This show is getting deeper and deeper into the complicated drama of hospitals and the ethical and unethical lives of our doctors and company men. Everyone talks around what they are saying, so if you are confused, it is okay. The person actually listening in the show is probably confused as well.
I was actually able to do a quick edit on this one with Grammarly. Some typos might have slipped though, but this is overall much better than it was.
LIFE KDRAMA RECAP: EPISODE 4
OPENING
Doctors walk down a hall and hear people arguing inside a room. It is the doctors in ER arguing with the suits. DS is yelling at the suits about something, but the head suit tells him that they will write down that the ER department does not agree to this.
They all sigh at the injustice. JW tells him that he will be there, DS can go upstairs and talk. DS tells him to save this place. But as soon as DS leaves, JW gives the file to the suits and copies it for them. Everyone wonders what is going on.
Upstairs The VP tries to find SH in his office. The secretary says that he is out. The VP leaves and KA exhales all her stress after the VP stormed in and scared the mess out of her. She grumbles that she wants to go to another office.
Outside in the different doctor’s offices, the doctors try to erase the meeting lists before the suits get to them to take the info. DS runs up to talk to the VP who is among other doctors. It looks like all the Chiefs are meeting suddenly to discuss this. But so far there are only 5 of them. DS tells them that they wanted everything, even the mortality rate, they have something going on behind them.
The CEO has driven to the farmer’s house. The farmer sees that everything is done outside, but goes back inside when he sees the CEO driving up again. SH gets out of the car and gives the dog some food. Some of the other farmers are there looking at SH strangely. One of them has a huge reaper style blade that he points haphazardly around as he talks to SH. But then he grumbles about something and leaves.
The farmer comes out along with the wife. SH tells him that the mixed dog is pretty, but the farmer yells IT IS NOT A MIXED DOG. The woman of the house tells them that they should eat together.
They all go to eat in the house. The grandmother and Grandfather talk about the land and the grandson and how it will affect them and all that stuff. SH tells Grandfather that he has a lot of land; if he does not live there and does not farm it, then it is illegal to have it because the son is the Prime Minister of Agriculture. You should not have that much land. This kind of thing is a time bomb for a gongwon. A lot of people get fired due to these types of issues.
The Grandmother and Grandfather look like they are hearing him. SH says that he wants that land and he also does not want the Minister to have trouble. He will give them 58 million dollars. I know that you do not care about money, but that is a lot of money. Imagine how you can spend the rest of your life with that money. it is your family money and can affect your future. We have so many sick people in the hospital; those patients do not have any place to go to because the hospital is too small. Please let us build our hospital on your land.
The grandfather clears his throat and leaves. SH is left with the Grandmother. He thanks Omonim for breakfast and leaves. She tells him that he did not even eat at all, eat something, do not skip your meals. SH bows and leaves.
SH catches up with Grandfather and tells him not to smoke; it is not good for your health. They stare at the land. SH says he will enjoy it more if he has a house in Seoul and comes out here to relax. Grandfather tells him that this land was not usable, but now everyone wants it. He starts talking about a lot of things that happened a while ago on this land. SH asks him if it was during the Japanese War? Grandfather says it is not the Japanese era; I would be 100 years old already, I am not that old yet.
They used us for many years and told us that they would give us land. But now they want us to give this land back because it is government land. I was a little gangster but that land in Songtang. He says he wanted to live on this land that was once government land so he could not even pee on it.
SH asks him if he wants to move all the country people to that place? Not that many people will move there or can move there. You can have a small piece of land that would be enough for all the townspeople. You can sell me all the other land.
Appa says that the second son does not like this. If anyone knows that he was apart of the developing land people, then he will kill himself. So, if I don’t sell the land…will he really be in trouble with his minister position?
SH says that is true.
(It looks like he does not own the land that they are looking at, he just wants to move the people who live there to his fathers land that he inherited.)
Later on, SH leaves. But before leaving, he bows to the woman of the house and then heads out.
In the car, he thinks about the land and how it is in disarray. But now he has a better understanding of it. He gets a text and looks through his phone for information on what the father told him about the land developers that were made to group marry people due to the government and military.
HOSPITAL
OH yells at her people and asks them if these gangsters threaten them. They should not share the patient information by law, are you stupid? They should follow the law and get the information. I am going to sue all of them for violating the medical laws. OH looks at the suits and tells them that they know what they are doing, leave.
The suits all leave. OH tells her people to raise their heads and tells her what they are thinking. Are you thinking about your job, when am I going to finish and go home? You don’t care about other centers? I was the same, but if you do not care about other departments, then you will be like them. Those guys are the owners of our future, okay?
She gets a pen and starts writing a note; then she tells them that the patients are waiting, let’s finish voting for the strike. Everyone keeps writing and voting on the strike.
Montage of all the Departments voting on the strike by paper ballot. WV texts SH and lets him know that they are voting for the strike.
The ER team is pretty relaxed. One of the guys says that it is a relaxed day due to the voting that is going on, but they tell him not to say that! Suddenly an emergency case comes in, they all run out.
JW talks tot he nurse about what happened. The suits took all their documents, and nitpicked everything, do you think they will understand them? JW says that they do not have to understand them.
The emergency patient comes in; it is a policeman. He has a huge gash wound that they have to clean with saline. JW tells him that his wound is not deep, they will check it with a CT and X-ray for internal bleeding, so do not worry, we just need to give you stitches. What happened?
Police – That guy….that guy….that killed his own daughter…..
Flashback to that man in the hospital. The young doctor remembers that he gave that order to send him back. So that crazy guy stabbed the policeman.
JW calls from the ER to have an emergency brain CT. Cut to the policeman, he is sitting up and looks much better. They prepare for the stitches and let him know that he will be fine. The young doctor is going to do the stitches and will make it, so they do not leave a scar.
SH is in the office with NH (the CEO). NH is amazed that SH got the stamp for the land. Flashback to SH on his knees as the Grandfather stamps for the land. But it looks like SH has reservations and perhaps did not want the grandfather to stamp for that land in the end as his hand kind of motions for him not to do it, but then he stops.
NH is impressed and happy that SH got this accomplished. He asks him about the hospital. The doctors’ organization is all messed up. They start to talk about the strike and how they all stick together. It is so fast for them all to be on strike together; this is not good. Our transportation company is still having trouble with the unions. The reason I sent the #1 guy to break unions to the hospital is because I want you to feed the entire group (make a lot of money and make them all rich).
Nam-hyung tells SH that the medical school, hospital, insurance, medical supplies, pharmacy…they have completed the four sides of their company. The reason I put you in this position, what do you think? What companies do you think will survive under out umbrella in 10 years? Medical service is a lifelong thing. People live for 100 years. For old people, hospitals are their last house. We spend a lot of money on this medical service.
We did not invest all our money in the hospital, but now we have the service. We need to grow this hospital and eat it.
SH tells him that he will make sure they do not have any noise. Where is the money for the new hospital building in Song-tang? Is it from the main branch?
NH tells him that all the money is not there.
SH thanks him, but also looks like he is deep in thought about the situation. He leaves and slowly walks out, but he turns back to the office. The Owners last words were that SH should feed their entire group. SH turns back and walks out.
He gets to his office; someone is waiting for him from a chemical company sales department. Perhaps a pharmacy company. SH has him sit down. But the man does not sit and just remains standing until SH comes to him to sit. SH notices this, so he drops what he is doing to sit with him.
The salesperson recommends the drugs for the doctors to recommend. He goes into his sales pitch. He mostly has multivitamins and a poster that they can put around the hospital. He would like to put it on the first-floor bakery. SH says they will think about it. They end the meeting.
SH asks KA to hide all of that stuff; he does not want to see it. She grabs it but then takes one of them, lol. He tells her not to eat them, but she tries to keep them all. KA tells her boss that the person wants to pay 1,500 dollars for the patient information after all.
SH checks his text messages from WC; they are all about the strike. He asks to meet with him.
In the hospital sleeping room, JW asks the young doctor if he wants him to feel guilty because they released that crazy man? The young doctor says no, it just reminds him of another case when he was a resident. He should have called a cardiologist but he saw that it was an arrest, he could not breathe because the blood went backward. He keeps talking about this old case and how the man became okay with aspirin and breathing.
He released him. He did not want to be yelled at. He just wanted to do well. But the next day, another doctor told him that the patient came back and died after 4-5 days. JW says that is not his fault.
The young doctor asks how he felt when his patient came back? JW says you can’t tell anyone or they will be uncomfortable and avoid you. This organization does not accept mistakes. Doctors should admit the mistakes. It is better to accept them so we will make fewer mistakes.
The young guy leaves.
RESTAURANT
Sh meets with WC at a private restaurant room. SH looks at his phone where it says private hospitals are moving from Korea to China (maybe making a branch there?). WC and SH drink comfortably with each other as if they are friends. WJ tells him that the vote will end tomorrow, but it does not look like there will be any change.
SH asks who the person is that pretends like they are a ghost, do you know Ye Jin-woo? They start to talk about Ye Jin-woo and what he said at the meeting. He used to be like stagnant water, but now he talks. They wonder if KM has anything to do with this. WC says that KM is from another school, but they should have a candidate from their own school, but BH hired him. He does not have any line. He is wangta (ostracized).
SH asks WC who he thinks KM and JW are friends with. But WC just wonders what his hyung-nim is going to do this time? SH tells him to tell him, he will find out. WC starts talking and says that KM is not friends with anyone. But JW is friends with No-eul. SH asks if No-eul is a man?
WC says she is a woman. SH asks, if something happened to NE, would it hurt your feelings? WC says no, they are all bad, it is okay. All the doctors and nurses…~. More of their food comes in. SH asks if he wants him to move him. But WC says no, it is good to have a familiar hyung around.
SH asks what about the hospital reform center? WC tells him that he does not care, just call him later. But do you think it is good timing now to put me in the reform center? He nods. They eat a bit and then WC asks his hyung why they went to school and worked so hard, it is all nothing.
SH tells him that you make your own day exciting. Do you think anything else will work? WC tells him to stop telling him all the facts; we just need to do anything to survive….yes….I am still like that.
HOSPITAL
In the reform center, the suits are checking all the documents.
SH is back in his office meeting with someone. They talk about their internal documents and how they still have to go through all the proper channels. SH flips throughout the documents and asks why the CANCER center erased all the data. The man says that they told him the data was deleted by mistake. And they cannot recover it.
It is from March 3rd – March 5. Before you started working here. SH tells him that they need to see all the records for that day. Cut to KA with a lot of boxes to go through. Montage of SH working very hard to address all of this. KA is also working hard as his secretary as she walks all over the room, but SH stays seated. He finally stands when he figures something out.
Two of something look the same. KA tells someone to call the CANCER chief. SH leaves hurriedly.
He walks out and looks super angry; he did not even see JW walking up the hall at the same time. His Men in Black fall in line behind him as they go to the CANCER center. The CANCER center waits for them.
Everyone confronts each other. SH talks about a leukemia patient that went home, there is no record of re-hospitalization, but I have that person’s name on the death list. Is it the same name but a different person? Cause of death is meningitis, but you put two different anti-cancer therapy, what is the reason?
The doctors look around nervously. JW is looking in and looks like he knows what is going on. Sang-yeob explains all that happened that day with what they gave the patient. SH asks how they distinguish it, smell, color? SY says that they are all clear, you must use a label. We check it in front of the patient and do it.
JW – You have one more, the supervision of the superior.
KA walks up to him and smiles as if smitten. Then she goes inside.
SH – What if the medicine is mistaken?
it looks like the hospital made a huge mistake.
SH – What happens if those two medicines are used at the same time?
SY – The patient dies.
SH – So you killed him.
SY – It was a medical mistake.
SH – You killed the patient. You doctors.
SY – Do you know what happens when doctors don’t rest? People die.
Flashback where SY tells his people that everyone will call them doctors, but they should not call themselves doctors. (because they killed someone).
SH asks them what they are supposed to do. SY says they have a law where the residents should only work 88 hours a week, that is 18 hours a day. But we cannot take care of all our patients, so we lie on the documents that we only work that much. Doctors are human also.
SH asks if that is why – you are so busy, so you removed the document and act as if this patient did not exist? When you give excuses and lie to the patient family and tells them that he died with meningitis, where you sleep deprived also? Those patients trust you!
SY basically tells him that doctors are people too. We are overworked and a lot of doctors kill themselves.
SH just laughs at that and asks him if he also works 120 hours a week? What do you do when your doctors make a mistake. You should share the work; you should tell everyone that you kill people because you are so tired! You all talk and nag about how kids work so hard. But you pretend like you are taking care of your young doctors and now you are saying that you are not guilty, it is not my fault. Whatever excuse you make, there is a killer here and someone tried to cover it up.
SY tells him that they did not hide it, they reported it.
SH – To who?
To the president, BH. You want to make us into bad people, but BH decided to have it as meningitis for our school and the hospital.
JW perks up at this information.
SH just looks at him disgustedly and tells him shame on him. You should really feel shame. He throws the paperwork down and then walks out, but glares at JW ask he leaves. SY also looks at JW standing there like a ghost.
WC/VO – It is not an accident, it is a complication with drugs, it happens almost every day. We are the only ones who know about it in the hospital; it is because we are too busy.
SH and KA get into the elevator together.
VO – if it is not a big accident then it is okay.
KA tells SH that they make mistakes a lot, there are laws to prevent it, but it is still hard to prevent.
VO – We are not the only hospital, many hospitals make mistakes with giving medicine.
VO – Everyone hides it because the patients never know about it. No one will think that a patient that goes to critical care will believe that doctors make a mistake and the wrong drug came in.
SH yells about these fools and says that they can’t even make one mistake at a company. If they make any wrong product, then people will complain.
VO – Almost every day, all the time.
SH just shakes his head at this unethical situation that this hospital is in all the time due to all these “doctors”. He tries to think about it and thinks that BH is the a-hole responsible.
KA approaches SH with some new information though it looks like she does not want to give it to him. She says that another hospital had a mistake where they buried the death of a patient and did not even do an autopsy, they knew that they made a mistake with the injection but just did the funeral.
The parents thought the autopsy would be like killing their kid twice; she understands that since she is a mother. When the medicine goes bad, it might hurt the child. She says she doesn’t think she would let them cut her child again. But if it happens to her, then she will tell her parents to do an autopsy.
KA goes to her desk. SH tells KA to call the patients guardians.
In the hospital, The ER department is going crazy with the news of the CANCER Center. NE talks to the nurses and says that just in case something happens, they were getting paperwork together or something like that. But it is a good thing. The nurse thinks it isn’t because the chief is going crazy. She leaves and thinks that it is wrong that everyone wants to hide things. She thinks about what SH said at the meeting with how hospitals are public property, she agrees with him.
Cut to VP in his office, SY goes to meet with him and they have an intense moment as if they are coming together for something.
HOME
SW got a lot of soccer awards when he was little and JW got a lot of math awards. JW tells his brother to stop kicking the soccer ball around! But no one is there. It looks like this was when his visions started of his brother.
Little JW meets with BH who is a psychiatrist. He says that he can tell him anything and he won’t tell. But little SW tells his hyung not to tell him; he will assume you are crazy and will put you in a mental hospital, umma won’t even visit you! JW tells him that he is not crazy. BH asks him how many people are there? JW repeats that he is not crazy.
BH says that he knows. You told me that your brother hurts his legs and does not talk, your mother worried about that a lot because he is not talking. But you are older, so I will tell you honestly, you are different from Sun-woo. Some people after a big accident don’t say anything. It is different from when someone is telling you something. I am not telling you if you are wrong, but you should know. If you have a friend that only you can see, that is not a good thing.
Later, you will only see that friend. Your mother and Sun-woo and your school friends will all disappear. Little JW grabs BH and tells him that it is not a friend. It is Sun-woo, he knows that he is not real because he is running around just like before the accident. Sun-woo yells not to tell him that.
BH tells him that his Jin-woo had a tough time. They hug and BH cries into his shoulder.
VO – You were sad because your brother was sick, you want to play like before and run around. You made him because you miss your healthy brother, but it is okay. Everything will be okay. Everything is okay.
In the present, JW tells himself that it is okay.
JW runs outside and catches up with KM. He asks him if he knew about the CANCER center problem. Did BH tells you anything, they said that they reported it to BH. But KM says he did not know. JW tells him that he was sorry he accused him last time about telling SH.
KM tells him that they are still at the hospital, people can hear this and spread that information around. I do not know if the president knew about the cancer center. Have a good rest.
KM walks away.
JW keeps walking and thinks about what SY said about making that death case a meningitis case for the school and the hospital. BH got the money for that hospital support.
VO – What kind of person was the person that I knew? (something like that)
Meanwhile, KM goes to a meeting with all the other chiefs at a restaurant. They are all waiting for him and say that they need to set up the D day for the strike. Perhaps they need to do it slowly, they talk about the strike, but where can they start.
DS asks KM if he is really doing it. What are all the details about it? Will we make it public? OH says that it already started when we had the votes. But then they bring up the patients, what about them? The VP says that they might have to do a partial strike until they get the public opinion together. They can do a rotational strike.
If it does not work, then they can do a full strike. That will give them the right to fully strike. They ask KM to make the list of people to rotate. Jung-hee asks if Km will do everything for all of them? That does not make sense. The VP says that he cares about the patients the most so he will make a good rotation that will take care of the patients.
But KM asks how he can make other departments schedules? Another person says that they will give him all the list of the people. (Hmm, it looks like they are turning on KM on the sly). They keep talking about the money that each department makes and how they need to find out all that this person knows that spread the information. They do not know who spread that information. They also don’t think the CEO knew either.
They keep talking about the informer. KM thinks they should protect him; no hospital will hire a whistleblower. They all look at him suspiciously and keep looking at him as he leaves first. It seems like KM also feels like they suspect him.
In the meeting, another guy says it feels good to have someone who did not go to their same school to do all the work. Everyone does not look happy about that, but they keep talking about the meeting. OH says that she wanted to support the CEO, but they should not make those kinds of mistakes from the beginning so no one will pick on it from the outside (the medicine mistake).
One of them thinks their kids’ (doctors) lives will be more difficult. OH says that he need to yell at them instead of golfing all the time. Then she tells them all that she needs to go home to get some rest so she can wake up and yell at her kids. Two guys think that OH never loses in anything.
OH sees KM ambling home as she drives away. It looks like she might care about him?
KM looks at the sky and says, “You should not have died like that after recruiting me.”
SH goes home. NE happily asks him if he is going home now? Okay, bye bye. She walks inside. But then she heads home. SH looks at her as he drives off.
Night turn today and the doctors are on strike in the lobby. The sign says DO NOT SEND OUR THREE DEPARTMENTS AWAY” Several reporters are documenting this. VP also gets on the mic and has a press conference about all that is happening.
He basically says they work hard for the patients and do this to protect the citizens’ health (and all that stuff). If they do not come to an agreement, then they will fully go on strike. They are not keeping the patients’ hostage. We want to correct what is bad with the management.
Montage of all the doctors working as the VP talks. KM puts the list together. JW is helping patients….
But KM is having a hard time putting the list together and JW looks stressed during work as well. SH is also stressed in his office as he thinks about what to do next.
Fade Out
COMMENTS
Wow, this show is trucking along. I am starting to really like SH. It looks like he is trying to do what is best for his job, his company, and also people in general. Though everyone might not like his methods. He is a workaholic that definitely earns his paycheck and was horrified when he found out about all the unethical things the hospital was doing while simultaneously not taking responsibility for any of it. Will he end up being one of the heroes of this story?
We will try and finish this weeks episodes before next week starts. Emphasis on try! ^_^
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[SPOILER]
I feel that SH is somewhat like Yoo Jae-Myung (from Stranger)… some think that he is the villan but in the end he is just trying to be a hero.
It would be cool if he became the hero!