Doctor Cha Jung Sook (2023)

Started off great but...

This started off great but ended very stupidly.

Story:
A woman trained as a doctor. Gave it up mid-way to raise her kids and become a housewife. Gets sick during her middle age. Once recovered, decides to resume her medical training and pursue her own dreams.

The FL was disrespected greatly and very much used by her husband and mother-in-law.
Her two children take her for granted at the start of the show.
There's a lot of pushback to her resuming her medical training. Her husband works as department chief and her son is also a first-year resident and none of them are happy to have her join their hospital. The daughter, a high school senior, is used to having all of mommy's attention and devotion and is unhappy at the prospect of having to heat her own dinner while mommy does something for herself for a change.

Despite the challenges in having been gone from the medical field for so long, having just recovered from a liver transplant, and having to deal with her family's disapproval, our FL sets forth to become a fully licensed doctor.

She has struggles, but she overcomes them. That's the medical side of things.

Then there's the family side.

We discover that the ML, the husband, is having an affair with a woman who used to be his girlfriend in medical school.
(Back then they'd broken up because the ML and FL had had a one-night-stand which resulted in the FL getting pregnant with their son so they had to marry. )
This "other woman" is also a doctor at the same hospital.
And the cherry on top? The ML and other woman have a daughter who's the same age as the daughter of the ML and FL (conceived when the ML and other woman meet during a medical conference in the USA several years after the ML and FL had gotten married).

To round off our cast we have a dashing, handsome, and rich professor doctor who performed the FL's liver surgery. He takes a liking to her, and helps her out in small ways while she's his patient. And when she returns to the hospital as a resident he does his best to be kind and encouraging- the only person around the FL who gives her that. It's obvious to see that he "likes her" likes her, but he's always respectful since he knows she's married.

The series focuses on:
1) The FL's growth as a doctor: slow but steady, with its share of challenges and setbacks, which she overcomes.
2) The FL's son and daughter growing up a bit, eventually coming to see their mom in a new light, and ending up being very supportive and loving.
3) The FL, the MIL, the son and the daughter finding out about the affair.

Spoiler & Ending: The kids take mom's side. The couple gets divorced. The FL ends up opening her own medical clinic and being a happy single doctor. The ML ends up pining after the FL, having broken up with the other woman.

While this may seem like a "happy ending", I'm angry that the romance we were teased with (between the FL and the dashing professor) never materialized. Why put it in there at all? If the goal was to showcase a strong woman living alone, fine. Focus on that without introducing the romantic aspect of the second ML. It's rude to the viewers. And also, not in keeping with the FL's character. She definitely responded to the SML on multiple occasions. She liked him and connected with him. I can accept her wanting to become settled as a doctor first, before pursuing a relationship. To come into her own and recover from her divorce. But to turn him down, and say she wants to be alone forever? Zero sense. She's a warm person. A good mom. She likes people. And her friends would have pushed her to meet someone new. She'd been living in a sexless marriage for 10-15 years, with no emotional support either. The entire situation, and its resolution, was so completely stupid and implausible. They ruined the ending for me.

Not worth a re-watch (except for some funny scenes in ep 1-2 that always make me laugh-basically the only comedy in the show).

PS: The daughter of the other woman and the ML also got a raw ending. She deserved better. And the other woman? A total idiot. Her character makes no sense to me. She basically gave up her family and their financial support just for the sake of having this baby and being a single mom. But instead of moving on and creating a stable home for her child, her obsession with a med school boyfriend (who cheated on her!!!!!) caused her daughter decades of pain and potentially cost her a stepdad and solid family life had her mom made better choices. Dumb and stupid of the other woman. I expected more from her. And the daughter deserved better.

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My husband is dead - I think we all wished he was

I didn’t expect to enjoy this show as much as I did. I do like how Cha Jung Sook made a complete turn in her life after her near death experience. It’s like she knew her life was far from great before, but she worked so hard to convince herself otherwise.

I love how supportive Seo Jeong Min is of his mom. He might not be able to always show it, but he is proud of her and is willing to help her as much as he can. Seo Yi Rang is a bit too selfish for my liking, at least in the beginning. I can understand this is a big change for her, but she is almost an adult and should be able to take care of herself, at least to a certain extent. I know Cha Jung Sook made her kids, her husband, and her mother-in-law so dependent on her by always doing everything for them, so I cannot blame her daughter fully. But she showed a lot of growth towards the end of the series.

The mother-in-law is awful, but I think Seo In-Ho is even worse. Not only did he cheat on his girlfriend with his now wife when they were younger, but he’s been having an affair with that same ex for probably close to two decades. He is incredibly selfish, the only thing he seems to care about is himself and his image.

I am not usually one to feel sorry for the mistress, and I can admit that Choi Sung Hee is not innocent in this situation and can be quite evil, but she is also hurting. Seo In Ho treats both his wife and his mistress horribly. I really wish they would both just up and leave him, take the kids and enjoy their lives away from him.

Choi Eun Seo is someone we want to hate, but in the end, no matter what she did, she is just a victim of the situation as well. Seo In-Ho only seems to have kind of an okay relationship with his son, but between his daughters, Choi Eun Seo is the one that got the short end of the stick. He treats her even worse that Seo Yi Rang. But she doesn’t cut him any slack either, so maybe its his guilt talking.

Doctor Roy is an absolute joy. I love how he gave Cha Jung Sook hope, he gave her a dream to follow. He was the first person to truly believe in her. He is also very supportive of her. I like their friendship dynamic a lot. I don’t think romance is needed, even if it looks like that’s the path the show my take.

I like how they are combining the more serious sides of the series with the more dramatic and even comedic ones. It is not overdone, which is what I feared.

The ending was perfect. It was just what was needed to conclude the series. I think that all three adults that are part of the love triangle did an incredibly mature thing by admitting they were all wrong at some point (the two ladies more than Seo In Ho) and they did what was best for their children in the end. I couldn’t ask for more.

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