Summary
Doctor Slump reaches its midpoint in a dramatic episode that finally sees things take a bad turn for the central couple – and so soon after they made things official!
With Episode 8, Doctor Slump has reached the halfway point of its Season 1 run, so now seems as good a time as any for things to take a much more miserable turn. We’ve had plenty of charm and burgeoning romance thus far, and you can have too much of a good thing, so as tough as it is to see Ha-neul and Jeong-woo struggling in the moment, we know they’ll get back together eventually, so it’ll probably be good for them both in the long run.
After the events of Episode 7, Ha-neul starts out this episode understandably confused about whether she and Jeong-woo are dating. They held hands, after all, though to be fair so do schoolchildren. Either way, Ha-neul isn’t used to dating, and her family is no real help since they all tell her slightly different things about what constitutes a relationship.
None the wiser, Ha-neul decides to ask Jeong-woo outright. However, she’s sidelined by the arrival of her younger brother, who asks Jeong-woo to date his sister in order to make her “less pathetic”, and Jeong-woo says he thought he already was. So, that clears that up then.
First Dates
With this now established, Jeong-woo and Ha-neul plan to go on their first date. While it is initially derailed by the sudden arrival of Jeong-woo’s friend Dae-yeong, who is full of apologies for not having called him during the difficult time he has been going through, they eventually get together for their first romantic escapade – writing dissertations together!
This is Ha-neul’s idea, anyway. Jeong-woo smartly decides to go to the movies instead. Of course, movies are also something Ha-neul has little experience in since she has spent her entire life studying. The date is a success, though.
Ha-neul and Kyung-min have history
What’s not a success, though, is Ha-neul’s history with Kyung-min. When she worked at the hospital he was her senior; she even wrote a dissertation with him. However, he shafted her by removing her name from it and taking all the credit, having manipulated her all the while.
Jeong-woo had previously asked Ha-neul what her breaking point at the hospital was, and this was it, but given his relationship with Kyung-min she keeps it to herself. However, she lets the mask slip a little when she learns that Kyung-min is getting married. Not only did he steal everything from her professionally, but he also seems to have succeeded personally as well.
Not able to let this go without a bit of revenge, Ha-neul shows up at Kyung-min’s leaving do and throws beer in his face.
This all, however, doesn’t leave Ha-neul in the best headspace, feeling very self-pitying, so when she hears from her friend Ho-rang that Jeong-woo turned down a new job with his friend Dae-yeong so as not to upset her while she’s unemployed, she takes it very badly and ends up breaking up with Jeong-woo.
On one level this is quite the overly dramatic turn, but Doctor Slump does very well at couching it in relatable character development. So, while we don’t think for a moment that any of this will stick, we can at least see how Ha-neul has arrived at this decision – though it doesn’t make it any easier watching her sob in the rain in the meantime.
What did you think of Doctor Slump Season 1 , Episode 8? Let us know in the comments.
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