A tragedy is not romantic
Ok, I've been watching Dr. Romantic 3 and since last week, I've been meaning to comment on it. First of all, I know most kdrama discourse has moved over to tiktok during my absence. But I need to say this. And for a drama to make me regain my passion for meta essays is awesome.
I absolutely love Ahn Hyo Seop performance in this season. It's been literally a year since a performance moved me so much. I spent days still feeling the chills whenever I remembered the episodes of disaster relief.
Having said that, I want to emphasize on this week's episodes. Some people think the main issue is the jealousy Seo Woo Jin seems to have against Kang Dong Joo. But, in my opinion, these episodes are not aimed at settling the fan war about who the better doctor is, but at master Kim's realization that both of his brightest students are flawed, because they've pursued his teachings this far.
Seo Woo Jin literally can't imagine resting because it means, for him, that he's wasting time not saving lives. His hand is not worth the same as the lives being lost. Doctor Seo has proved time and time again that his main problem is that he fails to put himself first. This has been persistent since we first met him. He is reckless in his pursuit of saving lives.
On the other hand, Kang Dong Joo, ever since we first met him, has pursued recognition. Because that's the way he thinks he can save the most lives. This is not a flaw on itself, but in this episode we saw how he has trouble asking for help. He could have called Master Kim at any moment, but feared that he would fail in Master Kim's eyes, even though Master Kim himself said he could reach for help at any moment.
Doctor Seo and Doctor Kang have always been meant to resemble each other, because they are meant to pursuit resemblance to Master Kim. Neither is better than the other, because when Master Kim walked into that Trauma Room, he did not see Doctor Kang as more brilliant, or Doctor Seo as more determined.
What he saw was his best students, and specifically doctor Seo who sees him as a father figure, break themselves in the pursuit of medicine. He saw doctor Kang unable to ask for help when he most needed it, and doctor Seo unable to rest when he most needed it.
Medicine is meant to be romantic, and while self-sacrifice is romantic, it can easily turn into a tragedy. The older student broke his own expectations, and the younger one put his tools at risk, because they so desperately wanted to be like their idol.
Like doctor Kang said, only Master Kim can be Master Kim. They don't need to resemble him, they need to become doctors with their own set of ideals, who know their own limits. Master Kim has come to the realization that he may have pushed them too far without realizing. That yes, they are brilliant, but oh, so human.
This is just another knock of reality that Master Kim keeps receiving ever since Woo Jin injured his hand. His teachings are not dangerous, we can see how other doctors have coped better with them. It's just that these two particular students are stubborn and think in extremes, they want to be the best doctors they know they can be, but are pushing themselves to the edge without taking a break.
A teacher is meant to nurture those gentle and fragile sides as well, and Master Kim is trying his best, but the foundations for their mentalities started way before he instilled gentleness in them.
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