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Poong the Joseon Psychiatrist 2: Episodes 3-4

The clinic family have left the problems of the palace behind, but trouble insists on following them back to their village. Just how much grief can the newest additions cause our beloved found family? We’re about to find out.

 
EPISODES 3-4 WEECAP

We resume this week with Seo-yi causing a ruckus on her arrival at Gyesu clinic, and afterwards, Kang-il marches in with a royal order to evaluate the clinic. Apparently, it’s not enough for the king to confer regional medical office status to a clinic, because said clinic must first meet the requirements of the medical headquarters in the palace. Long story short, the fate of Gyesu clinic lies in the hands of Kang-il’s evaluation.

These medics are on their way to becoming even more annoying than the villains in the first season, and they will stop at nothing to bring the Gyesu clinic to ruins. It’s almost like the mere existence of the clinic is a threat to them, and I have no idea why they’re so scared of their position in the palace being taken over by Ji-han and Poong — especially when the duo have repeatedly proven to want nothing to do with the palace.

Kang-il positions himself as the hunting dog to get rid of the Gyesu clinic for good, in return for becoming the head of the medical office in the palace — after the current head has moved up in ranks, of course. And Kang-il must be very naive if he thinks that the hunting dog will be allowed to become the hunter at the end of the hunt. But then, he seems to have many tricks up his sleeve, and I doubt that he’ll willingly accept the shorter end of the stick when all of this is over.

I mean, the evaluation business is in part a result of what Seo-yi thinks is a mutually beneficial alliance between herself and Kang-il. Meanwhile, he just capitalizes on her bruised pride after Poong turned down her marriage proposal, and leads her on to believe that only by destroying what Poong cherishes the most (the Gyesu clinic itself, and the family) will he leave the village and come running into her arms as a last resort. Tsk. Seo-yi is reluctant to participate in the “destruction” of Poong, but infatuation beats out common sense, and she agrees to the plan.

Poong the Joseon Psychiatrist 2: Episodes 3-4

As expected, Kang-il’s assessment of the clinic is heavily biased, and he picks on the littlest of things: like the disparity in payment between rich and poor — as though subsidizing treatment for the poor patients is such a bad thing. Kang-il also has issues with medicinal herbs being handled by a child (Jang-goon), and a sick old lady (Granny) being among the help. It does look bad when you put it like that. But hey, Jang-goon is a prodigy when it comes to herbs and everything else, and Granny isn’t directly involved with treatment of the patients.

For some reason, more than the Gyesu clinic itself, Kang-il has it out for Poong — even prodding him where it hurts most: his acupuncture PTSD. “Prove you’re indeed a physician, administer acupuncture.” Ugh! I hate him so much. It seems like Kang-il was jealous of being second place to the “Divine Needle” all along. Okay, now there’s no competition for first place since Poong can no longer administer acupuncture. So, can Kang-il leave him alone already?!

Poong the Joseon Psychiatrist 2: Episodes 3-4

When the patient of the week (a novel writer dealing with a skin condition) is rescued from the river, Poong is dragged to the office of the new district governor, AHN HAK-SOO (Baek Sung-chul) — who, might just happen to be Ib-bun’s biological uncle — for investigation. Here Kang-il blames Poong for failing to cure the patient, driving her to suicide. “How long will you make your patients suffer for your arrogance?” he asks Poong. But that’s ironic coming from someone who prevented the villagers from receiving treatment at the clinic in the name of evaluation. Tsk.

After spending most of the week being a brat, throwing things, and reading novels in her spare time, Seo-yi finally ends her partnership with Kang-il because how dare they treat her future husband like a criminal? It’s too late, anyway, because Kang-il no longer needs her. But that doesn’t stop Seo-yi from making a blank check deal with Eun-woo in exchange for helping Poong.

Poong the Joseon Psychiatrist 2: Episodes 3-4

On reading the patient’s “suicide note,” Seo-yi — thanks to being a voracious reader — already spotted that it was part of a paragraph from a transcribed novel. And this helps to prove that the note was faked and the patient didn’t attempt suicide. Seo-yi is also instrumental in finding the patient’s diary, from where Poong and Eun-woo learn that the patient was severely bullied by her coworkers who also threw her novels into the river — which is how she almost drowned when she went to retrieve her books.

Suppression of her emotions led to continuous itching which is how the patient developed her skin condition. And after the bullies are brought to justice, the itching stops, putting her on the road to recovery. “I put it to you that acupuncture is not the only way to heal a patient,” Poong says to Kang-il in Joseon lingo, as the clinic family walks away in victory, leaving Kang-il alone to grapple with the cat who’s got his tongue.

The clinic finally gets the official approval to operate as a palace-affiliated medical office, and as it stands, the score line reads: Gyesu clinic 100-0 Medical office. Heh. Kang-il is summoned back to Hanyang by the angry overlords at the headquarters, leaving our found family to have some much needed peace. Or not. Because just when I think that Seo-yi has come to terms with the status quo as regards to Poong’s affections, she comes to cash in her blank check with Eun-woo, and the only thing she wants is Poong’s heart. Just great!

Seo-yi is all bark and no bite, like a typical spoiled child with anger issues, and I’m not even worried because she doesn’t seem like a serious threat to anyone in the show. Her character mostly just makes me roll my eyes when she’s on screen, unlike Kang-il who is actually infuriating. It’s clearly not over for Kang-il’s plans to do away with Poong, and I wonder what hurdles await our found family next — no thanks to the unending schemes of the medical office to bring down the Gyesu clinic.

Poong the Joseon Psychiatrist 2: Episodes 3-4

 
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It's so much easier to read the recap than ff through the whole thing. Five minutes and done. Thanks, @unit.

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I thought I was the only fast-forwarding like crazy 😭. Kang-il is infuriating just like @unit said and I don't want to listen to his nonsense.

I'm glad they're going to address Seo-yi's anger issues. Finally some acknowledgement that the 'crazy second FL' trope is really a mental health issue!

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same here

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So agree! FFing liberally, stopping only to appreciate KMJ's smile. Seriously, this is a complete repetition of Season 1 - what is the point, please?

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there's not middleground for me when it comes to this drama. what I like about it, I like it A LOT (the cute romance, the found family and side characters in the clinic, each individual case and how they "heal the soul") and what I dislike it, I also dislike it A LOT. I can't STAND these second leads they added. they're cartoonish, not charismatic at all and now the whole thing about the chief royal doctor and the annoying SML is just a repeat of season 1. WHY, DRAMA?! it's showing, once again, that this season 2 format was just unnecessary. they could have had more eps for season 1 and just wrap the whole thing.

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They could have added 10 minutes to season one finale and shown us a wedding of the lead couple without the whole father's transfer and king's order thing.

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That's how I feel about the drama too. And the two parts (the part I love and the part I can't stand) are given about the same amount of screentime, so it's infuriating. It's like having my favorite ice cream and someone putting olives (which I dislike) in it. Sure, I guess I can eat around it, but it ruins the enjoyment.

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I love olives but I dislike mixing sweet and salty foods so I totally agree with the comparison LOL usually a drama that I liked enough to keep watching will only have a few bits that I dislike. when it becomes more than that, I will just stop the whole thing. poong is the first one that I actually FF scenes bcs I cant deal with these two new characters. and like you said, they have a lot of screen time. its so annoying lol I just want to see them getting romantic and cute and adorable.

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Can someone send our message to the writers that the bratty princess and the evil physician are ruining the show? Why can't we continue with the case of the week format until we find a way for Poong to get over his PTSD and then stay as both a psychiatrist and physician who can administer acupuncture?

I am glad they will address Seo-yi's anger issues next week and I hope this will be the end of what we will see of her.

It is really infuriating how people call Eun-woo out for being a widow. As much as I liked how Kang-il defended her (It is nobody's fault when one loses a spouse), it isn't out of his convictions but because of his crush on her. Especially since he is the despicable one, as far as anyone but Eun-woo is concerned.

I feel for the writer girl. She was severely bullied and no one but the clinic family stood by her side. I am happy she finally got it off her chest but bullying remains as the most cruel thing one could do to another and I hope one day, it gets punishable by law.

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Yeeeeeeeeessssssss, so much a better drama with Poong addressing his PTSD, and then perhaps choosing to stay a psychiatrist, although he could go back to physician, because he's found his true calling. Wow, it's not hard, writer...

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Not hard at all, writernim

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Thank you for the recap, @unit, and having to closely watch some of the more annoying scenes so that they could be recapped!

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Can't someone explain to me why our couple is not married? Is Eun Woo not allowed to get married again or are they waiting for the mourning period to pass? Why oh why are they dragging this rommance? I am really confused/curious.

I haven't watched ep 3 & 4 but leaving my comment here since this post is the most recent and hoping someone able to help me.

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