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| Doctor Shin / Photo: TV CHOSUN screenshot |
[Sports Today reporter Jung Ye-won] In TV CHOSUN’s weekend miniseries Doctor Shin, Jung Yi-chan performs a startling brain-swap procedure on Baek Se-ra and Song Ji-in — and Baek Se-ra awakes wearing an unnerving smile.
The show’s second episode, which aired on the 15th, intercuts events from six months before and after Momo (Baek Se-ra)’s scuba-diving accident, shifting between past and present to build tension.
In the present-day storyline, Shin Ju-shin (Jung Yi-chan) watches Momo lying quietly inside a hyperbaric oxygen chamber when his friend Ha Yong-jung (Ahn Woo-yeon) drops by. When Ha asks about her condition, Shin lies, saying that oxygen therapy has nearly cured her, then tells him, “No visitors except her mother,” which raises suspicions. As he watches, Shin drifts into bittersweet memories of a passionate winter getaway he once shared with Momo.
The episode then rewinds to show how Shin won Momo’s heart. After their first meeting he unexpectedly appears at her home with a bouquet. Despite Momo’s prickly demeanor, he blurts out an impulsive proposal: “I want to marry you.” Offended at first, Momo begins to soften when she realizes Shin genuinely looks out for her — even when the restrictions of her acting career limit what she can eat.
Momo confides her feelings to her mother, Hyun Ran-hee (Song Ji-in), who objects to the relationship because Shin is only 13 years younger. After Hyun scolds her, Momo goes to Shin’s clinic to return a box of jewelry his mother had sent in a suitcase. Instead of letting her leave, Shin lifts her, lays her down, and declares his devotion: “I’ll be everything to you. Let’s live as husband and wife. Just ordinary. What’s so special about love?” His intensity convinces Momo. Later, Shin asks Hyun, who is at a pool, to bless their relationship; she agrees outwardly, though her inner thoughts tell a different story. After their falling out, Hyun drifts into a private, provocative fantasy about Shin, lending the scene an unsettling, mysterious tone.
The narrative then flashes back six months before the accident to a reunion between Geum Ba-ra (Joo Se-bin) and Ha Yong-jung. Preparing to leave for Italy, Ha discovers that the reporter who interviewed him goes by the childhood nickname he used for her: Geum Ba-ra. He postpones his departure to meet her. Geum hides her lingering affection behind a quiet “How could I forget?” and the two reconnect over their mutual link to Ji An-hee (Cha Ji-hyuk). When Ha gently draws a boundary — “You’re my little sister before you’re a reporter” — Geum is hurt. He’s proud of how well she’s grown, and she swallows her longing, managing only to say, “I missed you, oppa.”
Later, gallery director Hyun Ran-hee is shown a Paul Kim (Ji Young-san) painting by James (Jeon No-min), while scenes cut to Geum Ba-ra admiring Paul Kim’s work and to Paul Kim returning from Germany, deepening the episode’s intrigue.
Back in the present, Momo awakens after the brain-swap operation and struggles to open her eyes. Fleeting images — fragments of Hyun Ran-hee’s memories — flash across her mind. Watching the recovery-room CCTV, Shin rushes in, shocked to find Momo awake. At the same time, Momo glances at Hyun Ran-hee lying in the neighboring bed and makes a grotesque expression, capping the episode with a chilling cliffhanger. The twist raises immediate questions: Was the brain-swap successful, and how will the swapped fates of the two women unfold?
Episode 3 of Doctor Shin will premiere simultaneously on TV CHOSUN and Coupang Play on the 21st at 10:30 p.m.
[Sports Today reporter Jung Ye-won ent@stoo.com]
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