EMERGENCY COUPLE EPISODE 4

Remember where they left us hanging last episode? A stuck elevator, a patient in need of a tracheotomy, and an oh-so-nervous Chang Min. Even with Jin Hee's hand on his in hopes of bolstering his confidence, Chang Min's resolve wavers. Jin Hee takes the scalpel, and, with Chang Min's verbal guidance, she makes the incision.

The patient is saved.

Soon after, the elevator doors open, and an enraged Chief Guk slaps Chang Min for performing surgery on his own as an intern. His colleagues, however, have a different greeting for him--"God's hands," they proclaim. He tries to absolve his part in this, but Jin Hee silently grips his arm, letting him know with a look that she doesn't want anyone knowing. He brushes them off and plays the humble card. In a later encounter, he confronts Jin Hee about it, and she insists that he did do it: He figured out the patient's condition, he helped her when she held the scalpel, all while she was flustered. He was even slapped by Dr. Guk for it. Without him, she explains, she couldn't have done it.

Whenever someone gets slapped in these dramas, I'm shocked. I shouldn't be, but coming from the culture that I do, a slap is a challenge, a lead-in to a more drawn-out fight. Slapping is common in these dramas, and seems to say "You're out of line, here's a reminder!"  

Jin Hee asks Dr. Guk about the patient she saved.  After the update, he informs her that he knows it was she who performed the tracheotomy; the nurse that was with them told the Chief. He tells her not to take the lead again, and that she did a good job. She walks off repeating that to herself, basking in the glow of his praise. And here's where I started scratching my head. Why a slap for Chang Min, but accolades for Jin Hee?  What did she do that he did not?

Chang Min, waiting for the elevator in his building, happens upon Ah Reum. They head to his new apartment, set up by his mother so he could be closer to the hospital. His mother happens upon them together, along with some porn flyers stuck in his door. She jumps to the conclusion that Ah Reum is a prostitute and shoos her out despite Chang Min's protests. He tells his mom who the girl is, and his mom figures out that's who the blind date was supposed to be with. To be fair, his co-worker was dressed rather questionably, but that was still incredibly rude and nosy.

Ji Hye joins Dr. Guk in the bar. We learn he's holding on to some secret, something he feels guilty for. It seems like he blames himself for the death of a patient, but is that all? Doctors lose patients all the time on the operating table, they even prescribe meds that have fatal interactions. They seemed to use this to explain his slapping Chang Min, but this is an intriguing development. So far, we haven't seen much of him other than as the brutal taskmaster. It's nice to show that he has more than cogs and wires beneath his skin.

Chang Min and Ah Reum are having problems. The knowledge that she stood him up on his blind date causes friction between them. She tries to be conversational, but he is furious at her for "toying" with him. Ah Reum later apologizes and, knowing he is a music lover, gives Chang Min a CD as part of her apology. Despite the potential for romance, I'm not sure I'm in favor of Ah Reum. She seems a little stuck up, though she was pleasant and disarming when we saw the two interns together off-duty.

Chief Guk scolds Chang Min for lying to him about the tracheotomy. Chang Min finds his ex and assumes she told the Chief. She pushes back, tells him to think hard about why they got divorced, and marches off. What I can't comprehend is why she didn't fire back that she didn't say a thing, and that Dr. Guk found out on his own. I understand that their confrontations are deeply emotional, but you'd think you'd find that gem somewhere in the midst of being put on the defensive.

And again I must ask: Why is Chang Min being dragged over the coals while Jin Hee gets off scot free? She is as complicit in the deception as he is. Maybe the Chief feels that he needs to be taken down a peg whereas she needs confidence?

This is when we find out the patient died, and the ER staff could be implicated in his death. Jin Hee heads off to be by herself and tells herself, over and over, that it is not her fault. This is an intense story arc that could have implications for the rest of the series.

Chang Min's mother speeds to the hospital in an ambulance; she overdosed on prescription pills following a fight with her estranged husband. She insisted on being brought to that particular hospital. It seems that her meddling doesn't merely extend to his home life, she needs to insert herself into his professional life as well. Despite my misgivings every time I see her, it's fun to see her make people's lives miserable.

Chang Min sees his ex crying in the stairwell, and goes to console her. He alternates between caring and being hard, all before saying that he will take responsibility for this should there be any repercussions. He also tells her one of the reasons they got divorced is that once she becomes emotional, she stops thinking. He reassures her once again that he will take the fall. This is certainly un-Chang Min-like. When has he ever done anything other than berate her? Chang Min is undergoing some changes, I think. And I like it. He looks very weary in this series. I understand that both interns and residents tend to be overworked, but here it looks like he's carrying some weight he can't unload.

It's interesting to think that Chang Min's problems could be payback. In the first two episodes he was a first-class jerk, and this may be his comeuppance. This hospital he's interning at appears to be highly competitive, and even seemingly minor infractions are swiftly punished. Maybe this is his rebirth, overcoming adversity to become a better human being? One can only hope.

This show has cleared the hurdles I saw earlier, and is a tense, heart-pounding hospital drama. The elements of humor don't detract from the suspense, and the cinematography is without reproach. This episode set the stage for many, many conflicts, and there's definitely a reason its trending right now.

The show airs Fridays and Saturdays on tVN and DramaFever!

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