

June 28, 2016 at 8:33 AM

Actually, I can't believe in her "police officer role" at all. I mean this drama is pretty good, but the only nonsensical thing I find here are most of her actions, the way she's trying to conduct an investigation is ridiculous, even for kdramaland.

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TM

June 30, 2016 at 1:06 PM

I'm not a 100% convinced by her police officer role either, especially after watching the following episodes. I don't know but most of the time she seems to be completely driven by her emotions (I guess that's also a given since Young Oh is the opposite) and she believes in whatever people tell her. We see a lot of Young Oh investigating and operating people but we don't see a lot of Jin Sung investigating. Does she really have the skills? I think I want the show to prove it to me. It would make the drama perfect. Because to me, all medical stuff put aside, it does not make sense that Young Oh looks like he is a better detective than she is.

Sylvia

June 28, 2016 at 7:12 AM

Heh. At this point, confusion aside, I'm still eagerly waiting for new episodes. BM is basically everything I've been wanting in a tv show.

... Except the writer makes me a bit worried (like, has she written anything noteworthy before BM? Sungkyunkwon Scandal doesn't count because she didn't write the story, having only adapted it from existing novels). I truly, truly hope the script will do the show justice. Because so far I love the actors, acting, art direction, and ambiance in general.

This is my wish list of what the script could have offered us instead:

- Less Jin Sung illegally breaking into doctor's offices and digging around a major hospital without a warrant (seriously, how is Hyunsing allowing her to do this for days without suing her or having her arrested?)
- More Jin Sung looking into deliveryman and his son's background. I know she's ashamed, but it'd be nice if she looked into the son's welfare, just to make sure he's not dead (possible, given Dad was murdered!) or mistreated at the orphanage.
- More characters showing cognizance and memory of what happened at the conference ... In particular deliveryman's threat to reveal the truth.
- but most importantly, I wish the show would establish that the assemblyman is so politically well-connected that his side prevented the police from opening a case. And THIS is why Jin Sung is going about it like a lonewolf vigilante detective. Because she is the only witness and an advocate for the dead man's son, and so she feels she bears a moral responsibility to seek justice. If the script had setup the plot like this, I would have been rooting for Jin Sung 100% (instead of questioning her intelligence). Plus, this would have made the romance much more believable. She may not be as intelligent as LYO and all the doctors in that hospital, but at least she has the guts to open Pandora's box. LYO could have developed a respect or curiosity for her as a consequence, because she's behaving contrary to the utilitarianistic cost-benefit equation he and the hospital seems to be operating on.

Too bad the writer was too lazy to tighten up the script and offer us some solid character motivations. I'm totally a sucker for the 'unwitting hero' trope ... Where a ordinary person undertakes a terrible ordeal because they literally cannot turn a blind eye to evil and shake off responsibility.

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windsun33

June 28, 2016 at 8:13 AM

No, you are not the only one confused. At this point I am not sure if our Lady Cop is obsessed with taking our doctor down to the point where she forgets all the other clues, or just dumb. She seems to have totally forgotten about the "sketchy van" - or maybe it is tunnel vision so bad that she prefers to ignore it.

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Elizabeth

June 28, 2016 at 7:48 AM

I think you'd make a great cop. We need more of you out there dealing with dastardly criminals!

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8 jesseee

June 27, 2016 at 8:50 PM

I'm going to get flamed for this, but considering how much people on this site were/are hyping up PSD's acting...I'm left a little confused. Her acting is fine, but ya'll act like she's Korea's answer to Cate Blanchett so it's kind of hilarious that she's putting in a pretty basic performance. Although the character is nothing to phone home about thus far, so maybe that's it.

Don't get me wrong, she's not bad by any means...but I guess my expectations were through the roof based off of all the comments. I saw some knet comments calling her acting weak, which I think is unfair, but it is below expectations considering the Chungmuro monster rookie label. I'm going to assume she gives better performances in films versus dramas, which might explain the praise.

However, I do think db users have a tendency to overrate certain actresses and actors in their faves club, while underrating others they them overrated or mainstream.

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Callie

June 27, 2016 at 9:03 PM

I don't think she's been given any material yet that's meant to floor us...Maybe later in the series.

But kdramas (in general) don't tend to allow female characters to have the complexities that often lead to the memorable and unique performances male actors are given and applauded for.

This isn't a problem exclusive to kdrama, but film & television as a whole.

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jesseee

June 27, 2016 at 9:16 PM

Yes, roles for women across all ent. industries are pretty crap and very limiting. I heard she got praise for The Priest, so maybe this role is your typical kdrama female lead that doesn't really get to show much, or her role will amp up more as the plot progresses.

However, I stand by what I said about db users overhyping certain actresses, while underrating others. Anyone with any critical thinking skills and that have watched dramas for at least a couple years, can see roles for female leads are basically boiled down to sassy girl or candy girl.

What I have the problem with is that certain actresses get crap all the time for not challenging themselves or giving memorable performances, whereas others will get people defending them saying it's the role, not their acting.

I'm expecting to get a lot of comments telling me to go watcher her films and not to judge based in her first drama, but some other actresses don't get that same benefit.

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dramakid

June 27, 2016 at 10:46 PM

@jesseee,I agree with u. imagine if this was some certain actress(not gonna say her name) that always get hate here no matter what she does,db would've condemned her to death but since it's PSD,she's an exception. they're already giving excuses.

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coco

June 27, 2016 at 9:12 PM

I think it because she only joined the filming and doesn't have much time prepared, not to give her a slack or reason but I think she is okay in this,

for the commenter, the more fans that comment will make it like it's the best thing and not all fans from all artist flocked here,

then not everyone starts watching kdrama at the same time so some mainstream/housed actor with the successful old project may not resonate with the new viewers who haven't seen them, therefore underrating their skilled or their popularity.

anything is biased but I am okay as long as it's not hurting anyone reputation.
I also find Kdrama and KMovie give different expectation since they seem like a different world in the way it presented.

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Sylvia

June 27, 2016 at 9:28 PM

I think we also have to consider the limitations of the script as well. In general, this drama hasn't given PSD great lines to work with so far.

But acting wise I liked her right away. She emotes with a kind of effortless naturalism that I think can be misinterpreted as 'underwhelming'. But I personally find it charming and sincere. TBH, Jang Hyuk tends to overact here and there (though in some scenes he is gloriously commanding), but PSD doesn't have this same problem.

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Sera The Ms Temper

June 27, 2016 at 11:33 PM

When you generalized db users ( I rather use db readers), it seems like every db readers have a tendency to overrate section actors. DB has so many readers and to generalize it like this IMO not appropriate. So are you not among db user / reader here.

Even a lot praising PSD , there are also many ppl don't know who she is. Especially for someone from chungmuro, not everyone watching movies, so logically they might not even know who is PSD. So those who watched her in her movies will seems to be unanimously agreed that she is a great rising actress, and this definitely won't represent the whole DB community. It will be different in the case of popular actors and top stars.

But I do agree after PSD's acting is just so-so so far..But I believe it is because of her character's limitation.

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Sera The Ms Temper

June 27, 2016 at 11:35 PM

*to overrate certain actors

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9 CR

June 27, 2016 at 9:22 PM

I don't think Young-oh's emotions are affected by his disorder (muted/stunted/whatever). It's how other people's emotions affect him that is the crux of his difference. He's nearly entirely self-centered. And that does make him a good surgeon because he doesn't care about the patient or the patient's family. All he cares about is himself and what satisfies him, which luckily is being a technical master at surgery and feeding his genius brain with challenging cases.

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10 gerry13

June 27, 2016 at 9:37 PM

Episode 3 already sub, can watch

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11 Sheila

June 27, 2016 at 10:16 PM

This is a brilliant drama. I love it. But i'm actually quite confused with what actually dr lee yong oh did in the morgue? Did he switched the body or did he really do what he told to dr. Hyeon during assemblyman kim's surgery? Because as jinsung suspected, the body was really switched judging from the disappearance of the burns on victim's hand? Anyone help me i'm lost lol

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prettysup

June 28, 2016 at 5:42 AM

As far as we know now, LYO did not switch the body in the morgue, he just went there to check the fungus in the brain. Someone else switched the body because the body in the autopsy is clearly not the victim's. As to who switched it, we do not know yet.

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windsun33

June 28, 2016 at 8:28 AM

And I suspect the missing heart is a clue to a crime - perhaps medical malpractice and/or experimentation.

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12 midflower

June 27, 2016 at 10:31 PM

Great recap!!! How Young Oh described a heart was hilarious LOL.

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13 mmm

June 27, 2016 at 11:16 PM

Im really confused can someone clear up the heart situation for me or just give a general timeline of the events? So the motorcycle guy got murdered but it was considered as table death? Did the body get switched before the autopsy? did the heart go missing around this time too? and during the autopsy the cause of death was considered to be natural?

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Marcellina Chiazor

June 27, 2016 at 11:48 PM

The motorcycle dude was almost murdered(well, he wasnt really dead before he was sent to the hospital after being hit by that van). He had a table death because of the fungus in his brain or let's say his death was as a result of natural cause but the attempted murder happened to occur making it seem like murder(for me, he was still murdered anyway). The body got switched before the autopsy, that's why Jin-sung didnt find a scar(the victim had a scar close to his wrist). The heart was probably switched to another before the autopsy(thats how i see it. if it wasnt, we,the viewers, would have known the cause of death).
i may be wrong though.

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prettysup

June 28, 2016 at 5:38 AM

Yes the body was switched before the autopsy, because the heart in the original body was missing and they didnt want others to find that out. They explain more of this in ep 3 but I would not spoil it here.

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14 Felix

June 28, 2016 at 12:24 AM

Hmmmm...... Wonder how loveline will be happen? Different from what we can imagine.

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15 gerry13

June 28, 2016 at 12:27 AM

Someone took the heart and switch the body so the coroner didn't find anything wrong during autopsy. Now interesting is why the person did that and who??

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Wag-a-muffin

June 28, 2016 at 2:36 AM

I can't answer your question, Momo.

But Jang Hyuk stole my heart the first time I saw him in Slave Hunters.

(Just sayin')

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prettysup

June 28, 2016 at 5:39 AM

LOL he did the same to my heart too in Slave Hunters!

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aafa83

July 16, 2016 at 3:11 PM

I'm late to this drama so probably won't ever get an answer to my question: if "someone took the heart and switched the body," wouldn't the coroner be suspicious why the heart is missing?

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16 y

June 28, 2016 at 12:55 AM

"For someone who doesn’t understand basic empathy Young-oh certainly has a keen sense of drama. He waits for exactly the right moment to reveal the fungus, then again to voice his suspicions about Suk-joo. As he says, instead of being bewildered by the emotions he doesn’t understand empathically, he’s learned to intellectualize the various nuances of human behavior and exploit them. In fact, he seems to take some pleasure in playing around with people."

This is what I found when I research about antisocial personality disorder: "Antisocial personality disorder, sometimes called sociopathy, is a mental condition in which a person consistently shows no regard for right and wrong and ignores the rights and feelings of others. People with antisocial personality disorder tend to antagonize, manipulate or treat others harshly or with callous indifference. They show no guilt or remorse for their behavior."

Which definitely describes the Lee Young Oh we see so far, manipulative and not remorseful. I'll say the writer definitely did his/her research. The writing and directing makes LYO an interesting character to watch, as disturbed as he is, he is also a very layered character worth exploring..

But, Jin Sung is too unbelievable - not the character nor her stubborn idealistic version of justice, but the way she carries out her investigation work! i mean she practically breaks the law by trespassing someone's office, then she was terribly unprofessional to just interrupt the group of doctors who were having a meeting.. who does that seriously?! and why can she just leave her job (of bringing kids across the road), and follow LYO to the hospital in the middle of work?

I like the show, it's only this part which bugs me so much, because I feel it can be so much better.. looking forward to next 2 epis (:

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17 Diana

June 28, 2016 at 12:59 AM

Thanks for recapping it ^_^
Young Oh character is really interesting,.

There are so many mysteries that viewers feel curious about, that's what made this thriller so sexy.

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18 hallyumint

June 28, 2016 at 1:37 AM

Murasakimi How do you manage to get an understanding of these medical terms and eloquently express it?
As a viewer from a non medical baground its difficult for me to understand various medical conditions much like Director Kang So how do u do it? Do you research on it and get the correct terminology.

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19 angieya

June 28, 2016 at 3:05 AM

Can anyone please enlighten me about Young-oh's condition? In the past I've always read in the DB articles that he has a frontal lobe injury which prevents him from feeling emotions (thus making it unbelievable that he becomes empathetic and falls in love later on) but now he's diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder...so which one is it now, or is it both? Lol this drama confuses me.

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prettysup

June 28, 2016 at 5:45 AM

I think we have to forget about pre-broadcast descriptions since they can change the script after that. So far from the drama, LYO has an anti-social disorder. There had not been any mention of his frontal lobe injury at all.

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Sylvia

June 28, 2016 at 7:53 AM

Oh thank god, because short of a groundbreaking brain transplant (lol), I don't see how True Love can miraculously heal a frontal lobe injury.

Hmmm ... Does anyone else think LYO is emoting just fine in present and past scenes? He has some sociopathic qualities, but he doesn't seem completely devoid of emotions.

What if he was mis-diagnosed as a child? And his subsequent development of sociopathic qualities is a consequence of reinforcement from his father?

In any case, I really hope LYO condition is psychological rather than somatic. As someone who personally experiences PTSD episodes, there are periods of my life when I just can't summon empathy or emotion for other people. Like cognitively I recognize I love family and friends, but when the episodes hit, I just can't feel anything. But this quality isn't permanent; when I am well I weep and cry and laugh.

So if LYO's condition is caused by some kind of childhood trauma (as cliche as this is--kdrama heroes seems to be born from childhood traumas, UGH--it really is more plausible than a frontal lobe injury). I could buy into him eventually being able to love and experience emotions.

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windsun33

June 28, 2016 at 8:31 AM

I think he was misdiagnosed from the start, but we won't find that out for a few episodes.

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20 Cafe

June 28, 2016 at 5:28 AM

Thanks for the recap, this episode was awesome!

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21 silvermists

June 28, 2016 at 6:33 AM

I find Young-oh’s character to be very fascinating, more so in his relationship with father. I do agree that the show is leaning on making him seem more like an antagonist in these initial episodes, but a large part of that can be attributed to the show trying to throw us off the scent of the real villain.

For my part, I found Young-oh’s character to be very sympathetic and a little pitiable in this episode. Specially in the flashback to his childhood and his reaction to losing his opportunity to do the surgery. As of yet, Young-oh might not know how to emote but I do believe he does feel things, at least on some level. So far the driving force behind his actions seem to come from a place of needing to prove himself to his others, and in turn to his father. Maybe even a desire to "prove" his relative normalcy through his surgeries and hypotheses. The scene where he asked his father if he trusts him seems to indicate that need for reassurance that he is, in fact, doing right. I find him to be very childlike in his desire to please his father. Albeit a scary child with psychopathic tendencies.

But the show, and Young-oh’s character in particular, does remind me a lot of CITT and I Remember you. Specially in the way the father treats Young-oh's condition as something to be feared and suppressed or hidden, rather than try to understand him or even accept him as he is. In fearing that Young-oh might indeed be a psychopath, maybe he is inadvertently leading his son down that path. After all, the real monster in Frankenstein was the Dr. Frankenstein himself, while the so called "monster" just wanted to be accepted for who he is.

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22 bori

June 28, 2016 at 8:57 AM

Thanks again for the excellent recap and summary. The gaps and shifts between perception and reality in this drama are very enjoyable. This drama also explores the "big questions" relating to truth, beauty and goodness, which makes it a cut above. Cheers to great acting, writing and directing!!

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23 Ram

June 28, 2016 at 5:57 PM

I've already watched episode 4, and I have to say while I really love the drama so far, the Jin-sung character is really ruining it for me. How can a cop be so reckless and dumb at the same time? Worst possible combo for any person, but especially a cop. She's less a character and more a plot device.

I'm beginning to believe that the poor writing for the main heroine is why the drama had so much trouble casting for the part in the first place.

And is there anything different whith the Korean justice system that Jin-sung can get away with all the reckless shit she pulls? What happened to "innocent before proven guilty?"

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24 A to the J

June 28, 2016 at 6:33 PM

I think this might be my new fave show! I've been in such a slump in terms of finding a kdrama reel me in ever since Reply 1988 ended.

There's something really captivating about Young Oh. At times he seems like a textbook sociopath yet im still rooting for him. I sometimes watch kdrama's while browsing on my phone (i have a horrible attention span) but every time hes on the screen he has my full attention. Also this is my first time watching anything with Jang Hyuk in it and goddamn this mans face is a blessing from the Gods.

Also, I've been reading comments on here from both ep 1 and 2 and ive realized there hasn't been much talk about how the show will steer Young Oh and Jin-sung's relationship towards romance. I'm going to have to admit they are going to have to make a very dramatic transition somehow because right now they are on opposite sides of morality. There hasn't really been any hints towards an attraction and hes pretty much predatory around her. Like how the hell are they going to go from him threatening her life every episode and her trying to prove hes a murderer to being in love with each other ಠ_ಠ

And, I understand every viewer has a different way of experiencing this show but I think im one the few that doesn't find Jin-sung annoying. I think shes just naive and I could actually imagine her being one of my friends. That friend that always "annoyingly" follows the rules and tries (and doesn't always succeed)to not take shortcuts in life. At least shes passionate about her line of work. I was most proud of her when she interrupted Young Oh's presentation and confidently exposed him. I think some viewers need to give her more credit. She's won my heart already.

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TM

June 30, 2016 at 2:07 PM

I also really wonder about the "falling in love" part of the show and actually I'm not in a rush to see it and yet I really wonder how they are going to pull it off. And this is one thing I really love about this drama: I don't know what is going to happen and I can't imagine it. I really want to see it because I don't know what to expect when I try to come up with ideas on how they are going to fall in love, my brain just blank. I truly don't know and this is a big asset here, because it's so different from other dramas.

Jin Sung is passionate about her work, this is completely true. But here sense of justice and following rules are quite weird. On one hand she wants people to follow the law and her sense of justice seems genuine and big. But on the other she does not follow laws herself. I guess that here sense of justice is about what's right and what's wrong. And I guess that she thinks her sense of justice justifies breaking investigation rules.

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25 changhyun

June 28, 2016 at 6:44 PM

Maybe because I haven't seen her in her previous works, but I've heard over the months on various sites and forums that Park Sodam is a great actress and really talented, even if her "visuals" aren't great. I find the opposite to be true thus far, she doesn't sell her scenes to me but I do find her pretty even if not very believable as a police officer. I'm not writing her off as we're only 4 episodes in now, but her interactions with her boyfriend(?) and Jang Hyuk, and even her colleague seem very unnatural to me. Really hope that improves.

Jang Hyuk is classic Jang Hyuk, essentially his sageuk character transported to modern reality with a mix of a cackle/chuckle and more sociopathic tendencies. I think this drama has potential to be really good, but the acting AND the directing (the plot doesn't flow very well from scene to scene, is it just me? The cuts could be WAY better as well as the sequencing.) That being said, there's a long way to go and hopefully this drama can only go up from here as ratings are really low (and don't tell the full story!)

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26 rei

June 28, 2016 at 10:59 PM

Oh, it is certainly a job for a traffic cop because it involves a van and a man on the road.
LOL. :p

Jin Sung keeps some details to herself like
- how the van hit the motorcyclist after his battered body was dumped on the road
- the victim has a scar or lesion on his arm (Apart from her, it is only Young Oh who knows this???)
She declares the body was switched: revealing that detail only later to Sergeant Park, and his reaction ...

Sure. Can't trust anybody at this point.

Following this show because I got interested on the teasers.
I wonder whether Young Oh has social-emotional agnosia or alexithymia then.

Waiting for the next episodes. :)