The Third Hospital: Episode 1 Recap

Welcome to the recaps for Third Hospital, which aired on tvN in September/October 2012. The acting was praised by viewers, but I feel like it was kind of underrated among international fans so I have decided to recap it. This drama stars Kim Min Jung, Oh Ji Ho, Sooyoung, and Kim Seung Woo. Onward to the recap!

Episode 1

 We start off with a surgery, Dr. Kim Doo Hyun is in charge, another surgeon asks him why he's there when he should be at the reception. He retorts that he can just because an event is happening that he should just let the person die? That shuts up the subordinate as Doo Hyun tells them to finish up and he prepares to leave. Then we see someone descending from a cliff and it's Dr. Kim Seung Hyun. Meanwhile, Dr. Jin Hye In wakes up late from a nap and notices she's late. Her roommate, Dr. Jung Seung Hee, walks in to see her spraying her socks with air freshener and remarks that men don't like that. Of course, Hye In isn't listening and runs out. The introduction speeches are being done in the conference hall by directors of the Western medicine doctors. Hye In then sneaks in the room. While he's still on the side of the cliff, Sueng Hyun gets a call from Dr. Min Joo Ah telling him he's missing everything. 

While he's driving, Doo Hyun receives a call from a doctor who notices he doesn't like the thought of working with Eastern medicine doctors. Doo Hyun says they're not doctors since they don't believe in evidence. As he's saying this, a truck driver is nodding off at the wheel and almost hits Doo Hyun, who gets out of the way. Meanwhile with Seung Hyun is still hanging on a cliff and almost falls after retrieving a plant. This man literally puts his life at risk for his job. Joo Ah calls Seung Hyun again, this time with In Gook looking at him, and is yelled at immediately. Seung Hyun says that he said before he was with a girl. Haha!

The sleepy truck driver falls asleep and causes an accident, injuring another driver. Doo Hyun stops and decides to help..you know since he's a doctor and all. The paramedics insist he ride with them on the way to the hospital since it's further than 5 minutes away. He reluctantly agrees. Then we cut to Hye In sitting in the stairwell enjoying her ramyun when her phone rings, she gets upset and starts telling Doo Hyun that she was just simply taking a much needed lunch break and will head back when she's done. He wasn't checking on her and informs her about the patient coming in. She tries to call her colleagues, but no one is answering so she decides to texts them all. During Director Choi In Gook's speech, the neurosurgery department gets up to leave as they receive the notice. Seung Hyun finally shows up at the hospital and is looking at the directory to find where he needs to go when a security guard walks up and asks who he is. Seung Hyun says he's a doctor there and attempts to go back and look for the reception when the security guard tells him he needs to leave and says he would have been better off saying he just hiked there. I get that he doesn't look like a doctor, but shouldn't the security guard have asked to see his ID instead of trying to kick him out? For all he knew, Seung Hyun could have been a major director or something. Anyways, a woman rushes in with her son asking for help. Seung Hyun rushes off behind her despite the security guard trying to stop him. He figures out a problem and asks for a scalpel, but due him being an Eastern medicine doctor, the nurse isn't allowed to give him one. Frustrated, he dumps out the contents of his backpack and gets one himself. At the same time, we see Doo Hyun and his staff hard at work during surgery for the driver from the accident. You know, this show isn't for the weak which is why I'm questioning my reasons for even watching this again. 

We learn that Doo Hyun's father is a famous surgeon named Kim Ha Yoon from the directors watching the surgery take place. They are all anxious because the hospital has just opened and the investors are also there. They are worried if the surgery isn't a success that they wouldn't get the much needed investment. Since Dr. Kim Ha Yoon is such a legend, we can already see a potential issue being outlined. 

The child Seung Hyun is helping doesn't seem to have high chances at regaining consciousness, but his mother begs him to save her son. So Seung Hyun tries acupuncture as a way for him to regain his life force, the nurse and security guard are both looking on. Doo Hyun also works hard to save the driver's life when chances also don't look good. Luckily, the driver's surgery is a success and Doo Hyun didn't realize he had an audience. He asks Hye In how long they'd been there and she says a while. After he's done with the child, Seung Hyun runs off realizing how late he is and runs into the directors and investors. Just then another doctor receives a call that an Eastern medicine doctor administered Western medical practices on a patient in the ER. He's given a month's pay cut and once alone, In Gook lights into him for causing more issues for the Oriental department on his first day. Already we can see that Seung Hyun is a bit of a smart ass by his responses. He finds his office and sees Joo Ah inside looking through his bag, he casually says he found his soulmate in 1st year neurosurgery resident Jung Seung Hee. Seung Hyun says that he says this a lot. 

Doo Hyun is walking down the hall with Jo Seong Wook who balks at the idea that an Eastern medicine doctor administered a tracheotomy, but Doo Hyun says that it could have been worse if word got out that they refused a patient in the ER. Later, the neurosurgery department all head out to dinner together. After they all take a shot of Soju, Seung Hee spritzes herself and Hye In complains that the smell will get on the meat. Seung Hee says that she doesn't want her clothes to smell like meat. Uhh then why wear something that nice to eat out in? Just a thought. Then someone brings up that Hye In's father is an Eastern medicine doctor. Seong Wook says that her father is the enemy and questions how she ended up here. She's put in a corner when they begin to point out her faults and she gets uncomfortable. Do Hyun, sorta, defends her and the subject is dropped. 

Next day(or some time later?) a patient comes in and begins to discuss her symptoms, she believes her osteoporosis and malnutrition are getting worse. We then see she went to both Doo Hyun and Seung Hyun and is initially given two different diagnosis and thus has two different prescriptions. She walks out looking more confused than when she went in. Later on, Seung Hyun is walking through the hall and stops by the nurse's station to write something down. He drops the herbal medicine he is holding and it lands near Seung Hee's feet, she also happens to be wearing a dress. She notices him searching near her feet and says he's a pervert, Hye In comes by and also yells at him. He defends himself saying he dropped something, but they don't believe him. Just then Doo Hyun is walking through and he shoots him a look before walking past him. Seung Hyun also walks off after his mood changes. The others also notice the change in the atmosphere and Hye In looks like she's wondering what's going on. Then a flashback: Young Seung Hyun is stuck in the rain in what looks like the forest and his father carries him back. Young Doo Hyun is looking in on their father tending to him, He then says he should have died. Oh, what a major flashback so early. So they're brothers who obviously don't talk to one another, but one would wonder if they've always disliked one another or is Doo Hyun's animosity is caused by something much deeper. 

Later on, Seung Hyun is tending a patient who asks him why he isn't married, He says he will and another ahjumma syas he's too hot blooded. She then offers up her granddaughter who looks like a girl if you look at her closely LoL. In the midst of this, Hye In is making remarks, he hears it and responds. She lies and says she was playing a game and even takes a kid's soduko game to cover, but the kid outs her. Before they can continue, Hye In is called off to see a patient who's recovering from surgery. It's the driver from the truck accident, his name is Han Sang Joon and he can't move his right hand. His mother begins blaming the surgeons and Hye In says that if it wasn't for them then he would have died so she should be thankful. Ha! The mother wants her son to be treated by the Eastern medical department, but Hye In says that they're not done with post-surgery treatment and he can't be transferred. She informs Doo Hyun who says no since he's still susceptible to an infection and they need to watch him longer. Hye In informs the woman what her superior has decided then she asks why it's called a collaborative hospital if they can't do this? She rips the posters off the wall and says they shouldn't say it's collaborative when it isn't. We can see this will be a major problem in the near future. Angry mom wheels her son(with her grandson in tow) to Seung Hyun's office and asks for his help. 

Seung Hyun says he can't do anything unless the attending physician approves. She starts crying saying that his son is 100 days old and he'll get fired if his hand doesn't work properly. He reluctantly agrees and Doo Hyun finds out from Sang Joon's wife what happened. He storms through the hospital until he gets to Seung Hyun's office in time to see the needles being inserted. Doo Hyun's angry and like a angry badass, he removes the needles. Seung Hyun stands up and demands to know what he's doing. 

That's where it ends, both brothers facing off. 

If you would like to watch this drama, please go to Viki 

*Note: Sooyoung's character won't show up until episode 3