Horse Doctor Episode 27

 Finally Kwanghyun and Jinyung discover that they were childhood friends. (That took long enough!) But this revelation changes everything in Jinyung’s mind and she can’t bear to look at Myunghwan anymore. Myunghwan is devastated to realise that Kwanghyun is Dojun’s child but Guard Kang knows how to deal with this ‘problem’… Meanwhile Dr Ko is in a bad way and it looks like he is not going to survive this time. 

In the barn Kwanghyun sits on the floor tied up. Guard Kang and Kwanghyun glare at each other and Guard Kang seems furious that Kwanghyun is Dojun’s child. (But this is not Kwanghyun’s fault, is it! And why is Kang so angry with him? Maybe he is fond of Jinyung as he has known her since she was a child and hates the thought of her losing everything. Or maybe he’s just concerned about what will happen to his own position if Kwanghyun becomes Dojun’s heir – because if his boss Myunghwan becomes less powerful, then so will he.) Kang orders his men to guard Kwanghyun and then he hurries away probably to get orders from Myunghwan.

Guard Kang orders his men to watch Kwanghyun 

Dr Ko is still hanging on, but he’s shaky and weak. (I thought he would have died straight away and although I’m relieved to see he’s still alive, it’s not looking good). When a nurse comes in and sees his condition she wants to call for a doctor, but he tells her not to. He wants to keep his condition secret. He looks at his shaky hands and realises that “it’s already started”. (Hmm, so does this mean he wasn’t poisoned again by Myunghwan after all? Is there another reason why he had a seizure?)

After hearing that Kwanghyun’s horse’s name is Yongdal, Jinyung rushes from the stables looking for Kwanghyun.  But at his house she’s told that some men took him away. She demands to know the truth about his past. Jabong and Chef hesitate to tell her but she has already guessed he is really her friend who came to the capital from an island 8 years ago. (When they were kids, Jinyung was tied up in a barn by Myunghwan’s men. And Kwanghyun went looking for her. And now it is Kwanghyun’s turn to be tied up in a barn by Myunghwan’s men! Are we going to see their roles reversed here? This time Jinyung will be the one looking for him 😉 )

Myunghwan is in shock after hearing that Jinyung is not Dojun’s child. Guard Kang is very loyal and supportive and says he will get rid of Kwanghyun – with Kwanghyun gone their problem is solved. (But then I guess later he’ll have to kill Inju too, though, as she knows everything) He marches out towards the barn clutching his sword.

Guard Kwang tells Myunghwan he will get rid of Kwanghyun

Jinyung rushes off to get help from the royal guards to help find Kwanghyun. Meanwhile Kwanghyun is still in the barn with his hands tied behind his back, but he manages to pick up a piece of broken pottery and begins to saw through the rope with it. But then Guard Kang arrives looking menacing. Kwanghyun is dragged outside, but he’s angry, not afraid,  demanding to know if Myunghwan is behind this and has ordered him to be killed just like he had Kwanghyun’s father murdered years ago.

In the middle of all this, Kwanghyun manages to break his hands free and starts to fight back – although there are lots of men with swords against him and he is unarmed! He puts up a brave fight but there are too many men against him. He gets slashed in the arm by Kang’s sword. (Kwanghyun was feisty as a child but since he became an adult we have never seen him fight and yet suddenly he can. This seems a bit out of character to me.) Now he is surrounded and it looks like it’s all over.

Kwanghyun is dragged outside the barn to be killed

Guard Kang raises his sword, but just as he is about to kill Kwanghyun, a dart flies through the air from nowhere straight into Kang’s arm. Another gang has arrived, and while the two gangs fight, Kwanghyun is led away to safety. Kang manages to get away but then is stopped by Sungha (who looks surprisingly powerful and masculine dressed in bright pink). Sungha reminds Kang that he warned him to stop this. Kang drops meekly to his knees.

Kwanghyun is alone in the mountain as he struggles to get away. He’s losing blood from the sword cut and getting weaker. Finally he collapses in the snow. Meanwhile, Jinyung and the guards arrive at the crime scene to find lots of bodies lying lifeless in the snow. (I feel bad for the extras playing dead here. It must be freezing) Jinyung looks distraught when she finds something belonging to Kwangyung – looks like his acupuncture kit. She is now even more desperate to find him and rushes away. The head official tries to stop her but she rushes off alone. (He could have sent a guard with her though…)

After calling his name around the mountain, Jinyung finds drops of blood in the snow which lead her to him. Next thing we know Kwanghyun is being taken by piggy back to hospital. Inju recognises immediately that he has a sword wound and sends for mulberry root to stop the bleeding.

Dr Ko realises that Myunghwan is not going to change

Dr Ko is shocked to hear what happened to Kwanghyun. He realises that  Myunghwan is behind this and clearly doesn’t want to change. He grabs some paper and a calligraphy brush.

Myunghwan discovers that Sungha intercepted Guard Kang and saved Kwanghyun. Sungha has tears in his eyes as he demands to know why Myunghwan did what he did. (Kang has been taken away by the police but Myunghwan is just as guilty, if not more so. And at least I believe Kang is acting out of loyalty to Myunghwan and is probably even prepared to take the fall for this) Myunghwan plays the Jinyung card – telling Sungha that they must protect Jinyung. (Now this is interesting. Sungha has been so good so far. But now Jinyung could lose everything if Kwanghyun is announced as Dojun’s heir. So will this change him? Will he do ANYTHING to protect the woman he loves? Myunghwan is acting out of desire for power. But Sungha will act out of love. Oh.)

Sungha is shocked to learn that Jinyung is not a yangban after all

In hospital Jinyung holds Kwanghyun’s hand. And she says his first name for the first time – Kwanghyun-na. (in the informal style like she would have done when they were equal friends as kids, and not the more formal title of ‘Baek ui-seng’ – Dr Baek – that she has been calling him so far as an adult). He begins to recover. Jinyung walks away in a daze from the hospital her clothes spattered with Kwanghyun’s blood.

As Kwanghyun recovers he is told that Jinyung is his childhood friend Yongdal. ( AT LAST!) He also seems dazed at the news and stumbles out of the hospital to find her. He asks other doctors if they have seen her. Earlier the princess heard that Kwanghyun was injured and rushed over to see him. Now she is right there and overhears  him asking for Jinyung. She looks upset but Kwanghyun doesn’t even notice her. 🙁

Kwanghyun goes to meet Jinyung knowing she is his childhood friend

Meanwhile Sungha looks for Jinyung, but the servants say she is acting strange and packing her stuff. (is she planning to run away with Kwanghyun now after all?) She still has the old sandal that Kwanghyun gave her stored away in a box like a precious possession. Sungha bursts into her room and tries to dissuade her from leaving and warns her that Kwanghyun will take away what she has. But she says she doesn’t mind and she leaves. Sungha is left alone clenching his fist. (I’m really wondering if he is going to become a baddie now. He’s been VERY good so far!)

Jinyung leaves unable to look at Myunghwan after what he did

Poor Dr Ko puts his official hat on over his bandaged head. He’s shaky and in a bad way but struggles out of the hospital. He waits in the snow desperately wanting to speak to the king. (I’m worried he’s going to collapse before he has time to see the king though.)

Jinyung waits for Kwanghyun clasping the sandal he gave her when they were kids. Kwanghyun runs to meet her. They meet on the bridge and stand apart for a while staring at each other unable to believe what they now know. Then they cry and hug. They talk about their childhoods and he is amazed that she still has the sandal! She ponders over what would have become of them if they had not been separated or if she had not become a yangban. Kwanghyun looks away and wipes away tears. He asks her again if she would consider going away with him even though it means leaving everything behind. This time she nods yes.

But I didn’t see this coming – their private reunion is being watched carefully by the princess who is mortified at what she sees – Kwanghyun and Jinyung in a cosy embrace. She falls to her knees and has to be helped up my Court Lady Kwak. (She must have followed Kwanghyun when he went looking for Jinyung? The princess is not in this episode much. She dropped her precious kitten in shock earlier when she heard that Kwanghyun was in hospital injured with a sword wound. But that’s all we’ve seen of her. )

The princess continues to love Kwanghyun from afar

Finally Dr Ko gets to speak to the king. The king can see that he is ill. Dr Ko explains that he is dying of 파상풍 tetanus but begs the king not to punish Kwanghyun because it is not his fault that Dr Ko is sick. (What? Does this mean that Myunghwan didn’t poison him after all?)  Dr Ko has struggled to see the king to beg him to save Kwanghyun. As soon as he has said this he collapses on the floor before the king and has to be taken back to hospital.

Myunghwan is angry when he hears what happened – that Dr Ko collapsed right in front of the king! (I suppose this makes him look bad since HE is Dr Ko’s doctor!)

Myunghwan ponders what will happen after Dr Ko dies

The nurses are worried that Dr Ko will die and it seems that there is no cure for him now. It is too late. Myunghwan walks away from seeing Dr Ko contemplating what will happen after he dies. (This is a great result for Myunghwan because it looks like it WAS the operation that caused the tetanus and Myunghwan didn’t have to do anything himself to get rid of Dr Ko. No wonder he looks pleased with himself.)

On his death bed Dr Ko manages to ask Inju to look after Kwanghyun. He doesn’t want Kwanghyun to feel guilty over Dr Ko’s death. And he’s worried that Kwanghyun will give up medicine if he realises what really happened.

Kwanghyun meets Myunghwan outside the hospital and calls him a murderer saying he can never forgive him for what he has done. Myunghwan replies, “I am not the murderer here, you are!” Then right on cue we hear screams coming from inside. Something must have happened to Dr Ko. Kwanghyun looks up in shock.

***

So Dr Ko’s illness was not caused by Myunghwan this time after all. That means Kwanghyun really will be devastated when he realises this. And his life will be on the line. AGAIN! But will the king save him as Dr Ko begged him to? The ominous scream at the end of the episode suggests that Dr Ko has died leaving the hospital vulnerable in the hands of Myunghwan and Lord Jung. And once Dr Ko has gone, I expect even more naughty behaviour from the baddies 😉 

I’m interested to see how Sungha will react to the news that Jinyung will lose everything if Kwanghyung is announced as Dojun’s heir. He has been so squeaky clean good so far, but will he change and go over to the dark side too now that the woman he loves could be in trouble? 

I know this episode is about the reunion of Kwanghyun and Jinyung so the vibe has to be nostalgic and sad. But I just can’t get into that mood when I’m watching this drama. Perhaps that’s because I feel the reunion between them has come so late. Anyway, I much prefer the episodes that have more scenes with a lighter tone and humour mixed in with Myunghwan’s dirty dealings of course. I’ve thought from early on that this drama doesn’t suit ‘heavy’ emotional scenes. (they should leave that to Heojun) The scenes between the loved-up princess and unsuspecting Kwanghyun were priceless. Hopefully there will be more comedic scenes in the future.