Love is in the air in episode fourteen of "Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim", which is a far better thing to have airborne than MERS. The crisis is resolved and Seo-jeong has to make some decisions on her feelings. In-beom's bluff is called and Teacher Kim gives the young man some honest advice. The episode brings back familiar faces, but it also adds a new mysterious figure and probable enemy of Doldam and Teacher Kim.
Not much has changed since I expressed my opinion on the romance between Seo-jeong (Seo Hyeon-jin) and Dong-joo (Yoo Yeon-seok). His neglect of her trauma for his personal pleasure continues, but it is fortunate that the writer acknowledges the trauma's continued existence. Seo-jeong's PTSD arc was too rushed and I would love to see it return and hopefully end with her truly overcoming her issues. It would also be a chance for Dong-joo to mature and learn how to care for her needs.
Aside from the romance, the episode addresses In-beom's (Yang Se-jong) lying and I am glad to see Teacher Kim (Han Seok-Kyu) stay within character by seeing through that lie. I still feel that the writer has made a huge mistake with In-beom's treatment of Seo-jeong, however, which no amount of remorse can fix. The character and the deserved sympathy for him could realistically be brought back if he lied about experience, but sending someone to their death to please daddy is beyond redeemable for an adult.
Mistakes like these reveal the writer's second weakness aside from rushing through their apparent inability to develop their compelling character stories. The second issue I feel Kang Eun-kyeong's writing has here is the decisions made for the sake of titillating drama, which end up throwing the potential of the subplots and her characters under the bus. It is a common Dramaland problem, especially for shows with higher ratings and therefore increasingly greedy interests behind them, but it is always sad to see.
On to happier topics, Yeon-hwa (Seo Eun-su) has made her triumphant return and I am happy enough to not mind the clumsy writing which brings her back. I look forward to her work as a doctor and, more importantly, her ethics. I also wonder if the artist will be a recurring character. Last, but not least, there is a new boss in town and Kim Hye-eun's character seems like a means of return to hospital politics.
This is quite a shame, as life and death situations are dramatic enough without the need for stereotypical villains. Seeing them rub their hands in glee as they stop the heroes from doing their job is not engaging, it is just annoying and it cheapens the story. Adding to this Chairman's Sin's (Joo Hyeon) secret and we have quite the chaos approaching. May the creators handle it well.
"Romantic Doctor Teacher Kim" is directed by Yoo In-sik, written by Kang Eun-kyeong and features Han Seok-Kyu, Yoo Yeon-seok, Seo Hyeon-jin and Kim Hong-pa.
Source:HanCinema
