Actress Kim Ji-won recently captivated audiences by delivering a chilling and refreshing revenge against a ‘devil doctor’ who trampled on bioethics in the hit drama series.
The ratings for the show also displayed an unstoppable upward trajectory. Episode 5 of the SBS Fri-Sat drama ‘Doctor X: The Era of White Mafia’ (hereafter ‘Doctor X’), broadcast on the 23rd, recorded a peak viewership rating of 19%, 17.5% nationwide, and 17% in the metropolitan area (Nielsen Korea standards), breaking its own highest Friday viewership record once again. It swept the number one spot overwhelmingly across the same time slot, weekly dramas, and all channels combined for the week. The core 2049 viewership rating also surged to a peak of 6.4% and an average of 5.6%, proving its unrivaled buzzworthiness.
In this episode, Gye Su-jeong (played by Kim Ji-won) showcased her ‘medical dark hero’ persona by perfectly punishing Na Dae-il (played by Jang Seung-jo), who committed the malicious act of engraving his own initials on a patient’s liver.
Previously, Gye Su-jeong discovered Na Dae-il’s initials ‘D.N’ on patient Kwon Choong-hyun’s (played by Oh Jung-taek) liver during surgery. Although she revealed the truth for the patient’s right to know and the medical staff’s duty, Kwon Choong-hyun, the breadwinner of his family, tried to brush it over due to realistic limitations. However, Na Dae-il showed no remorse, maintaining a shameless attitude by saying, “It’s not like it hurts or is visible to others,” which ignited Gye Su-jeong’s fury. Eventually, catching Kwon Choong-hyun’s suppressed anger, Gye Su-jeong set the stage for a full-scale retaliation.
Gye Su-jeong’s revenge was nothing short of eerie and meticulous. Personally performing surgery on Na Dae-il, who had to go to the operating table due to abnormal liver findings, she left a silent warning by writing ‘D.N’ with ketchup on Na Dae-il’s omelet during his recovery. Realizing something was suspicious in the surgical footage, Na Dae-il fell into deep fear.
When Na Dae-il eventually rushed to the emergency room wielding a scalpel and causing a ruckus, Gye Su-jeong whispered chillingly, “Did I only carve initials like you?” In the midst of this, when Gye Su-jeong got hurt, Jang Hee-sook (played by Lee Jung-eun) from a medical temp agency stepped up, throwing Na Dae-il down with flashy professional wrestling techniques and turning the emergency room into a field of refreshing justice.
Gye Su-jeong whispered into the subdued Na Dae-il’s ear, engraving a different level of terror: “From now on, if you get hurt or sick, the operating surgeon will unconditionally be me. I will open your body and I will close it. I’ll play with you until you’re tattered.”
In the end, Na Dae-il was arrested on charges of special assault and causing a disturbance at the hospital, and even Director Boo Seung-hyun (played by Son Hyun-joo) turned his back on him. Taking advantage of this gap, using Jang Hee-sook’s powerful negotiation card, Gye Su-jeong successfully secured a regular contract with Guseo University Hospital and made a triumphant return to the department of surgery.
At the end of the broadcast, Gye Su-jeong’s expression of a subtle smile while looking down at Na Dae-il’s liver during surgery decorated the ending, maximizing curiosity about what she actually did to Na Dae-il’s liver.
Bolstered by this box office hit and active performance, Kim Ji-won has emerged as a strong candidate for this year’s SBS Entertainment Awards.
