Politics, plots, mistaken identities, missions, mysteries, heartbreak, torture, death, love, friendship, a desperate search for the truth, a wounded hero, a villain seeking vengeance and we’re only three weeks in!!! Can this show get any better???
Once again I find myself overwhelmed by the sheer awesomeness of Doctor Stranger that as I sit down to write this review, I hardly know where to begin. So much has happened in this week’s episodes that I can barely wrap my head around it but seeing as how a jumbled bunch of rambling will hardly make for good reading, I’m going to have to just go back to the beginning and work my way through from there. So last we left off last week with Hoon and Dr. Oh having a moment in the OR after Dr. Oh’s mother passed away, despite all of Hoon’s efforts to save her. As we saw last week, Dr. Han Jae Joon walked in and immediately the green-eyed monster reared his ugly head. I was fairly certain Jae Joon wouldn’t take kindly to Hoon and Soo Hyun’s hug but I wasn’t expecting Jae Joon to stoop so low as to belittle and berate Hoon in front of the entire doctoral staff. Call me crazy but that seems to be a bit petty for a guy who’s supposed to be the coolest cat in town. At least Soo Hyun was willing to stand up for Hoon though, in this case, I think that did more harm than good.
It’s painfully obvious that Jae Joon has very grandiose plans for taking over the hospital someday and those plans involve Soo Hyun but what I can’t decide is if Jae Joon actually cares for Soo Hyun or if it’s all just an act. There are moments when Jae Joon genuinely seems to care for Soo Hyun but then he has to have those moments when he gets all evil-eyed and creepy and I really have to question his intentions. It would seem that Soo Hyun herself has spent some time questioning Jae Joon as she admits to Hoon that she wishes there were someone out there thinking of her as much as Hoon thinks of Jae Hee. Hoon has obviously picked up on Jae Joon’s intentions, when it comes to Soo Hyun, but she’s not as convinced which is probably why she’s finding herself falling, quite unwittingly, for Hoon.
Oh Hoon! If only you realized how irresistible a tormented, heartbroken and undeniably adorable rogue, such as yourself, was to a lonely, unloved and miserable woman, such as Dr. Oh! Your compete openness about your love and suffering are only making it more impossible for Dr. Oh to not fall for you! Poor Dr. Oh, she doesn’t stand a chance! I know that Hoon is completely oblivious to the fact that the more time he spends with Soo Hyun, the closer she is to falling completely head-over-heels for him but I’m not and I’m enjoying watching every minute of their time together. I also know that Hoon is still very much in love with Jae Hee but at this point, that’s okay as it just makes Soo Hyun fall that much more in love with him. I know, I’m terrible, aren’t I? Here I sit, cheering for Soo Hyun’s growing feelings for a man that’s completely in love with another woman but I can’t help myself. I wholeheartedly believe that the real love story here is going to end up being between Soo Hyun and Hoon because I just can’t see Hoon being able to live with Jae Hee once he uncovers the truth about her.
Speaking of which, this week was a bit confusing when it came to Jae Hee/Dr. Han Seung Hee (as I’m sure it was meant to be). From the very beginning of this week’s episodes it was made plainly obvious that Seung Hee was very much aware of Hoon’s desperate search for her at the hospital, the first day he laid eyes on her, and she was simply messing with his head as she played her game of cat and mouse. Since then, we’ve learned that she’s in cahoots with Mr. Nasty (aka Cha Jin Soo, aka Creepy North Korean Guy Out For Revenge) and together they’re on some sort of mission for the North Korean government. What that mission is, remains a mystery at the moment but we know it has something to do with Seung Hee gaining a position at the hospital and Hoon keeping his position at the hospital. We also know that the Prime Minister, Sunglasses, Mr. Nasty, Dr. Choi and Director Oh are all somehow connected and I’m going to go out on a limb and say that they’re all a part of this North Korean master plan, in one way or another. As of yet, I have no idea what this master plan is but I’m going to say that it will probably have something to do with either taking out the South Korean President or starting another war. Of course I’m drawing on pretty much nothing at this point so I could be completely wrong but I’m just gonna throw my theories out there anyway.
While I’m throwing out theories, I might as well toss my Jae Hee/Seung Hee theory out there as well and say that I’m pretty much convinced that they’re both the same person and that Jae Hee has simply taken on the role of Seung Hee as a part of her “mission” (whatever that is). At this point I can’t really tell if Seung Hee has been forced into this role or if she’s taken it on voluntarily and that bothers me because a whole lot is riding on that single detail. If Jae Hee is being forced to play this role then she’s going to be tempted to confess to truth to Hoon at one point and then they’re going to have to find a way for her to escape all over again, which could end in completely disaster and we’d all cry for days afterwards. If, however, Jae Hee has always been a nasty piece of work and has fooled Hoon his whole life into believing she was a wonderful person and his one true love and has taken on this role for the sole purpose of bringing honor to her country, then Hoon is going to be devastated and broken and may become a ruined, hollow shell of a man for the rest of his life (and we’d all cry for days afterwards). Either way this goes, I think I’m going to be crying for days afterwards unless, perhaps, Soo Hyun can step in and help Hoon recover from his broken heart… Hmmm… I like where this is going…
Anyway, seeing as how I’m not the writer, I’m just going to have to watch and find out what happens next but I have to admit, the wait for new episodes is slowly killing me. I’m dying to find out whether Hoon’s heartbeat test comes back positive or negative and I really, really, really just want to find out what happens next! (Have I mentioned lately how much I’m loving this show???) As I still have days until the next episode airs, I really want to know what you’re thinking about Doctor Stranger. Are you as addicted as I am? Do you have your own ideas and theories you’d like to share? There really is so much more we could discuss so be sure to leave me a comment below!
You can also tweet at us @Hallyu_Tanya and @TheZombieMamma or find us talking about all manner of Hallyu goodness on our blogs:cHallyuKnow and ZombieMamma
Catch up on all of our previous Doctor Stranger reviews here:
Episodes 1-2: [Part 1] [Part 2]
Episodes 3-4: [Part 1] [Part 2]
Episodes 5-6: [Part 1] [Part 2]