Friday, March 29, 2024
FILM&DRAMA

Heo Jun episode 15 The Dismissal

 heojun1515Oh Heo Jun, we’ve gone from hero to zero again and blimey, this episode is hard to watch. Heo Jun gets angry with his wife for daring to suggest that he shouldn’t use the letter of recommendation from the yangban and instead should try to pass the medical exam with his own skills. But by the next day he must be wishing he had listened to her because he gets KICKED OUT of the clinic by Dr Yoo for accepting the letter…. 

Heo Jun and his mum admire the fine silks they received and he looks forward to passing the medical exam and moving the family to Hanyang, the capital. But Da Hee isn’t pleased. She doesn’t want him to use the letter to pass the exam. She wants him to pass with his own skills NOT his connections. But the idea of not using the letter throws Heo Jun into a rage and he storms out – because if he fails the exam, who knows when the next opportunity will be because the exams are not held regularly. (He has persuaded himself that it’s not cheating to use his contacts to pass the test.) His mum scolds Da Hee for not supporting her husband (as this is a woman’s role in life 🙁 )

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Heo Jun and his mum admire all the fine gifts but his wife is not impressed

Koo Ilsu’s wife arrives and looks over the silk gifts jealously. (I have a bad feeling about this. Everything is going too well and everyone around them is so full of envy. And she in particular is a hateful old dame who can’t stand to see anyone else do well.) Wanting some of the gifts for herself, she reminds them how she and Koo Ilsu helped the family when they first arrived and had no one to turn to. Mum immediately feels guilty and hastily offers her a silver ring. (I actually agree that she SHOULD have been given a gift as a thank you for letting the family stay in her house. Why didn’t Heo Jun’s mum give her something sooner?)

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Other workers start to suck up to Heo Jun and Koo Ilsu’s wife wants a piece of the reward

Word spreads about Heo Jun’s skills. Dr Yoo overhears Koo Ilsu telling everyone that Heo Jun is a better doctor than Dr Yoo now. But Dr Yoo isn’t offended. He agrees. 🙂 On the other hand, Do Ji is determined to humiliate Heo Jun whenever he can and tries to test him about acupuncture. When Heo Jun doesn’t answer one of his questions, Do Ji is delighted  especially since Ye Jin is there to witness it all. But Ye Jin is aware that Heo Jun DID know the answer and just pretended that he didn’t. (Maybe because he wants a quiet life and can feel Do Ji’s envy! Again, Do Ji, you’re only embarrassing yourself.)

Do Ji is excited to hear about the upcoming state medical exam. Oh Gun, still fuming over Heo Jun refusing to help him get a recommendation letter too, vindictively tells Do Ji about the letter. Next thing we know Heo Jun has is called to appear in front of Dr Yoo and his jury of wife and Do Ji. While his wife wants all the gifts that Heo Jun received given to her, Dr Yoo just wants the letter. Devastated, Heo Jun has to hand it over and Dr Yoo orders a candle to burn the letter! Do Ji is smug. But Dr Yoo is fuming and feels betrayed and throws Heo Jun out of the hospital for accepting the letter. And tells him never to come back. Heo Jun begs to be let in but the workers throw him out and Dr Yoo’s wife demands they get all the silks back too.

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Heo Jun is devastated when he gets kicked out of the clinic

Heo Jun is gutted to be thrown out and he goes drinking. Unaware of all this, Heo Jun’s mum is busy cooking a meal to thank Koo Ilsu and his wife for all their ‘help’ (although his wife is a gossip and does more harm than good) Mum scolds Da Hee again for looking so miserable and not supporting her husband. But before they can eat, the doctor’s workers come and ransack the place taking everything away. Mum collapses when she hears about Heo Jun’s dismissal. (So they should have listened to Da Hee after all)

And now for some double-standards. Determined to pass the exam this time, Do Ji asks his mother for help- since his father has enemies they have to do something to get on the doctors’ good side if he wants to pass. So she gets out a LOAD of gold that she’s been saving for him. So Heo Jun is punished for trying to secure himself a pass while Dr Yoo’s own son is planning to bribe the doctors – but this is perfectly acceptable! 🙄

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Heo Jun is furious that they are back to square one even after all his hard work

Heo Jun returns home to find the place upside down and his mother confined to her bed. He is furious but still Da Hee tries to persuade him to go back and apologise to Dr Yoo. He refuses to listen. AGAIN. (He is not about to admit that she was right all along. Sigh. What a nightmare living with such a stubborn man like him will be. 🙁 )  Furious, Heo Jun refuses to accept that he has done anything wrong and heads off to get another recommendation letter….

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I’m exhausted after watching this episode. And for a lot of the time I had to look away. The scene as Heo Jun desperately grabs the burning letter and puts out the flame is hard to watch. He’s so desperate, it’s humiliating and he’s gone from hero to zero in one episode. Dr Yoo’s wife and Do Ji look annoyingly smug.  

But one thing for sure is that he should have listened to his wife. And then he wouldn’t be in this humiliating situation now. I do think that Dr Yoo has been too harsh though. After all he would NEVER kick his own son out of the clinic. So there are double-stardards here. And Heo Jun has had a much harder life than Do Ji, so Dr Yoo could simply have taken him to one side and had a quiet word telling him to hand over the letter. It didn’t need to be a huge trial like this. 🙁 Very disappointing, Dr Yoo. 

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