REVIEW: ‘Doctor Slump’ Episodes 3-4

There’s nowhere to go but up for Nam Ha-neul (Park Shin-Hye) and Yeo Jeong-woo (Park Hyung-Sik) in Doctor Slump (Dakteoseulleompeu) Episodes 3-4. More time is spent building out Ha-neul and Jeong-woo with a blast to the past. This fills in the gaps, particularly for Ha-neul and her behavior. Unfortunately, both Ha-neul and Jeong-woo will have to contend with new hurdles. For Ha-neul, academic medicine’s incestuous, cutthroat nature proves to be her undoing. For Jeong-woo, there are no better friends than enemies.

Doctor Slump Episode 3 begins with a voiceover from Jeong-woo. He goes over how Ha-neul became a thorn in his side. Until she arrived, he was unbothered. Her arrival sparks his inner competitor, but he damages his health in the process trying to match up to her. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out Ha-neul’s method of studying isn’t sustainable. Both eventually pass out and get sent to the nurse’s office. Jeong-woo gets butthurt that Ha-neul leaves without saying goodbye.

Things jump to the present day. The frenemies act awkwardly around each other, embarrassed about the drunken night they spent crying with each other. The embarrassment shifts for Ha-neul when she finally arrives home. Her mother, Kong Wol-Seon (Jang Hye-Jin), is emotional upon her daughter’s return. Through Ha-neul’s mother, we see an overwhelming reaction to how the family processes Ha-neul’s depression diagnosis. They throw parties for her. Her mother barges into her room to give her foods that are known to make the brain happier. While her mom means well, it causes more stress than not.

Jeong-woo has more serious concerns to contend with. His legal issues make up the bulk of his focus in Doctor Slump Episode 3. It becomes clear throughout the course of the episode that someone is trying to make sure Jeong-woo loses. First, the shifty anesthesiologist agrees to testify and then backs out at the last minute. Second, someone breaks into his apartment. While it’s unclear to Jeong-woo what the intention was, looking at a suspicious pen under some furniture hints at nefarious purposes. Third, Jeong-woo learns that the anesthesiologist has fled the country, which casts doubt on his case.

Ha-neul proves to be a welcome distraction throughout all of Jeong-woo’s struggles. She whisks him away one evening to escape her mom. While eating ice cream, Ha-neul admits that she doesn’t know how to have fun. All she knows how to do is study. Ha-neul never got to go to the arcade or eat snacks with friends. Her lack of social skills continues to haunt her now that she’s unemployed. Unemployment, though, sparks a newfound desire to learn how to have fun.

Ha-neul continues to prove to be a relatable character. It’s so easy to prioritize work and school over living life. Now, Ha-neul is at a crossroads, a natural development for many people in her situation. With Jeong-woo by her side, she gets swept away to experience these little fun things she missed out on.

The fun isn’t meant to last, though. The next day, Ha-neul learns the professor set her up as a contract employee. Her severance is cut, and her reputation is in tatters. With her focus on work, she never took the time to make friends. Ha-neul can’t rely on her former colleagues to help. Feeling powerless, she is at her wit’s end. That is until a lightbulb moment later in the episode sparks her to dive into Jeong-woo’s case. This gives her something to funnel her energy into and allows her to be helpful to someone.

The day of Jeong-woo’s court hearing arrives. His case looks weak in the eyes of everyone. Just when all seems lost, Ha-neul arrives to present new evidence. She’s located in a case in India that is similar to Jeong-woo’s situation. We see how the two are warming up to each other. They owe each other nothing, but Ha-neul opens up a line of defense for Jeong-woo. As for Jeong-woo, he starts to see her in a different light.

Doctor Slump Episode 3 ends with a flashback to Ha-neul’s perspective. She recounts the incident in the nurse’s office differently. Ha-neul hadn’t meant to leave abruptly. She wanted to check in on Jeong-soo. Just as Ha-neul got done writing him a note, she saw Jeong-woo’s mom dismissing his health to the teacher. Seeing the stark difference in parenting, Ha-neul freezes. That is, until her mom comes to get her. Here, we start to see what kind of pressures Jeong-woo faces and the stark difference between their parents.

Doctor Slump Episode 4 is where we start to see Jeong-woo developing feelings for Ha-neul. We also start to see more development of Bin Dae-Yeong (Yoon Park) and Ha-neul’s friend, Lee Hong-Ran (Kong Seong-Ha). For Jeong-woo, there’s this internal push and pull about where he stands with Ha-neul. This is shown various times throughout the episode. Whether it’s at a seaside restaurant or while going dress shopping for Ha-neul’s blind date, Jeong-woo’s internal dialogue shows his growing conflicting feelings for his frenemy.

For Ha-neul, she’s focusing on moving on. This proves to be a challenge, though. She has a disastrous blind date with Bin Dae-Yeong. We’ve seen him a little bit in Doctor Slump, but not enough has been provided to explain his inclusion so far. During the blind date, we discover he’s kind of dumb, has a teenage daughter, and is purely interested in Hong-Ran. The thing is, he thinks the blind date is with Hong-Ran, not Ha-neul. Ha-neul is too polite to bring up the mix-up until Dae-Yeong calls her Hong-Ran directly. Based on this interaction, it’s easy to guess that Dae-Yeong will likely be a love interest for Hong-Ran down the road.

An uneasy verbal smackdown from her aunts after the blind date deepens Ha-neul’s insecurities. Her mother has spent so long hyping Ha-neul up to her rude aunties. This time it bites her mother in the butt. Jeong-woo is there to try to distract Ha-neul, but she knows that her temper has led to her current unemployment predicament. At the same time, she shouldn’t have had to take the professor’s continued abuse. The two end up getting drunk, with Ha-neul gathering up the courage to send out job applications.

The hardest part of Doctor Slump Episode 4 is that it shows how toxic behaviors get reinforced in the work environment. Those who try to fight against the status quo are blacklisted. This is the case for Ha-neul. She received a job interview, but no one was willing to give her a positive recommendation. They either don’t like Ha-neul or they are too afraid to upset the professor since he is in a tenured position. So, even though the job is in a completely remote region, she is still rejected upon arrival.

Ha-neul starts to regret whether or not she’s lived her life appropriately. It’s something that many before her have thought. The thing is, no one should have their work stolen. No one should have to endure abuse at work in order to get ahead. It’s not acceptable. But the reality is many industries punish people like Ha-neul who point out these flaws. And this is something Doctor Slump continues to highlight in its exploration of burnout.

Doctor Slump Episode 4 ends with Jeong-woo meeting Ha-neul at the train station. He tells her none of what’s happening to her is her fault. While it is uplifting, the next scene is not. The culprit behind the break-in of Jeong-woo’s face is revealed to be his confidant, a surprisingly swole Min Kyung-Min (Oh Dong-Min). With friends like that, who needs enemies?

Doctor Slump Episodes 3-4 excels in continuing to build up who Ha-neul and Jeong-woo are. There is a middling effect with the pacing, as the plot focuses more on filling in our characters rather than forward motion. With the season still in the early stages, this is forgivable. But, with the conspiracy surrounding Jeong-woo’s case, there’s enough to work with there to get things rolling along.

Doctor Slump Episodes 3-4 give us more of an understanding of Ha-neul and Jeong-woo. With the last moments of Episode 4 setting the stage for some backstabbing goodness, things should start upping in intensity. If the series continues its middling pace, there is a chance of things ironically slumping.

Doctor Slump is streaming now on Netflix.