Beautiful Mind: Episode 3
by festerfaster
For the first time Young-oh’s mask slips a little as his belief in his own infallibility is shaken. Jin-sung struggles as she loses trust in people close to her but refuses to give up fighting for what she believes is right. The mystery of the table deaths deepens, though some patterns finally begin to reveal themselves as more pieces of the puzzle start falling into place.
EPISODE 3 RECAP
A teenage Young-oh carefully sketches a beautifully rendered heart, while naming each part from memory. His father walks into the room and snatches the page up. He takes one look at it and tells Young-oh to stop. He can’t approve of this.
Young-oh grabs his father by the throat and pushes him back to the wall. His eyes shine as he touches his father’s shoulder, his throat and his vertebrae, naming each part with reverence. He tells his father that he’s memorized it all and wants to go to medical school.
But his father won’t have it. He tells his Young-oh that he should live quietly; just enough to breathe.
In the same flashback, Dr. Lee receives an award for medical achievement, and a young Young-oh attends the ceremony, smiling and clapping for his father. As Dr. Lee steps off the stage, a senior professor collapses. A younger Chief Director Shin and Dr. Lee check on him, and all the doctors present discuss the possibility of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease.
While everyone looks distressed and confused, Young-oh steps forward with a drill. He pushes back the man’s hair and reveals signs of blood pooling under the skull. He tells them that it’s chronic subdural hemorrhaging, the symptoms of which are similar to several neurological disorders, like Alzheimer’s. His father tries to ignore him and calls for an ambulance, but Young-oh tells him that it’s not too late to save the man’s life, motioning to the drill.
They use alcohol to sterilize the drill and Dr. Lee uses it to relieve the pressure under the Professor’s skull, saving his life.
Later, all the doctors present praise Young-oh and ask Dr. Lee why he’d been hiding such a brilliant son. Young-oh uses the opportunity to press his father to agree to let him attend medical school. Unable to give a good reason for denying his son in front of his colleagues, Dr. Lee stands silent and trapped. Young-oh smiles and promises to be a good doctor, just like his father.
Back in the present, Young-oh accuses Suk-joo of having stolen the motorcyclist’s heart from the morgue. Young-oh explains that anyone with medical knowledge would know that the fungus he found in the brain was caused by a mutated lesion in the heart. Whoever stole it, he adds, must have had a good reason to do so.
Suk-joo gets an emergency call just then and leaves without defending himself. Jin-sung asks Young-oh if he really thinks Suk-joo did it. But Young-oh is uninterested in giving his opinion on the matter. He merely wanted to do that first surgery in preparation for Assemblyman Kim’s operation. He quotes her again, “Doctors save lives; cops catch bad guys,” and tells her to do her job.
An 11-year-old girl is brought in with multiple brain contusions and subdural hemorrhages. She had fainted while stretching before soccer practice. Young-oh and Dr. Hwang Jung-hwan from neurology look at her CT scans. Dr. Hwang says they have to finish surgery within the hour if she’s ever to play soccer again. He goes out and assures the worried parents that she’s in good hands.
Young-oh finds it odd that the girl went into a stupor with no previous symptoms. He examines her, revealing bruises all over her body. The doctors suspect bullying, but the mother says the girl’s been training with her father for soccer try-outs and hasn’t been attending school. At this, the doctors and the girl’s mother look at the father with suspicion, who reacts by telling them that she’s his only daughter and he would give his life for her.
Young-oh asks if that is true. The mother defends him, but Young-oh clarifies that he’s asking whether the girl’s father is really her biological father. The father says vehemently that he is, but Young-oh watches the mother, whose eyes shift in telltale signs of lying.
Young-oh tells the staff to cancel the surgery, since an operation now would lead to a table death. He explains that the child is exhibiting signs of hemophilia, which is hereditary. If the father had it then he wouldn’t be in the national soccer team. Without the truth, Young-oh can’t diagnose her correctly to save her life. He asks again, and the mother can no longer lie.
The surgery is a success and Dr. Hwang waits outside to congratulate Young-oh on his excellent diagnostic and surgical skills. But then his smile falls away and he asks if Young-oh would still consider himself a good doctor when the girl wakes up and looks for an absent father.
Young-oh observes that the doctor has already decided the answer is no. Young-oh asks if Dr. Hwang believes he should have waited two weeks for the test results to determine whether the girl had hemophilia, but Dr. Hwang still wonders if Young-oh really doesn’t believe he was being cruel.
We see the girl wake up with her mother by her side, looking for her dad. He comes into the room slowly, sits by her and then gruffly tells her to recover quickly so they can regard all of this as a nightmare. He leaves without a word to his wife, who cries by her daughter’s bedside.
Young-oh points out to Dr. Hwang that he wasn’t the one who lied to the father all these years; he wasn’t the one who made grand claims about sacrificing for his daughter; and finally, he wasn’t the doctor who almost misdiagnosed his patient by CT scan results alone.
So, Young-oh asks, does Dr. Hwang really think he was being cruel?
Jin-sung overhears the desk nurse saying that Suk-joo was looking for the footage of the motorcyclist’s surgery. She remembers Young-oh telling Suk-joo that they had both visited the morgue that night, and goes back to the security control room to re-examine the recordings.
At first she only finds Young-oh, but then she spots Suk-joo entering the morgue. She goes to the Hyunsung security guards and sweetly thanks them for letting her watch the tape, and asks if Suk-joo made the request to delete the footage himself. The guard trips up by saying that no, it was handled through secretaries. Jin-sung realizes that someone had made a request to have Suk-joo’s surgery footage removed.
She goes in search of Suk-joo and finds him sleeping in his office after a twelve-hour surgery. She turns to leave and walks into Young-oh. He just stands there, with his inscrutable expression and Jin-sung falls over herself explaining that Suk-joo just got out of a long surgery, that witness statements are important too, and that Suk-joo isn’t a flight risk, nor would he destroy evidence.
Young-oh just points out that the heart is still missing and Jin-sung says defensively that they’ll soon find out who took it. She also says that Suk-joo wouldn’t lie to her, but Young-oh says that all humans lie, including her… just now.
Director Kang is playing mini-golf on the roof of the hospital, rejoicing that the shares of his brother’s company have taken a dive. When Young-oh walks up, he praises him for saving the young girl and wonders why other doctors aren’t as skilled.
Assistant Manager Chae pipes in that with current cost of insurance, diagnosing and curing a patient of a disease like hemophilia cuts into the profit of the hospital. Director Kang looks up in fake wonder and says that means it’s not a matter of skill, but a matter of prudence on the part of other doctors. They refuse to operate so they don’t hurt the hospital’s profit.
Director Kang advises Young-oh to regard this experience as an expensive private lesson from him and to prioritize the hospital’s profits henceforth.
Young-oh ignores this and tells him his theory about why someone as ambitious as Director Kang was given a hospital to run. It must be so he can provide expensive, specialized care to rich patients, who will then take out over-priced policies from Hyunsung Insurance.
However, Young-oh is not interested in the motives of chaebol heirs. He knows why Director Kang needs him. He’s like those advertising balloons, flying high and attracting customers. His reputation will lure patients in to Hyunsung, and Young-oh intends to fly high enough that no one can pull him down. Director Kang is happy to agree to a mutually beneficial relationship and they shake on it.
Coming down, Young-oh meets his father, who asks him if he bartered to gain authority over the hospital’s neurological center so he would be acknowledged as a great doctor in front of him. Young-oh retorts that he wanted it because his father didn’t deserve the title. Bodies were switched and a heart was removed from a corpse, but Dr. Lee didn’t look into any of it. He may look fair and impartial to the world, Young-oh adds, but in his heart he only suspected his son.
Dr. Lee denies it but Young-oh reads the signs of lying on his face and says that his mouth may lie but his body can’t.
Jin-sung drinks alone at a street stall and her bottle cap ring falls on to the pavement. Chief Director Shin picks it up and good-naturedly blackmails her into buying him soju. Seeing how worried she looks, he tells her to confess her feelings to Suk-joo. Jin-sung says that’s not what’s bothering her. When she doesn’t elaborate, he threatens to throw the bottle cap ring away.
Jin-sung finally blurts out that the motorcyclist’s heart was missing and that was why the bodies were switched. Suk-joo knew this from the beginning and now she can’t trust anyone. She snatches up the bottle cap ring and walks away from a suddenly serious Chief Director Shin.
He calls up someone to look at the dead patient’s file but is told it’s no longer available in the system. He goes back to the hospital and pulls out the hard copy he kept in a safe in his office. His eyes widen as he reads the file, and he dials Suk-joo.
Meanwhile, Dr. Lee thinks over Young-oh’s words and makes a call to see the files too. When he’s leaving for the night he comes across Chief Director Shin, who doesn’t tell him about his discovery. Dr. Lee tells his friend not to drink so much when he has diabetes, but Chief Director Shin just laughingly calls him a nag. Chief Director Shin jokingly asks Dr. Lee if he’s afraid he’ll die first. “Who else do I have?” Dr. Lee replies seriously.
Chief Director Shin bids goodnight to his friend and makes some more calls to Suk-joo, who doesn’t pick up. He finally goes to Young-oh’s office to ask to see the patient’s file. As he speaks his speech falters and he loses balance. Young-oh examines his unconscious body and calls for an emergency surgery.
In the morning, Suk-joo and Chief Director Shin’s wife are waiting outside the operating room when Jin-sung comes running. Both she and Dr. Lee are uncomfortable when they realize that Young-oh is the surgeon. Jin-sung is especially confused when she hears that Chief Director Shin came back to the hospital last night instead of going home.
During surgery, Chief Director Shin starts to hemorrhage, but Young-oh refuses to stop the operation. He says, “I’ve decided to operate, that means he will live.”
But Chief Director Shin’s blood pressure falls and he goes into cardiac arrest. Young-oh keeps repeating the word “arrest” as though in disbelief, chuckling ruefully as realization sets in. He’s dazed when he walks out of the OR. He doesn’t see the family and friends of the patient gathered for news of their loved one, but repeats the case facts to himself and the procedure he followed. As the rest of the staff come out and deliver the news to the family, Young-oh says aloud that he was not wrong, that his surgery was not a failure.
Jin-sung walks up to him with tears in her eyes and asks how he can say that to the family who trusted him with Chief Director Shin’s life. She starts to beat his chest, but he grabs her wrist and says that as lead surgeon, he is telling her that his surgery was perfect. His father walks in and tells him that they will discuss the cause of death at the morality conference.
Dr. Lee apologizes to the family on his son’s behalf while Young-oh goes out to the stairwell, utterly shaken and helplessly angry. When he returns to his office, fiancée Min-jae is waiting to see if he’s alright.
He coldly tells her to move, but she only wants to know how he is so she can console him. Young-oh’s gaze locks on her menacingly as he backs her up against the door and asks if she really can console him. Then he notes the fear on her face and turns his face away, visibly trying to control himself. He tells her he’s perfectly fine and shuts himself in his office to inject a shot of an impulse suppressant in his arm.
That evening, a group of doctors discuss Chief Director Shin’s death and reminisce over how nice he was. Dr. Hwang comments that Young-oh’s behavior outside the OR earlier made him think he was a bit off. Another doctor defends him by saying Young-oh must have been scared, but the rest agree that it was an odd death, since the surgery was supposed to be simple.
Jin-sung searches Chief Director Shin’s office and comes up with nothing. His safe just contains bottles of soju which reminds her of their conversation last night about loneliness. Suk-joo comes in to tell her that they should go pay their respects before Chief Director Shin’s body is taken for the funeral. But Jin-sung refuses to go. She feels responsible for his death. She tells Suk-joo that she told the Chief Director everything about the switched bodies and missing heart, that he must have come back to the hospital to verify her claim, and that someone must have killed him.
The fax machine beeps and spits out some papers. Jin-sung tells him that she asked the National Health Insurance Corporation to send copies of the motorcyclist’s original medical record. But the records don’t say what she expects, and Suk-joo explains knowingly that there are no records of the motorcyclist ever being treated at Hyunsung Hospital.
He asks her to let him investigate into the matter, but she shouts that she can’t trust him because he lied to her. Suk-joo says he was afraid and didn’t want her to see him like that, but that he cares for her. Jin-sung refuses his help and says she’ll look into it herself. She leaves without saying her goodbyes to Chief Director Shin, feeling like she doesn’t deserve to cry over his death yet.
As Jin-sung walks out, she remembers Chief Director Shin’s kindness to her and reads his last text message. In it, he tells her that she can trust some people in this world, and after he proves it to her they should have a drink together.
Young-oh sits calmly in the empty OR recreating the last minutes of the surgery in his mind. He watches every doctor and nurse in the room as they follow his instructions and do their job.
Later when he gets home, Dr. Lee tells Young-oh to apologize to Chief Director Shin’s family. Young-oh asks if his apology will bring the man back. Dr. Lee answers that it will console the family and make him seem normal. He points out quietly that Young-oh revealed too much of his real self this morning. He showed no remorse, sympathy or a sense of responsibility. So, if he wants to hide his true nature, Dr. Lee says, he will apologize to the family.
Jin-sung spends the night drinking soju in her own private goodbye to the chief director. Her partner tries to use traffic metaphors to stop her obsessing over his death, but Jin-sung says that when the brake doesn’t work, you have to turn the steering wheel.
The next morning, she asks the team leader of the Violent Crimes Unit to have her transferred to his team so she can look into Chief Director Shin’s murder and the evidence he must have found. Realizing her relentlessness, the team leader tells her that since he doesn’t want to take on a fight he will lose for sure, Jin-sung has to bring proof and a suspect first. If she succeeds he’ll let her join and she can wage her war against Hyunsung.
After she leaves, he tells his grumbling team members that it was the only way to deter her.
Jin-sung attends the funeral the next day and asks Chief Director Shin’s wife to allow an autopsy of her husband’s body so his cause of death can be confirmed. The bereaved widow turns to Assistant Manager Chae for advice, who leaves the decision up to the doctors who worked closely with him. Of them, Dr. So Ji-young steps forward and claims that since Young-oh was the lead surgeon, he doesn’t believe any mistake could have been made.
The rest eye him dubiously as he claims that an autopsy would besmirch the reputation of the Chief Director and the hospital, and Assistant Manager Chae neatly uses this to cut Jin-sung’s efforts off while accusing her of pursuing this for her own ambition.
As the church ceremony begins, Young-oh walks in and asks the widow to allow him to give the eulogy for Chief Director Shin. He says he wants to take responsibility as the surgeon who operated on him.
At the podium, with everyone’s attention on him, Young-oh declares that Chief Director Shin’s death was caused by murder. He shows everyone a small packet of pills that he had extracted from Chief Director Shin’s pocket the night he collapsed. It was the medication for diabetes that the Chief Director took every day. And it was used to kill him.
Dr. So jumps up to protest that one bag of pills can’t be lethal, and Young-oh elaborates that when the insulin in those pills meets pseudoephedrine, a drug found in cold medicine, it becomes a bomb that causes acute cerebral hemorrhage. It was the best way for the killer to make the death look natural.
Assistant Manager Chae gets up and tells him that they can do an autopsy, unless Young-oh is trying to avoid taking responsibility for his failed surgery. Young-oh checks his watch and tells him that that would be impossible at this point.
Before the assistant manager can look too smug, Young-oh says that most likely the body would be switched just like in the case of the motorcyclist. Therefore, he already had a blood sample extracted and sent off for testing. As if on cue, text messages arrive on every hospital staff and doctor’s phone. It’s the same message — the result of Chief Director Shin’s blood test, positive for lethal levels of pseudoephedrine.
Young-oh walks off the podium and looks around the room. Clearly, Chief Director Shin was murdered, he says. And the killer is right here with them.
COMMENTS
Young-oh is not your average psychopath. Much like Lee Hyun from I Remember You, he has been conditioned from early childhood to recognize the behaviors he must avoid to seem normal. Couple that with an agile, intelligent mind, and you get a man who has survived in society in spite of his father’s fears by learning to read people like a book. One of the common traits of those suffering from anti-social disorder is the inability to keep a job or stay in stable relationships. Thanks in large parts to his father’s early training, Young-oh has a deeply ingrained self-awareness. He consciously refuses to be the person his father expects him to become. He’s a successful neurosurgeon and has been in a relationship for more than five years. He is deliberately rejecting the symptoms of his own psychopathy, even if it’s in the most calculating way possible.
Though Dr. Lee saw his behavior outside the OR as confirmation of his fears, Young-oh didn’t actually lose control over himself until he was alone. In that moment when he kept repeating that his surgery was perfect, he was voicing his earnest incredulity at a death resulting through no fault of his own. His underlying anger as he yelled at Jin-sung was against everyone who would fail to see this truth. His surgery had been perfect but the patient died anyway.
But with Min-jae, his mask did fall away for a moment. He was terrifying as he looked at her with cold, menacing eyes. Yet even then, when he noted her fear — the very thing he was deliberately trying to inspire — he turned away and distanced himself. That self control, I believe, comes from his need to prove his worth to himself and his father.
And this is what gives me hope for Young-oh’s redemption. A character that feels nothing will never be a hero I can root for. On the contrary, by this episode I realized that Young-oh feels a lot, and quite deeply. He feels resentment towards his father for never trusting him. He feels fear of being exposed and losing everything he’s worked for. And he feels truly, deeply shaken when he wonders for a moment if it’s possible that he made a mistake.
All of which are selfish emotions, which underline his disorder. But the reason these disorders don’t have a prescribed cure, is because they are personality based. No two people are the same. In an individual as conscious of his inner workings as Young-oh, it’s just about possible that given the right set of circumstances, he might come to deeply care for another.
This was a hard episode to watch. I liked Chief Director Shin and had expected him to stay alive and supportive towards Suk-joo and Jin-sung until the very end. I suppose it was a clever thing to do, getting us emotionally invested in his character and then killing him off. But now Dr. Lee is without perhaps the only source of a calming influence in his life, and given his paranoia towards his son, I fear he will now go down a dark road alone.
Also with the revelation about the missing heart having a mutated lesion, a small part of the puzzle finally fell into place. If Jin-sung was looking for previous medical treatments by the hospital on the motorcyclist then one can assume there is a massive malpractice cover up going on here. So, now I begin to wonder if the attack in the first episode was really targeted at the assemblyman.
Incidentally, I found it hilarious that Young-oh has to take impulse suppressants, even though Jin-sung is easily the most impulsive character in the story.
RELATED POSTS
- Beautiful Mind: Episode 2
- Beautiful Mind: Episode 1
- Jang Hyuk is fractured and dangerous in Beautiful Mind
- Park So-dam makes her first appearance for Beautiful Mind
- Jang Hyuk becomes dangerous and life-saving for Beautiful Mind
- Jang Hyuk tries to read emotions in Beautiful Mind’s first teaser
- Park So-dam confirms taking the lead in Beautiful Mind
- Beautiful Mind holds test shoots without lead actress
- Beautiful Mind rounds out its supporting cast
- Beautiful Mind gets delayed, KBS schedules 4-episode drama in interim
- Park Se-young up for medical mystery Beautiful Mind
- Yoon Hyun-min considers going villainous for Beautiful Mind
- Park So-dam in consideration to join Jang Hyuk in Beautiful Mind
- Jang Hyuk courted to headline KBS’s Beautiful Mind
Tags: Beautiful Mind, Episode 3, featured, Jang Hyuk, Park Se-young, Park So-dam, Yoon Hyun-min
Interview with Kim Yoo-jung
Hello Dramabeans series
![[2022 Year in Review] The Bean Count](https://www.dramabeans.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/beancount_2022.png)
Required fields are marked *
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
1 sorrynotsorry
June 30, 2016 at 8:20 PM
I freely admit this is a flawed drama but as long as it keeps me guessing about things, I'm good to go. I do think the weak link is the poorly written female character. The actress is fine but I had high hopes that she would be seriously savvy and that's not happening yet. I hope she evolves as the drama continues.
Required fields are marked *
Sylvia
June 30, 2016 at 8:26 PM
At this point I'm kind of crying. I love (almost) everything about this show: the sexy and lovely Jang Hyuk, a very likable Park So Dam, the genre & premise, the general mood, the promise of thrills etc.
EXCEPT WTF is wrong with the writing?
So frustrated. This is supposed to be the show I've always been waiting for. If only we had a more competent script writer.
Required fields are marked *
sorrynotsorry
June 30, 2016 at 8:49 PM
It's so true...nothing else matters if the writing goes sideways.
Required fields are marked *
Arawn
June 30, 2016 at 9:16 PM
Exactly. Writing is... I mean, it's not even BAD, not at least in the traditional meaning. Well, it is, but somehow differently bad. Confusingly bad. Things-are-not-making-sense type of bad.
I'm also getting annoyed by Park So-dam's character. Not by her, mind you, she's the saving grace of this weird police officer who hangs around in hospital instead of her job place and pulls the weirdest investigations stunts ever. It's like she never even went to police academy where she was told that hey, getting evidence illegally is, you know, a CRIME and furthermore you cannot use such evidence in court.
What the h*ll is happening here with this writer?
Required fields are marked *
Lynn
July 1, 2016 at 6:45 AM
"Not by her, mind you, she’s the saving grace of this weird police officer who hangs around in hospital instead of her job place and pulls the weirdest investigations stunts ever." HAHAHA, sooo true, I also noticed this. She seems to be everywhere except at her actual job.
Required fields are marked *
CR
July 1, 2016 at 10:13 AM
It's so confusing how she was established as someone who will turn herself in for speeding (and speeding while in pursuit of a criminal at that). Is it in character for her to then do reckless, illegal things then repent later? Or is it weird that she's going so off the rails in light of her established sense of justice and encyclopedic knowledge of laws and statutes? I can't decide
Either way, you're an actual police officer, lady, not some plucky amateur detective. It would all make sense if she had a different career but strong curiosity and sense of justice, along w/ her loyalty to the people at the hospital who saved her. But POLICE OFFICER.
Required fields are marked *
MeganG
August 15, 2016 at 5:39 AM
+1000
anna96
June 30, 2016 at 11:22 PM
You speak my mind ! Sometimes the story is all over the place, i honestly don't know where this show is going? Maybe its about how beautiful his mind is that he cant feel emotion and still is a good person? But then what is our female lead's role in all this?. It's already the 3rd episode but it feels like some introduction was left out and i feel lost
Required fields are marked *
TMT
July 1, 2016 at 6:47 AM
An evaluation of good or bad writing should be what criteria? Once you finish an episode did you enjoy it? If you do not like one or two scenes vs 100 scenes does it make it bad writing? If the a lead actress character disappoint you does it make it bad writing?
Can it not be the actress fault? Director fault? Even if it is indeed the writer fault for writing overly dramatic for only one character is that bad writing vs the other 10 or so other character that you do like?
This drama has flaws. It has writing flaws but is the whole episode bad writing? Bad writing perhaps can be described as overall failure instead of one or two flaws. So long as its not Fatal Flaw that renders the entire show overall bad can it be justified that writing is bad?
The show have its moments of brilliance and flaws (that are not fatal).
Required fields are marked *
bjharm
July 2, 2016 at 6:11 AM
guess this is a private hospital, as far as I know if there reason to suspect abuse of a child it is at once reported to the authorities zero tolerance, but then again this is Korean and Korea drama land at that, still it is things like that that just snaps one out of the fantasy world the drama trying to create.
Required fields are marked *
2 sylvia
June 30, 2016 at 8:21 PM
"Incidentally, I found it hilarious that Young-oh has to take impulse suppressants, even though Jin-sung is easily the most impulsive character in the story."
AMEN.
Someone save us from officer Jin Sung. She can't seem to connect observations, nor form logical conclusions that take into consideration factors and/or histories other than the very immediate event happening.
Most characters in this show are rather dimwitted. But she really takes the cake. All you need to do is dangle a carrot in front and she'll bite.
Required fields are marked *
rowanharper
June 30, 2016 at 8:29 PM
Yes, she's so frustratingly incompetent that her actions seem unethical. It seems as though police work would be one of the worst career fields that she could ever possibly go into.
Required fields are marked *
sylvia
June 30, 2016 at 8:47 PM
I want to ask Writer-nim what her intensions are with Jin Sung's character. Because she's beginning to be seriously useless and ineffectual to the story.
In episode 1, I got that her narrative function (other than kdrama heroine, of course) was that of the outsider whistleblower. She's the sole witness of a crime, and becomes a moral center for the show as she seeks justice for the victim.
But now that the show is rapidly becoming a medical-corporate espionage type of story, the crux of the intrigue is much more medical than strictly criminal. We have evidence of drug trials, a deadly fungus thing that spreads in hearts and brains (lol wut?), the explicit and implicit participation of a whole bunch of doctors, and evidence of massive coverup.
So what can a traffic cop do? Write everyone a parking ticket?
She knows nothing of medicine. There's no way for her to ask the right questions, make the right judgement calls, or look for the right clues because she doesn't even know what she doesn't know.
Required fields are marked *
gerry13
June 30, 2016 at 9:05 PM
I think in the beginning she will be clueless and rash, she will make a mistake and learn. Then she can be of help to him
Required fields are marked *
anna96
June 30, 2016 at 11:26 PM
I think the writer was inspired by the animation movie zootopia/zoopolis , her character is quite like the rabbit police officer only that the rabbit was much more intelligent
Required fields are marked *
michykdrama
June 30, 2016 at 9:11 PM
yes! omg I'm so frustrated at Jin Sung too. your description about the carrot is spot on. She is swayed so easily and doesn't have much common sense, she just puts her head down and charges, regardless of what is going on around her.
I really like smart and sassy female characters so she is really really annoying me.
I don't know if she is supposed to be a foil for Young Oh, who is emotionally repressed but a genius, compared to Jin Sung who has lots of emotions, but not much else going on up there?
Required fields are marked *
Iris
June 30, 2016 at 10:43 PM
I didn't want to write off Jin sung as a headache-inducing-plot-device just yet so I continued to give her the benefit of doubt.
I found her tenacity and moral compass admirable in ep 1, even if her methods of setting things right weren't exactly right.
By ep 2 I slowly started realizing that that tenacity in her coupled with her tendency to rush headfirst into situations without properly thinking about them made her a loose cannon. But in spite of that I was sure that what had happened would make her realize the same.But Alas our traffic cop doesn't seem to have self re-evaluation in her vocabulary.
Even knowing this, its doubly confusing how Jin sung immediately arrived at the conclusion that Shin was murdered. At that point even Young Oh wasn't fully sure. But when he did proclaim it he had the clear cut motive and evidence to back him up. So then what conclusive evidence did Jin sung have to fully believe it was a murder? The timing ? Her gut instinct? But she previously accused Young Oh based on it too and she was wrong there.
So I would have appreciated it if the steps she'd taken to arrive at that point-if she'd taken any at all- were made more clear to us so that we viewers could be in sync with our main lead.
But unfortunately all that's happening is Jin sung jumping from point A to D in a single leap and me scratching my head wondering where B and C went. To me this is a serious fault with the writing; enough to completely undermine the acting delivered by the lovely Park so dam. I hope they know where they're going with her.
Required fields are marked *
Lynn
July 1, 2016 at 6:36 AM
Amén x2. Your carrot observation is spot on... That's exactly what she did in the end of episode four... I don't understand the writer's thought process regarding her character, I mean so far most of her actions have been nonsensical. Sigh, but never mind her, I sill love JH so I'll keep watching this show.
Required fields are marked *
gerry13
July 1, 2016 at 7:09 PM
Maybe she is supposed to act as a foil to Dr Lee- she rush through without thinking, acting on emotions, while Dr Lee is rational, he act based on facts
Required fields are marked *
3 rowanharper
June 30, 2016 at 8:22 PM
Please don't hate me for bringing up CITT, but what I had really hoped to get out of that story was deeper insight into Jungs psyche and see a beautiful arch of charecter development, and when I didn't get that, it was deeply dissapointing.
This drama has a similar hero and his development is so interesting, I can't wait to see his charecter unfold.
At this point I could care less about the love story. I'm only slightly invested in it as it promises to be s catalyst for change in him.
After viewing episode 4 though, I'm not sure how a love line is even possible or feasible, but we'll just have to wait a see. I'm already looking forward to that recap! Thanks for this one!
Required fields are marked *
sorrynotsorry
June 30, 2016 at 8:47 PM
CITT is the bitter pill still stuck in my throat.
I actually don't care about a love line at all. I just really want them to do something more effective with the female police ofc character. I don't necessarily love every single thing Jang Hyuk does but crossing fingers the writing settles down a bit.
Required fields are marked *
prettysup
July 1, 2016 at 3:58 AM
Sorry but what is CITT ?
Required fields are marked *
michykdrama
July 1, 2016 at 4:47 AM
Cheese in the trap.
You need to see the recaps to understand why there is angst about the show. Or google it. It's hard to explain and a sore point for many people.
Required fields are marked *
TM
July 1, 2016 at 4:48 AM
Cheese In The Trap. A drama/webtoon with a weird character (named Jung) and great potential. But the direction the drama took was not satisfactory (like for Young Oh, people expected a lot of character evolving and it was not done)
Required fields are marked *
Arawn
June 30, 2016 at 9:23 PM
Originally I wanted a love line just to see Young-oh getting the biggest freak out ever because of FEELS. It would've been hilarious and satisfying and sexy as hell.
But now I'm losing my faith in Jin-sung. I really like Park So-dam, but Jing-sun just seems so... well, incompetent and stupid. So much so that I cannot anyone as intelligent as Young-oh ever to be romantically interested in her. And I blame the writing here.
Required fields are marked *
sylvia
June 30, 2016 at 9:25 PM
"What I had really hoped to get out of that story was deeper insight into Jungs psyche and see a beautiful arch of charecter development [...]
This drama has a similar hero and his development is so interesting, I can’t wait to see his charecter unfold."
I do wonder though, what it is about these mentally damaged heroes that intrigues us so. I'm a total sucker for this character archetype, and yet feel wary of my own interest.
Thinking about it, isn't this type of characterization totally overused to the point of cliche? Starting with Secret Garden, dramaland has had a whole parade of mentally ill heroes from Kill Me Heal Me (dissociative identity disorder) to Good Doctor (autism) to Bad Guys (antisocial personality disorder) to It's Okay It's Love (OCD/Schizophrenia) to Hyde, Jekyll, Me (dissociative identity again) to I Remember You (sociopath again) to CITT (sociopath no. 3).
Between all that med popping and childhood trauma, you'd think we'd be tired of it all. What exactly is so deep about this type of character? Why do we like to see them in a sensationalized light? Inability to experience remorse, poor impulse control, and incapability to make moral judgements ... why romanticize these traits? Even if you throw in charisma and a charming face, all you end up with is Ted Bundy.
Required fields are marked *
Arawn
June 30, 2016 at 11:24 PM
For once I would wish we could have a drama heroine with one of these afflictions and a guy who's nice and bumbling and all that to be her counterpart in love.
But nope. Women cannot be dark and difficult, only men can.
Required fields are marked *
rowanharper
June 30, 2016 at 11:37 PM
Good point haha. But I think you would agree that it would be better not to have bumbling idiots or either sex. I'll gladly take nice.
Required fields are marked *
bips99
June 30, 2016 at 11:38 PM
Its the disney syndrome - We have been conditioned since childhood. The bad boys and/or even the medically ill ones, are all just one love-of-a-good-woman away from being cured.
We see a damaged hero and all we can see is lights flashing with "epic love story" banner flying high.
Required fields are marked *
rowanharper
June 30, 2016 at 11:33 PM
Does being diognisised as a psychopath/sociopath automatically make you the villain? What are the ramifications of a diagnosis? Does that label dictate who you will become? Does it make you a murderer? Are people who are able to freely feel and express emotion incapable of evil while others that are not predisposed to evil? These charecters are fascinating not because they are romantic but because they poss some interesting questions about human nature.
I don't think all mental illness should be grouped into one category discussing this.
Required fields are marked *
bips99
June 30, 2016 at 11:43 PM
But how many shows really address the questions of human nature? And how many just simply go through the route of 'lets throw a nice woman here and everything will end up hunky dory' ... The show's writing itself projects them as romantic tropes.
Required fields are marked *
rowanharper
July 1, 2016 at 12:21 AM
True, but I always have the hope of that's where this scenario will lead.
rowanharper
July 1, 2016 at 12:25 AM
True, but am I wrong to hope that this will be the first? Even if it doesn't overly go there, I hope there will be an over arching theme at least ... Maybe just maybe...
Or some good discussion.
gamergal
July 1, 2016 at 12:47 AM
I think it's the idea that these heroes fight against their 'nature' and choose NOT to be Ted Bundy.
They are defeating insurmountable odds. That is always sexy.
Required fields are marked *
4 dee269
June 30, 2016 at 8:35 PM
I got goosebump just reading the recap. I haven't watch the drama yet, but it look like it's very interesting..
Required fields are marked *
prettysup
July 1, 2016 at 7:24 AM
Yes it is good, you should try it!
Required fields are marked *
nAEE
July 2, 2016 at 9:53 PM
I'm picking up this drama after reading the recaps from Ep 1 to Ep 4. Surprisingly it's a good medical drama. Well I guess having Jang Hyuk & Park So Dam influenced me to start watching it.
And can we have a loveline between Suk Joo and Jin Sung? I'm falling in love with his character ^^
Required fields are marked *
5 gerry13
June 30, 2016 at 9:02 PM
The most interesting drama so far, every episode u have to watch closely for clues. Love his keen observation skills, jang hyuk is so scary and sexy. His acting is so good. Psd is also very natural. Not so interested in the loveline at the moment
Required fields are marked *
prettysup
July 1, 2016 at 4:54 AM
Same here, i am not interested in the loveline, I am enjoying Jang Hyuk's great acting here plus the suspense in the show!
Required fields are marked *
6 Zara
June 30, 2016 at 9:30 PM
Young-Oh kind of reminded me of House when he easily told the couple that the wife had basically cheated on the husband and when he told Jin-Sung that everyone lies. And that's totally fine by me, since I thought House was a really intriguing character.
And is it just me who found the whole crashing-the-funeral-and-turning-it-into-a-crime-investigation thing a little funny? :)
Required fields are marked *
Iris
June 30, 2016 at 10:13 PM
You're not alone Zara! My lips were twitching all throughout his "eulogy". What really did me in were the nuns in the front row just nodding intelligently to each other at everything Young Oh was saying instead of being even a tiny bit surprised the docs were all just standing up and duking it out at a funeral ! :D
Required fields are marked *
Arawn
June 30, 2016 at 11:27 PM
Ugh, the writing around the funeral... At first Jing-sun is like "I won't go to the funeral today, nope, cannot, boohoo". Then, suddenly, funeral is some later date after all and it's Young-oh putting a show there - IN THE FUNERAL. What the flying f*ck?? Apparently dad thought him to read facial expressions but nothing about social norms people hold.
And how come everyone always gets some mysterious text messages at the exact same time?
Writing in this show... *sigh*
Required fields are marked *
gerry13
July 1, 2016 at 12:43 AM
He send the blood for testing- everyone got the text message of the result
Required fields are marked *
michykdrama
July 1, 2016 at 1:22 AM
I don't think it's mysterious text message. It's probably sent by some hospital secretary- it's those mass messages to all hospital employees. Young oh, being the head of his department (I think if I understood it correctly) could have easily organized a secretary to send the results to everyone once they were out.
Required fields are marked *
CR
July 1, 2016 at 10:17 AM
His "everyone lies" line was straight out of House. I mean, I'm pretty sure House would have "Everyone lies" on his tombstone, he said it so often.
Required fields are marked *
7 midflower
June 30, 2016 at 9:34 PM
Loved your thoughts about Young Oh! The cinematography is seriously great.
Required fields are marked *
prettysup
July 1, 2016 at 4:56 AM
Yes I agree !
Required fields are marked *
8 gerry13
June 30, 2016 at 10:02 PM
The father/son relationship is fascinating- the old actor is great. Love their confrontation
Required fields are marked *
9 xingii
June 30, 2016 at 10:27 PM
I reallyyyyyyyyyy want to enjoy this drama to it's fullest but like sentiments above, Jinsung as a character makes no sense. She's breaching a lot of ethical boundaries pretty much just going through people's offices without warrants? Like yeah she got permission to "work the case" but seriously there's a procedure to these things isn't there? lol She's very impulsive and irrational and not all that bright it is very hard to root for her because lbr this investigation seems extremely complex and she is not the right fit to work a case such as this imho.
I'm enjoying the rest of the drama but yeah Jinsung's actions so far had me scratching my head a bit.
Required fields are marked *
10 prettysup
June 30, 2016 at 10:34 PM
PSD did say during the press conference that her character will do things which some people find incomprehensible. So I guess it is being done deliberately and her character will redeem herself soon. Don't give up on her !!
Required fields are marked *
TM
July 1, 2016 at 4:56 AM
I somehow feel better reading your comments. At least they do know that Jin Sung's actions don't make sense and are unethical. I really hope she is going to change pretty soon.
Required fields are marked *
11 prettysup
June 30, 2016 at 10:40 PM
I was so surprised that Director Shin actually died ! Initially I suspected him as the bad guy and didnt expect him to die in episode 3! Somemore he appeared on the official website as one of the main characters. Uttery shocked, I keep thinking he will wake up.
Required fields are marked *
12 bips99
June 30, 2016 at 11:21 PM
I freaking love this show. He gives me the chills. I am confused a bit - can he not have feelings ? Or can he not understand feelings of others ? He feels anger, ambition, disappointment in his father ... but doesn't feel happier feelings ??? or can't comprehend people's feelings ??? So so confusing.
In CITT we often threw around that jung had low empathy. But now that we have a hero that has none, i'm not really sure how it works. I can't seem to wrap my head around the idea of someone not feeling anything. This show makes my head hurt, in all the good ways
But officer JS - oof! i have no idea whats happening with her. She gets stupider by the episode. I hope they correct her character sketch soon bec she is coming across as very incompetent.
Required fields are marked *
unitedred
June 30, 2016 at 11:41 PM
Young Oh can't understand the feelings of others. It's not clear how much he can feel. I don't think he or his dad completely understand Young Oh's disorder. From what I've seen so far, he can have feelings, but they're limited.
Required fields are marked *
xingii
June 30, 2016 at 11:42 PM
from my understanding I think he has his own feelings but he can't comprehend others? All of his observations about people have been learned when he was younger so he's going off by memory than actual "reading" people's emotions through their behaviour/expressions.
Required fields are marked *
bips99
June 30, 2016 at 11:55 PM
see thats whats confusing me - I don't think its about "reading" ppl's emotions
My sister is the most oblivious one at reading someone's body language/ expressions. She can never figure out of the person is angry/sad/happy etc
But if someone is yelling at her or questioning her - obviously she knows that the person is angry and why.
YO on the other hand cannot understand WHY a person is angry even when they are yelling at him. He knows they are angry but can't understand why ?
But he does feel anger(say) of his own. So he does understand the emotion. Then what exactly is his problem?
Required fields are marked *
unitedred
July 1, 2016 at 8:40 AM
YO is a sociopath who has trouble empathizing with others and understanding other people's emotions. By learning how to read people's expressions, he is able to know what other people are feeling, but he's still unable have empathy for others. People seem to naturally have an emotional reaction to other people's emotions. When normal person accidentally makes someone angry, he will naturally feel bad and maybe apologize. YO can figure out why he made someone angry, but he won't feel bad. Something I said pissed him off. So what?
Required fields are marked *
gerry13
June 30, 2016 at 11:43 PM
I think he read people through body language, then he can tell whether the person is angry or sad or telling lies. That's why he go very close up to people.
This is Jang hyuk's best performance since Chuno. When the patient died, he went to the stairway and hit his hands and head against the door- u can see all his emotions. Hope he wins acting award for this role.
Required fields are marked *
midflower
June 30, 2016 at 11:50 PM
I think your questions hit a bit of everything! He obviously does feel emotions but just not the correct kind. Case in point, the fury he felt when the surgery went wrong. He probably should've felt grief/remorse and responsible for what happened. Instead his pride was hurt, his logic shattered. He also seems to have only a "definition" of what others' emotions are, he doesn't truly understand what other people feel. Because of this he can't really feel sorry for other people. Of course these are only my thoughts! ^-^
Required fields are marked *
prettysup
July 1, 2016 at 4:03 AM
He can feel, he just cannot figure out what others are feeling, so his father taught him to read other's body language and link them to feelings.
Required fields are marked *
13 SuziQ
July 1, 2016 at 12:14 AM
I don't understand Jin Sung's hangup regarding the soju cap...
Why are the author wasting so much time about it?
No wonder they regulated her to become a traffic cop, she's so dumb and irritating. Heaven help the violent crime unit with her in it to solve the hospital murders.
Required fields are marked *
14 ummmno
July 1, 2016 at 12:16 AM
This drama is trying to be House mixed with CSI and it's just not working. Kdramas have always excelled at delivering rom coms and classic melodramas, but American and British crime thrillers or psychological suspense shows far out pace kdramas in this genre.
Also, how the hell are you going to investigate a murder by going to every suspect and telling them you suspect them lol...The female lead is terrible, but maybe since they're live shooting the writer can change things up idk.
I don't like PSD in general for this role, and all the mess surrounding her casting is even more hilarious after seeing her performance.
Required fields are marked *
Adal
July 2, 2016 at 12:35 PM
Yeah, I agree that PSD doesn't seem to fit the role. No insult to her, but her character seems like an overzealous teenager. The immaturity is enhanced all the more because she's working with an older, mature cast. Perhaps an older, more mature actress would've done more justice to this role and enfused it with a bit of gravitas, necessary to be taken seriously by the people she's investigating.
Required fields are marked *
15 Indigo
July 1, 2016 at 1:01 AM
A thought occurs to me as I take a second look at this episode (Ep 4. (no spoilers) helped form this view):
I don't know, but I think Young Oh's father, Dr. Lee, might have the same disorder as his son. And Young Oh may be victimized by him, even if he really does have a disorder of his own.
The way he's controlled Young Oh's behavior well into adulthood is not normal:
*Remember last episode...the hand on the shoulder to remind YO who had the authority?
*His obsession with controlling how YO is perceived by others. Using a private experiment to 'normalize' YO by teaching him to recognize emotions.
*Also, didn't he unilaterally adjust YO's medication? Is he a psychiatrist?
No, no...he's controlling and manipulative, even though he seems nice and likeable.
In the same way that he taught YO to 'read' emotions, I wonder if he doesn't use the same knowledge to fake emotions he doesn't really have.
Or maybe I just have a wild imagination. Lol.
Required fields are marked *
gerry13
July 1, 2016 at 4:53 AM
For once an interesting drama, love it, watch without stopping. Can't wait for next episode
Required fields are marked *
16 prettysup
July 1, 2016 at 4:02 AM
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.
Antisocial personality disorder signs and symptoms may include:
Disregard for right and wrong
Persistent lying or deceit to exploit others
Being callous, cynical and disrespectful of others
Using charm or wit to manipulate others for personal gain or personal pleasure
Arrogance, a sense of superiority and being extremely opinionated
Recurring problems with the law, including criminal behavior
Repeatedly violating the rights of others through intimidation and dishonesty
Impulsiveness or failure to plan ahead
Hostility, significant irritability, agitation, aggression or violence
Lack of empathy for others and lack of remorse about harming others
Unnecessary risk-taking or dangerous behavior with no regard for the safety of self or others
Required fields are marked *
Beverly A
July 1, 2016 at 10:16 AM
I'm a psych nurse and I'm not sure Young Oh has APD because most people like that tend to gravitate to business and financial stuff. But your comment is spot on.
Required fields are marked *
17 Jazzy
July 1, 2016 at 6:59 AM
Your recap is so insightful...I love the show so far but kinda frustrated with jinsung too...i feel more for minjae whose character development is so scarce in every episode...i hope she gets written better
Required fields are marked *
gerry13
July 1, 2016 at 7:12 PM
I love psy, she is so pretty, please show more of her
Required fields are marked *
18 Beverly A
July 1, 2016 at 10:17 AM
Get RID of that cop. She adds zero to the show.
Required fields are marked *
19 A.
July 1, 2016 at 6:44 PM
THE QUESTION IS:
Can I still hope for a romance on this drama?
Required fields are marked *
gerry13
July 1, 2016 at 7:14 PM
It is ok not to have many romantic scenes, I enjoy Signal, Neighbourhood lawyer, I remember u, miseang- all very interesting but little romance
Required fields are marked *
nAEE
July 2, 2016 at 9:59 PM
I dont think there will be too much romance in this drama
Required fields are marked *
20 Adal
July 2, 2016 at 12:27 PM
I confess to being irritated and frustrated by the female lead. She's coming across as incompetent and not very well trained. Isn't it basic police procedure for rookie cops to shadow more experienced cops in investigations? So who is guiding her and preventing her from making all these mistakes? Watching her makes me feel like pulling my hair out. She's the one weak link in what would have been a carefully crafted show.
Required fields are marked *
nids
July 19, 2016 at 1:11 AM
I agree, the female lead is the most irritating character so far....i mean talk about double standards. Whenits time to question your crush you let him sleep and if its lee young then might as well disrupt any big meeting ???
Also she s nothing but a traffic police officer so with what right she s causing such havoc in the hospital? questioning the staff ? blaming senior doctors without any proof and to top it all searching a directors office?
Is there any security in that place?
The director either should have given this character such a role that it would have these right or medical knowledge or should have shown HOW she's able to do all this things even though she is being stopped by security at the very least.
Doctors is making most sense right now between these two.....iam currently only watching this for the love of the main lead......though right now whether he is Sherlock homes or a genius doctor.....is not clear !!
Required fields are marked *
21 acciokdramas
August 13, 2016 at 11:25 AM
This episode's highlight was when Young-oh kept muttering indignantly and forcefully that the surgery was PERFECT, it was PERFECT, PERFECT, PERFECT, PERFECT. Well, it didn't turn out perfect, but that particular scene was pretty perfect itself. I love that when faced with a table death of a director in a hospital which he only recently just entered, he faced it with no regret or empathy. Sure, he registered the death. But he filed it under the 'Annoyance' column, not the 'Sad' one. It makes me believe, however, that he does experience emotions. It just doesn't register normally, so it's not that he doesn't feel anything; he's just conditioned in a different worldview and less extreme feelings.
On the other hand, I'm getting a little annoyed over Jin-sung. At first, I found her "JUSTICE PREVAILS!" attitude refreshing, especially in scenes where she faces off against Young-oh. But that persistence combined with reckless doggedness in the face of danger, and it made me feel annoyed. Why won't she do this properly from the start, and investigate the Assemblyman? After all, the delivery guy was clearly accusing him since the beginning. Instead she zeroes in on Young-oh and the missing heart. She says she wants justice, but then she snoops into offices, goes to the morgue herself and sneaks around off-the-job. It's interesting how she wants to pursue justice using ways that aren't noble. (Or maybe that's just how the police force works in Korea? Am not sure.)
All in all, it's a solid episode. I've gotten used to the surgeries at this point, thanks to this k-drama and Doctors as well - I can watch the brain and heart surgeries without peeking through my fingers or miming throwing up. Cheers to more!
Required fields are marked *