Some folks may be bothered by the lack of things making sense (vis-a-vis the real world) in Dr. Stranger, but the drama has been like that since its inception and never strayed from the formula of being wacky and all the more fun because of it. The hint of torture porn element in episode 1 what with the hospital of dissection horrors gets glossed over because this drama doesn’t intend to delve into it. Otherwise the entire drama ought to be spent on Park Hoon in a mental hospital wearing a strait jacket while rocking back-and-forth because of the horrible things that have happened to him. If Jae Hee survived the labor camp and her various brushes with death, then the cell next to Hoon’s is reserved for her because it’s quite appalling to imagine her coming out of that and being sane and functional. That’s really why I love Soo Hyun for growing up in normal circumstances, albeit the usual drama bit about broken families and not getting love from her elders, but also why Soo Hyun still feels like the outlier in this story.

Hoon is the Dr. Stranger in South Korea, but so is Jae Hee/Seung Hee as well as Jae Joon coming back from growing up in the US just so he can breach a castle, the veritable knight from far away coming to conquer the hold. Soo Hyun remains the stranger in the construct of the drama, and also why she is so effortlessly reassuring to watch because she’s the only one who doesn’t have any agenda. I still can’t get over how brilliant it was for the drama to let Hoon know that Seung Hee is his Jae Hee and then do nothing about it other than wait and see. It’s their North Korean experience that makes both always alert to dangers beyond their purview. I adore Hoon’s friendly camaraderie with Soo Hyun and totally understand why she is falling for him since the alternative is jealous snitty Jae Joon, but the emotional core that still anchors this crazy ride for me is how much Hoon and Jae Hee love each other without any elucidated reason other than “because she’s Jae Hee”, and if she’s asked the same question her answer would undoubtedly be “because he’s Hoon.” The leads were snapped this week filming at the shipping dock so check out the spoilery pics below along with the previews.

Preview for episode 9:

Written preview for episode 9:

After getting Chang Yi’s call, Park Hoon is so worried about Seung Hee and wants to leave the surgery to go find her. Soo Hyun stops him by showing him the baby laying on the operating table. On the other hand, Jae Joon’s team starts their surgery on time while Hoon’s team still doesn’t have an anesthesiologist so can only keep on waiting.