Season 1, Episode 6
Date of release: January 24, 2025 (Netflix)
Written by: Choi Tae-kang
Directed by: Lee Do-yoon
“Do you think I'm a fifth-year senior nurse because I'm some kind of superhero? No, it's because I have to. I mean, someone has to do it. That happens to be me. Unfortunately, it happens to be you, too.”
This show is very frustrating to watch when its dramatic storyline turns into something that could be put into the fantasy genre. When the entire hospital administration turns villainous just because Dr. Baek saves a few people here and there and actually works the job he was trained for and given, then I am having difficulties accepting various story choices. Especially since this is a show that has taken a real-life premise and is now reforming it into something that could never be real.
Then again, there might be two processes moving at the same time: It's a Korean TV show, and I still have to learn the nuances of Korean storytelling; and South Korea is currently going through a serious medical crisis that led to the resignation of many doctors, with medical undergraduates suspending their studies after South Korean's president Yoon Suk Yeol (the same one who, in December 2024, declared martial law out of nowhere, and was being impeached over that) decided to increase med school enrollment. That is something Korean physicians are vehemently against, and they started laying down their work because of it.
Especially the latter could have formed the writing of this show. I don't think that the necessity of a villain in the story is the only reason why the hospital administration acts so horribly evil in this show; maybe it's just this show's way of telling that the real-life medical crisis is bullcrap, and that the doctors should get back to work. While I have an issue with the portrayal of the villains in this show, they do look like cliched comic book villains, ready to destroy a good man's life because he annoys them too much.
Generally, this episode had comic book humor in it. Starting with the ridiculous drive in the ambulance, during which Gangster got thrown around like a ragdoll, even though she was strapped in. Continuing with Han Yu-rim calling from a phone booth dressed as a film noir spy while giving Dr. Baek the information needed to find out who grounded the helicopter. And ending with Gangster screaming into the air vent, which turned out to be connected to a commercial kitchen, where the cooks could hear her screaming and cursing the entire world. It's almost like this show, which is billed as a comedy, was actually funny for the first time in six episodes.
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| Somebody got lost in the wrong genre. |
