Dramatic Friday Review: Dr Jin ep 8

When last we were with Dr Jin, he was getting kicked out of the Hong household because of the impropriety of having an unmarried man in the same house as a soon-to-be-married girl.  While the Hong's mother was as nice as possible about it given the circumstances, you know, since Dr Jin had saved the life of her son and all, he was still kicked out.

Young Rae tries to convince her mother that she's not ready for this marriage yet and that it should be postponed.  She wants to slow down and take time to think.  She adds that if she were to enter into marriage with these feelings then she would feel as if she were sinning against Kyung Tak.  This begs the question, what feelings?  Feelings of not being sure?  Pretty convinced that during this time it didn't matter so much what the woman wanted in a marriage.  It's not like love matches were all that common, is it?  Marriage was different then.  A contractual marriage made without consulting with the bride was the norm, wasn't it?  So she must mean that she has feelings for Dr Jin.  Either way, Momma ain't happy.  She worries about losing face.  This family doesn't have much left to lose, so I can see why she's desperate to cling to what little remains.  She also, before she dies, wants to see her daughter marry into a good family and into a marriage where she will receive plenty of love from her husband.  Aww!  I can see why she thinks Kyung Tak fits the bill there.  He obviously loves her and he comes from an important family even if they aren't the best people. Okay, they are monsters with the exception of Kyung Tak.  I'd hate to have Byung Hee and PigDog as my father and brother.  Yuck.

The next day, Dr Jin takes his leave from the Hong household and heads to the clinic to bunk down there until he can find lodging elsewhere.

At the clinic there is a horde of people gathered, throwing money around and trying to get their hands on Dr Jin's Miracle Medicine.  A triage system is set up to where the patients with the most need, not the most money or better connections or rank will get the medicine.  Plain and simple and so very revolutionary for the time I'm sure.

Kyung Tak and Young Rae go for a stroll together.  I have to say that I really loved the imagery here.  The scenery was beautiful.  I mean the actual scenery like the plants and water, not the sight of Jaejoong in his everyday, non-officer hanbok.  Oh, who am I kidding?  Plants and water?  Psh!  Hello Jae!  *___*

 He tells her a story of a time when he, as a young, snot-nosed kid, sparred with Young Hwi and how he was beaten soundly.  At that point he vowed to practice and excel at the sword.  He practiced in secret every day, even in rain and snow.  He engraved a word to show his resolution that first day.

He brings her to the stone where that word was engraved.  That word that kept him going all that time.  And that word was.....drum roll please!.... Young Rae, of course.  Okay, predictable, yes, but I still had a little heart flutter from that one, especially when he added in the line, "I was prepared to wait forever for you to come to me."  *Editor's Note - Upon reading a review somewhere else (something I don't typically do because I don't want to be influenced in my own reviews), it was brought up that "Young" means forever and "Rae" come, so "Forever Come" or "Come Forever" which would add even more significance to this moment I think since he used her name as part of his declaration/proposal.  Oh heck yah.  Swoon quotient increasing!*

 "Please come to me."

Uhm...yeah...okay!  Since you asked so nicely Jae, I'll come to you.  Just gotta find my purse and passport....

 Oh wait, you meant her.  Whoops.  Got carried away in the moment.  Sorry.  Go ahead, continue....  Woo   away.  How can she resist?  The girl is nuts!

Ha Eung and Young Hwi are sitting down for a drink together.  Plotting begins.  Political, revolutionary plotting.  Ha Eung is going after the ruling party that is the "old rotten tree which is sucking the blood from the good people in Joseon".  A blood sucking tree?!  Yikes!  Yeah, I'd want to slash that sucker to its roots as well.  Prince Heung Seon then asks Young Hwi to be his sword as he slashes the roots of the vampire tree.

It's surgery day for the noble lady with the salivary tumor.

Dr Jin is preparing for the surgery when the husband, Lord Lee Gyu Rhi shows up a little ticked.  Okay, he's a lot ticked and tosses them out.

He screams and yells at her for even daring to do something so lowly as seek out surgery when she's a noblewoman.  Huh?  Ooohkay....  So if the poor people can't get medical help because death is preferable and the rich people can't stoop that low to seek for a doctor's help, then who keeps the doctors employed I wonder?  She begs and pleads for him to allow the surgery, claiming that her biggest reason for wanting it is because since the tumor showed up, he's checked out.  He stays out and avoids her.  She doesn't want to lose him.

Drs Jin and Huh weren't just kicked out of the noble's house - they were wrapped up like burritos in mats.  Did this make anyone else think of those finger traps that you got at the arcade as a kid?  You know, the kind that you put on your fingers but when you pull them to try and get your fingers out, they tighten?  That's what this reminded me of here.  I mean, they're wrapped in straw mats and can't get out.  Hmm....  Interesting.  They struggle and struggle, but to no avail.  Dr Huh is sobbing hysterically.  I love that this guy is consistently an extreme over-reactor.  Well, "love" may be a strong word.  How about I have noticed that this guy tends to be an extreme over-reactor and has a full-on meltdown when things go sour?  Yeah, that's more like it.  So Dr Huh is freaking out because he knows who these people are.  She is the niece and he the nephew-in-law of the Queen dowager - the eldest, and therefore very powerful, person in the palace.  He's convinced that they're dead meat.  Thankfully the noblewoman, combined with Ha Eung's seal of approval, is able to convince her husband to let her have the tumor removed.

I did you a favor and skipped the surgical procedure where he removes a very bloody and squishy tumor.  I was so sad to see that Brain Baby didn't make a reappearance here :(  I was really hoping that it would.  I miss my Brain Baby something awful.

Dr Jin and Young Rae have a chance encounter on the street.  Young Rae is there with her mother purchasing fabric for her wedding clothes or trousseau or whatever.  The shop lady excitedly tells them, when Young Rae questions the expense, that Major Kim has insisted on covering the expense and taking care of it.  Pssst, Young Rae, take this from an old married woman of 15 years - go with the hot cop not the doc from the future.  And I'm not just saying it because of my JJ bias.  Well, not only because of my bias. ;)

Remember the snitch from the last episode?  The one that informed on the gisaeng's location?  We see the Royal Doc paying an unseen person for a job well done.  He then asks him to continue to be his eyes and ears.  It's the snitch, but we can't see who it is.  By his arm though we can tell that he is a doctor from the clinic.  Ooh, who could it be?

The childhood-best-friends-soon-to-be-brothers-in-law-unknowing-mortal-enemies sit down for a drink.  Young Hwi asks Kyung Tak to promise to take care of his sister if anything ever happens to him, to which Kyung Tak agrees.  Oh the irony here because if anything does happen to Young Hwi, it will most likely be at the hands of Kyung Tak and he knows it.  KT offers to give his very life in order to protect YR.

While they are drinking, the arrival of Dr Jin and Prince Heung Seon is announced.  Kyung Tak asks for them to join Young Hwi and himself.  There is some back and forth between the men.  They are fighting for the same woman, just not entirely openly, yet.  There is a whole lot of tension in the room, what with the whole YH/Prince Heung Seon conspiracy going on and the battle for the lady's heart between KT and Jin.  KT offers Jin a drink which he refuses, claiming to not be drinking this evening.  KT responds with something along the lines of "don't you like my congratulatory party for my upcoming wedding?" to which Jin replies with a "why, should I?".  The others try to diffuse the tension a bit, but KT can't just let it go.  He keeps on keeping on, talking about how YR will soon be "his" woman.  It gets to be too much for Jin so he gets up to leave.  Still, KT doesn't relent.  He goes off again on his original, "who are you and how did you get such amazing medical talents?" spiel.  Jin's response to that one?  He deflects with a question of his own, "Can you make the Miss happy?" followed by a request to "Please, make the Miss happy."

On his way out, Choon Hong approaches Dr Jin, warning him to stay clear of YR, claiming that if he stays near her, she will be in great danger.  And then, spookily, she adds on a "She is not the person that you are thinking of."  Does Choon Hong know something about Dr Jin and Mi Na?  Well, does she?  Stop toying with me and just let me know!!!  Argh!

"Wait, what'd you just say?"

 I loved the part where YH flat out asks his sister if she likes Dr Jin.

 "Ever since I first saw him, he strangely attracted me and when I was with him, my heart fluttered."  I'll take that as a yes, yes she does like him.  Uh oh.

Jin is called urgently back to the tumor-lady's home.  The site has become infected and she is gravely ill.  She needs the penicillin that's back at the clinic.

 YR has bundled up some of Dr Jin's clothes left behind at the house and goes to the clinic to deliver it.  Obviously it's just an excuse to see him now that she has admitted out loud her feelings for him.  She arrives just as someone goes running away and a fire starts.  Her immediate thought is for the medicine inside, so she dashes in to rescue it and is injured in the process.

Jin, who has come for the penicillin to save Lady Lee, finds her and pulls her out from the flames.  She is badly burnt on her shoulder.  It's a 2nd degree burn that is blistering.  (Again, another gruesome shot of an up close view of the burn was excluded here.  You're welcome.)

As Jin is caring for her burn, Kyung Tak, who has learned of the fire and YR's injury, shows up.  I don't exactly recall the conversation here, but since's it's JJ, I'm putting it in anyway.  He doesn't stick around long, but not to worry - he'll be right back in a moment.  I promise.

YR had managed to save one dose of the penicillin.  Now what does Jin do?  Give it to the noble woman who desperately needs it or save it in case YR, who risked her own life to save the medicine in the first place, needs it?  Decisions, decisions.  Ha Eung surprisingly says that YR should get it, knowing that that meant that the noble woman would most likely die and he'd be in big trouble and lose any possible support from the Queen dowager.  YR herself though insists that the medicine go to the sick noble woman, who at the time was in greater need of it.

 This is just what Jin does.  He follows his own triage guidelines and gives the medicine to Lady Lee, the patient in the most need at that time.  Now, we could see where this was going, right? As soon as the medicine is safely injected into Lady Lee, Dr Jin gets word that YR has now developed an infection and high fever.

 There's some threatening when KT finds out that the last dose of penicillin was given to somebody else.  (See?  I told you he would be back, didn't I?  And you were worried for nothing.)

He even threatens Dr Jin's life if he doesn't save YR.  I feel like we've seen this before..."save (insert name here) or else I'll kill you."  No pressure or anything.  And you thought malpractice lawsuits were bad - imagine being at the business end of that sword if you fail to perform a miracle and save a very sick girl in a time where modern medicine did not exist.

 By this time they know that the fire was arson and they are trying to find the culprit.  The main suspect?  Dr Huh.  He was on watch that night and hasn't been seen or heard from for a while.  Turns out that he had stolen the penicillin and sold it, returning later to get it back when his conscience caught up to him.  He was beaten soundly, but was able to return the medicine.  Hurray!  YR gets her shot of penicillin!

There is more political intrigue between PigDog and the Royal Doctor.  They conspire to kill Prince Heung Seon and Dr Jin.  Choon Hong overhears the plan and summons some help.

In the form of YH who heroically saves PHS (who was all excited because he had earned a meeting with the Queen dowager for saving her favorite niece) from the assassins.  I love how he was shocked when YH removed his mask.  Really?  You knew who he was.  It's not that good of a disguise.  But whatever.  (I find myself saying that a lot throughout this drama - "but whatever".  Don't think too much about it Dongsaeng, just don't.  You'll only make your head hurt.)

Dr Jin has had enough of this messed up Joseon place.  He's taken off for who knows where.  He's walking through the forest when he is chased by the would-be-assassins.  This is when YR jumps out and grabs him and pulls him down to hide.  My thought at that moment?  Why did he need her help to hide in the shrubbery?  Was her assistance really necessary?  He couldn't figure that one out or carry it out on his own?

 He's all, "what are you doing here in your condition?".  She replies with "I heard you were in danger and I didn't think of anything else.  I had to save you."

We then finally get a confession from him.  No, he doesn't tell her how he feels.  He finally tells her that he is from a different world, from far in the future.  Good luck processing that little tidbit there Honey!  Just wait until he tells you about the Brain Baby.  You're gonna love that one!

We end with Prince Heung Seon entering into his audience with the Queen dowager.

And there you have it for episode 8.  I get the feeling that a lot is being set up right now.  A whole lot of political stuff.  Some YR/KT/Dr Jin stuff.  Some YH/KT stuff.  Stuff, stuff, stuff and more stuff.


Who do you want to see Young Rae end up with?  Are you Team Jin or Team Jaejoong Kyung Tak?  Or Team Neither?  I think I've made my position known, but I'm curious as to what your opinion on the matter is.  Feel free to weigh in on that, or any topic for that matter.  The comment section is just a little click away!