Early Access: Doctor Cha E1-2

E1-2. I know that I'd shortlisted Black Knight to be the replacement show for Call It Love, but after checking out a bit of Black Knight, I've come to the conclusion that it's a show that I'd prefer to watch without writing episode notes for it.

Which is how I ended up picking Dr. Cha instead, as our replacement show.

To be honest, I hadn't really planned to watch this one, because I typically don't gravitate towards medical shows and this looked like a medical show.

Also, the promos all have a slightly slapsticky quality to them that made me think that I probably wouldn't enjoy this one too much, since I don't often jive with k-humor.

BUT. Whatddya know, this show's ratings have been shooting through the roof, and everyone's been saying good things about it, and that totally piqued my interest.

Importantly, I realized that this isn't a medical-medical show, really.

This is more like Twenty Again - but with doctor's gowns, ha. So, I don't expect that Show will be very heavy on medical procedures and medical accuracy, but I do expect that Show will emphasize character development and character journeys.

I did love Twenty Again, and the whole concept of rooting for a protagonist as she recalibrates her life and re-finds her mojo, at a point in her life when society at large dismisses her as being over the hill.

That's exactly the kind of journey that we seem to be getting with our protagonist Jung Sook, and after these first two episodes, I am very much here for it.

Because these first two episodes function as one big set-up stretch, I figured that it wasn't really necessary to split my thoughts into two, and that I should just smush it all together, and write it in one big chunk.

So far, the vibe of this is - as far as I can tell, just 2 episodes in - is light but poignant?

Meaning, Show does serve up pathos, but by and large, it seems to want to tell its story with a light sort of hand.

I have no objection to this, certainly, but I did just want to mention it, because I think it's a helpful lens adjustment, to know to not expect Show to take some things too seriously.

I think a bit of a manhwa lens could be helpful, in helping to process at least some of what Show's serving up.

For example, in episode 1, Show spends most of the time demonstrating to us just how taken for granted Jung Sook is, by her husband, her mother-in-law, and her two children.

And, we also learn that she's cooperative and docile to a fault, to her unreasonably demanding husband and mother-in-law, AND while she's doing all she can to live sacrificially for her family, her husband's cheating on her.

Then, as if that's not bad enough, Jung Sook lands in the hospital needing a liver transplant, and her no-good husband refuses to donate his liver to her.

He's not for the idea, and her mother-in-law's super quick to suddenly draw lines between her and them, like she's an outsider - when she's only spent the last 20 years living like their beck-and-call slave. Ugh.

It's enough to make your blood boil, but I realize that the way Show plays it, it's more comedic than actual blood-boiling straight drama.

I find myself not taking the terrible things too seriously, because Show's very set-up promises that these bad characters - who are totally leaning like caricatures to me right now - will get their comeuppance soon enough, when Jung Sook finds her mojo and shows them what's what.

It feels all the more unfair, with the context that Jung Sook had given up practicing medicine in order to be a stay-at-home mom to her kids.

Like, wow, she gave up so much, and this is what she gets in return?

I can imagine audiences getting all primed for these smug, superior characters to have their big fall, and I do think that that accounts for some of Show's popularity.

Everyone's united in rooting for Jung Sook to overcome, and they're also united in hating characters that are just so fun to loathe.

I'm so glad to see Kim Mi Kyung show up as Jung Sook's mom, because Jung Sook needs at least one loving, sensible, loyal person on her side, and when it comes to Kim Mi Kyung, I mostly believe all those things about her, on sight. 😁

I feel bad for Mom, though, because it had been the tonics that she'd bought Jung Sook, that had caused the strain on her liver, in the first place.

Even though I know that Jung Sook HAS to survive, despite being in such a dire situation in episode 1, I'm just soo relieved when she gets that new liver, by episode 2.

Yes, it's a little convenient that the hospital found a donor for Jung Sook, right when no-good husband In Ho is stopped by no-good mom-in-law from being her donor, but, well, what else was Show supposed to do, right?

We're only in set-up, and Jung Sook needs to survive, so I'm happy to just roll with it.

I feel really bad for Jung Sook, because this whole experience, besides being scary and painful for her as a patient, has also been a horrible wake-up call.

It's through this incident that she realizes how little In Ho and his mother care about her.

Seriously, mom-in-law's talking about how In Ho has to make sure he lives, for the sake of the kids - meaning, it's ok for Jung Sook to die? It's audaciously cruel, and like I mentioned, the only way I can process this, is to use a manhwa lens.

Like, okayyy, I think Show is using hyperbole for a ruefully comic effect? 😅

Importantly, I'm glad that this wake-up call triggers Jung Sook to re-evaluate how she wants to live her life.

Like she says to her friend Mi Hee, if In Ho had gone ahead to be her donor, she would've likely doubled down on being subservient to him and his mother, for the rest of her life.

It was horrible for her to have to see how little they care for her, but it's better that she know now, so that she can adjust her priorities accordingly, and finally live for herself, yes?

I love how shocked everyone is, when Jung Sook casually refuses to be their housekeeper any longer, and stops cooking breakfast, and making coffee and juice, and just.. leaves them to fend for themselves.

I appreciate that she starts to learn how to pamper herself, because it's true that it's something you need to learn, or re-learn, when you've spent years being fenced in by what your significant other thinks.

But, I also appreciate that with Jung Sook, she only gets temporary satisfaction from all the shopping and other luxuries; it's learning that really gets her blood pumping, and I'm so glad that Mom's there to remind her of it.

I love a good underdog story, and this is shaping up to be one, with Jung Sook studying for the residency exam, and then getting an almost perfect score, to everyone's shock.

She wasn't kidding; her grades really must have been way better than In Ho's, when they'd been in medical school together.

..Which brings me to In Ho and his first love, Sung Hee, with whom he's now having an affair.

It's just the sort of situation that I can believe a jerk like In Ho would find himself in, getting a random girl (in this case, Jung Sook) pregnant while his campus girlfriend's away for some kind of student exchange(?), and said girlfriend returns only to find that In Ho's already taking care of a heavily pregnant Jung Sook.

This does add an interesting context to the affair, though.

In this case, Jung Sook had actually been the third party in their relationship, and because she'd gotten pregnant, In Ho had married her.

But clearly, from Sung Hee's point of view, In Ho had been hers first, and I can also imagine that there's a lot of history between In Ho and Sung Hee, such that when they'd reconnected in the US, they'd started this affair, and are still together now, years later.

This isn't just some random woman that In Ho had met at work; this is his first love, whom he'd lost while getting distracted with Jung Sook, so I can see why he's giving all his emotional loyalty to Sung Hee and not Jung Sook.

Y'know, I feel that In Ho and Sung Hee totally deserve each other; they're both equally vapid and selfish.

But, it doesn't seem like Jung Sook's actually thinking about divorce; she seems more interested in re-establishing her medical career.

I am totally in support of Jung Sook rediscovering her mojo as a doctor, as a woman, and as a person, whatever that eventually ends up looking like.

Meaning, I do think that Jung Sook would be better off divorcing In Ho, because she deserves to be free of this prison of a marriage.

Whether that entails Jung Sook being romanced by another man is something that I'm willing to withhold judgment on, for the time being.

Show seems to be suggesting that Dr. Roy Kim, the handsome young doctor who treated Jung Sook, might be a possible candidate, and I'm not opposed to that.

I just want Jung Sook to glory in her own mojo first, and then think about whether she'd like to have romance in her life.

For now, it looks like we've got hijinks lined up, with Jung Sook apparently being accepted to be a resident, and under Sung Hee's charge, no less. This should be fun, since I do like the idea of Jung Sook's presence discombobulating Sung Hee and In Ho at every turn.

So far, this is working out to be as enjoyable a watch as everyone promised, and I'm pleased to be on board, to root for Jung Sook to prevail in her chosen dream.

Next episode notes will be out on: Wednesday, 24 May 2023!

* This show will be covered on the Ultimate Early Access (US$25) Tier! *