One of the things I love most about this drama is that it never fails to entertain. Episode after episode, week after week, I find myself looking forward to discovering what comes next. Sometimes I’m so desperate for the next episode, I actually force myself to wait until the day new episodes come out, before I watch the older episodes, just so I don’t have to wait an entire week to find out what happens next. Sure, the waiting is a bit brutal but… Oh who am I kidding!?! It doesn’t matter when I watch an episode! No matter which episode I watch or when I watch it, I’m always left desperately wishing for more!
But enough about my desperate need for more episodes. Last week we left Hyun in a rather dire situation and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one dying to see how that whole bus fiasco resolved. Sure, it wasn’t really the most life-or-death situation ever, I mean it’s not like the bus was hanging over a cliff or anything, but still. There was enough going on to make you think that Hyun might not come out unscathed. I have to admit, I was relieved he wasn’t severely hurt but I’m even more relieved that this situation (and the help of Dr. Song) is what helped him overcome the ghosts of his past. After all those episodes of him hating himself for not being able to perform a task as rudimentary as intubation, he’s finally found the courage to tackle this demon head-on and that makes me so happy!
Of course, having Eun Jae be the one to talk him through all his doubt and give him the strength to believe in himself only makes me that much more happy. I know there’s a lot more to this drama than the feelings developing between our lead characters but I can’t pretend that I’m not excited by their budding relationship. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching the relationship between these two develop, going from colleagues to friends to whatever the heck they are now. (Almost lovers? Jealous friends? Misunderstood Colleagues? I don’t really know what to call it but I sure as heck am enjoying watching all of this unfold!) Being forced into such difficult situations, both at work and off the clock, has given Eun Jae and Hyun a chance to see various sides of each other and it’s this constantly being forced to depend on each other that’s brought about such strong feelings between the two. If you think about it, there’s no way people who have been through so much could possibly avoid such a development in their relationship. It’s a Drama Land inevitability; trials breed romance, which is why Kim Jae Gul has had such a sudden change of heart when it comes to Song Eun Jae.
Poor Dr. Kim has spent his entire life feeling unloved and unwanted. We learn this week that, as a child, he spent more time with the family’s butler than he did his own parents. It seems it was this butler who raised him, or at least showed him any sort of real affection. Talk about sad! Here I spent all these episodes thinking that Jae Gul was shunned by his parents because he somehow had something to do with the death of his older brother. Now we see that even when his brother was alive, Jae Gul was still overlooked and mistreated by his parents. Growing up in such an environment, it’s no wonder Jae Gul has mistaken his feelings of gratitude towards Eun Jae as love! I seriously doubt whether Jae Gul has ever known what real love is, so to be confusing his feelings now only makes sense.
I probably shouldn’t feel this way but I find Jae Gul’s little declaration to Hyun, at the end of this last episode, rather humorous. I like that he gives his colleague/friend a heads-up about his intentions towards Dr. Song. Not only does it show that Jae Gul is aware of Hyun’s feelings for Eun Jae, but it also gives us a heads-up of what’s to come. You know that having this artists make a sudden appearance has shaken things up on the ship. Though Jae Gul may see this as his chance to make a move, what he doesn’t realize is that Eun Jae’s feelings are only getting stronger, now that this unexpected rival has shown up. Poor Jae Gul doesn’t stand a chance with Eun Jae but we all know that won’t keep him from trying to win her affections. My only question is, how messy will things get before Eun Jae and Hyun finally get together? (Oh please don’t let it be too awful! Please! Please! Please!)
I have to admit, as much as I like that Eun Jae’s feelings are getting stronger, I hate that it’s taken the arrival of Artist Choi to make her realize those feelings. Well… I’m not sure I can say she’s fully realized those feelings, at least not yet, but she’s certainly starting to understand that her feelings for Hyun are more than platonic. (Thank you green-eyed monster of jealousy!) I think I’m more annoyed by Artist Choi’s stubborn refusal to accept that things are over between her and Hyun, than anything else. Why is it drama ex-girlfriends can never get it through their head that things are really over? At the same time, how many times did Hyun take her back in the past, to make her think that she had a chance of being welcomed back now? Obviously this isn’t the first time she’s left Hyun, only to come crawling back later. So why did Hyun continue to take her back, when he knew she’d leave again? Was he that much in love with her or was he just starving for some sort of affection? I mean we did learn how bad things were at the Kwak household, this week. Did growing up in such a dysfunctional family have the same effect on Kwak that it did on Jae Gul? Are both of these men so desperate for affection that they’re willing to be mistreated, just to gain a few moments of love? It’s clear now that no matter how things went in the past, Hyun has finally moved on. (Funny how seeing your girlfriend making out with another man changes your perspective on things…) But what about Jae Gul? How much suffering is he going to have to endure before he accepts that Eun Jae’s heart belongs to someone else?
As entertaining and enlightening as these episodes were, they still managed to raise quite a few questions. Will watching his mother suffer a heart attack right in front of him be the thing that pushes Jae Gul towards earning a “real” medical degree? Not that being a doctor of Oriental medicine isn’t real. I just feel like Jae Gul chose this path to avoid his family and now that his mother has had a brush with death, I feel like he may decide to heal the breach between them. To do that, I really think Jae Gul is going to have to give up his practice as an Oriental doctor and go back to school to get whatever “real” degree it is his parents are pushing him towards. Or maybe he’ll decide to become a cardiologist so that the next time someone on his family has a heart attack, he’ll be the one to save them… It’s certainly seems like a possibility to me. Then again, maybe Jae Gul’s family will come to accept him as he is, thanks to the help of Dr. Song. After all, Jae Gul’s mom did tell Eun Jae that she’ll be her mother from now on. Does that mean Eun Jae will have the ability to step in and heal this broken family? Becoming an adopted daughter certainly puts her in a position to do so. Of course it also puts Eun Jae in an interesting position now that Jae Gul has decided he’s going to pursue her… Oh where will this winding road take us next? I’m not really sure but I can’t wait to find out!
So what do you think of this week’s episodes? Are you as hooked on this drama as I am? Do you have any theories on where things might go from here? You know I always love hearing from you so be sure to let me know in the comments below!
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