Horse Doctor Episode 35

The amputation goes ahead, Dusik realises that Sungha is the ‘criminal’ they are looking in relation to the illegal herb trading, and Myunghwan is shocked and dismayed that some quack is out there curing all the patients that he could not! Dr Saam is arrested for this ‘crime’ but he is unrepentant. There is one more big shock in store for Myunghwan when Lord Oh, the Daegam he turned away from the hospital and left to die, arrives at the palace good as new – just missing part of his leg. 🙂

Lord Oh is shocked when he is told that the only way to save is life is to amputate his leg. Of course he could never consider this option – surgery was unheard of. And so even when Kwanghyun tells him that the gangrene will spread and get worse until it will be too late to cure him, he refuses to have the operation. Apart from not trusting surgery they are also not impressed with Kwanghyun’s scruffy appearance! Kwanghyun leaves but he is worried that if they put off having the operation, it will be too late.

Kwanghyun explains that the only option is amputation

Meanwhile, Myunghwan is LIVID that there is a rumour that someone is curing all the patients that he turned away from the hospital! This is terrible for his hospital’s reputation and he is desperate to find out if this is true, so the staff search through the hospital records looking for the names of the patients so that they can find them. Sure enough the healthy patients are found and arrive at the hospital to show Myunghwan that they are well again – much to his displeasure. (He is not at all pleased that patients who were left to die are now healthy again! Call yourself a doctor Myunghwan? Grrrr) Some of the nurses are afraid that the phantom doctor is really a ghost!

Myunghwan discovers that the patients he couldn’t help are now back to health

Over at the 치종원 hospital the princess has come to see Sungha who is stable but still unconscious. Kwanghyun has asked Kayong to  go and check on him too, so she turns up outside the hospital where Lady Kwak is waiting with Guard Ma for the princess. Kayong in her usual informal (and inappropriate) way asks the ‘adjumma‘ if this is the hospital! Of course Lady Kwak is HORRIFIED to be addressed as ‘adjumma‘ (this is used to address middle-aged ladies and nobody wants to be thought of as middle-aged, do they?) But the princess and Guard Ma don’t help. They merely laugh – well she is an adjumma, isn’t she? (Lady Kwak, I feel your pain 🙁 )

Kwanghyun sends Kayong to check on Sungha

Lord Oh’s symptoms are getting worse and worse. He remembers what Kwanghyun predicted would happen. So he pours hot and then iced water on his leg but he feels nothing – just as Kwanghyun said. He realises that the only thing he can do if he wants to live is have the operation. They call for Kwanghyun.

As the patient lies on the operating table Kwanghyun prepares to operate by treating the leg first with medicine and moxa to stop the blood more quickly. He cuts the flesh with a knife and then prepares to saw through the bone while Lord Oh’s son looks on. Meanwhile soldiers search the area for the rogue doctor who is practising surgery without a licence.

Kwanghyun prepares to amputate Lord Oh’s leg 

We have a comedy interlude as Chef and Kibae continue to battle over Daebang’s mum’s affections as they both want to invite her to a show. Chef asks Daebang to fix him up with his mum – this doesn’t work. Kibae tries the direct approach by nervously inviting her on a ‘date’ – to watch the 사물놀이 sa-mul-nor-i percussion quartet that’s coming to town. She seems sorry for him as he’s so nervous and so she says she’ll ‘think about it’. And Kibae seems pleased with this answer.

Dusik is still on the hunt for the man who fought his soldiers at the scene of the illegal herb trading. But he is shocked to see from the (very good) artist’s impression that the criminal appears to be Sungha! He tells his sister Eunso that Jinyung must be involved too. Just then the maid gives them an important letter from Qing. But we are not told what’s in the letter …

Sungha regains consciousness and when Jinyung explains what happened to him and that he was treated by a mystery doctor, he gets a flashback of Kwanghyun …

The maid gives Eunso an important letter

Dr Saam is arrested for illegally treating patients. Myunghwan doesn’t believe Dr Saam is working alone as the doctor was described as young. But when Myunghwan interrogates him, Dr Saam refuses to give him any information. He is unrepentant and even says (that UNLIKE Myunghwan) HE has done nothing wrong except cure people – which is true 🙂 This just makes Myunghwan even more angry. 🙂

Inju arrives and recognises Dr Saam. They have worked together before. But Myunghwan and Lord Jung go to plead with the king to punish Dr Saam and his accomplice severely. But commoners gather outside the palace to beg the king to spare the good doctor’s life. But although it was perfectly legal for anyone to stand at the palace gates and call out to the king, guards arrive and forcibly remove the people. Jinyung pleads with the king too.

Dr Saam is arrested for practising medicine without a licence

The king seems unsure about what to do. He doesn’t want to punish the doctor but he can’t ignore Myunghwan’s complaint. But then everything changes: Lord Oh – the man they thought should be dead by now – arrives at the palace and hobbles in before the king! He is healthy, just on crutches. Myunghwan rushes to see this with his own eyes. The king stares in disbelief, since Myunghwan told him that there was NOTHING they could do for Lord Oh. Take that Myunghwan! It’s time for Kwanghyun to come back.

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So finally it’s time for Kwanghyun’s triumphant return and we can look forward to seeing Myunghwan’s downfall. I like the shock and horror at the end of this episode as Lord Oh makes his dramatic entrance – when everyone thought he was dead! 

The adjumma scene

Once again Kayong shows us how important it was (and still is) to call others by their correct titles in society. She continues her total disregard for social etiquette blissfully unaware that she is making yet another faux pas by calling Lady Kwak ‘adjumma’. When I watched this scene I wondered if the use of adjumma back then really did have negative connotations as it has today. The term adjumma literally means middle-aged woman, but these days it also conjures up images of groups of permed older ladies who push into the front of the line for the bus, hang out in floral comfortable elasticated trousers with other adjumma, talk loudly in groups whilst constantly chewing gum with gusto. This obviously can’t be the adjumma that Lady Kwak is imagining. 😉 So was it rude to call ladies adjumma in Joseon? Or is she just worried about the age connotation? I don’t know.

BTW I wrote about another funny adjumma scene in K-drama that appears in ‘The Man Who Can’t Marry’ (KBS2 2009). (It’s most amusing. Just as long as nobody calls ME Adjumma 🙁 )