Doctor Stranger - Episode 3 (A SqueeCap)

We take a temporary break from the search for Jae-hee to spend some time getting acquainted with our new setup and introduce Hoon to the characters at Myung Woo Hospital. This means that the drama starts to look a little bit more like what you'd expect from a medical drama, but you don't have to worry: it doesn't last long. The weird is here to stay.

JoAnne: Cute judgy faces would like to know if you have a PROBLEM with that.

bcook: Nope. WTF is good. Normal is bad.

Episode 3

After seeing the video of Jae-hee, Hoon talks money with Im Ajusshi and is told that it'll take $50,000 to get her out of the concentration camp.

JangBastard finishes watching the same video, and Lollipop Ajusshi hands him the information packets from the hospitals that want to handle his surgery. JangBastard tosses a few aside before opening the one from Myung Woo Hospital. He sees that Oh Joon-gyu is chairman (I previously introduced him as Director - oops!) and smirks.
JoAnne: Myung Woo Hospital must be like Rome - all roads converge, and all that.
bcook: Do hospitals in other countries have these competitions to "host" important people? Must consult grey's anatomy. 

That evening, Chairman Oh meets with the reporters who witnessed last episode's bungled heart surgery. They exposit that a year ago, Han Jae-joon was the youngest adjunct professor at Harvard Medical School. Chairman Oh adds that he's also done more than 1,000 heart surgeries without failure. *whistles* Yeah, but can he do it in the dark?
JoAnne: Does he have Magic Fingers too?  No.  He does not.  Go away.

bcook: He has his nose! That counts for something right?

He calls Jae-joon into the room and introduces him as the new Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery. Looks like he got Moon's old job.  Speaking of Moon, he's currently slapping City Hunter Ajusshi and yelling at him for messing up the operation. Dude, not cool. He orders Ajusshi out and tells him he's through at the hospital.
JoAnne:  I do not approve of this behavior, Moon.

Jae-joon sees Chairman Oh off, and then Soo-hyun arrives to pick him up. She drives him back to the hospital but asks why he has to go back when he's off duty. She's starts to say she has something to say to him, but he swoops in with a kiss. It's a good kiss, too. One that I would probably enjoy more if I didn't get the feeling that it was so calculated.
JoAnne:  That kiss is very nice, yes.  Good hands, too.  He seemed rather bloodless but perhaps there's more to him...
bcook: All that pent up passion stored during surgery....has to find an outlet. I approve of this pastime.

Jae-joon stops by the breakroom, and resident KIM CHI-GYU (Lee Jae-won) falls out of bed in surprise. They have a short exchange, in which Jae-joon reminds him to call him "hyung." Jae-joon leaves and Chatty doc turns back to the girl hiding under his blanket. She gushes over how cool Jae-joon is, and Chatty doc reminds her that he's taken. They get back to business, if you know what I mean.
JoAnne:  This guy!  I love this guy!  He's like Oh Jung Se in more than just looks - he's both reliably character-y and able to deliver emotion when called upon.  I'm so happy he's here!  And his name makes me laugh because Kimchi.
bcook: He's such a playa!! I like the contrast btn his bumbling infront of the doctors and his smooth operator persona in front of the ladaiz!!

Turns out Jae-joon is here to see City Hunter Ajusshi, and ooh, looks like Ajusshi was operating on Jae-joon's orders when he messed up the operation, having been promised a promotion.  (Ahjussi!  No!) Jae-joon points out the knight at the gate of the model castle he's been working on, saying he thinks of Ajusshi as a knight, and it's only natural for the castle's ruler to reward knights who distinguish themselves. (I only point this out because the knight analogy is one that will come back in later episodes.) But after Ajusshi leaves, Jae-joon's face hardens and he says, "Trash-like bastard."
JoAnne:  Takes one to know one, I'd say. Talk about being a hypocrite!
bcook: He is! Maybe he thinks his cause is nobler? more noble?

Meanwhile, Hoon is at his clinic, watching the video of Jae-hee yet again, when suddenly she pops up behind him, reminding him that she's here now. He makes dinner as they talk about how hard he worked to bring her here, then he just sits smiling at her as she eats. His attention is caught again by the video, though, and when he looks back, Jae-hee is gone. The smile fades from his face and he starts to cry.
JoAnne:  He cries really, really well.  I love Lee Jong Suk. In the subset of noona-killers who are able to act both cute AND sexy PLUS sensitive, he is very high on my list. Those THIGHS help.  Yes, he acts with his thighs.  They speak to me.  Who are you to say otherwise?
bcook: O__O. I just wish he was mooning over another girl. Any girl (well except for PSH) would do.

Soo-hyun comes home, where she's met by her half-brother, Sang-jin, who admires her fancy car. She calls him "Oppa," but he sneers that she's just the daughter of a concubine. Well, I don't like you, either. She tosses him the car keys and while he's being all smirky, she goes off to find a huge rock, which she then slams into the windshield. "You can keep it," she says coolly, then leaves him huffing. Her, I like.
JoAnne:  That was very sudden, very unexpected, and very deeply admired.  She is awesome.  I hope she's a good guy. She must be right, because Mr. Everything Smells like Poop is clearly NOT, and he is her foil.
bcook: Everybody has an agenda in this show. So don't get your hopes up.

They go inside, and we learn that Chairman Oh is her dad and she's requested a transfer to management. He clearly favors Soo-hyun over Sang-jin, but he's far from warm, and with his wife obviously despising Soo-hyun, I can't imagine it being easy to grow up in this family.
JoAnne: And now I wonder about that kiss. Curse you, KDrama, for turning me into a suspicious woman.
bcook: Lots of ambitions men marry the CEO's daughter. Not a lot of them make it into the will.

At the clinic, Hoon is refusing to deliver water to Myung Woo Hospital, even when Chang-yi reminds him that he needs extra money to get Jae-hee. She's dying to take her mom out for the day, though, and even tries using aegyo on him, but he doesn't budge. Until he turns around to see Mom's hopeful face, of course, and he gives in.
JoAnne:  Teh Cute.  I will die of it.
bcook: She's so adorable. Since I've only seen her in Panda and Hedgehog (where she was just as adorable) she's like the adorable omma.

On the way out the door, Chang-yi Omma asks if that was Park Hoon in there, remarking that the name sounds familiar.
JoAnne:  And now I suspect Omma.  Of what, I have no idea.  I just do. I've got my eye on you, Omma.
bcook: Everybody has an agenda.

Hoon arrives at the hospital, and as he's walking through the lobby he sees a picture of hospital director Choi Byung-chul. He remembers Choi approaching him when he was a kid and offering to take him to Dad. Ah, so that's how you got to North Korea. And possibly how Choi got the job as director, as the plaque on the wall says he held the position since 1994.
JoAnne:  Did Hoon's dad work for this hospital back then?  
bcook: Must be. Don't Korean kids get told not to get into cars unless their parents gave permission? A classmate was briefly kidnapped when we were 8/9 but a disgruntled company employee.

500 Won Girl is also at the hospital with her dad, getting her finger looked at by KimChi Cutie. He says the person who made the splint saved her finger and orders her to the radiology department for an X-ray. The nurse giving them directions just says to follow the blue line and sends them on their way. Cut to: father and daughter staring at three blue lines, unsure which to follow.
JoAnne:  Well that's just stupid, who would paint THREE blue lines?
bcook: Well one is dark blue, the other one is light blue and the third one is... yeah it was a dumb idea.

Hoon sees them there and greets her happily, introducing himself to Dad as the guy she conned. He notices dad coughing, puts his hand on his chest, and starts to summon the power of his MagicHands™, but Dad just pushes his hand away. Heh.
JoAnne:  Hoon-ah, you can come put your hands on my chest.
bcook: I don't think his skills extend to where you want him to touch Jo.

They realize that they're all going the same way and head off together, following one of the blue lines, and we're back in comedy-land as the music gets sillier. You know how in silent films they used less frames per second, making the images and movements faster and kind of jerky? They do that here, to weird but funny effect. Gifs please, Kakashi!
JoAnne: Yeah, sure, let's make a humorous montage of a man nearly dying of congestive heart failure as social commentary on the soul-lessness of the medical machine.

When the line ends, they find themselves not at the radiology department, however. They ask for directions again and are told that to follow the other blue line. (Again, you couldn't be more specific?) So off they go, following the line up a flight of stairs and getting wearier with each step, but when they arrive, it's still not the right place. Back down the stairs it is.
JoAnne: Kinda dragging this out, folks.
bcook: But still kinda funny

Soo-hyun passes by, and Hoon stops her to ask for directions. When she points at the blue line, he starts to lose his patience: they've been following the blue line, and they're still lost. She asks if he can't read and points to a sign that clearly marks the way. They head off again, and judging by their excitement when they reach radiology, you'd think they'd arrived at the Promised Land. 500 Won Girl goes running into Hoon's arms and he twirls her around in slow motion. It's adorable. Hoon tells her dad to get a check-up, too, and they part ways.
JoAnne:  Puts me in mind of a laxative commercial, the 'after'.
bcook: I love how she realized she was supposed to not like him...and stopped.

Jae-joon and his team are called to help when the ER is flooded with patients from a bus accident. As everyone rushes about, 500 Won Girl tries to get someone to look at her dad, who's having trouble breathing, but they're all too busy to help her.
JoAnne:  Not impressed with their ER management. Where is Dr. Gook?

Hoon is delivering a water bottle to the ER now, and watches as she frantically tries to get someone's attention, finally just screaming. Everyone stops to stare for a split second, but activity quickly picks up again. She screams again, and Soo-hyun hands over her patient and goes to her. She examines Dad but can't figure out what's wrong. Hoon pops up beside her and tells her to check his heart.
JoAnne:  Oh come on, she can't figure it out. Even I knew he had heart trouble.

She's suddenly called away though, and orders KimChi Cutie to get an X-ray and blood-test for Dad. He starts giving directions, but Hoon's had enough of that and orders him to just take them there personally. He follows along, asking 500 Won Girl questions about Dad's health. KimChi Cutie asks if he's a doctor, and Hoon begins to say he is but he also isn't, which is when Dad collapses.
JoAnne:  Because he, like us, is not interested in a deliberately vague and confusing response.  Plus the heart thing.
bcook: Would him collapsing in the elevator have been more dramatic?

Hoon finally gets to do his X-ray-hand-thingy and determines that it's his heart. He takes charge and orders a defibrillator while he and KimChi Cutie start CPR. The defibrillator arrives and Hoon is able to revive him, but he needs immediate surgery. KimChi Cutie calls for Jae-joon, but he's busy and tells them to prepare the OR and he'll get there once he's finished with his current patient, who also requires surgery.
JoAnne:  Oh yay!  We will soon receive another visit from Dr Park 'I will save all the things!' Hoon!

KimChi Cutie drags in the flirty anesthesiologist into the OR, telling her that Jae-joon is on his way, but she knows he'll be awhile and says the patient could die if he goes into cardiac arrest again. KimChi Cutie panics and goes back into the hall to try calling Jae-joon again, but there's no answer this time, and Flirty comes out to warn that the patient might expire if they don't hurry. They decide to call Moon as a last resort, but he's been drinking in his office and points out that his license has been suspended and if the patient dies it's Jae-joon's fault as the new department chief.
bcook: Stay classy Dr. Moon

Hoon and 500 Won Girl have been watching this whole time, and she quietly asks Hoon to do the surgery. He says he could lose his license if he acts recklessly, and he can't afford that now. When she asks again, he just says that he's expensive and gets up to go, but she stops him and hands over the 500 Won coin. "Is this enough?" she asks, starting to cry. Hoon quietly says it's not, but as she continues to cry, he looks between her and the coin thoughtfully, then smiles.
JoAnne:  Look at her face.  Heck, I'll do the surgery for you, honey.

In In the operating room, KimChi Cutie is still panicking as they wait for Jae-joon, which is when Flirty points out that he's here. We see in close up that it's not him, of course, but Hoon wearing scrubs and a mask. As he washes up for surgery, he remembers Dad's words to never forget that he's a doctor.
JoAnne: It's not really something you forget.  Unless you get amnesia.  
bcook: However reluctant he is to be.

Moon has arrived to watch the operation from above, still drunkenly babbling that it will be Jae-joon's responsibility, but even he is sober enough to realize it's not Jae-joon who walks in. Hoon's voice gives him away to KimChi Cutie and Flirty, but before they can stop him, he cuts into 500 Won Dad's chest. They all marvel that there's no bleeding.
JoAnne:  Magic Fingers, yo. They be magicking.
bcook: I guess when you practice on live patients you kinda want to keep the bleeding to a minimum. My google fu may not be as strong as I thought because I cannot actually verify this phenomenon.

Jae-joon finishes his surgery and tells Soo-hyun to meet him in the OR after he looks at one more patient. She arrives in the OR and is surprised to see someone already operating. She ask who he is, to which Hoon replies, "A doctor." When she orders the operation stopped, he steps back and tells her he'll leave if she's going to take over. He's only concerned about the patient. But Flirty confirms that this surgery is beyond Soo-hyun's skill level and vouches for Hoon, reasoning that they can save the patient know and figure out who the strange doctor is later. Hoon takes over again.
JoAnne:  Ten points to the flirty voice of reason!

Soo-hyun goes outside to call security and pauses when she sees 500 Won Girl waiting anxiously. Security arrives and she tells them to wait, but when she goes back in 500 Won Dad is already being wheeled out and Hoon is gone. The security team soon finds him, though, and after a brief chase, he manages to give them the slip.
bcook: Yeah no way you can tell that face that you stopped the surgery.

Moon pounces on KimChi Cutie as soon as he comes out of the OR and asks about the man who operated in there. KimChi Cutie doesn't know who he is either, but when he sees the water bottle in the hall, he remembers Hoon and puts the dots together.
JoAnne:  Who WAS that masked man?  He was...The Lone Doctor.  Hi-yo, Silver....awaaaaaaaaaaay!

Hoon, back in his own clothes and wheeling around his water bottle cart again, is currently looking at the 500 Won coin and fussing at himself for being so reckless. Someone bumps into him, causing the coin to fly out of his and roll along the floor. He chases after it, only to come to a screeching halt when someone steps on it. It's Soo-hyun, with the security team behind her.
JoAnne:  Look at the cute face.  LOOK AT IT.
bcook: hehe *simpers*

They relocate to an empty corridor, where Soo-hyun slaps him and says that attempting surgery when you're not a doctor is like attempting murder. He reminds her that he is a doctor, but she doesn't believe him. He concedes that maybe he isn't exactly a doctor, but he figures she's no better for abandoning the patient when he needed help. He says that people like them are called quacks, and she swings to hit him again. He blocks the move this time, looking smug, but she just slaps him with her other hand instead. Pfft! His shocked expression is hilarious.
JoAnne:  Clearly, they are the OTP and everyone else is wrong.
bcook: If by everyone you mean the PD and writer then yes. But my non-scientific poll of the interwebs says they are the OTP.

She gets a call from KimChi Cutie in the ICU, where 500 Won Dad's condition has taken a sudden turn for the worse. She turns to Hoon accusingly, but he guesses the symptoms right away. He calls her a quack again for not knowing what to do and tells her they should inject magnesium. It's the same thing Jae-joon orders, saying that because the patient's body was already in a bad condition, there was a mineral imbalance. Hoon says it's not common but does happen. Soo-hyun confirms that the patient is stable again, then glares at Hoon, who covers his cheeks protectively. Hee.

Jae-joon arrives on the scene to see Hoon struggling against the security guards, hilariously protesting that he'll get in trouble with Chang-yi if he doesn't deliver the water bottles. Jae-joon intercedes, reminding Hoon that his license could be revoked for performing surgery at another hospital without permission. He asks which medical school he went to, but Hoon doesn't give him a straight answer. Jae-joon says that the patient is okay, but he doesn't want to see Hoon at Myung Woo again.
JoAnne: And I don't want to pay taxes.  We'll both be disappointed.

Hoon happily agrees and is about to leave when he suddenly turns back to Soo-hyun and demands that she give back his operating fee. She, of course, has no idea what he means, so he says he'll just consider that he's been robbed and walks away.
JoAnne:  Maybe she'll leave it on his pillow at some point...
bcook: *goosebumps* too corny Jo!!

Soo-hyun is surprised that Jae-joon's letting him go so easily, but he thinks it's better to keep this incident quiet and not alert the public that they're understaffed. He asks what Hoon meant about the surgery fee, but she doesn't know either. Until she puts her hand in her pocket and finds the 500 Won coin and remembers that he was chasing it earlier. I... do not understand the logic of that. You saw him chasing it, picked it up, and... didn't realize that he wanted it? Whatever, she's sane most of the time.
JoAnne:  I'm sure she just forgot it in the heat of the moment...

Down in the lobby, Hoon is still muttering about how she slapped him and stole his money when he runs into Chang-yi. He waves empty water bottles at her, fussing that he didn't want to come here. He leaves the cart with her and starts to leave, but she says she can't take over now because she's here with Mom, who was feeling dizzy. Hoon: "Why would you come here, when you have me??" Ha, I love him even more when he's all exasperated and fussy.
JoAnne: He is for sure an All-Kill on the Noona Chart of Facial Expressions.
bcook: I want to brush his hair. Just a quick pass with some moose and a brush.

He can't stay and bicker with her, though, because Moon arrives with the security team and he runs again, thinking he's still in trouble. After he leaves, a doctor passes by with a patient. Chang-yi only catches a glimpse of her, but it's enough to see that she looks exactly like Jae-hee. *waits for JoAnne and bcook to start screaming*
JoAnne:  I don't hate her.  I defended her in Age of Feeling, sometimes.  She hits her marks, she memorizes her lines, she speaks them clearly.  
bcook: Her and Oh Ji Ho should be in a show together.

Hoon manages to outrun his pursuers and drives the truck back to his clinic. He's still mad when Chang-yi calls trying to tell him about Broom Look-Alike and cuts her off, ordering her to come back Right. Now. He hangs up.

bcook: I was really hoping they'd go with the "several missed opportunities" card for about half of the show so that we only get glimpses of Broom but no. Somebody really wants to make Broom a star.

Moon arrives, too, having tailed him here, and when he says he's from Myung Woo Hospital, Hoon slams the door in his face. Literally: Moon hits his nose trying to follow him in. Moon tries to convince him that he's here to offer him an opportunity, not make trouble, but the door remains locked. When Chang-yi arrives, Hoon pulls her inside, and Moon slams into the door again.
JoAnne: And just like that, Moon is funny, not hateful.
bcook: The nose bump had better be a "thing"

Hoon grabs her by the ear, ready to extort more money out of her for all he went through, but she stops him by asking to look at the video of Jae-hee again. She tells him that she thinks she saw that unni today. Hoon scoffs at that, but she's certain of it. Hoon opens the door (smacking Moon yet again), and tells Moon they'll go to the hospital with him.
JoAnne:  The nose bit can stay.

Meanwhile, Soo-hyun and Jae-joon are with Chairman Oh, talking about recruiting more doctors for their department. Chairman Oh mentions that Soo-hyun will be moving to management soon, which is obviously news to Jae-joon. He does not look pleased.
JoAnne:  He doesn't look real.  He's very wax-mannequin-y.
bcook: It's the nose. I'm trying to figure out if it was bought or made. It must be made right? Who would pay for it. It's not a bad nose...it's just quite prominent.

Sang-jin is at the hospital, too, being mean to an unconscious lady (it's the one Broom-Alike brought in earlier). He tells Ajumma that her daughter gave him a great car, so he's going to give her a present, too: Ajumma. "So until you see her, you can't die. Got it?" He walks out and Broom-Alike walks in.
JoAnne:  oh, he is so easy to hate.

Soo-hyun and Jae-joon leave Oh's office and he asks about her going over to management, obviously upset that she didn't tell him. To which I'm like, dude, she was going to before you swooped in with the lips. Anyway, he walks off in a huff before she can explain, leaving her for Sang-jin to find.
JoAnne: She could have told him after.

bcook: Maybe she was waiting for confirmation from daddy before she said anything?

He smirks that he's here to give her a present in return for the car, but she's not interested. He wrist-grabs her when she tries to leave, and she tells him to be careful if he wants to keep his cushy job as branch director. Does he still not know why she asked to move to the management planning office? She leaves him with that thought.
JoAnne: Sang-Jin, you are SO out of your league.

Broom-Alike ties a bracelet around Soo-hyun Omma's wrist and tells her not to lose it. We're shown a close-up, and it's the one Hoon made for Jae-hee.
JoAnne:  dundunDUN...cue rapid suspicious glance over shoulder 

bcook: There's a gif for that.
kakashi says no.

Hoon arrives back at the hospital with Moon and Chang-yi. Turns out there is a doctor here named Song Jae-hee, and they're told she's at the pharmacy. Hoon runs there and finds a lab coat with her name on it. He rounds a corner and sees KimChi Cutie making out with a woman, but when they pull apart it's not her. (It's the unni from Master's Son!) She's embarrassed and grabs the coat from Hoon before rushing out.
JoAnne:  Awww, cute! Its Reunited Couple, because he was in MS too.
bcook: I laughed and laughed and laughed when I saw this bit. I like it when they do stuff like this.

Moon and Chang-yi follow a deflated Hoon outside, where she tries to tell him that wasn't the doctor she saw but falls quiet when he turns to her with those sad eyes. Moon says that since he's here anyway, why don't they talk for a minute? If Hoon's looking for someone, he has money so he can help. Hoon tells him how much he needs, and when Moon understandably balks at the sum, Hoon says to stop bothering him if he can't help him get the money. He turns around to leave but stops suddenly, and Moon bumps into his back. Ha. This is like the rake joke, isn't it?
JoAnne:  Yes, put Moon's nose on the endangered list.

Turns out Hoon stopped because he saw Broom-Alike through the window, and he stands staring, trying to get a good look at her face. He gets a good look at her as she turns to leave, then runs after her. Moon and Chang-yi try to follow, but Moon finally gives out, and I don't know why I have to point this out, it's just funny to me, okay?

Anyway, Hoon chases Broom-Alike through the hospital, with her always a step ahead.

Finally, he thinks he's lost her, but no, she's passing right behind him. He turns slowly and sees her, ready to continue his pursuit.

Comments


*sing songs* She's baaaack.
JoAnne:  ZOMBIE DOCTORS ON THE LOOSE!

As for the question of whether it's Jae-hee, a doppleganger, or a shape-shifter (you never know with this show), I'll leave that for later. Mainly because we'll have plenty of time to discuss it later episodes, and also, I don't think I can discuss it at this point without spoilers. I will say that the doppleganger storyline is one that I consistently hate. I knew it would be here coming in, though, so at least I was prepared.
JoAnne:  I would much prefer an Orphan Black scenario.
bcook: Nobody told me she'd "come back from the dead" *pout*

Moving on to Hoon, I can now say that I love this new version of him. He's a little cracked, but in the quieter moments, we're able to see his serious side, too. I was initially worried that the two sides would be hard to reconcile, but I do think Lee Jong-seok is doing a good job being funny while still keeping him grounded. That said, I still wish we'd been able to spend more time with the previous versions of him - the passionate young student and the ethically jaded doctor - because I really liked them, too, and okay, maybe the main reason I want more of that second one is because it looked really, really good on him and I miss the hair. What? It was beautiful and I wanted to run my hands through it. This permed thing? No.
JoAnne:  No?  Yes!  I like torn jean/long loose sweater/shaggy-hair Hoon.  Oh yes I do.
bcook: I like this Hoon too. You get enough flashes of the previous ones to know that this guy is not 'normal' by kdrama first lead standards.
Becca: But why can't I have BOTH?

Okay, I'll try to stop harping about the past now and focus on the present, which is also pretty interesting. Though action and morally questionable heroes > hospital politics. Always. I already like the new characters, who are engaging enough to draw me in and make me care. Jae-joon fascinates me, even though he doesn't seem like a particularly nice guy, and I'm excited to see how his character develops. As for Soo-hyun, the first word that comes to mind is "awesome." We've seen from her interactions with her family that she can be tough, but she's also a genuinely good person, in spite of the toxic environment she grew up in. Hm... sounds a little like someone else we know, doesn't she?
JoAnne:  Look at them. They SCREAM OTP. The rest of you naysayers be quiet.
bcook: I don't think there are any naysayers Jo. Are there? Broom actually has fans?!!