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Doctor Stranger: Episode 12

Our two former rivals find more common ground than you would’ve initially guessed in their struggle against their own personal demons, as they find out that what matters most isn’t destroying a castle or rescuing a potentially brainwashed girlfriend—it’s saving lives. Even if that means their self-realization can only happen in the midst of a competition that takes a new and especially morbid turn as the rules change so that the winner of Best Doctor Ever must also be the Worst Doctor Ever. If that doesn’t make sense to you, congratulations! You’re a rational human being, which already makes you 99.9% more qualified to lead a hospital than anyone in this drama’s universe.

SONG OF THE DAY

Bang Min-ah – “You and I (니가내가)” from the OST. [ Download ]

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EPISODE 12 RECAP

After Hoon declares that Patient Lee will be the subject of their second match, Jae-joon attempts to argue the cardiology department’s point: that the bleeding in the patient’s heart will stop naturally.

However, Hoon offers his counterpoints to that argument, which leaves the two at a ripe position for competing. The winner performs the surgery. Or something. (God help me, what agreement did they just come to?)

Seung-hee expresses her concern that this means Hoon will lose the second match by conceding the patient to Jae-joon, but Hoon isn’t nearly as worried. Even if Jae-joon wins, which he will, it’ll just mean they’re tied—and all Hoon cares about is saving the patient. Even though he was just about to save that patient.

Jae-joon expresses his confidence that he’ll get Chairman Oh’s approval for the surgery to Soo-hyun, though she raises an issue he didn’t know about before: that this could be a case of medical malpractice. What will he do then?

Speaking of, we find Chairman Oh slapping the daylights out of the resident doctor the senior cardiologist allowed to perform the surgery—which is not only against hospital laws, but resulted in Patient Lee’s internal bleeding.

He’s worried that they’ll be sued if word gets out, which would mean the end of his precious Myungwoo Hospital, so he sends the resident away to the branch hospital and urges everyone else to keep quiet.

Hoon smiles to see Patient Lee’s son pinning his mother’s hair up in the hospital, reminded of how his own mother spurned him when he needed him most. Though Patient Lee’s son would like Hoon to do the surgery himself, Hoon reassures him that his mother will be fine even if she’s put in Jae-joon’s capable hands.

One of Prime Minister Jang’s secretaries calls Nightshade to find out about his whereabouts, and he cryptically tells her that Jang will know where he is if he’s told that Nightshade is out delivering a doll.

…Which isn’t untrue, since we find Nightshade carrying a big ol’ teddy bear into a small (mental?) hospital. He takes it into a room filled with clones of the same exact teddy bear and one woman, who turns around with a smile, “Is that you, Hoon?” It’s Hoon’s Mom, plus or minus some dementia. So Nightshade didn’t kill her after all.

After dodging questions about his own mother from Patient Lee’s son, Hoon is filled in by Doctor Moon in on the malpractice conspiracy surrounding Patient Lee, since her surgery was performed by a resident when it should’ve been done by a seasoned surgeon.

While Jae-joon receives the same information from the resident in question, Doctor Moon seems hopeful that Jae-joon won’t do the surgery, since it means they’ll win the second round and thus the competition.

At least Hoon calls Doctor Moon out on how much he doesn’t act like a doctor, as they resume their this-isn’t-such-a-serious-show-guys-we-promise Odd Couple bickering.

Jae-joon goes to Chairman Oh for permission to perform the surgery, explaining that he’ll win the second round if he’s successful. Of course, Chairman Oh wants to avoid a malpractice suit and declines, since autopsies don’t exist and there would be no way to prove the patient died from medical malpractice as long as life-saving surgery isn’t provided.

For his part, Jae-joon argues with the chairman’s motives as he belabors the point that the patient WILL die without surgery, and that it’s ridiculous for Chairman Oh to prefer that she die because he’s afraid of a lawsuit. He’s sure that if they just explain they did wrong to Patient Lee’s family, the family would accept.

But not so in Chairman Oh’s world, where any wallet that’s not actively spewing money at him is a yawning mouth waiting to swallow him whole. He warns Jae-joon to stop arguing considering that he promised to do his bidding, but Jae-joon doesn’t back down as he claims that he can’t let this patient die, since it would violate every promise he made when he became a doctor.

So Chairman Oh strangely and suddenly concedes, and takes the two competitors to Patient Lee’s bedside as he declares the parameters for winning the second round: “Whoever performs surgery on the patient will lose.” WHAT.

Okay, so let’s get this straight just in case your rational mind rightfully rejected this concept: According to Chairman Oh, who now decides the arbitrary rules for this arbitrary competition, whoever lets the patient die wins. Whoever tries to save her via surgery loses. Yes, that’s right—whoever doesn’t do their job as a doctor wins the competition for best doctor. /ragequit

Since Jae-joon will lose the competition if he loses this round, Hoon offers to do the surgery (and lose), as long as he can get Soo-hyun on his team. They’d end up tied that way, in the most nonsensical competition ever.

After evading Doctor Moon’s attempts to drag him home so he can’t perform the surgery, Hoon finds Seung-hee especially nervous because Agent Cha is in the hospital, chatting up the nurses who giggle at his North Korean dialect.

But Agent Cha is here to tell Hoon that he can’t just concede this round to Jae-joon, even if it’ll result in a tie—no matter how exciting that would be (the show loves to tell us how exciting that would be), he’s not here for excitement. He’s here for a mission, and right now, Hoon is screwing that up by losing a round.

Hoon doesn’t understand what the mission is, but doesn’t seem impressed by Agent Cha’s devotion. He reminds Hoon that he’s the one who brought Jae-hee to him, and he’s the one who can kill her at any time.

“If you wanted to kill her, you would’ve done it already,” Hoon grits back, but Agent Cha merely brushes that aside before giving Hoon an offer he can’t refuse: freedom. If Hoon succeeds in the mission, the DPRK will set him and Jae-hee free to live happily wherever they choose. They’ll even get money from the motherland to live comfortably.

Chairman Oh keeps Jae-joon in his place by reminding him who he still answers to—even though he acknowledges Jae-joon as his heir and thus the heir to Myungwoo Hospital.

“Keep in mind,” Chairman Oh adds,” if you want to be Myungwoo’s owner, you have to be more than a doctor.” Translation: You have to be a psychopath.

With Chairman Oh’s words about never letting a malpractice suit harm Myungwoo’s sterling reputation fresh in his mind, Jae-joon dreams about his father in the hospital when he was a boy, and how the surgery was supposed to be simple. That’s when he’d made his promise to become a doctor so he could cure his dad in a future that never came—but when Jae-joon wakes up, the first thing he sees is his Metaphor Castle, there to remind him of his revenge.

Knowing that performing Patient Lee’s surgery would cost him the competition, Jae-joon visits her bedside with a heavy heart as he murmurs, “I have no choice if I want to destroy the castle… I’m sorry.” Ah, so he’s opting out of the operation in order to preserve his ultimate plan.

But when he turns around, he sees his younger self standing in the doorway… only for it to be Patient Lee’s son, Jae-chul. It’s clear that Jae-joon’s heart of stone is moved at the sight of Jae-chul caring for his sick mother, and when the little boy asks if the name embroidered on Jae-joon’s gown is his, Jae-joon seems lost in his own world as he absently says no.

The two share a moment as Jae-chul mentions how Hoon spoke well of Jae-joon’s medical skills, even if his personality needs a little work. He asks Jae-joon if he’ll perform his mom’s surgery should Hoon not be able to do it, and since Jae-joon has now turned into a real boy, he genuinely agrees to think about it.

Now that Soo-hyun and Seung-hee are roomies, they talk about which doctor they think will end up performing the surgery. Somewhere in there Soo-hyun gets sidetracked talking about Hoon’s personality, and her eyes grow distant as she smiles and all but giggles in front of Seung-hee like a schoolgirl describing her crush.

Soo-hyun doesn’t realize what she’s doing, but Seung-hee does as she grips her coffee mug just a little bit tighter. “Do you like him?” Seung-hee asks in as friendly a tone as she can manage. “You always smile when you talk about him.” But Soo-hyun sputters nervously and denies it.

Prime Minister Jang is incensed that the country isn’t panicking after the DPRK’s announcement of its nuclear test, since apparently the announcement was his idea and the result isn’t what he expected. As usual, he asks about the competition at Myungwoo the way one would ask about the weather.

Even the president takes notice of Prime Minister Jang’s enjoyment of the international crisis, and when he asks which hospital Jang is looking to for his heart surgery, he names not Myungwoo. Huh.

Chi-gyu attempts to ask Chang-yi out on a date with a rose, but she instead uses it to slap him on the face and rebuke him. When he tries again, he’s treated to a small strip show from her as she sheds her outer shirt…

…To reveal another one of her part-time uniforms underneath, this time for a taekwondo job. To show off her skills, she kicks Chi-gyu right in the huevos rancheros. Good grief, I don’t think I’ve ever had to write about this many ball shots since Basketball.

After a court-mandated PPL break, Hoon and Doctor Yang discuss his upcoming surgery—only Doctor Yang tells him that Nurse Min won’t be available, and that he’ll find Hoon another scrub nurse.

Somehow, this is supposed to be beneficial for Hoon, since Doctor Yang is acting under Jae-joon’s orders to help Hoon however he can. Jae-joon’s acting out of guilt, because even though he can’t perform the surgery and lose, he at least wants to make sure Hoon saves the patient.

Seung-hee is not happy when she finds out that Hoon is going through with the surgery, and tries to use everything in her limited arsenal to convince him not to. But he sticks to his guns, because he made a promise to the patient’s family.

Agent Cha is able to overhear their conversation with his free backstage hospital pass, and shoves Hoon against a wall in a dark room to try and get his point across that there will be no third round. Hoon must win this round, or else.

Hoon argues that the hospital will be thrown into a medical malpractice lawsuit should the patient die and be disqualified from the prime minister’s surgery, so it’s in their best interest to make sure she lives. “Please,” Hoon pleads. “I’ll win the third round no matter what. Let me perform surgery on this patient.”

His pleas fall on deaf ears, as Agent Cha whirls around to grab Seung-hee in a threatening chokehold. “Repeat after me,” he tells a helpless Hoon. “‘I will do what Cha Jin-soo says.’” After a long, struggling moment, Hoon finally relents and says the magic words. Seung-hee is freed.

“I’m sorry. It’s all because of me,” Seung-hee cries, but that doesn’t stop Hoon from enveloping her in his arms.

Patient Lee flatlines again, and is brought back from the brink by a defibrillator. The senior cardiologist claims that her condition could be caused by many factors—though he denounces the idea that her flatlining has any relation to a surgical mistake, as her husband seems to think.

Hoon realizes what happened and tries to get the senior cardiologist to listen to reason, but it’s a no-go. Then, just as he’s ready to promise Jae-chul he’ll set things right, Agent Cha appears at the end of the hallway as a silent reminder of the promise he made.

Torn between wanting to do what’s right and what he’s been threatened to do, Hoon forces himself to turn his back on Jae-chul. He almost turns back when Jae-chul falls from his wheelchair, but again, the sight of Agent Cha stops him.

It takes every fiber of Hoon’s being to make himself walk away, even as Jae-chul calls after him piteously.

Jae-joon is put in a tough spot when he finds out that Hoon won’t perform the surgery, and that Patient Lee’s condition is rapidly declining. He’s faced with the same quandary as Hoon when Jae-chul begs him to save his mother now that Hoon won’t.

He tries shutting the boy out, but can’t shut out the similarities between Jae-chul crying for his mother to be saved and himself as a child crying for his father to be saved. Back then, his request fell on deaf ears, and Jae-joon’s face contorts in pain as he forces himself to ignore Jae-chul’s cries.

Jae-joon storms into Hoon’s office, grabs him by the lapels, and demands to know why he won’t perform the surgery as promised. Hoon looks like an empty shell of a man as he quietly whispers, “I can’t.”

“You can,” Jae-joon shakes him. “You’ll have one more chance. You promised you would do it, so why aren’t you?” Then he pauses, tears springing to his eyes as he tells Hoon exactly what he wish he could tell himself: “You’re a doctor. You should keep your word to your patients.”

Hoon smirks ruefully. “For a moment, just for a moment, I just acted like a doctor. I’m not a doctor.” Jae-joon angrily accuses him of wanting to win so badly he’d let a patient die, and Hoon can’t argue with him as he admits defeatedly that he can’t lose, which is why he can’t call himself a doctor.

Jae-joon doesn’t hide his disappointment and punches his rival before telling Hoon that he thought he was different, that he was a real doctor. But he was wrong.

So he calls up his team, since he’ll be performing the surgery now. They’re reluctant at first since they know they could lose their jobs over this, but are loyal enough to Jae-joon to throw their lot in with his. It’s a nice moment for Team Jae-joon solidarity.

Jae-chul’s happiness and relief that Jae-joon will be performing the surgery seems to lift Jae-joon’s spirits, leaving Soo-hyun shocked that he’s performing the surgery instead of Hoon—who seems just as surprised to find out that Jae-joon decided to throw the match by saving the patient.

Soo-hyun finds Jae-joon right before surgery, concerned for his future even though he’s made peace with the fact that this will likely be the last surgery he’ll perform at Myungwoo. “I have so much I can’t say,” he says, “but I can say this from my heart: My feelings for you were sincere.”

He pulls her into an embrace for a long moment before disappearing into the operating theater—but Soo-hyun follows and scrubs up, with an innocent, “I’m still part of your team, right?” Aww.

Meanwhile, Jae-chul’s eyes light up as he sees Hoon pass, thinking that he’s there to help his mom. But Hoon can only whisper, “I’m sorry.”

Chairman Oh fumes to find out about Jae-joon, but it’s too late to stop him or his determined team, which now includes Soo-hyun. Hoon watches helplessly from the mezzanine as Jae-joon makes his first incision, and is soon joined by a much more dour Chairman Oh and the entire cardiology team.

Furious, Chairman Oh orders a stop to the surgery, but Jae-joon refuses. Grasping at straws, Chairman Oh tells Team Jae-joon that unless they stop the surgery right now, they’ll all be sent to the ninth circle of hell branch hospital.

“What are you so afraid of?!” Jae-joon finally demands to know, since the chairman is about to fall over from self-induced heart failure. Unlike him, Jae-joon is convinced that if they tell the truth and sincerely apologize to Patient Lee’s family, there won’t be a lawsuit.

Chairman Oh screams that such a thing has never happened, while Jae-joon yells back, “That’s because we’ve never apologized sincerely! We’ve ignored the people who lost their parents and their children because we didn’t want to lose our money and positions. I’ll show you that you are wrong.”

Jae-joon cuts off the chairman’s intercom and orders his team to focus and continue. But almost immediately there’s a sudden spurt of blood, and Hoon can’t seem to just sit and watch anymore.

Chairman Oh orders Doctor Moon to call for the disciplinary committee to meet should Patient Lee die on the operating table. He also adds that they should prepare for a lawsuit, and that they’ll tell the truth… that Jae-joon killed the patient during surgery. They’re to blame everything on Jae-joon. Keepin’ it classy, I see.

Hoon trips Doctor Moon up before vaulting out of the mezzanine, while chaos ensues inside the theater as Jae-joon’s first in command becomes too nervous to find the source of the bleeding and close it.

As Patient Lee’s vitals drop and the situation looks dire, a scrubbed-up Hoon enters the theater and asks Jae-joon’s permission before he’s suited up to help with the surgery.

Hoon takes one look at everyone’s downcast eyes and tells them to lift their heads—they have nothing to be ashamed of. “The people up there should be ashamed. Look.”

They all do, only to be met by the serious expressions of Chairman Oh and all the cardiology doctors. “You should be proud,” Hoon tells the team. “You’re the only real doctors in this hospital.”

 
COMMENTS

I couldn’t be happier that Jae-joon’s character finally got a little fleshing out in the humanity department, except for the eerie feeling of disconnect that came with it—like we suddenly switched from our regularly scheduled programming to an after school special. The players and settings are the same, but something strange happened this week, didn’t it? Even for a show as tonally dissonant as this one, it’s as if the one semi-cohesive direction this show was at least attempting to take for a little over half its run just suddenly shifted.

The direction that Jae-joon is taking now is one that would’ve benefitted his character had it been introduced literally anytime before the halfway mark. We certainly want characters to grow and change, but as we know from sharing in the collective human experience, change is rarely instantaneous. In Jae-joon’s case, we had eleven prior episodes to see hints of the person he became in this hour, but we were given the complete opposite instead.

In fact, at this point last week the show had led me to the assumption that Jae-joon would take up a more active villainous role, since his ambition and thirst for revenge were strong enough to make him crawl on his hands and knees to beg, literally beg, for another chance to compete in a trial concocted by complete idiots. But I bought that moment, because that’s the kind of person the show had revealed Jae-joon to be up until that point: cold, calculating, repressed. He had to win the competition at all costs in order to enact his revenge, and it made sense. He made sense, in a sick, twisted sort of way. Even if he didn’t seem like a real human being in his quest to manipulate the princess in order to gain the castle, that was Jae-joon. And I was pretty sure we’d just have to deal with that.

So to go from him crying as he begged for a second chance to him giving up everything—potentially even his career and his revenge—in order to become the good-hearted doctor he (apparently) always was inside wasn’t necessarily unwelcome, but it was certainly bizarre. Don’t get me wrong—if you had just started the show at this episode, I’d be more than willing to agree that his change of heart was mapped out well in a one-hour span. Taken on its own, this would’ve been a nice moment of character progression for him, and it’ll still have to be since this is the new direction he (and the show) is taking.

But if taken in context with every episode we’ve seen until now, we witnessed less of an organic change and more of a sudden lobotomy. The Tin Man was given a heart off-screen, which robbed us of the man who wondered what love even was and if he felt it for Soo-hyun in order to give us a reformed almost-hero, one suddenly overflowing with morals and a love for his work that he wouldn’t trade for anything. This coming from the man who made his peasant doctor break his hand in order to doom Hoon’s surgery, even though he’s apparently also respected Hoon this entire time.

All that aside (and it is a massive aside), I actually like the direction we’re going with Jae-joon and Hoon, even if I’m not quite sure how we got here. It puts the two on a more even playing field if we consider both of them as decent, well-meaning people who just so happen to be caught up in causes greater than themselves. And at least we got the gratification of seeing them fight against a system which created a best/worst doctor competition based entirely on the constantly changing whims of some very unstable people and the corrupt establishment this show has the (as yet uncrushed) cojones to call a functioning hospital.

 
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I mostly can't get past the Ppl sandwich. Hotdogs on an English muffin? Classy.

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Huevos rancheros. Just died laughing.

I'm not watching this drama but am enjoying the recaps, since the train wreck of a plot is causing recaps to be delightfully snarky. :-)

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Chairman Oh is such an Alpha Bitch.
Comrade Cha is an asshole.
Hoon and Soo Hyun is having a bipolar shit on their minds.
Seunghee just can't decide on going with anything.
Jaejoon seems to be quite sane comparably to others.
Other doctors are true incompetent shit in the hospital.
The writer has gone insane and need to ho to a hospital.
But I don't think she needs to go to Myungwoo Hospital to get more insane.

The end.

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Oh, and thank you to gummimochi and HeadsNo2 to recap this with extreme snarkiness.

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I'm sorry if these cussing got a bit too much on some. But basically, this writer is insane.

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Agreed! Oh my gosh. The only thing that I'm still rooting for is the thought that MAYBE Hoon will realize how wonderful Soo Hyun is and they will fall magically in love. Cause I like her SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much more than the ?????? of Jae Hee. I mean Seung Hee? I mean...OMG. haha.

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*Sigh*
Yup Yup *rapidly nods head* Totally crazy!! This show started out so good......T.T
It started out with so much potential. Great actors and everything. Then turned really boring real fast.

I don't want to drop it in hopes that the writer(s?) will listen to all our tears and frustration and do something about this chaotic plot line.

And you see....I really like looking at Lee Jong Suk...and he's hot so.....>.> <.<

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*sigh* After the pointless fanservices in ep. 11 which didn't even help the ratings(hahaha, even the 'great' KSR can't help the ratings from going down), I thought ep. 12 will be better. It just stuck to "am I or am I not doing the surgery etc" boring concept. I'm finally happy that Agent Cha appeared after his short vacation in ep 11.

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At Least the "Great KSR "contained the losses caused mostly by the " phenomenal JSY" and her " exquisite acting skills" let us not forget the one and a half expression she always has in all her scenes :D
ratings could have been much worse if episode 11 was similar to episode 10, probably less than 10%.

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Let's be real here. The stupid fanservices didn't help. It only made it worse. It spoke volume that the writer/PD didn't have the balls to stick to their intended script rather than succumbing to the illogical fans who keep harassing the executive's IG. Those fans who keep demanding more Hyun scenes certainly didn't help DS. Period.

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Isn't Jaejoon's story enough to make him the first lead? his story is solid, clear, and more digestable. I love Hoon but hate the story the writer wrote for him.

Crappy whole story or not, the last 10 minutes are golden. We see how Jaejoon felt when he was a kid. If only the doctor apologised sincerely, he won't be wasting his time plotting revenge. And it is also good to see that what saved him from being a heartless j**k is not Hoon or Soohyun, but his own past.

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I actually feel like Hoon's story had the potential to be a lot stronger than Jaejoon's but the writer insisted on being fixated over his first love instead of his growth.

But looking at this episode, it feels as though the writer has decided to change the path. I'd have appreciated it more if it happened earlier in the show, but I'm not complaining if it really sticks to this path. Because I'm in for this any time more than the chasing around looking for first love story.

I really liked the last couple of minutes as well. And I thought the impact wouldn't be as strong if they hadn't built it up in front. So while this episode was a whole lot of back and forth as to whether the surgery should be done, I thought it was still acceptable.

And about Jaejoon's sudden character chamge, I thought that was understandable. I don't think it was a case where he suddenly realized he needed to be a doctor. But more of a he doesn't want whatever happened to his father to happen to another person. He wanted revenge for the medical malpractice but that didn't mean he could allow it to happen again. If this wasn't a case of a medical malpractice, I doubt he'd be able to give up his revenge for it.

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I agree, I didn't find it strange that Jaejoon decided to do the surgery. his whole reason for revenge is that the hospital killed his father and hid the medical malpractice. This meant that Jaejoon felt a connection with the patient's son. the situation made him relieve the past and his feelings towards it. I would have found it even more strange if he decided to ignore the patient. that would have made his revenge seem kinda pointless, because he would in a way be letting history repeat itself, only this time he would be like the doctors he detests.

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Exactly. I'm not 100% sure coz it's a little hard to see in the screencaps but it looks like young JJ and the boy is played by the same actor. (Either that or those two actors have a strong resemblance, I mean look at their brow game.) So he literally sees his younger self in that boy who's about to lose his parent because of hospital bureaucracy bs.

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The problems is, for me at least, the writer gave JJ screentime but most of it was spent on him being Hoon's antagonist not on fleshing out his character.

Naturally this particular case would affect him, because we do know his backstory, but the groundwork isn't there to make his decision to throw away his revenge plausible. I have a hard time believing this is the first time something like this has come up at that hospital.

Sorry, pulling back to why I hit reply to your post. You're right Jae Joon's revenge is the solid story, in another drama it would be the A plot and this drama could do with things that are understandable. The only reason why this heel turn doesn't quiet work is that until now JJ has been a bit of a cardboard cutout.

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The abusive slapping at the beginning of this episode by the head of cardiology against Hoon and by chairman Oh against the 3rd year resident was excessive. It was violent and just so wrong in any workplace, let alone in a hospital. Dysfunctional indeed.

As for Hoon and Jae Joon joining forces in the OR, good to see it, even though Jae Joon's actions to basically give up his life-long revenge plan in his one surgery came out of nowhere. Perhaps this will also redeem his relationship with Dr Quack? Since the show is sinking the Hoon/Soo Hyun ship.

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What about the scene where North Korean cute girl kicks the flirty resident in the "huevos rancheros." He's a jerk but never did anything to her that merited that violent response. If she felt that she was the victim of verbal sexual harassment (as opposed to flirtation) she should have called the police.

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"But not so in Chairman Oh’s world, where any wallet that’s not actively spewing money at him is a yawning mouth waiting to swallow him whole."
This. Is. Genius

Also -
Somebody shoot Jae Hee already
What's with all the doctors slapping, punching, grabbing collars etc?
Are Hoon and Jae Joon now slated to be friendly?
What's pemier Jang upto - did he give the wrong brochure or the "right" one. In which case, someone go tell Min Wook (?) hospital the sh** thats heading their way
Please end this in 4 more episodes coz i'm sure the writer's health cant take any more of whatever he/she's been smoking to come up with this crazy plot

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In light of what I read in the recap, I found this pretty hilarious: "..Hoon argues that the hospital will be thrown into a medical malpractice lawsuit should the patient die.."

Uhm... from what has gone down so far, this hospital probably has about 456,000 lawsuits against it already. The great doctors spend more time slapping each other around than actually doing "doctor things".

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Almost every character in this drama should be diagnosed for being bipolar..

Spiraling endless train wreck going on! I am no longer eager how the spy-doctor story plays out anymore. I am more into seeing how much more messed up can it get.

And the patient's son - Jae Chul? Is he the exact same person that played the younger version of JaeJoon? They look uncannily similar...I was so confused with why that boy appeared again!

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Jaejoon's character change might be sudden and abrupt, but i guess it's precisely because this patient needed to be saved because of the medical malpractice which he can relate to a lot. Probably if it was another patient he wouldn't have given up his revenge. I don't think it was so much of a he suddenly realizes he needs to be a good doctor because he promised his father, but more of a he doesn't want whatever happened to his father to happen to the kid's mum. So for that I can understand his character change, but it should've appeared way earlier in the show.

Can we do away with Jaehee and have more Jaejoon/Hoon please. I really enjoyed the last couple of minutes of this episode. And the parts where Jaejoon confronted Hoon about being a doctor.

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I have stopped watching this drama - what a waste. it started so good, really good despite the craziness...

only one left standing is the new leaf. dropped also angel eyes and hotel king - so boring... what is wrong with kdrama these days...

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You just took the words out of my mouth!

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"You're all surrounded" is relatively ok too.

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New Leaf, Golden Cross, and sometimes YASL. Pretty much totally dropped this others you mentioned. I do some FF through Big Man, but only for the "sister" scenes.

If not for some of the Japanese dramas I would have little to do on most days, this is one of the worst k-drama seasons I have seen for a while.

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Try Big Man. It is not particularly original but it is nicely written and the actors are (mostly) terrific.

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So basically...
Hoon: Whoever operates wins.
Hoon: Idk who's gonna operate.
Hoon: Nvm, Joon's gonna operate!
Joon: Okay!
Chairman Oh: YOU SHALL NOT PASS! Whoever operates loses.
Joon: Nvm, I won't operate!
Hoon: Nvm, I'll operate! And lose! And be the real doctor!
Moon: Nooooo
Seunghee: Nooooo
Agent Cha: YOU SHALL NOT PASS! You're gonna win by contradicting every sentiment you expressed about being a true doctor for the past oh, 11 episodes to save your sort-of girlfriend but not really.
Hoon: Nvm, I won't operate!
Joon: Nooooo! Nvm, I will operate!
Hoon: Nvm, I will operate! Lemme join ya, Joon.

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Now I get it. Best summary ever. Thanks!

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that sums it up very well :D
at least the last two episodes were kind of hilarious, some of it intentionally, some unintenionally I'm sure

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Hoon-Jae Joon bromance brewing...
Jae Joon/Hoon-Soo Yoon slowly sailing...
Seung hee watching...
Oldies bullying and slapping...
Dunkin donuts advertising!

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Just want to say a very big THANK YOU to gummimochi and HeadsNo2 who make the experience of watching Doctor Stranger so much more enjoyable! Your recaps are AWESOME and crack me up so much =)

As for this episode... Made my head spin and I have totally given up on understanding anything^^ Yet I can't help but keep watching :D

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Well, last episodes were so boring. Same situations happens again and again. They're forcefully trying to make surgery, lot of fuss in the hospital. Ordinary operations rather than something difficult or extra-ordinary for a genius doctor like Hoon was described. The tension also slowed down. I personally fell in love how Hoon loved Jaehee how he abandoned all for her. Even after finding her wanted to escape. But now he sort of trying to save but not that much. He's doctor image isn't that strong enough as it was in the first 2 episodes. Now he looks and acts like a doc from a sitcom or a comics book. No romance, no action, no thriller....just running around hospital crying "quack" or eating chocolate. Oh that hairstyle :((( He constantly repeating to Jaehee that he'll protect her HOW? for god's sake she's been tortured for so many years , could he help her? I hope it gets better soon , cuz it started so beautifully :)

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This is such a nutjob show.... Emphasis on the 'nut'.... All I care for now is the Jae Joon- Hoon bromance....

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........................the hell?

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End it. Please. End this. NOW!

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I don't kinow but am I the only one who still enjoy the drama despite its numerousa flaws? =D

I enjoy watching LJS being Hoon, whether he displays his strong side as a life saver doctor or his a weak side of protecting his first love.

I can't hate JSY's acting because it's the first time I've watched her in drama. But I can't to smile and to be satisfied whenever Jae Hee/ Seung Hee and Hoon have moments together, especially when Hoon is so happy that moment. I'm a HoonHee shipper. =D

I'm still hoping for a satisfying conclusion with 4 episodes left.

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No, you're not. I love it to bits. It's insane, all over the place, it has no sense of what cohesion even means, or tonal consistency. However, it's just so much fun, and weirdly enough, every time I watch it I just get in the mood for it so it sort of makes sense to me?

Hahahahah I don't know, maybe Comrade Cha (<333) and Seung Hee are emotionally manipulating me too LE GASP

Apparently our happy ship is pretty unpopular tho.

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I'm rooting for Hoon-Jaejoon bromance ^^

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Oh Heads, thank you for the recap. You ARE the light at the end of the tunnel. I've lost track of how many times I facepalmed during this episode.

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Wow. This show continues to amaze me .. in a bad way. HELL-LO? The patient is dying in front of you at an alarming speed and you decide to have a nice little speech and a staring contest? The amount of wtf-edness that goes on though. These "doctors" are acting like a bunch of street thugs what with the collar grabbing, slapping and punching. LMAO. Way too ridiculous.
This whole show is one big face palm tbh.
Jae-joon decides to be mr. moral and abandons his big plans that he's worked for - his entire life, might i add - in about two seconds flat. Bravo. One second he's begging the chairman to give him another chance and the next he's arguing with him about one thing or the other. Always. This has ALWAYS happened. -____- smh.
The whole jae hee/seung hee thing lost my interest 6 episodes ago. Now i just wish she no longer existed because park hoon is literally turning into a hot mess. Like he needs a doctor up in this bitch. Literally. Somebody get that dude some counselling and therapy asap.

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I pretty much lost any interest in Jae Hee about the same time you did I guess. I don't really care who she is, or if she lives, dies, goes back to North Korea or Budapest, or Rio, or what.

Well, actually I don't much care what happens to anyone.

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Me too! The whole plots sucks big time. I dropped it after 6 episodes, and only came here to read the recaps. I don't even understand why I still bother to read the recaps. I guess maybe because I enjoyed reading all the commentator's opinions (thanks, you guys really made my day!), and because I have too much free time to waste on this crappy show

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Your recaps are gold heads !
The senslessness of this episode just went on and on !
The strange thing is despite all the face palming and swear words coming out of my mouth, the scene where hoon was saying dejectedly on how he tried to be a doctor for sometime but he is not , I actually felt him. It was so much real as his journey of just being a doctor.
The writer is lost, because I have a belief even if he tries now, the story can stand back on its feet and actually be something other than curses and fist shakes.

Are all Korean medical shows this way ?

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Nope. only this drama.

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This show is by far the worst "medical" show of any k-drama I have seen. On the other hand, I have seen few (if any) that were really very good. They get a lot of the med stuff totally wrong, and basically the hospital is just a workplace romance and/or angry chaebol background scenery.

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Well at least Good Doctor is a decent one, so much better than this garbage. Medical drama, my foot, the way they treated the patients, just for their own wars.

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And I so love your snarkiness here heads ! You put everything I felt in a sarcastic high vocabulary!
He he, so love you for that !

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Such a waste of talent, this series. .. :(
The waste of the actors, of yours...
But don't stop, if anything makes it bearable its your recaps. ...

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LOL Heads! Not that I want this to go all Basketball on us, but I enjoy reading your recaps, even when the drama starts not making sense.

(Especially when the drama starts not making sense.)

I still find DS amusing in a WTF is happening??? way. ^__^

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I get a feeling that when the writer started writing the script, he did not set his mind whether JH is SH or who is going to end up with who... he had vague idea but his notion was probably he can modify the future episodes to please the viewers as the episodes progress by changing which guy end up with which girl. Though viewers believe by now that SH is JH but if that were the case, what is the point of trying to kill Boa's mom who believes that JH died in NK?? Why sudden change of JJ? He was so obsessed with his own revenge, it's hard to imagine that this event changed his heart out of sudden. Then JJ confessed his love for Soo hyun earnestly yet Soo Hyun does not know how to respond him. At this point, it is set up both ways,,, Soo Hyun can be with Hoon or JJ. JH can be SH or not. Even if SH turned up not JH, the writer can make excuse,,, ie Hoon decided to cover her up to save the spy's life. I know this is a very lame excuse but in this awfully written storyline, even a very lame plot that we can conjure up might be better than the writer's plot.

I feel really bad for two leading men. Both are brilliant but not even this two super powers cannot save the awfully written story.
I dislike that fact this story use patients like pawns in chess game. Are all Korean doctors see patients this way? I hope not.

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I think JaeJoon's shift makes sense since this case resembles so much like his...and he do not want to hurt another child like he was in past because of repeating the mistake that killed his father...that is I guess enough for change. You don't want someone to hate you the way you hate someone!
And though Agent Cha is getting on my nerves and Jae Hee parts practically sucks but Hoon and his wittiness keeps me alive..and now two heroes together , putting their talent to use, I think they are moving to a better part. I haven;t seen a good surgery from either of them since the twin surgery!!! I loved Hoon's perfection surgery scenes....

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Yay I started watching this episode so Jae Joon's story line seems pretty reasonable to me ^^

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Kill Jae Hee and I might watch this again. LOL.
Are we sure that Hoon is clear in the psych dept? That fixation over one person is borderline psychopathic.

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I gave up making sense of the plot.. I'll be fine just watching LJS until the drama ends :P

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I thought I’m going to write a review of the previous episode like I always do, but I didn’t even bother, because I’m honestly fed up of trying to overthink things through and just resigned myself to mull over at this spectacle of different caricatures just following along the motions of being in character for the sake of being in character and pretend that it’s a drama sans purpose.

What can I say, I concur, it’s a rehash of ep 9, less all the chasing and some abrupt personality change to Jaejoon to keep things fresh. Ofcourse, I do appreciate that Jaejoon is finally being fleshed out properly, yet how he got to that point just seems as trivial and non-chalant as me suddenly craving for ice cream one day. Yes, it’s the same Jaejoon that just groveled in front of Chairman Oh a couple of episodes ago because his plan A fell apart, and well that’s his plan B. What’s all that histrionics for? Just so he can make an about-face this episode and rise like a phoenix reborn. Now he’s just as squeaky cool and rootable. If there is one thing that I liked about this recent development though is that he finally treated Soohyun like the proper girlfriend that she is (they’re a couple right? Sometimes I cannot tell when Soohyun is all busy pining on Hoon) AND finally a chance to stun a specific shipping that’s been hounding this drama, no matter how contrived it may seem, and veer it towards a more reasonable and redeemable one. Now, there is a PROPER ship to be shipped–so pounce on it ladies.

As for the political-spy end, could someone refresh me–wasn’t the plan of PM Jang is to have an INTERESTING match between the two, therefore he wanted to see a 1-1 scorecard, BUT why is Comrade Cha insisting that Hoon wraps up this match then and there? In any case, show just decided to defecate on Seunghee’s character once more, as though I’m glad that she’s acting like Jaehee again, they have decided however to suddenly turn her into a lamb this episode when she was just about ready to go on a shoot-out with Nightshade some episodes ago. If there is something consistent with this show, it’s that they’re inconsistent.

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I'd be so upset if ANY of them were my doctors! I might as well do my own surgery since none of them can't decided on when to operate me.

What is this drama about again?

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We're forgetting that the drama is titled DR. STRANGER - it's no coincidence that 90% of the plot and the behavior of its cast is STRANGE.

It's certainly makes for an enjoyable show, though. LOL!

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The show should just be called WTF Doctor and then it would all make sense.

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WTF Doctor... Ah ah
That's a good one ! Made me laugh so hard !

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Well, this is what we get when the dramaland's writers ran out of ideas. What's wrong with them these days? They seems to lose their mojo or something

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The recap is SO much better than the show :P

You know a show is in trouble when even on Drama Fever - the home of "best drama ever" reviews - starts getting a bunch of anti-fan comments.

I suspect that in future months - or even years - that this drama will be referred to quite often, just like Anthony is, except in a totally negative way.

BTW what Anthony would do in this case is call the paddy wagon for the writers.

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Why is it that soohyun can't see how bad her chairman dad is? Is it that she's just craving for too much love?... On the same note, much of the doctor characters seem to lack compassion for the patients they treat. And for me, that is the deal breaker. They're so unrealistic, not just as doctors but also as normal feeling human beings. And I dislike Jaehee's character even more now. If they die for the sake of a patient, then at least they die together. Wouldn't they be happy then? 'cause they seem to have no other goals in life aside from being together... looks like they don't have the will to live if the other isn't alive.

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so bummed that this show has just continues to go downhill. story is moving so slow now - this episode was all about who was going to do the operation. wish they would pick up the pace again and focus on central point of the story - which is Hoon's growth as a doctor (which is what his dad wanted of him).

idk about everyone, but i loved the funny scenes in episode 11. when the story is moving at a sluggish pace and is not going to change - funny sequences are better than nothing.

thanks for the recap!

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I really liked this episode, it focused well on the two heroes. Jae-Joon really shined and had his moment that I was hoping for but was not sure would be delivered. We were reminded where Hoon comes from, the monster who wishes he could be a doctor. I like his dark side, it is what makes him interesting and not cardboard.

The motivations and sense, well I abandoned that at episode 1; they are not a part of this rabbit hole ride.

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Does anyone else find it weird how we spent most of the episode focusing on how Hoon can't operate on the mother. And the show spent sooooo much time on establishing how much Hoon loves Jaehee. But then he goes to join the operation, which for all he knows could result in Jaehee dying. Lol

Also, from Hoon's perspective in that situation I wonder how he compares the value of saving the life of one person vs saving the life of Jaehee. I love LJS's acting but the poor writing of the show makes it hard for me to believe he truly loves Jaehee ...

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I'm reading the re-caps for scenes that might have a bit of humor, and otherwise hoping that Sin Je-Yeon gets to reveal her cyborg nature before she inevitably gets snuffed by whoever-the-hell the bad guys are.

I did like the suggestion that she play Constance in the Three Musketeers, before moving on to her next big break in the musical stage production of Joan of Arc, a movie version of Mary, Queen of Scots, her Shakespearean debuts as Cleopatra in Julius Caesar and Lady MacBeth, the docudrama bio of Amelia Earhart, and the historical re-enactment of the life of Marie Antoinette.

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My head hurts from watching this show but even so I cant stop tuning in every week because I want to know how in the world they will wrap things up. Plus it's hilarious, and not in a good way lol xD

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Can anyone tell me this episode's ending song?

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I know definitely the drama is so strange but it i interesting and entertaining and the acting is good too. I think the drama that sucks for me is K2H and Secret Garden...

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Lol. Seriously! And I don't understand why the Cardio Doctors like to walk around together all the time. Don't they got work to do?

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Jae Joon's scenes from last week was the only good thing from those 2 episodes. Everything else was so difficult to watch. This week's episodes were better. Thank you for the recap.

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This drama could have been better had not it focused too much on Hoon's unrealistic devotion towards Jae Hee and the super secret mission centering around the heart of the villain, which honestly got old by Ep. 6 or so. I really wish they would just find way and make Hoonie fall for Soo Hyunie instead. I like them together.

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It seems at the tail end of the episode that Jae Joon and Hoon decided to to work together. If that the case considering them as decent and well meaning doctors we might able to see them on the same course. Perhaps seeing them fighting against corrupt people and management in that hospital.Chairman Oh created the system to have a best and worst doctor competition at the expense of the patients.This is in itself a medical malpractice and should never happened.
To me it is not really well done.

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I kept saying these are really bad doctors the whole time.i hope real hospitals dont function this way .
the end was wtfery
1.he enters all turn and stare for the longest time
2."LOOK......" (speech)
THE PATIENT IS BLEEDING PROFUSELY
1.you are all bad doctors
2.hoon you should have walked away when that evil one had his hands around your loved ones neck
im tired of your love and this was the most boring episode i prefer when i didn't know was happening in the show

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I think the writer of this drama spent too many hours watching "House."

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Personally, I don't think Jae Joon's change of heart came out of nowhere. I mean had he just automatically taken on the challenge to go against the Director then I'd have to raise an eyebrow, but it was ONLY when his back was against the wall did he have to make a decision between getting revenge or preventing another accident, like the one his family experienced, from happening again. Up until this point, he had never been faced with a decision that conflicted with him on such a personal level before, so his decision didn't seem out of character.

What with the Jae Joon's character showing glimpses of a heart & a conscience (i.e: him potentially loving Soo Hyun and his attempt to operate on her mother,etc.), I think it would've been inconsistent to his character had Jae Joon stuck to his plan and became a full on antagonist. While I wish this had happened earlier, I'm all for Jae Joon's redemption arch, especially since his storyline is a bit more powerful at the moment.

As for "Jae Hee" and Hoon...I'm over it. It still isn't clear if she's a a good guy or not, so everytime I watch her interactions with Hoon, I feel suspicious, and Hoon's attempt to save his girl - much like Jae Joon's attempt to get revenge - is becoming less and less noble of a cause as the show continues.

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I think the main turn around point for Jae Joon was caused by the case that they're handling at the moment. From his pov, it was basically a repeat of all that he went through. He had given up the surgery thinking Hoon would do it, continuing down the path of revenge. But when he was faced with the dilemma of choosing between his revenge and a case that was literally his own situation - I think it's pretty obvious he gave up the revenge.

His father wanted him to be a good doctor, and he was trying to avenge his father, giving up on that patient and creating another Han Jae Joon would have mooted the point of his revenge. More than a sudden change of heart I think it was the impact of the current case and the significance it has in Jae Joon's life that caused him to change.

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Honestly I don't really care much about Jae Hee / Seung Hee character. I get that she's essentially the catalyst that moves Hoon around but it's getting super old by now and irritating. By now I have a few speculations on her character:

1. She was a spy from the start, used to get close to Hoon and become a tool to get Hoon do the North's bidding.
2. Seung Hee is Jae Hee's long lost twin and Jae Hee is really dead at the North's hostage camp.
3. Seung Hee undergoes plastic surgery to look exactly like Jae Hee to hook Hoon.

But really I just wish Jae Hee is really dead and Seung Hee is not her, that way Hoon can move on and learn to live like a human instead of a dog chasing after his favorite bone. I really hate seeing him get pushed around because of Seung Hee, especially when the romance between them seem so dead. Jae Joon and Soo Hyun on the other hand, I get that he has revenge on his mind but I don't think he deserves Soo Hyun. She needs to break up with him ASAP and learn to love herself more. I care more for Soo Hyun than I do for Seung Hee. I want her for Hoon but if not possible, at least not with Jae Joon either.

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