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Yong-pal: Episode 4

Our hero will quickly learn that movin’ on up isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be when the end of the road is hiding a massive secret. Being privy to why the heiress has been kept in a three-year long sleep ought to come with its own advantages, even if it’s just to take calls in secret for now. Knowledge may be power, but it appears that in this world, threats will still reign supreme.

A rogue patient puts the hospital on alert, giving Tae-hyun his first challenge ever since giving up the scalpel. It’ll be up to him to preserve the hundreds of lives in the hospital, especially the one he would do anything to protect.

SONG OF THE DAY

BIGBANG – “If You” [ Download ]

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EPISODE 4 RECAP

Chief Lee does the honors of giving Tae-hyun (and us) the rundown of our resident Sleeping Beauty: despite being the true owner of Hanshin Group as its majority shareholder, Yeo-jin is simply a figurehead kept in a persistent vegetative state while the decision-making power and authority belongs to whomever holds the key to this very room.

It’s a lot for Tae-hyun to swallow, not because he’s afraid of being linked to hiding the truth about Yeo-jin’s comatose state, but because he’d rather not know the details of a story that doesn’t concern him. Grabbing him by the shirtfront, Chief Lee tells him that it’s too late for that—now he knows who the culprits are, and feigning ignorance will do him no good.

Reminding him that Tae-hyun was the one who ignored his attempts to stay away, Chief Lee breaks the news that there’s no pot of gold at the end of this rainbow.

Once they sit, Tae-hyun asks the question burning in all of our minds: how is it that Yeo-jin is first in line to inherit Hanshin Group vs. her older half-brother? The answer is matrilineal succession, as her mother was the sole heiress to the conglomerate. Upon her marriage to the late chairman, he had brought a son from his first marriage—Do-joon.

Yeo-jin was later born out of that marriage, which makes her the true heiress. If she weren’t in a medically-induced coma, she’d be running the company right now instead of Do-joon. Tae-hyun had passed the point of no return the moment the security camera assessed him. Furthermore, choosing to come in here is the last decision he’s made.

He should be well aware of what will happen to him and his sister if he dares to speak a word about any of this. Chief Lee hadn’t wished for Tae-hyun to cross this threshold, but he did—and while he may have freely entered this place, leaving it is an entirely different matter. His every move will be watched from here on out.

Tae-hyun is introduced to Nurse Hwang, with whom he shares a momentary telepathic conversation. “So you too are an accomplice,” he thinks. “Of course. Just like you,” is her reply.

Just then, Tae-hyun gets the good news that his sister has been bumped up on the transplant waiting list. He has the hospital director (and indirectly Chief Lee) to thank, so he offers a deep bow to his new master, who dismisses him for the day.

He retires to his office for the evening, only to find himself with unexpected company: it’s Chae-young, who offers him a smoke. When told that the hospital is a smoke-free zone, she points to the ashtray sitting on the table. Needless to say she finds the rule-abiding newbie adorable.

Tae-hyun heads outside to call his sister to remind her about her dialysis appointment tomorrow. Hearing their father’s voice on the other end wipes the smile off of his face, however, and he tells her to get out of the house. He doesn’t believe for a second that their good-for-nothing father has changed his ways, so when So-hyun invites him home for dinner, he hangs up indignantly.

Reflecting on how he’s now seen the man behind the curtain, Tae-hyun pours himself one shot of soju after another. His last shot gets swiped by Chae-young, who helps herself in joining his drinking party of one. Still believing her to be a VIP guest, Tae-hyun tells her to go to a host club if she’s seeking attentive conversation with a young man.

She’s affronted, but then asks if she looks like the type to frequent those establishments. He nods in agreement. They both crack a smile at the shared moment, and the two drink the night away.

After waking up in a hotel room the next morning, Tae-hyun hurries over to the hospital to meet the first patient of the day. Once again, it’s Chae-young, who pretends that she’s meeting the handsome newbie for the first time. Conversely, Tae-hyun gawks when he hears that Chae-young is none other than Do-joon’s wife.

It turns out someone has photographed the previous night’s outing, as pictures of Tae-hyun and Chae-young at dinner and later heading into a hotel reach Do-joon’s secretary’s inbox.

Tae-hyun and Chief Lee make their rounds to visit the Hallyu star’s girlfriend. Chief Lee shuts down his suggestion of seeing a psychiatrist (because she could be suffering from post-traumatic stress), saying that Tae-hyun isn’t thinking of what’s best for the patient. Though I wonder if it’s because he wants to keep the attention on the beaten girlfriend to a minimum.

Then it’s time to check in with the celeb himself, who’d been given a small scar as evidence of his “valiant efforts” yesterday. He and the doctors catch a report of how the police have the “suspect” in custody after the alleged stabbing of the star and his girlfriend. The star laughs over how that guy will be charged with assault but will ultimately get off scot-free, then remarks that he and Tae-hyun should go out for drinks sometime.

Though their next patient is registered under a placeholder name, he’s another familiar face: the gangster boss Tae-hyun had rescued in Episode 2. I think we’ll be seeing a lot of him, so let’s introduce the man, DOO-CHUL, who awkwardly explains his persistent wound as the handiwork of a quack.

Chief Lee is just as polite with Doo-chul as with any of his other patients, telling him that the stitching was well done. Tae-hyun winces at the obvious hints Doo-chul makes about the alias Yong-pal, and it isn’t until they’re alone does he drop the formalities with the gangsters.

Doo-chul is just happy to see him, impressed that the doc stitchin’ up gangsters works at such an upscale institution. He tells Tae-hyun not to be mad at Man-shik for squealing about his workplace, and swears he doesn’t want to get Tae-hyun fired from this hospital either. Why who would treat him then?

They both have their reasons to help the other out, and Doo-chul can’t help but wonder why Tae-hyun looks like a mere bellhop in this hospital whereas he came off as super cool outside of the hospital. Ha.

Tae-hyun passes by the injured girlfriend to make a call in the safest place he knows—Yeo-jin’s room. He tears a new one into his loan shark buddy Man-shik, not buying his blatant lie that the gangsters beat the information out of him. Since his covert house calls as Yong-pal are a thing of the past now, he asks Man-shik to figure out the remaining total on his loan.

He can’t afford to be arrested alongside Doo-chul, lest he leaves his sister untreated and left to die. All this talk of cops and illegal activities leaves Yeo-jin perplexed in her mental prison. Curiosity takes over as Tae-hyun approaches her bed and asks if she can hear him right now.

And deep within her subconscious, Yeo-jin wonders if he might believe her to be aware of her surroundings. He doesn’t see her eyebrows twitch, and dismisses the thought a moment later, finding it far-fetched to think she could possess any awareness after all these years.

He’s never felt as awful before than he has in these past two days, then turns to leave. Down below, Yeo-jin screams that she can hear everything and flails her arms to grab his attention. It’s at that moment, Tae-hyun turns back and assesses her for any signs of consciousness—the light he shines into her eyes bathes her face in her deep subconscious.

Next, he checks for any sign of sensation on the soles of her feet, and catches her toes slightly jerk in reaction. He’s interrupted by Nurse Hwang’s entrance just then, but keeps his cool to ask after Yeo-jin’s comatose state.

His attempt to pull rank backfires because Nurse Hwang knows of his illegal house calls. In this ward, she is his superior, so Tae-hyun will do well to remember that.

The beaten girlfriend is sitting alone in the courtyard when she begins to imagine everyone around her ridiculing and jeering at her. She staggers in shock, then runs up the stairs to try and escape the mockery.

A senior operator rips into his employee for not checking the panel board properly because a negligence over a switch could result in an explosion. Little do they know that the girl has found a way inside the control room and overheard the entire exchange.

Tae-hyun returns to his office to find Chae-young already waiting for him. It’s then that snippets of the previous night return to him—the last thing he remembers is passing out at the bar and then onto the bed at the hotel. Wincing at the memory, he asks that she turn a blind eye to the situation this once, willing to grant her request in return.

It’s a tall order: to meet Yeo-jin in the flesh. When told that she’d be better off asking Do-joon himself, Chae-young says she wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of spending the night with a resident if that were the case.

She knows that nothing happened between them, but that’s not what it’ll look like on the security cameras—they were seen entering a hotel together, after all. Desperate times call for desperate measures, Chae-young argues, and Yeo-jin is currently in danger.

Tae-hyun barely has time to react to that statement before the two are told that an evacuation has been ordered. Cynthia doesn’t quite understand what’s going on either, but Tae-hyun has orders to evacuate Yeo-jin, and everyone in this hospital will die if he doesn’t hurry.

We see the commotion is because the girlfriend has locked herself within the Proton Center. Up in the VIP suite, Tae-hyun finds Nurse Hwang unhooking Yeo-jin from her monitors. She stops him from handling one of the intravenous bottles (likely the one containing the coma-inducing drug), and opens up a hidden bookcase door to reveal the personal elevator and gurney for transport.

Tae-hyun hurries to carry Yeo-jin over, and in her haste, Nurse Hwang fails to notice that lifting the guardrail accidentally cuts off the drug supply. They bring Yeo-jin downstairs and into a van, and Tae-hyun picks up when his sister calls, recalling that she has an appointment today.

He demands to know where she is, expecting that she skipped out on her dialysis like she usually does. But no—she’s being treated as we speak, which means she too is in danger.

So Tae-hyun swipes the car keys and runs inside to an open window. The keys dangling from his hand, he demand to be told what’s really going on. After learning the truth, Tae-hyun takes off again, only to stop in his tracks to take in all the lives who are oblivious to the impending danger whereas the rich and powerful are evacuating the building.

He finds himself at a literal crossroads when he has to decide between the dialysis center and the Proton Center. He chooses the latter, where he’d barred entry despite arguing that he’s the physician in charge. So he threatens to blab everything to the media and shine a spotlight on this fiasco, and eventually gains entry.

Currently, the girlfriend has locked herself inside with the partial accelerator, which will reach its limit by the time they can break down the door. The most pressing concern is the resulting radiation leak, and she’s the only one who can manually turn off that switch.

Tae-hyun attempts to speak to the girlfriend through the speakers—he’s the one person who knows what really happened and can make sure her abusive boyfriend gets the punishment he deserves. He mentions how blunt Chief Lee was this morning, which at least gets her to pick up the phone, and then she utters, “Everyone, die.”

He takes a beat before broaching from a different angle—yes, she will die. But that day won’t be today; instead she’ll go through the most horrible pain imaginable before death comes. The dramatic explosion that she imagines will obliterate everyone and her celebrity boyfriend won’t happen from this particle accelerator.

What will happen is that the radiation leak will envelop everyone, including herself, and they will all die a slow and painful death from the radiation exposure. What’s more is that her star boyfriend has already evacuated the premises, along with all the people in power she might see wish to suffer.

The powerful ones in this world don’t fall that easily, and there’s no way his words could ever ensure that her celeb boyfriend pays for what he did. Instead, it will be the hundreds of innocent lives—the patients and the families who weren’t told of any evacuation—who will suffer.

Among those is his sister who has been sick ever since she was young. Although she had received a new liver, her body had rejected the transplant, and she’s been on dialysis ever since her kidney started failing too. Family life wasn’t better either, as their family was poor and their gangster father was abusive to his family.

Their mother had spent years putting up with the constant abuse to protect her children, and eventually died in an accident during his first year of residency. He wasn’t able to save her because he didn’t have the means to. He’d vowed to himself to become successful and make sure their mother and his sister would live comfortably.

As the girlfriend sheds tears, Tae-hyun continues that while her boyfriend is in the wrong for hurting her, she still walked into that hotel room looking for an easy way into stardom. Additionally, she’s endangering many lives just to cover up that sense of guilt.

It’s possible she’s using that heavy door between them to put herself in a seat of power for once, and the girlfriend falls to her knees, crying.

It looks like they’re in the clear when the operator manages to dupe the system into automatically shutting down the accelerator before it reaches its limits. Tae-hyun instructs the girlfriend to leave, but that’s when another warning goes off—the door will lock itself if the radiation levels within the room are higher than it should.

She must exit through the door before the oxygen is sapped out of the room, but she’s already struggling to breathe and collapses every time she pulls herself up. So Tae-hyun tells the operator to undo the computer hack so that the door remains unlocked.

It will be faster to go inside and manually turn off the switch, Tae-hyun argues. Now it’s a matter of who will venture inside that room, and Tae-hyun steps up (though whoops, the editing error here makes it look like he prematurely leaves before arriving at that decision). He orders the control room to open the door, then runs inside to retrieve the girlfriend.

Once he safely drops off the girl, Tae-hyun rushes inside again to manually disable the panel. He struggles to get back to the door due to the radiation exposure and falls to the ground, which is when Cynthia (who had returned to the hospital) and the others hurry over to retrieve him.

The van carrying Yeo-jin is given the all-clear to the return to the hospital. In the back, Yeo-jin forms a fist.

Tae-hyun drinks in the night air from his rooftop and sees a silhouette inside the house. He opens the door to see his mother with dinner ready. Oh man, this has got to be a dream and it’s going to be a heartbreaking one, isn’t it?

She tells him to come and eat, and he starts tearing up when he tries the stew, realizing that it’s just as delicious as he’d remembered it. His mother’s eyes well up with tears as well, saying that this is all she can do for him.

She apologizes for leaving him to take care of So-hyun on his own, knowing how hard it must’ve been for him. Tears stream down Tae-hyun’s cheek as he admits that it was really hard. She gathers his face in her hands and apologizes again…

… as we see Tae-hyun getting checked for radiation. He calls for his mother again and again until he finally comes to with a start. He isn’t contaminated and it looks like the girlfriend will make it after all, much to his relief.

Tae-hyun is out of breath by the time he reaches the dialysis center where So-hyun is still receiving treatment. At his somber expression, she asks if something happened, and he tells her that he had a dream. That has her wonder if he dreamt that she died or something, and reassures him that dreams are the opposite of reality.

Later, Tae-hyun returns to the VIP floor where upon he greets that Hallyu star with his right hook. Oh, that’s so satisfying. Just a few feet away, Doo-chul remarks that that’s like the Yong-pal he knows.

The VIP suite is still empty when Tae-hyun enters. His private moment doesn’t last long, as Nurse Hwang returns with Yeo-jin. Judging from how she reprimands him for his reckless behavior, she must’ve heard what had transpired earlier.

Tae-hyun and Yeo-jin find themselves alone after hooking her up back to her monitors. He gets a call from Man-shik about his remaining balance on his loan. It must be higher than he’d anticipated even though he’s been working for a bunch of thieves all this time. There’s no way he’d be able to repay that amount when he hasn’t been able to do house calls either.

He’s unaware of Yeo-jin opening her eyes behind him when he hangs up, muttering that it’s one thing after another. And a voice behind him asks, “Should I… give you that money?”

 
COMMENTS

Awwww yeah, the princess is awake. This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for: when Tae-hyun would finally meet the woman purposely kept in a coma while her enemies were running the show. It makes me excited for next week already, and my mind is spinning just thinking about the revenge-fueled possibilities the show can take us now.

So it’s a good thing that the show cleared up Yeo-jin’s backstory and familial background in these four episodes. Not only does it answer some of the burning questions on our minds, but doing so also allows the show to focus on what’s more important (and potentially fun to watch): her revenge. Furthermore, both parties now know of each other’s predicament: Tae-hyun knows why her adversaries need to keep her barely alive, and in turn, Yeo-jin knows that he’s in need of money. And as much as I’ve enjoyed the stunning visuals of Yeo-jin entrapped in her metaphorical prison, I’m looking forward to seeing more of her in action. One can only hope that her fighting spirit is just the outer layer of a badass woman hell-bent on taking down her enemies.

Her power and influence, albeit solely on paper at present, is still better than Tae-hyun’s situation with the loan sharks. As long as he’s making payments, he’s stuck in a never-ending cycle (since loan sharks offer private unsecured loans with exorbitant interest rates) that he can’t escape from. Compound that with being powerless on the most lavish floor in the hospital, and it’s no surprise that the pressure would wear him down.

Not that he can afford to let his guard down when his sister is sick and he knows the truth behind Yeo-jin’s state. I do hope he finds a potential ally in Chae-young, who has her own reasons to see and presumably protect Yeo-jin. When one is swimming in a sea of sharks, it’s at least nice to know that there’s one face who would extend a hand, save for the whole part of blackmailing Tae-hyun into considering her steadfast request.

For a guy who lets everyone think that he’s a money-grubbing doc, it was a relief to see some insight into his motivation for doing so. We’d already seen why he allows people to focus on his fixation on money, but there’s something about Tae-hyun sharing his life story with the girlfriend that peels back another layer to his character. He knows that the elite don’t give a damn about the ordinary folk, and that money and influence is what makes the world go ’round. Even in his own fight up the ladder, it’s one obstacle after another.

So it’s such a heartbreaking moment when Tae-hyun dreams of his mother, with whom he drops the tough facade. He’s just a little boy who misses his mother with her, as he lets his troubles and fears wash over him through his tears. It’s a poignant moment for him and a necessary one in order for him to regain the strength to take on a new day.

 
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Been waiting for the recap.Liked the episode overall though there were some over-dramatic scenes.The ending was awesome.Thank you for your hard work.

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The writing and scene cuts both need a LOT of work. But Joo-won is such a good actor he makes these awkward lines actually sort of work.

The music cuts are so sharp as well, instead of fading out from one scene to the next, they just cut off the music completely and the effect is jarring. Comparing it to TvN which is so good with it's producing and feels like a movie, this drama is getting hard carried by Joo Won so far.

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nice choice of song Gummimochi!

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Really nice song!!!! Its very beautiful.

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Thanks for the recap. Good episode. Can't wait for YJ's revenge with YongPal's help!

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Thank you for the recap! I loved this ep., especially the emotional scene between Yong-pal and his mom. So well done. I also loved how he was able to reach out to that lady and talk her away from pushing that button. I am now curious about what will happening. in ep.5, with the heiress's offer.

I also loved that Yong-pal was smart enough to notice what was going on with the heiress (can't remember her name right now), how she had been induced in a coma and kept in it, and he didn't say anything. Good for him.

Now that he is on the 12th floor, will he still do surgery? Dr. Lee seemed to need his help last time with his surgery, as if he didn't know how to finish it. I hope that is not what will happen with yong-pal.

And I love that Yong-pal has (so far) at least one ally in that lady who speaks English well (I forgot the names of the characters, sorry). i am hoping that the Chairman's wife will become his ally as well. I am now very concerned about YP's and his sister's safety (because his every moves are being monitored).

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Hi Ivoire
I see you've decided to watch both Yong Pal and Oh My Ghostess. :)

I find it interesting that Yong Pal has one main male lead surrounded by so many strong women who can either support him or bring him down.

- You mentioned Chae Young the wife of Do Joon, and yes, she could be an ally or a big thorn in his side.

- Yeo Jin of course is going to provide all kinds of angst and cause complications both in the area of his 'loyalty' and emotionally.

- Cynthia is now an ally, but there might be circumstances that will turn her against him. (Maybe she also gets emotionally involved and jealous?)

- Chief Nurse 'ahjumma' LOL ... so far she has not much to do, but I keep hoping that she gets to play a bigger role.

- Tae Hyun's sister seems to be the only 'weak' female (literally) but then, she has the biggest clout because she has greatest sway on his sense of responsibility and sense of guilt if he fails her.

Thank heavens he can dream of his dead mum and be comforted by her, because most of the other women will have challenging demands to make of him LOL!

And at the moment there are 2 men who will play the same role of support or hurt Tae Hyun:
- I'm hoping that Chief Lee will come around and be more of a mentor and supporter, since he is also not exactly happy to be where he is now, and claims that he had not wanted Tae Hyun to enter Young Ae's room and end up trapped like him. However he may get jealous at the attention that Tae Hyun gets.

- Mob boss will be a funny ally to have. He will have his own agenda but there is a certain honor among thieves and he may step up to save Tae Hyun from himself and all those rich, evil people. :)

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Im highly in doubt that chief Lee can be an ally. It just seems so unlikely esp knowing HIS previous roles. But I could use some optimism. Let's keep hoping chingu!

P.s its great to see u here as usual :)

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Hi Camille W
Great to see you too! ? I'm nothing if not optimistic LOL!

The reason I'm hopeful is that Chief Lee had that regretful, sad look for a moment when he said that he too was in the same boat. I think this was actually in the previous episode when Tae Hyun and Lee were in the car together. I just had the impression that he did not like where he was and maybe, he'd regret that Tae Hyun was going to suffer along with him.... but this, sometime in the very distant future. I had the idea that he might at a very unexpected moment, turn out to be an ally rather than a hindrance. But let's see. ?

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i have hopes for chief Lee too. He made it clear in the car that he was hoping to groom TY as his succesor. his line where he said"and you will become the youngest chief ever, just like me...".

I guess he maybe did not want TY to become an accomplice to the plot to keep the girl in a coma, i think he wanted to save him from that.
Maybe he had hoped he could groom TY as his replacement and that by the time things were at that stage, she would already be killed by her brother or something else? So there would be no need for TY to taint his soul that much?

I think he sees himself in TY and while he regrets the choices he made, maybe he wanted to keep TY from making them ,but the dummy walked in there with his own 2 feet.
I hope this time this actor (who is a very nice man from what i saw on varity shows) will finally get some good guy ending.

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@cocobeans

Yes, this was what I was thinking too. If it could have been avoided, Chief Lee would have preferred that Tae Hyun did not get involved in the plot.

I too believe he sees himself as he used to be in Tae Hyun, maybe how much he had hoped for or been idealistic about, or how he was struggling and had taken on the 'job' thinking it would lead him to greener pastures ... and all that was swept away when he found himself privy to the Young Ae plot. He too might have been lured by the thought that serving Young Ae meant striking gold, but found that he was sadly mistaken.

It would be nice to be given some back-story to Chief Lee as well.

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Yes gummi!! I'm counting days to next week too. Finally, our hero will meet the awake Yeo-jin although I think it will be cut by the creepy Nurse. I hope she will come a bit later.
I love how Cynthia's character develop more in this episode, seeing her coming back to the hospital although she know it dangerous. Our brave doctor sure give some positive vibes to her.
This show keep up a great pace so far.

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extra note. I think the gangsters Boss will add the hilarity in this serious hospital environment. Please come more often Doo-chul ssi, even just for looking after our Yong-pal.

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I like Doo Chul gangster ahjussi ! I think so far, the gangsters who are supposed to be the scum of socity are the ones showing more honor, loyalty and respect then the so called "elite". So yeah!! Go Doo Chul ahjussi !

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The song + recap made my day ^^

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Wow I like your recap. Just what I need for the day/night. This episode belongs to Joo Won. He played the hero, saved the hotel and then faced the bill. Sadly no thanks for the day's hard work.
Loved her witty remark at the end. No crying and begging. Direct and simple.
I can understand the chief's predicament, even his sarcasm and frustration. Despite gaining status and wealth, he doesn't seem to enjoy his "privileges"....but the nurse is another matter. Is she truly the superior to yongpal in Princess's hell-hole? I think she is pretty psychotic and I don't mind sending her over to our IRY fellas and let joon young deal with her....

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Lol at your comment. If she's younger, I will be think her as one of LJY's 'kids'.

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Yeah I agree, the Chief seems to find the work distasteful, it appears that he has a conscience. Who knows what circumstances forced him to accept this devil's bargain? It might be he's in a similar situation as Yong pal. In any case there's more to the back story of the head nurse. She seems obsessed with sleeping beauty and I want to know why. I also think Chief might prove to be an ally of Yong pal one day, though the nurse would prove to be an adversary.

I can see why this drama is a hit, the visuals are stunning, the story is compelling and the acting is engaging. I don't seem to be able to summon any interest in any of the other shows since I Remember You ended. I even dropped Oh My Ghostess because the I-am-in-love-with-a-ghost-and-you thing lost me at some point even though the acting was excellent. So I am glad I can focus on Yong pal and enjoy myself.

Also can I say how glad I am to see Kim Mi-kyung back in dramaland? I've missed her since Healer ended. It's good to see her again in another no nonsense role.

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@ Shuerei, annflln, Adal

+10 :D Yes let's make our own mash-up of I Remember You Yong Pal! LOLOL!

@Adal
Just what I feel and hope too about Chief Lee becoming an unexpected ally. I think we need ex-Min Joon-gook to be redeemed, ? and the nurse being the baddie of the hospital.

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Yong-pal just keeps getting better and better :D. I held my breath, I squealed, I laughed and I cried. All in one episode. Love love this drama :).

With regards to nurse Hwang, I don't think she was referring to him saving the day when she said she was going to make a report if Tae-hyun was reckless again. I think she was referring to him snatching the keys and delaying Yeo-jin from being extracted ASAP.

I do hope they do the revenge bit well. There's nothing I find more satisfying than having someone who has been rendered powerless go after those who put her in that position, all the while maintaining the weak facade. It's so much more satisfying when they realize the moment of truth as everything crumbles around them.

So show, please keep having everyone else think Yeo-jin is in a coma whilst she takes out her enemies one by one. No unnecessary redemption stories here. We want them all to pay *evil maniacal laughter. Except maybe Chief Lee (because I still think there's some good buried there, or I hope so) and Cynthia (because she's awesome! Just like her car :) ).

Also, I do hope that Chae Yong really is on her sister-in-law's side even if she's only doing so because it would most benefit her father, and Doo chul keeps his contact with Tae-hyun. So freaking hilarious that gangster is. And who knows, he might provide a hand in helping Yeo-jin finally escape that prison. Cuz the way I see it, getting away means getting access through the bookcase, going down the private elevator and having a gangster with the getaway van.

Oh and can we all bow at the awesomeness of Tae-hyun slugging the asshole of an hallyu star? I watched that punch so many times I felt like I was the one hitting the jerk. Fucking asshole.

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Waking from a coma to wreack havoc, this is gonna be a korean "Kill bill " tribute isn't it? i hope so !

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I like Cynthia park/Stephanie's outfits....and her hair. Great crew stylist....
I know this is a thriller but...I enjoyed OTPs in The Healer and hopefully the writer provides equally good stuff here. I

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You don't mention the victim blaming that occurred in this episode but that was the subject of conversation for many people. Yong Pal basically said that the victim was trying to escape from her own responsibility in her own rape because she knew she shouldn't have walked into the room which is extremely strange because we were shown that was she drunk out of her mind when she was coerced into the room. Basically, a perpetuation of rape culture and one that rang discordantly because the show has been so careful to subvert tropes (with the assistant and the chairman's wife). And the fact that this came from Yong Pal of all people was doubly disappointing. I'm not going to stop watching the drama because Joo Won is all sorts of lovely but I think it helps to be aware of problematic things and speak out about them even if no one else wants to listen.

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*she was. Bleh.

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I didn't get that from the dialogue. I thought he said, "you feel guilty because you know you were going into a dangerous situation because you wanted to be close to an idol." Or something like that. I didn't think he was blaming her for the sexual assault. But as a woman, if I do something foolish, do I deserve to be raped? Never. But going into an "idol's" motel room and drinking does seem rather risky to me.

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That's pretty textbook victim-blaming: you put yourself in a situation where someone could assault you, so you're partly to blame.

For some reason, people seem to have a hard time understanding the concept of "consent" and allow that to color their understanding of who exactly is responsible for a crime (the criminal). This is one of the better overviews I've seen, comparing consent to offering someone tea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQbei5JGiT8

Tae Hyun sure made it seem like he think that if someone invites you to a tea house and then you don't want to drink tea, it's partly your fault that the other person poured scalding tea down your throat.

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You said it exactly.

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To me it seemed that Tae Hyun assumed that the victim girl initially agreed to sexually entertain the perpetrator but changed her mind at the last moment as there was no sign that the girl was forcefully brought into the hotel or the room,plus her refusal was pretty strong and clear so it didn't seem she was drunk/intoxicated to the point of not knowing what's happening before entering the room, so he was assuming,again, that part of the reason she wanted to blow herself up along with others was because she was feeling guilty for initially agreeing to that idol's plan and coming as far as to the hotel room.

So, while I do agree that it'd be better not to have that dialogue at all, I don't think it was as extreme as you are interpretation it to be.The writing and directing did seem lacking in that there should have a few more extra scenes focusing the victims and her situations.

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What was the basis of Tae Hyun making the assumption that the victim "agreed to sexually entertain the perpetrator"? Was the victim in that trade? Are you saying that he thinks she asked for it? I sure hope that Tae Hyun was NOT making such assumptions, cos if he was, then he's victim blaming alright!

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I don't think that's the case - in "Healer" there's a similar, parallel storyline where an actress gets trapped by a pimp into entertaining politicians. When the main character first brings this story to her editor, he tells her it's a non-story because the woman was meeting powerful men trying to get famous, and she didn't even kill herself. Later in the show, the media turns on that same actress, calling her a gold-digger.

It makes me wonder if this is a more typical storyline in Korean society than I knew: the idea that someone who wants to be famous is partly responsible for a sexual assault. Not that it's a unique sentiment to Korea, of course, it's a pretty common refrain in the US too, but I think it's less likely a US "good guy" would say "she had it coming" unless they were looking to cast that character in a bad light.

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Nafi I didn't know you were on DB

I was just talking about this awhile ago on Twitter...I couldn't believe he said it was her fault for walking in the room and that she felt guilty...if he said that because of her PTSD she THINKS it her fault okay but that was victim blaming all the way even as he said the guy was a criminal

Which is wild since the premise of this drama seems to be reclaiming agency and revenge. I found that line very distasteful

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I'm a Dramabeans fan. And that's why I was so puzzled by the line because the drama is all about, as you said, reclaiming agency--Yeo Jin's agency (if that's her name and I'm not misremembering) and the wife's agency--how she's using the stereotype to subvert it, and even Cynthia, how she returns after running away.

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Yeah, "discordant" is the exact right word for that dialogue. It runs so counter to everything else the drama has so far done...

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Right? I hope there was something lost in translation.

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agree. that dialogue felt so wrong. hurting a woman (or anyone), no matter what the intentions are, is just wrong (unless, of course it's self-defense, which is not the case). it's sad that a woman always have to be vigilant and responsible of herself all the time, especially when a "danger" shouldn't be there in the first place.

maybe Yong Pal's early experience of abuse caused him to see the world as a wilderness, full of savages who'd do you more harm than good. and probably that's why he's so upset when his sister refused to leave the house after knowing that his abusive father returned. maybe because of that "helplessness" that he viewed everything as his responsibility ("if she doesn't have a stupid brother, she wouldn't have turned that way", "her mother died because he was incapable", etc.) that's why he's so quick at blaming the victim as he would himself.

it's disappointing that victim blaming came naturally from Yong Pal, but this also made his character flawed and real. and I hope that perspective will change as his character grows. or maybe I'm being too idealistic.

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Yeah I was thoroughly disgusted by that. It was a completely sickening wtf moment and I ended up fast forwarding through the rest of the episode.

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I AM NOT SURE WHY READERS R FELT UNHAPPY , HE SAID JUST U WANT TO BE WITH FAMOUS ONE U WENT TO HOTEL ROOM N SHE WAS FEELING GUILTY OF HERSELF BEC SHE WENT TO THERE BY HERSELF N WHAT HAPPENS THERAFTER SHE BLAME MORE THAN OTHERS SO HE SAID A PART OF FALL TOO

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I wil be the minority here, but what I get from Yong-Pal's line delivery is, in the first place, she knows she is sitting on hot pot, but thougt she can bear the heat. She knows what kind of person the hallyu star is, if she didn't, why she wants to get involved w/ him anyway? be real lover? she wants to play the upper hand,seduce him to get her into entertainment web, but she ain't wise enough to think the real risk/impact of her teasing him. When she realized he wants more, she's doomed, too late.

This isn't the case "don't blame others if you get raped since you wearing revealing clothes". This case is, you wear revealing clothes and seducing and alluring them to fantasize abt you but u underestimate your rival what they willing to dive for.

Cat is tiger nyway. Don't play with fire. There's no such thing as TEASER in this case.

I think that's what the line implied. So victim blaming partly has to be said for her to NOT repeat her misguided thought and try take care/at least back herself in the future if she want to put herself in danger situation again.
What I like bat the scene, the way Yong-Pal encourage her about the rich always getting their way, he is wise guru, even after being raped, mostly ppl will tell you is okay to stay away from it completely, but he knows to get on the top of world, sometimes you DO NEED this kind of back door, so he advise her to still fight in this scary world but this time, put your shade and telescope.

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Thank you so much for bringing this up!
That dialogue was so painful to hear and I was really upset that it didn't get pointed out in the recap.
*shudders*

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This episode was a gem!! SO enjoyable and yeaahh, the story is going up another notch next week! Can't wait XD

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Itenoria....
Yes that's what the gangster head is here for... And hopefully he would settle Yongpal's debts too coz I think he might be too proud or guilty to take any money from our Princess...
That's yongpal.
I dunno what they would do to Nurse Hwang but they should lock her up. She is a crazy bat and totally evil keeping our sleeping beauty sedated like a personal pet or doll...

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I'm not so sure she'll be out of her situation as early as next week. And I don't care if this show has any flaws - I'm loving it!

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Nafiz,
Great of you to point out that. To a certain extent I agree with yong pal, I wished he would be more subtle or tactful about it but I guess he wanted to drive home the fact that she needs to take responsibilities - walking into the hotel room and the proton room...
Netizens on other sites would insist that no one deserves to be raped even if a girl stripped naked in front of a guy after heavy drinking session and then said no no. In the girl's case she was obviously assaulted and raped - truly sad but while she didn't deserve it, others don't deserve to die just because she suffered. Granted that she was experiencing PSTD but her actions were selfish and reckless. Yongpal made her see that she is n

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I'm afraid I have to disagree with you. In this case I side with the netizens. Anyone has the right to change their minds and expect the other person to be human enough to respect their wishes. Excusing a guy's inability to "control himself" is reduce him to the same level as an animal--even while he is inebriated. Saying that the girl should not have gotten drunk with a guy and then said no is victim blaming and rape culture.

The victim wouldn't have reached that stage had the hospital provided her with the appropriate psychiatric help that anyone who has undergone such trauma deserves. She was not in her right mind and her actions proved that.

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.... Sorry typo... Meant to say that Yong Pal made her see that she is made of a better person than her current self.. something like that

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Our princess should have some badass people on her side especially with her brother having all sorts of minions with him ...

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Thanks gummi!

The ratings for this ep tho. Wow!

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Yes-- I thought the victim blaming was really really problematic. I really hope it wasn't as bad in Korean-- maybe some of it was an awkward translation, but the eng sub (dramafever) was pretty explicitly, "that's what you get for wanting to be famous". Raped and stabbed? WTF, writers? It turned my stomach and is making me think twice about what is an otherwise great character so far.

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Very good take on the situation, even though I am sure some will not agree with it.

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And also, the treatment of the sexual assault along with a story that is basically unfolding over the wan, comatose body of our sleeping beauty is taxing my feminist nerves already. Sleeping Beauty better wake up swinging, or I might get so grossed out that I can't even enjoy Joo Won running around being a badass, and that would be terribly disappointing.

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Yeah, I thought what Tae Hyun said about the actor's girlfriend having walked into that room for attention and "feeling guilt" over it was total bs. That would be like blaming his mother for marrying a man who got drunk and beat her up and threatened their children. I think they were trying to link her to Tae Hyun and how he walked into Yeo Jin's world of his own accord, and it just didn't work.

I do think, though, that it points to something about how Tae Hyun approaches the world. He seems to be big on "personal responsibility," like with how he said his mother's death is not because of the unfair politics of the hospital, but because of his own shortcomings. Still, victim blaming is victim blaming is victim blaming. (And I wish she'd actually gotten a name that wasn't just "actor's girlfriend.")

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"That would be like blaming his mother for marrying a man who got drunk and beat her up and threatened their children."

This is what made it especially weird: he knows about domestic abuse, he had a front-row seat. The only outside possibility here is that he was taking out his frustration at his mother on the poor assault victim, in which case... He is a terrible doctor! And a pretty bad human!

Seriously, this episode damaged the Tae Hyun character for me quite a bit. There's the sexual assault idiocy, but there's also the fact that Tae Hyun is flying around like a vengeful ninja at exactly the time he's supposed to be lying low and obeying orders, and no one seems to care. Is it possible the production team have lost control and we're only on episode 4?

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What do you mean by Tae Hyun flying around like a vengeful ninja?

His only motivation at this point is his sister. That is why instead of following Yeo Jin in the getaway vehicle, he ran back to the hospital. His sister was having dialysis and could not be moved. He probably had to make a split second decision whether it's a better bet to evacuate his sister or go to the control room and try to deal with the main source of problem. Looking at all the innocent people around him may have help him take the latter too.

Tae Hyun's only "problem" if we can call it is that he cannot let anyone in front of him die if he could help it. Like the Gang Boss and this sexual assault girl. In those instances, he takes immense risk at his expense and indirectly his sister's.

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The way the drama has set things up, he's in deep with a loan shark and needs money to get his sister treatments. That's the only reason he's doing house calls for gangsters. Then he gets caught and gets enlisted for the Twelfth Floor, where he gets giant bonuses that keep his sister's treatments going. He's willing to beg on his knees, overlook crime scenes and ignore assault victims to keep his sister safe.

So what the hell is he doing, threatening Young Ae's scary nurse with dropping the car keys, storming into a radioactive area and punching an idol in the face for all to see? These are the people he was JUST on his knees to, the same people who made it pretty clear they'll kill him if he doesn't play nice, the people who are making him neglect patients and give up his surgery career. And now he's directly pissing everyone off and being the loudest guy in the room? What happened to this carefully-crafted image of a money bug? When his scary bosses ask what the hell he was doing with those car keys and storming into the radioactive area, is his answer seriously going to be "my sister"?

If I were a scary criminal in charge of a hospital, I'd kill Tae Hyun. Literally. He is not a key part of the Twelfth Floor yet, and he's already shown himself to be dangerously off-course. He did all this is the same episode as he got access. It's crazy, it makes no sense, and it makes me worry about the future logic of this show.

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@Miranda, there's no reply button so your comment, so I shall reply here.

He really did threaten scary nurse with dropping the keys and all because he realized his sister was in the hospital receiving dialysis and will die if the radiation boom happens. Is that hard to believe? There's no point being the money bug at that moment and follow Yeo Jin in the vehicle when his sister's life would be over in minutes.

About punching that idol, do you think Chief Lee or Director would fire him or kill him just because of it? Of course not! They went to such lengths to recruit this guy and while they will always threaten him using his sister, they are smart enough to know what the big stakes are. Not the Hallyu shit but Yeo Jin.

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Punching the idol is a PR nightmare. He punched him in full view of the other "clients". The idol can probably demand a lot of money for that, even without a lawsuit. Favor-trading would have to be involved, all because of a punch.

And I don't think he knew about the radiation when he made the key threat, that's how he found out what the emergency was. And that didn't have anything to do with abandoning her, it had to do with not letting the van leave.

Yes, it is genuinely hard to believe that the Chief would overlook the sheer amount of rogue behavior Tae Hyun just engaged in. They're deep in a conspiracy that involves drugging a chaebol and imprisoning her. They didn't go through THAT much effort to recruit him, he basically fell into their laps when they got something on him. His most important skill, his surgical skills, are not something Young Ae even needs. So yes - he's not worth it, and he's not predictable. The things he did today were not in keeping with the money bug image, which is what they think they're using to control him. Kill him.

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Tae Hyun is human and so what if he punches the Hallyu shit in anger or loss of control? I guess Tae Hyun was feeling shitty about himself for not being able to do much other than landing that punch. If he's that heroic, he would have reported the guy to the police or tell the media. Tae Hyun is a flawed character but not in the way you make it to be.

He didn't know about the radiation but he knew something big was afoot for Yeo Jin to be evacuated in such a manner. Hence, he dangled that key and threatened for the truth.

This keeping up with the money bug image is an effort that Tae Hyun makes whenever he can. The truth is that he is not a true money bug with no conscience. He is a man who is prone to impulses. But his impulse is for good and not bad. What he did in ep 4 will certainly get him into some trouble, maybe get fired or his sister pulled off the organ transplant waiting list, we don't know yet, do we?

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That's what bothers me: his actions make Tae Hyun seem... dim. His surgical talents and his ability to think fast in emergencies and his political understanding made me think he was pretty intelligent, but episode 4 make him look dumb.

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@miranda
Sorry but I agree with SS to certain point.

Tae Hyun dangling the key to know what exactly going to happened till every VIP's staff in their toes especially w/ Yeo-Jin's evacuation, so he can make decision whether to go with VIP's car or back and save his sister.

I think is ironic for you to point out this scene make him looks dumb and inlogical for his wit. For me, this scene is actually established a constant character built of him, the logical rational carefully crafted money oriented guy.

Why? normal person will just either : small thinker will think small, something happened but not big radiation that could a-kill, admitted when we ever thinking a hospital could blow up? so small thinker will just hop in the car and keep himself near his job (Yeo Jin).
big thinker will think big, something big is going down, but I don't what, anyway I will just run to save the most important person in my life, without her what's the point making money? so big thinker will immediately run his life to save his sister.

but here's Tae Hyun, break the odds, and WANT to ask CLEARLY what's going on, so he can make the RIGHT decision, hopping in the car or saving his sister.
Bcs I know, we always read it anywhere, the right decision is what you need, and most people fall to do it bcs we fouled by our emotion and gut, without take a step back and think what's going on actually.

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@chanelboy, I just think there's a much simpler answer here: once he realized the hospital VIP floor was being evacuated and his sister was still inside, he'd toss the keys to Nurse Ratched and go get his sister. No threats, no sign that he's willing to revolt against his new masters, just the understandable prioritizing of his sister.

For scary bosses who think they just got a pet doctor who will obey their every order, his behavior should be really worrying.

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@Miranda dangerously off-course? he kept the alarm to himself, didn't evacuate anyone else on the building, bought time to quench the radiation scare and saved the girl's life on his own, saving everyone on the hospital a round of uncomfortable questions by the police. He did what the other higuer ups should have been doing instead of running away. He was extremely serviceable to the hospital, even if it wasn't his intent. They are not gonna fire him for that.
He did steal the car keys, but I doubt the creepy nurse is gonna tell on him, because then she'd be revealing her and the bodyguards own incompetence (not only did they lose the keys, they also fell for Tae Hyun's demands and revealed the entire situation to him). Plus, he gave the keys back and saved the day.
And he punched a VIP patient. He may yet have to face consequences for that lapsus in judgement, but at this point, he's still more useful than a threat to them.

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I don't agree with that take on the sexual assault dialogue. Everyone seems to think that he was blaming her for being raped and assaulted.

I don't see it that way. He was pointing out, based on his own experience, that if you put yourself in dangerous situations that there is ... well, danger.

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More specifically, I think he said was she was taking the easy way to become a star(basically by sleeping and sleezing her way up) except that she changed her mind and then tried to back out and then things got ugly. So she got hurt because she resisted and hesitated after entering with the guy knowing that he expected just as she too that there would be sex involved. So, he said she needed to accept that she got herself in the situation taking the "easy" way to stardom.

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Yes. I had to pause the episode and actually think about whether I'd actually heard what I heard.

It's one thing to be so compromised that you don't report a crime and then don't supply psychiatric care to someone who very clearly needs it; it's quite another to say directly to that person that she is partly at fault for her sexual assault.

They've already written Tae Hyun's character as someone who pretends to be heartless but is actually caring, which means that the audience have to reserve judgement whenever he says/does something that seems nuts - but there was no need to say that to this girl. It made no sense, and made him seem heartless and cruel.

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That whole hallyu star scenario could have been written much better, it seemed rather rushed.

One way, just for example, would be to leak the real story of the assault to his debt collector (not so much) friend for blackmail. Or to simply anonymously leak the real story on social media. Or any number of other ways.

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You are focusing on the sexual assault, but not that she was taking the easy way to stardom(sleeping her way and girling up to the male stars) but then had second thoughts in the end. So, it wasn't like she came with them and didn't know that sex was going to be involved in her advancement. So, he was just saying she needed to acknowledge that she got herself into that situation.

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woooow can't for next week.thanks for the recap.

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Yong Pal's current/potential allies vs devil bro: Cynthia, Man Shik, Nurse Oh, Ahjumma Nurse with the cute nurse, Doo Chul and the gang and his fellow resident when they are asking money from VIPs. Chae young is 50-50.

I doubt Yong Pal can save The Princess in that room without any help so he needs a team.

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Been waiting for this recap. I'm glad you're enjoying this drama as much as I am many other people are too.
I can't wait for Yeo Jin and Tae Hyun to have an actual conversation. I'm super duper pumped for it.

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Thank you for the recap!

One of my favorite things about this show so far is how most of Tae Hyun's potential allies are women. We have several women who all seem to have a sense of personhood, who have stakes and interests of their own. It's so refreshing to see a male lead interacting with a range of women who aren't in some way a mother-figure or a love interest. (I know lots of people are already shipping him and Cynthis, but I was way into the dynamic between him and Nurse Oh; but I'm really looking forward to when he and Yeo Jin start interacting more! I'm just antsy for more Yeo Jin in general, really.)

I think Tae Hyun is one of the more interesting characters I've come across this year (granted, I haven't watched many dramas so the list is very short). I think the reason he lets people believe the facade he puts is because he knows that it's better for people to think what moves him is money, cause then that's what they'll try to control him with--as opposed to with his sister, etc.

I'm so excited to see how he'll play off Yeo Jin and her desire for revenge. Has anyone here read The Queen of Attolia? If done right their story could totally pull off the dynamic that Irene and Gen had--queen whose power is constantly threatened (usurped, in Yeo Jin's case) and the knight figure she uses to uphold that power.

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Queen of Attolia=most legendarily badass romance of all time *drops mike*

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Another amazing episode ! I am seriously loving this drama so much. Like, I dont see time pqssig by and each second is exciting so yeaah :D

About what Tae Hyun said to the girlfriend about guilt and responsability, I dont get how one could interpert it as victim blaming. He was obviously telling her that she has responsabilities because she shouldnt have tried the easy way to become a celebrity and that she also have responsabilities for putting in danger hundred of innocents for her grudge/revenge. You can tell from the get go that KTH is disgusted by that Hallyu actor.

Anyway, I am excited for next week. I hope that Kim Tae Hee will deliver though. She had small parts and she was decent so lets hope for the best ! It would kill me if it is the opposite lol. Great ratings for a great drama ! Bravo to Joo Won and Cynthia is really amazing. I know it is hopeless but I wont say no to a loveline with our Yongpal :P

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Whoa, I thought this episode was completely terrible. Totally went off the rails, and that was BEFORE I got completely confused by the editing.

Seriously, a PTSD woman tripping a nuclear reactor? Leaving the KEY under the box with the Big Red Button? She just happens to be there to see that conversation, and then she figures out how to lock the door? No one can open it, until they trick the computer, and then somehow they know how to open it? What the hell is going on!?

And that's not even touching on Tae Hyun telling her that sure, the celebrity did something terrible, but she's also at fault for entering his room? Are you kidding me?! So you covered a crime, then denied the victim proper psychiatric care, then told the victim that actually, it's partly her fault because she wanted to be famous?

This episode fell apart for me in every imaginable way: the plot faltered, the direction collapsed, the writing was abysmal. Which is awful since I liked episode 3 so much, dammit.

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:-) It wasn't a very good episode compared to episode 1. Hopefully it was only a device to create an opportunity for Sleeping Beauty to wake up and not an indication of crappy writing ahead...

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If a writer requires a NUCLEAR REACTOR to move the plot along, I'm officially worried. Other things that could have forced an emergency evacuation from the hospital: fire alarm, CO2 alarm, infectious disease on the 4th floor, hospital inspection, police warrant... Anything, really. I would not have nuclear meltdown on my top 10 list.

Another thing that made me wince: dude. If there are multiple guards and a monitored camera guarding the room, I'm assuming there's video/audio inside. Do not talk to your loan shark on the phone in there, and let's all hope that the audio link's not up while Sleeping Beauty is talking.

(Honestly, I really did like the first three episodes. This was a colossal letdown.)

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Hospitals do have cyclotrons. What's the problem using this? At least I learn something new, never heard of these in hospitals before.

About audio links, I think if we were to nitpick all such stuff in every drama. we should not watch anything.

I have watched some of the dramas you recommend, I Remember You being the most recent. Let me prepare the list of plot holes, WT* moments and "craziness" (not of Joon Ho or Min type) and I can assure you it's very long. But I still enjoy the show, though not as much as how I am enjoying this one.

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Sure, hospitals have cyclotrons. This particular episode required that a suicidal patient realize this, somehow gain entry, listen to a conversation where two people literally say "flip these levers and everything blows up!", leave a key in plain sight, then she can lock all the doors and there are no safety mechanisms...It's completely insane. And it happened in an afternoon, from what I can tell.

Hit me with some of the plot holes in IRY, because I thought it was pretty well constructed.

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@SS

From our conversation after ep 2:

'The set-up is quite clear at this point.

YP has been caught by white collar criminals who both want his talents and believe he can be effectively blackmailed long term. YP will want to protect his sister and eventually Sleeping Beauty. A conflict will arise that jeopardizes these. He will need help to solve a mystery and vanquish the white collar baddies. He’ll get that help from the bald-headed mobster."

:-) Told you so!

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@Miranda

I'm officially sniggering bc, of course, you're right! And, for once, I'm not the one pointing it out. :-)

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I agree. The victim blaming part, in particular, had me shaking my head in disbelief.

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I am not sure what happened with EP4 - it is like it got filmed halfway through a re-write that was not finished yet.

The whole idea of a nuclear reactor, cyclotron, proton generator, or what ever it was translated as in a hospital is just freaking STOOPID. And yeah, Everyone one knows that nuke plants just leave control box keys lying around, and totally unqualified operators to randomly flip switches. That entire scenario was straight out of Doctor Stranger Than Hell.

But on the other hand, it was NOT him that denied the girl psych care - it was his bosses. He tried to get them to send her for counseling, but for the superiors covering up the hallyu trash was more important.

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I could almost overlook all the stupid security issues of this episode until they magically unlocked the doors so TH could go save the girl. If they were talking about the hours it would take to break down the doors early, how were they suddenly able to open them now? It was fun to watch but the fridge logic is horrible.

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This drama....is it good? I'm reluctant to start this because I never really like medical dramas. They are so unrealistic.... Like Dr Stranger and Blood (given those are the only 2 medical dramas I've ever seen and they leave a sour taste in my mouth).... So hence my hesitation.

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By unrealistic I'm talking about the surgeries...surgeries in real life aren't like that plus doctors don't treat human lives like a game (whoever does better than the other). Maybe it's because I'm an intern but still...what's your opinion, should I give this drama a try? Plus any drama recommendations to watch? I'm still quite new to Korean dramas and I prefer watching new or recent dramas.

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Dr Stranger was unbelievably terrible, and should only be used on people you seriously dislike. I don't think it's possible for anything to be as bad as that one. Maybe Dr Jin. Maybe.

I'd recommend Healer, I Remember You, and My Love from the Star (or whatever that one's called). Second tier would be Arang and the Magistrate, My Girlfriend is a Gumiho, Answer Me 1997, Kill Me Heal Me. Third tier: King 2 Hearts, Goong, My Lovely Sam Soon. Personal ranking system, obviously, off the top of my head.

And I watch an unhealthy amount of Running Man.

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Thanks so much Miranda for the list of dramas to check out! You're really helpful and I will also check out the Year Review as well. My apologies for sounding like a newbie here, I happened to found this website on google search while desperately wanting some recommendations. Normally I just pick a drama randomly based on its description but every time I do that, the dramas I end up watching are a disappointment. I agree with Dr Stranger, I didn't like the drama :P

Alrighty, I shall start by watching I Remember You first since it's most recent. I haven't watched a crime/psychological drama yet so looking forward to it! The number of comments (300+ which is a lot compared to koalasplayground.com) must mean that it's good :D

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Don't apologize, it's not easy to find the good dramas in the yearly output, especially when you take fan bases into account (I will never, ever understand the Boys Over Flowers praise, ever). Because of the live-shoot system, I find the completed drama is frequently very different from the original description. I Remember You is framed as a romance, for instance, when it's actually much more psychological. Many of the initial descriptions of Healer implied it was about newspapers, which in the end was not the main plotline. The Year in Review posts are much more informative.

I loooooved I Remember You. Loved it. Kill Me Heal Me I loved slightly less, but is totally worth watching as well because Ji Sung is amazing. Warm and Cozy was dumb, which breaks my heart because Kang Sora... Oh crap, I nearly forgot Misaeng! Watch Misaeng! Though it's totally different from the others I listed, which are all romance/comedies/etc. Misaeng is office culture and it's great, definitely tier 1.

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Boys Over Flowers! That was the other drama I couldn't remember its name! That drama I never understood why so many loved it while I found it didn't meet to my expectations. Same goes with Heirs...the fan base seems so big. Those two dramas I started watching because of comments I saw on YouTube then I looked up the description and I thought I would like it. Turns out I didn't...I'm not really that picky when it comes to watching dramas as long as they are enjoyable and not boring. But dramas that I've enjoyed were all American dramas and suddenly switching to kdramas it's so different. I haven't watched any of the dramas you mentioned (besides BOF) so that must mean the ones I've watched haven't been very good. Which is a disappointment because I tend to like romantic dramas (as long as they're good!).

Thanks! I just read Misaeng and it seems like a slice of life kind of drama (love this genre too!). You're Beautiful sounds fun too since Gender-bender genres are always hilarious.

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@ Miranda

"Dr Stranger was unbelievably terrible, and should only be used on people you seriously dislike."

I think i will do just that and when they start whining, '"i thought you said this drama is good??" I will keep on encouraging them to wait it out until the good part until they finish half or the complete drama hahahaha

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In addition to Miranda's suggestions, Coffee Prince and Shut Up Flower Boy Band are also must-see shows. They are not so new but they are golden! ☺️☺️☺️

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Thanks, I have seen Coffee Prince (listed it below), but didn't really like it. Perhaps it's my first Korean drama and I'm not used to the culture shock because I find certain scenes gross (like picking your nose, wiping your foot then face/teeth using the very same towel...etc) so it was a big put-off. Shut Up Flower Boy Band sounds like my kind of genre! I'll definitely check it out, thanks heaps :)

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Ha - that character was supposed to be gross, but given I so vividly remember being horrified by the scenes you're talking about I get what you mean. I also fell asleep during the bickering couple scenes. Boring.

You're Beautiful might also be of interest, though it was pretty cartoony at times. And sometimes repetitive. Still, a lot of people like it.

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I would recommend 1) Healer, 2) Bridal mask, 3) Shut up flower boy band, 4) Story of a man, 5) Kill me heal me ?

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Wow so far everyone has at least recommended Healer... Okay then, that will be my second drama to watch :) then Bridal Mask, Shut Up Flower Boy Band, City Hunter and My Love From Another Star (in that order) - that's my list for now, but will check out the rest later. Thanks heaps guys! I didn't expect such quick responses :) :)

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Sorry, I worked in a hospital for many years and there are all sorts of games and weird things that happen. We're always correcting mistakes and we have our list of "doctors never to use".

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Other dramas I have watched and/or currently watching are: Heirs, She's So Lovable, High Society, The Time I Loved You, A New Leaf, Angel Eyes, Coffee Prince (my first drama...but it made me cringe with the lack of hygiene), plus a few more I can't remember...but none of them are memorable. Either I'm not good at choosing dramas or I just find Korean dramas all that good. I love kpop and the Hallyuwave is starting to spread here but none of the people I know are interested in Korean music or dramas. As I said...I am new so I really want to give k-drama another chance to see if I'll like it (if not, then at least I tried)! =)

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*don't find Korean dramas all that good

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Watch Healer and I Remember You. There are others worth watching, but those are the two I'd suggest off the top of my head as ones that are engaging and retain quality throughout their runs.

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Thanks! I saw I remember you article just below but then again there are many other dramas recapped here so I don't know which ones are good. Is Healer also recapped?

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I think Healer was also recapped, yes - one good way to unearth stuff you'd like to watch is to look at DB's "Year in Review" posts for the past few years. They do a good job of summarizing why you might/might not want to watch.

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Healer sounds like another medical drama... :)

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Surprisingly no, it's about a night errand boy. AND SECRETS!

Seriously though, it's fun and addictive.

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Haha okay that was not what I thought! Will watch this drama second then =) my current drama is The Time I Loved You. I normally only watch 1 drama at a time but feeling really bored and frustrated with this one. Thinking of putting it on hold for better drama for now.

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To add to this list, 2 underrated dramas: Nine times travel, Queen In Hyun's Man. Both are based on the concept of time travel.

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Me either dont find these dramas good :P if you want a fantasy thriller then you can see Vampire prosecutor season 1 and 2, then School 2013 is my all time favorite, I hear your voice, oh yes 49 days ( I loved it, though many did not like the climax)

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It's completely unrealistic from a medical point of view. It might turn out well, it's difficult to say yet. The cast is very very good. The writing is pretty mixed. The premise is quite interesting.

If you want to watch some very enjoyable shows, try Pinocchio, Healer, City Hunter, My Love From the Star, Two Weeks, The Return of Iljimae...

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Thanks for unbiased opinion Susan! Yeah the unrealistic-ness in medical dramas from a medical standpoint does lessen the enjoyment for me. Perhaps I may have enjoyed it more if medicine isn't my field. Though like you said, the premise does sound interesting so that's why I'm considering this drama (otherwise I would avoid medical dramas). Both Dr Stranger and Blood had interesting premises but failed to deliver in terms of over all plot, so with that being said, I'll keep an eye on this drama and perhaps watch it later :)

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Lol..! I see where you're coming from but if accuracy of medical terms and surgical procedures in TV-series were a must-have script-wise, lots and lots american medical shows would have been cancelled within their 1st season. I've watched monstrous inaccuracies almost everywhere ( Dr. House had the least mistakes of them all, imo). I'd have laughed at the writers' imagination if they weren't so painful to watch, you're right! At least kdramas are short, so I don't have enough time to poke my eyes out even if I really, really want to smtimes (anaesthesia-free) ;-)

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if you like medical drama's /dtective combo's then i would recommend the "god's Quiz" series.

I learned a lot about rare medical afflictions and it has some nice eye candy/bromance/though girls/ father figure / unbelievable bad guys in it.

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Everyone has their list of favorites. I agree and also highly recommend Healer and My Love From Another Star as among my top recent dramas to watch! And City Hunter is a slick, revenge action drama. If you're interested in checking out historical fiction, I also recommend The Princess' Man, Queen In Hyun's Man, and Gaksital (Bridal Mask).

Have fun getting into kdramas - you have to enter the genre with a certain willingness to suspend belief and just enjoy the ride!

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That is true, everyone has different tastes. I've always watched American dramas but seeing the recent big interest in Korean entertainment has me curious about what's so great/addictive about it. I like kpop but it isn't all that different from mainstream music I listen to (and I listen to a variety of music). I guess I just wanted to understand and be a part of the Hallyuwave. So I am trying my best to enter into k-entertainment particularly dramas but it's not easy when you couldn't find the right drama that pulls you in. Thanks for listing your favourite dramas, it certainly helps to have good choices. I'll check them out in due time! :)

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I can't believe I forgot Queen In Hyun's Man - I love that one, it's one that I've rewatched a couple of times. Goofy at the start, but it's intentional and dies down a bit after the first episodes - also the male lead is SMART and that goes a long, long way.

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Quick googling tells me it's a time-travel fantasy-romance drama. I happen to like fantasy romance (which is what drew me to watch Blood in the first place....but acting-wise for that drama was cringeworthy). But this one sounds promising - thanks :) before I couldn't find a decent drama to watch, now I have so many options before me :D

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Queen In Hyun's Man doesn't just involve time travel, it had a lead who actually thinks about time travel and uses it to his advantage. And the direction is great in that it often shows him being very still, but obviously working things out in his head before he comes up with the answer. And it's got a lot of romance, with leads who have great chemistry.

If you like fantasy romance, Arang and the Magistrate should be on your research list, as should My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho.

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LOL! Purely graphical and therefore unpronounceable moniker...

I thought you may like to know that the Post in Dramabeans called Open Thread has a whole lot of posts on the shows being watched with brief reviews by commenters, plus lists of recommendations too. You can go there to take a peek as well. Open Thread is out every Friday (depending on where you are). The question you posted here could have been posted there as well and also garnered lots of reponses. :)

As a matter of interest, the show Healer had more than 4,000 comments twice (I believe) and more than 3,000 comments twice, during it's airing. It's just a testament to its popularity. You can decide for yourself if you think it is good. :)

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Gaksital was Dramabeans 2012 Editors’ Pick for Best Drama, Best Actor (Joo won), Best Supporting Actor (Park Ki Woong), Best Directing, among others. I did not think I would like it because of the genre but I got hooked. I would recommend I Remember You and I Hear Your Voice as well.

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It is much better than Doctor Stranger, but still has some of the same stereotype faults as many Korean med dramas do.

As a drama, it is pretty good - 5 stars. As medical drama, not so much - 2.5 stars.

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Can't wait for Yeojin to actually get out of bed and start catching up on everything...and some revenge!!!

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1. Annflln, Adal... Yes I missed IRY and can't help bringing up it here...

2. Yongpal's remark to the girl certainly create lots of discussion here. A very harsh remark but most likely he needed to jolt her into feeling "guilty" and that being negligent, naive and reckless may result in something undesirable and tragic.

I am still surprised why the writer had to insert that statement... But I like some insights here like how yongpal blamed himself rather than others for his situations. It's very easy to rant at the world for all the injustices but then again, he can't change the world. Something new I am learning here. Coming from that angle I can see why he sort of "blamed" her

3. And why would the writer said something like that.. I recall parents often warn their kids not to talk to strangers, not to invite strangers into the house.... Perhaps the writer wants to warn people that bad stuff may happen if we are not careful. It's not safe to presume that people would respect no for an answer - so the best route is not to walk into someone's room. I don't agree she should be blamed but I certainly don't endorse her taking such a risk.

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Just a side note on the "don't talk to strangers" thing - that has been around since at least the 1930's. Yet actual crime stats show that close to 95% of all child abuse, kidnappings, murders, and other on-child violence comes from people they know.

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Isn't yeojin the real heiress? Wouldn't it benefit them all if they help her get out? They seem to be choosing sides poorly here..

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For those who are riling over the victim blaming act by Tae Hyun, let me ask you - Would you follow and walk into the hotel room of a man you do not know?

@Miranda, you said
"Tae Hyun sure made it seem like he think that if someone invites you to a tea house and then you don’t want to drink tea, it’s partly your fault that the other person poured scalding tea down your throat."

Did the Hallyu star invite the girl to a tea house? If he had asked her out to a cafe or any public house, even the hotel restaurant and assaulted her. Yeah, I can't say she made a mistake.

But that's not what happened, right? She was somewhat intoxicated, got invited by Oppa to his hotel room, followed him and got dragged onto his bed.

Is she to be blamed for her rape? No. Did she made an error of judgement? Yes. She should not have followed him up to the hotel room. I doubt if she refused at say the hotel lobby, he could have carried her kicking and screaming up to his room.

Some will then say, if a girl follows a man to his hotel room, surely she is not giving consent to sex. Yes, she are not giving consent. The drama did not deny she was raped. But would you or would you tell your daughter that it is fine to
- follow a man to his house or hotel room if you don't know him well?
- follow a stranger to his hotel room where he can overpower you when you say no?

I think this is what Tae Hyun is saying. That was the mistake she made. He made no bones about what he thought about the Hallyu jerk, his contempt and probably hated himself for not be able to report the crime. But Tae Hyun definitely did not say she is to be blamed for her rape. As her doctor, he did know about PSTD and recommended it but got shot down by Chief Lee.

In the control room, he also knew that she was suffering from guilt. The entire incident had been covered up by the media so no one knew what had really happened to her. Her hallucinations of people sneering at her stemmed from her guilt. Tae Hyun knew that and addressed it. He knew that she was feeling guilty but the unfairness of it all cause her to take revenge. He was pointing out to her that though she had made a mistake, she shouldn't take everyone down with her. Especially when the real criminal has fled.

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"Is she to be blamed for her rape? No. Did she made an error of judgement? Yes. She should not have followed him up to the hotel room. I doubt if she refused at say the hotel lobby, he could have carried her kicking and screaming up to his room."

Here's the difference: it's a crime to sexually assault someone. It is not a crime to enter a room, or to leave a room, or to tell someone to leave a room.

It was jarring and wrong to hear a doctor to say that while her assailant was wrong, she was wrong too. Nope! Her assailant was COMMITTING A CRIME. She committed no crime. Other than Tae Hyun's asinine accusation that she went to that hotel room to enjoy reflected fame, which he has apparently made up all on his own in the Law Books of Bad Doctors. Last I heard, going into a hotel room or hanging out with someone famous is not a criminal act.

That's the danger in conflating these things. There is a single criminal here: the idol. The only person who decided to commit a crime was the idol, and the one who would have had to decide not to commit a crime was the idol. And unless I missed some audio, wasn't this girl referred to as his girlfriend? And even if she wasn't, then do we know how she ended up in the hotel room? Maybe he said he wanted to change his shoes, or offered her some water (it's a huge suite) or said there was a party up there with other people. And you know, even if she went up there and then decided she was too drunk and said she wasn't to leave... That means nothing. He wasn't entitled to sex. She said no, and he beat the hell out of her.

Criminal acts and risky decisions do not belong in the same breath. I would certainly expect a doctor to know that, and I can straight-up tell you that "you made a mistake, and now you're trying to take out a lot of innocent people because you feel guilty" is not how you talk to rape survivors.

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When did I say she committed a crime? Did Tae Hyun say she committed a crime? He said she made a mistake in judgement.

Essentially he was saying
You made a mistake and therefore you feel guilty about it. But do not let innocent people die because of your guilt and wanting to get back at the real criminal.

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He said that the idol had done something terrible, but that she had made a mistake too and felt guilty for it. There was no reason to link the two things, because her "mistake" did not cause her rape. The idol caused her rape.

The idea that she made a "mistake" is his opinion, not a fact. It's a fact that the idol committed a crime. But it's only Tae Hyun's own opinion that terms the girl's actions a "mistake", and it's revolting that he makes the leap that she's trying to blow up the hospital because she feels guilty for "making a mistake". How the hell does he know? Maybe she just wanted to end it, because PSTD does that to you, and she wanted to take out the Twelfth Floor that carefully crafted all those lies that covered her assault.

My point is: Tae Hyun makes a wild assumption, based on his personal opinion that going to a hotel room is a "mistake" worthy of feeling guilty about. He's spent all of three minutes with her while she's conscious, and he says that to her. It made me want to reach through the screen and throttle him, and genuinely made me worried about how a line like that made it to air - is that seriously accepted thinking in Korea?

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KOPREA IS MORE ADVANCE THAN ANY OTHER COUNTRY SEE 18 MOVIE FOR THAT..............

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Whether it is a crime or not to follow a stranger to a hotel room, drunk, is irrelevant. It is inherently a far more dangerous situation than NOT following him. I did not see him blaming her for getting assaulted, I saw him putting some blame on her for going into dangerous territory, enticed by the "idol image".

It is a simple fact that some situations are more dangerous than others. Try walking through a Crips/Blood neighborhood waving a White Power flag. Yes, the guys that blow you away are criminals, but it was you that put yourself into a risky zone.

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+1

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"Try walking through a Crips/Blood neighborhood waving a White Power flag."

Well that's provocation, but I get what you're going for. If you walk through a Crips neighborhood at all, and you get shot, then does it make any sense for the police lieutenant to look at you and say "well, you're partly responsible for this, since you shouldn't have been there anyway" even though he has no idea why you were actually there? He's guessing. And it's not appropriate.

My problem with the scene is that a person in a position of authority chose to impose his opinion of someone else's behavior on that person when they were in high distress. We're supposed to like Tae Hyun and think that he's got it together. He didn't come across that way.

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Also, the tea house analogy is based on this consent analogy: https://vimeo.com/126553913

I wasn't actually suggesting the idol brought her to a tea house. Watch the video, it'll explain what I meant.

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@SS

Well said. That's my understanding as well. He's not blaming the victim for being raped. He's saying she feels guilty for putting herself in a vulnerable position by following that slime ball to his room. As awful as this may sound, she does bear some responsibility for putting herself in a dangerous position where she could be hurt. It's akin to walking through a dark alleyway and getting shot or mugged. No one would blame the victim for being mugged, but the situation could've been avoided if they had stayed away from a dark and isolated spot.

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About the Hallyu star sexual assault case, I think the writer is trying to address some current issues.

Perhaps in Korea, there were incidents of
1) fans who follow their idols to hotel rooms and got assaulted?
(seriously, your Oppa is a stranger, not someone you know)
2) star wannabes who hang out with celebrities to get famous by association and got into compromising situations?

I don't think it's telling them that they asked for it but rather they should be careful and not place themselves in this kind of dangerous situation.

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Then the writer should work on a show where that's an actual storyline, not a crime-of-the-week where a doctor tells a PTSDing rape victim that she's right to feel guilty about the "mistake" she made that led to her rape.

This was incredibly poorly handled, and I don't think the messages you're suggesting above got through. This episode very much read as the woman (who did not even get a name, let's remember!) being partly responsible for being assaulted. That's awful.

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they could skip that line, if he said that the girl wanted to get revenge on the Hallyu star and the hospital, doctors basically covered up the injustice done to her, so she wanted to blow them up all, but unfortunately they ran away and she was going to ome innocent people, it could make sense and sufficient.

Accusing the girl, and honest Yong Pal did not know exactly what happened there, he just guessed the possible scenario, he did not why exactly she went there and how was their relationship, at least the drama did not show us about anything about that. The reactions are coming because believe me those words hit your ears like......crap!!!

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You missed it. Tae Hyun even called her by her name - Hae In.

Neither did Tae Hyun said she was right to feel guilty. He only said she made a mistake.

I can only agree with the part you said about how Tae Hyun could have known. I wondered too but I took that was an assumption made by writer and not Tae Hyun. It could have been better.

I also watched part of the video you post. Nothing that I didn't know before or believe in. Woman has the right to say no, no conditions or situations to that. There is a difference between knowing you have the right to consent to sex and putting yourself in dangerous situation. I am talking about consequences and judgement calls, not about rights or guilt.

Women absolutely have the rights to say No to sex no matter what but that doesn't mean we go and put ourselves in dangerous situations.

I think I have said enough about this. Having a right to say No does not mean you are safe. Have common sense or know how to protect yourself. If you know or unknowingly put yourself in danger and got assaulted, my sympathies to you but don't repeat the same mistake. By being vigilant does not mean that no harm will come your way in the future but at least you minimize the chances.

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"If you know or unknowingly put yourself in danger and got assaulted, my sympathies to you but don’t repeat the same mistake."

I guess this is where we differ. If you list your microwave on Craigslist and someone shows up and mugs you, I'm not going to mutter "well, you should have known not to advertise online" while comforting you. If an acquaintance hands you a drink at a party and you wake up the next morning with no memory and bruises, I'm not going to chide you for accepting a drink from someone you thought you knew.

It's on criminals not to commit crimes. We can each voluntarily and proactively take precautions and I don't think that's a bad thing to do, but I vehemently reject the idea that it's appropriate to tsk tsk at a crime victim about not being careful enough in retrospect.

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I can't believe you've maintained such civility while arguing with these appalling people. The line in the episode was bad enough, but to read all these comments defending it has just put me off the drama and any future Joo Won drama entirely.

I guess this episode has taught me a lesson though. I'd been willing to overlook a lot of the sexism and aggressive handling of women in kdramas as just being behind the times and not really that harmful, but we all know Korea has a massive problem with sexual assult and also how it's viewed and handled (though, let's face it, nowhere is perfect on that front) and its hard not to see these attitudes and tropes as being part of the problem.

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I don't think Yong Pal reprimanding the victim about her naivete and lack of judgment necessarily means he thinks she asked for it. His actions from the minute he assessed her injury in the hotel room to his risking his well-being (and his sister's) to rescue her prove otherwise. If she wasn't assaulted and let's say just got her heartbroken or was blown off, Yong Pal could've told her she should be smarter than to chase a stranger for his money and fame, no one would say he was victim blaming. It's a complicated world out there, guys...

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I agree.

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Terribly stupid episode, made even worse y the random misogynist rape apologist bs they felt the need to enter. Literally were it not for the very last line from Yeo Jin I would be dropping this drama immediately.

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THEN DROP IOT MAN U CANT JUDGE A KLINE WELL WHY BOTHEGR WATCHING

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Please, no more all-caps posts.

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this drama is really interesting, love it. some of you recomend drama, but for me i will recommend
romcom:delightfull chun hyang, my girl. thriller/ action: bridal mask, green rose, melodrama:bad love, stained glass,family drama: baker king kim tak gu, my preciouss child, my heart twinkle twinkle, sageuk:queen seundek, dae jang geum, empress ki, the three musketeers n for science fiction :nine time travel

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@Miranda, you get at one of the reasons I'm not willing to give the show/writers any benefit of the doubt on this one-- the whole thing was a really nasty example of the ol' rape as plot device trope. Something that at best I think you can say is waaaay overdone, even if you don't want to fully unpack the politics of it. It was just a cheap shot that segued into some really nasty rape culture ideas and then dissolved into an absurd nuclear reactor sabotage because of an irrational aggreived woman.

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I agree with you that this was a visit to the rape-plot-device. What really blew a hole in the episode for me was our hero, a supposed doctor, would shift blame to someone he absolutely knew was a PTSDing sexual assault victim - one who had very nearly been killed in addition to rape.

When you take everything else away, we're supposed to see Tae Hyun's argument that she's partly to blame because she made a "mistake" as having merit. It's a hideous statement for the show to make, and I can't believe that NO ONE saw this coming.

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SS,

You made very good assessments. It's undeniable that yongpal's comments sounded awful and unfair but clearly, he was desperate to make her snap out of the whole thing.

While the argumens presented by others are valid, sadly, the world doesn't operate on such honorable gestures eg Back off when the female says no, save people regardless of their status, etc. This is a flawed world full of materialism and injustice and we should not assume that the rich will help the poor, guys would respect girls, etc....yes we expect the world to be fair and work towards that idealism but let's be real, it's a harsh world out there...

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I believe SS is looking out for the interests of general crowd here. No rape is justified. No matter what circumstances. But always be careful. I have had lots of people telling me that it's "chicken" to avoid walking along dark alleys, live in cheaper flats but risk bad security, etc.
It took a snatch thief one minute to take away my friend's belongings when she asked me to walk ten mins to her car instead of risking the traffic to my place.
And one girl was raped by a guy who crept behind her as she was about to enter her flats. It was brutal act, totally unfair and she did no wrong. But it's such a horrible world.... And we should be very alert at all times. Ladies beware....

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Well, I was attacked at 930 am on a Tuesday in the entry of my office by a guy who not only looked like a totally normal office worker (spoiler: he was not!), but held the door open for me on our way in. So it can happen literally anywhere, anytime.

That's part of why I call bullshit so furiously on this topic: there is only one person in these encounters that makes the decision to do something criminal. Sure, be alert, but you don't get attacked because you somehow weren't vigilant enough, you get attacked because some arrogant jerk has decided that he wants something from you and he's just going to take it. Once the crime happens, that's it. Absolutely nothing a victim wore or did should be held against her as evidence that she somehow invited the crime.

Again: it's fine to voluntarily take precautions and be careful. But in my opinion, it is incredibly not fine to imply in any way that the victim of a crime brought it upon themselves by not being careful enough.

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@Miranda

My heartfelt commiserations. It's horrible. Long ago, someone entered my home to rob and went into my room and touched my personal stuff... I wasn't in, thankfully .... but he left evidence among my things and I felt so violated!!! :(

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Glad you are safe. What a horrible experience.

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Thanks - and sorry to hear about your burglar. I had someone leap in my window once looking to rob the place, having no idea I was sitting in a corner reading. Having your personal space invaded is jarring and kind of makes you reevaluate how delicate social arrangements are. We take it as a given that people won't hit you, rob you or attack you for no reason, because that's really the only way to get through the day without being a paranoid basketcase.

I swear that part of the reason people react to news of attacks with "well, did you do something wrong?" is because they want reassurance that if they just do everything right, they won't get attacked. That if they're just smarter and more careful they'll be safe. It's much easier to believe that if you can convince yourself that victims somehow brought on their injury.

As much as being assaulted sucked, it did wake me up to that little mind-trick: if you need to tell yourself that being careful will save you, then the flip side is telling yourself that anyone who was injured did something wrong to cause it. I now guard against that instinct pretty hard.

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Hugs. I was violated in a bus and the first thing people asked was what was I wearing. The unsexiest dress ever. I glared at him and gave him the evil eye and moved away. A friend of mine was a just sitting beside a man in a crowded bus and she froze when he touched her on her thigh. She got up and alighted. I wished I had punched him and took his picture (I did a week later when I saw him again!) but we never ever could guess what might happen to us in an instant and for me, my anger didn't translate well into a heroic act of reporting it to the bus driver. Both my friend and I took weeks to recover. I was angry, but fear overtook me every morning until I finally could let it go.

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You know what's crazy? I was dressed in an outfit that wouldn't have looked totally out of place on Park Shin Hye's nun character out of You're Beautiful. There was not an inch of visible skin above my jawline (I was wearing a turtleneck). I was going to work, broad daylight, streets full of people. I did not have headphones in and paid attention to my intuition and looked this guy right in the eye.

And I still felt like there was something more that I should have or could have done to avoid this, even though logically I knew that there really wasn't. It was a terrible feeling, even as police officers and coworkers told me that I shouldn't, and that this was all the work of a single creep. But given that I really was as vigilant/careful as possible and I STILL got attacked and sunk into depression and paranoia, it made me think of women who were maybe wearing a v-neck, or a short skirt, or walked home through a shortcut or let a coworker walk them home. And it makes me blazingly angry to think that those women might be faced with anything but unwavering support, because no, you didn't bring it on yourself.

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Miranda,

Thank you so much for all your comments in this post. Really and truly. I agree with everything you said. It is always the rapist's fault for violating and assaulting the victim/survivor; he controls his own actions and he is the one who committed a crime.

And victims and survivors of sexual assault should always and only be treated with compassion and warmth.

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Oh dear, just among commenters here, so many already have had these kinds of unpleasant experiences!!!

I'm glad you're OK now @light. I know it takes time to get rid of the horrid feeling about it all.

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the victim girl in this episode reminds me of the the scandal of Kim Hyun-joong ....... its still big in SKorea i think and still not been settled... the views of the public regarding the issue is divided who should be blame

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Hi miranda, very sorry to hear your bad experience. It's shocking what kind of evil lurks within someone who appears nice outwardly.

Obviously the writer isn't as polished as what we expected. I wonder whether that statement draws criticisms from the audience in Korea.

YongPal was wrong to say that but he saved her twice despite being told not to. And the second time he saved her then only he went to switch off the panel board, at the risk of his own contamination.

Trying to put myself in his shoes, I think he did try the diplomatic way but she shot it down with "everyone die". Perhaps at that point, he became angry with her coz he tried so hard, so hard to care for his little sister and now she could die along with the others. Another thing is that yongpal is definitely not a professional negotiator and he's definitely not saying the right things but he did do the right thing by saving her even though he was not the security guard... And I am very annoyed at the security team...

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Hmmmm... pretty interesting topics. About the story line and stuffs. One thing that I can say is, this is a foreign drama, from Korea and some of the things that we see on this movie, may not agree with the culture that is not Korean. This probably are non issue for Korean viewers, so I guess, its just foreign viewers who have issues with it.

Well, I will just enjoy the drama as is. Not much thinking as its meant to be enjoyed - watching. Besides, Dr. Kim is my kind of doctor, not yours, mine only. So I guess that is also a non-issue. Right.

Yong Pal... come to me.

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Ooops... sorry its a drama, not a movie. Heck watching multiple stuffs and reading multiple stuffs is not good when commenting. Hur. ^^

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ohhhh now I know why the poster of yong pal is like that hahaha this is not just a drama show about doctorsssssss this is about society? social class hierarchy? how rich and poor live and how they cope with life ............oooooh am I correct Mr. writer????????????

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@natalie

It includes the theme of having/regaining free agency in one's life, irregardless of whether one is rich or poor. Both Tae Hyun and Yeo Jin are not in control of their own lives. Neither is Chief Lee.

There are also moral questions:

- Save oneself or save others at a risk to self.

- Be subservient, accept crookedness and hide the crimes of those who pay one or stand up and blow the whistle on those crimes.

- Healthcare privileges do they go to who needs them or to who pays more

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@ gummimochi
Thank you for your recap!

What I like is that the story is moving right along. At least we are not stuck with Yeo Jin in that 'glass bottle' beyond the episode. I felt her frustration and kind of applaud her attempts to re-take control, even if it meant losing her life. It was better than just lying there and waiting for the nurse to find her and dose her again.

I feel that she did not really want to kill herself, but she needed to change the setup so that she was not still locked away in her room, and it worked. With that glimpse of her, Tae Hyun realized that the comatose woman was actually a determined and frustrated person (like himself) and not a limp rag.

The other thing I like are that Tae Hyun is fast gathering supporters, and that more of them are women rather than men, and they are not wall flowers. :)

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Thank you for another wonder recap gummimochi :D

I loved all the episodes so far and ep 4 is not exception. What I like were:
1) Tae Hyun's realization that he has walked into a nefarious scheme and may never walked out of it alive. Despite working himself to the bones and taking all sorts of risks, he has been an optimistic bloke so far. Perhaps, he saw the light at the end of the tunnel - the day when he pays all his debts and his sister gets her transplant and lives well. Then he can go back and live an ordinary life. Now, it's impossible. He has been sucked into a potential murder, an evil scheme where the players are rich and powerful.
2) Gang Boss, Doo Chul is a hoot! I laughed so hard when he was digging Tae Hyun. He's always gets the better of TH. The convo was so hilarious but one dig made me pause. He remarked that TH looked more like a doctor when he was doing his Yong Pal calls. Here in the big hospital, TH looks like a bellhop. Besides the obvious snide remark on TH's appearance, I think there's a double meaning there. It's true that Yong Pal was really saving lives whereas on the 12th floor, he really isn't practicing medicine. It's all outward appearance and fake.
3) I like how the drama shows Yeo Jin's prison. The glass panels are like high walls which she can never climb out from. When Tae Hyun shine his pen torch into her pupils, it manifested as a beam of light to Yeo Jin.
4) The scene where the VIPs are escorted to safety first before everyone else can evacuate is sad and horrible but in real life, things like this do happen. Take for example the Sewol ferry disaster. In that one, the captain and crew weren't rich but they had the knowledge and power. Instead of evacuating or telling the students to come up on deck, they told the students to stay put in the cabin and escaped themselves, abandoning the ship. Only a few brave crew stayed behind to help the students and sacrificed themselves. In this drama, I can think of Tae Hyun and Cynthia who might do that.

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#4 - I think that scenario was an obvious and direct shot of the Sewol mess, and indirectly at Korean society.

What it failed to point out is that most of those involved in the Sewol disaster are now in jail.

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That's too early to tell, I am sure all the bad guys in this show are going to jail. Technically it should include Tae Hyun too.

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@Miranda
Hypothetically, if you were in Tae Hyun's shoes, with all his experiences and knowledge, what would you have said or done? What would have been the better response? How should he have handled that situation in order to save everyone?

@gummimochi Or @javabeans was it really said that way or was something lost in translation? This is regarding the controversial alleged "victim blaming line" of Tae Hyun. Thanks!

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I've have said that we'd find her help for her understandable pain, that we'd deal with the PTSD and that the feelings she's experiencing are normal with trauma and can be managed, that the Idol who had hurt her was long gone from the hospital and that meant that letting the nuclear meltdown happen would only doom the innocent people in the hospital to agony. And that she's not like the idol, that she doesn't hurt innocent people for no reason, and to take the better path.

At no point was it necessary to imply that she should feel guilt for getting herself into trouble by going to the idol's hotel room.

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@mah SORRY FOR INTERFERING ..... I know your question was direct to @Miranda. But I too dont like that scene, rather than Tae Hyun I want to ask the whole crew , the writer, director or whoever let that character utter those words, what are you trying to say??? because, after that the lady had a change of mind, why????I assume that is because he was speaking the truth??? she thinks she is guilty??? even her protest seemed weaker, not convincing !!

Once in a tv show a social worker said that when we are physically abused or robbed or even meet car accident, we talk about it, we ask for justice but when it comes to sexual assault, victims cant be open about it, the major reason is in these cases victims are also accused partly along with the abuser.

They could show us, that Tae Hyun told her that the one she wanted to kill has already ran away, now rather than killing herself and other innocent people she should leave and try to punish the bastard , and then she would redeem her mistake would be a better scene.

I dont want to blame Tae Hyun, it was written script he said that, but I cant be happy with the writer that he/ she has written that for lead dialogue. I dont find any logic that it was his character, because at the end of the day saying those words, he became a hero, a saviour !!!!

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It's sad that Yeo Jin is trapped but I can't wait for her to turn things around and be the savior instead. The remark she made to our YongPal held so much meanings:
1. Appears as if she was trying to make a deal but earlier she did wonder who this doc is - gangster talk and all those strange dealings - so I believe she genuinely wanna give her money.
2. Her brief scene at the balcony depicts a lovely girl. Standing apart from the crowd she seemed to have a depth in her character noting all the other women appeared to be the same.
3. I think her role is a nice departure from other kdrama heroine roles. Most are poor girls looking for rich chaebol to rescue them and I am really excited to see reversed roles here. I think there will be lots of fun and intrigue as she began to take control of her conglomerate and perhaps ensure a greater transparency in her healthcare group.

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@Growingbeautiful
Very sorry to hear such a terrible outcome... Thank God you are safe...

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Thank you Shuerei. :)

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Thanks for the recap - I teared up again just reading the part about him and his mom. Joo won’s crying scenes are always so heartbreakingly real.

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Just what i was about to write. Joo Won crying scenes are so real, they hit you right there. It's hard to beat him in that department...

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Yes, I still remember some of his other crying scenes - in Ojakkyo Brothers (when he was begging the grandma – you couldn't help but cry along with him) and Gaksital (when his mom died – I didn't expect the wailing - and when he was eating the potato mentioned by SS below while reminiscing about his brother).

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@ Athena
Yeah it was a raw and vulnerable moment. He didn't try to justify anything. If he had not revealed how exhausted he was, I wouldn't have known... and it's sad that the only comfort he gets was a dream. So I am amazed he was able to hold onto everything with all his strength and persistence.
It just struck me what a contrast between him and our resident evil brother.

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Yes – he seemed so vulnerable in the dream. It was very moving.

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Did anyone else get the "Kangto Potato" moment at the part where Tae Hyun cried drinking his mom's soybean paste stew?

Joo Won always nails his crying scenes because he really cries.

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Yes – I remember that - it was one of the most memorable scenes in Gaksital for me.

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I'm gonna pause this drama until Yeo-jin wakes up for good and starts kicking some butts. Because this whole deal with her being so helpless is getting on my nerves. I have no patience for this.

I understand this is a Korean show and it's a different culture but gosh, that rape storyline felt like a slap in the face.

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Pause for 3 days? Cuz she's going to wake up next episode and kill everyone. Just kidding...I mean the kill everyone part although I would certainly like her to kick butts.

Kim Tae Hee said in an interview that her character will be "asleep" for 4 episodes. So, she's gonna wake up for real this time.

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I looked and it's 20 episodes long?! I thought it was gonna be 16. I'm gonna wait until episode 10 and then I'm gonna catch up.

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