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AABattery's avatar

Thank you! I really enjoyed this episode as well. We have two ER doctors in the family and I have seen tidbits of how hard that career can be; today's episode made me even prouder of them. Too bad they are not into K Dramas, but I may try again to get them to watch at least Ep9. I also loved YJM's cameo. As amazing as he was being the villain in Itaewon Class, I much more appreciate seeing him as this eccentric but very patient-centered gyuosonim. But of course now I am wondering if they'd ever bring in the role of GU's father and if so, who would play him.

I was holding my breath during the Junwan and Iksun scenes. They were both excellent actors and really executed all the minute expressions / emotions fitting for those moments. I agree it is such a relief that now Junwan finally knows about the illness and the fact that there was no one else. I am all good with whatever happens next. Like what you said, I also think he would jump at any shots of reconciliation. But I hope that it would not be just a restart of the relationship while shuffling all the things happened a year ago under the broad umbrella of her illness as the cause. How things have evolved since the breakup were indeed greatly impacted by her illness, but the illness itself was definitely not the cause of their breakup. I look forward to seeing their next talk and I hope both would take up the courage and put down the pride, and really owned up to their share of responsibilities in what happened. I think it might be harder to Iksun since she continued to want to put up the front of "I am capable of taking care of myself" while forgetting two of the most important men in her life are doctors, who know better that your will by itself is not enough to guarantee your health. I am glad that Junwan called her out on her lies, and I hope she'll be able to really be open and vulnerable in their talk.

As little as the WG interaction we saw today ("little" because we might be able to call the exorcist scene as WG interacting via their host Lee Ikjun 🤣), I think there was definitely development. As much as I've always liked to see them together, I do think their together scenes were deliberately written out of this episode to highlight the tension, or the idea that GU is getting closer to a boiling point. Something about her interaction w/ MH in the GS room touched me and I just started crying. SHB demonstrated her ability to convey the deep sadness / guilt / shame all packaged within GU - who probably had grown up restraining her range of emotions / expressions as a protective mechanism - with her eyes, her demeanor, and her limited facial expression. She avoided seeing MH and JW in the face (or spending time at all) probably because she knew how they can see through her, and how she might breakdown before them. As frustrated / impatient as I felt, I have to respect the space JW and MH are giving her. I also think for GU, her priority now is to take care of her mom and in order to do that, she cannot fall apart right now. So while the wait is hard for the WG fans, I think the absence of their scenes in Ep9 will only help deliver what ShinLee has envision to the fullest impact.

And to your last point, one reason that I appreciate your blog is the straightforwardness of your comments. They are done with grace and you also explain your reasoning well. So please continue to get things off your chest without anxiety, because most of us here have benefited from that greatly.

Only three more episodes left and still so many threads to wrap up, but like what JW said about SeokHyeong, things can move really fast once the mind is ready, so I look forward to seeing how they wrap up the season, and potentially, the series, in the next few weeks.

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Anne's avatar

I love your voice, and I am always eager to hear what you have to say about this show and other things. I am also very grateful that you give everyone an opportunity to share their perspectives on your private platform. I value other people's opinions because everyone has their own experience, and they might know something about life I don't. Debates and disputes, however, are not my cup of tea, and I fully understand why you don't want to engage in that. Thank you for writing anyway. It is very much appreciated.

I'm watching bits and pieces of ep. 9 right now, and man, that scene with Gyeo-ul, the phone call and the conversation with Min-ha, was copied from my life almost verbatim. Seeing Shin Hyun-been's face is like watching myself in the mirror, at a certain time. I know how she feels. I know why she can't talk about it. The war is still raging, and that trip home was only one of the many battles to come. And if last week's phone conversation with Jeong-won when she told him that she wouldn't be immediately available to him for some time struck me as unnecessary dramatic, given her four days' absence, now I can see that it was a fair warning. They may be in one place physically, but mentally, they are miles apart. I just hope that Min-ha's prophecy about "the last hurdle" will be fulfilled soon. The writer used "hurdle" several times in this script, for all major couples.

I suffered through 44 episodes of the C-drama called "The Ping Pong Life" twice. :) In comparison, the hospital ping-pong tournament is giving me life. :)

Loved the ER focus. Absolutely loved the bidulgi interaction and how soft and gentle Jun-wan is with Ik-sun.

Loved Ik-jun's matter of fact call to Jun-wan about his sister - I could feel that he accepted this relationship despite prior misgivings.

Loved-loved the love-struck Seok-hyeong and how the resident expert Jeong-won assessed the likelihood of the GomGom relationship.

Loved my curly-haired, devastatingly pretty and broken-hearted 99s' Song-hwa.

Loved how the writer bookended the episode with two scenes we've already seen some time before but shown from "the other side".

Actually, I was going to complain about this episode at length. Hmm. Why didn't it happen?

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