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Descendants of the Sun Episode 4 Recap — 44 Comments

  1. I am fully aware that KES characters, even the ones that start off good, could still possibly turn into characters that I can’t stand. However, if for whatever reasons she turns Shi Jin into another controlling,forceful alpha male somewhere down the road, at least i’ll be reassured that SJK’s understated acting and charms could make it less unbearable. I love his depiction of shi jin. It would certainly be a different story in another actor’s hands, but i wonder if alot of it has to do with his cute, puppy face. SJK has charisma, but his soft, pretty boy features is a contrast to the chiseled, manly features that accompanies KES usual alpha male leads (lee min ho, jang dong gun, hyun bin, cha seung won, lee bum soo, and pretty much all her other male leads she’s ever written).
    Unfortunately looks can’t always save a character, so here’s to hoping SJK continues to bring his A game, rain or shine.

  2. Not going to lie and say I waited for Myung Joo and Dae Young’s meeting the whole episode. My patience have run thin for our main couple, I just want to watch the 2nd leads….whice is a 1st for me. I was never that into Jin Goo but he is really tickling my fantasy this time round.

  3. I didn’t have any problem with how Mo Yeon or the medical team acts. They were put in a situation they aren’t sure of, while the soldiers have lived this life a lot longer. These are pampered city doctors. They aren’t going to know military protocol. They’ll learn to take things more seriously.

    Myung Joo I wish she’d try a different approach. It’s cry, hit, hit, follow him and then yell with her all the time. Even the flashbacks of their happier times, weren’t happy either. It’s hard for me to root for them since I’m not really seeing a reason she’s so hung up on him. He’s also not blameless. Either end it, or stand up to daddy. So I can sense her frustration there. I am annoyed Dae Young is gone since his bromance was the best. I hope he’s not gone for long.

    In some ways Dae Young and MY are alike in how they treated their loved ones, in that they give signs and then take it back. We know Dae Young loves her, but he’s not willing to disobey his commander to be with her. With MY as well, I’m not sure she knows what she wants. She is attracted to him, but isn’t ready to really start a relationship with him either.

    Shi Jin to me is a lot less controlling or alpha male than her other characters. He does take charge, but only because he knows she’s interested. If she wanted, he wouldn’t try. I’ve never once got the feeling he’s ever done anything she didn’t like. The kiss, the remains to be seen.

  4. I am still very much interested and invested in DoTS. and at the same time, still not getting the vibe from the 2nd lead.

    I love Shi Jin and Mo Yeon bcoz as an adult I can relate to both of them. They like/lust each other at first sight and dont waste time to go for it. But when real life came knocking…they started to retreat and put distance, but put again together by fate (KES, haha).

    This is where it gets confusing/interesting..bcoz u need to remember, they dont actually know each other really well..so as strong headed adults, their personalities and moral clash at times..

    And i dont think that Shi Jin actually go against order for Mo Yeon per se. But bcoz he also (like us in real life) struggles between his conscience and following orders from his superior… like we all do at our workplace sometimes.

    Pheww..sorry for the long comment

    • +1 Love your comment.
      Exactly what I was getting out of the 1st OTP’s relationship.
      In other forums, I hear the expression, ‘he loves her so much’, yet they only met a few times before he got shipped off, and broke off communication. They didn’t have much time to expand their relationship, so saying they have “like/lust” is more appropriate. Love develops through more interactions and trials.

      I have a different view on him violating commands for a girl. Yes, perhaps he didn’t break command specifically because of MY, but I think her position of life has impacted his view. His own personal creed: protecting “women, children and elderly”. As he said, there was 2 out of 3 factors when faced with that situation. The orders from his commanding officer, violates his set of internal rules. Back in the Korean coffee shop, did he not say that his job involves him doing things that may go against his own ideas? Perhaps, breaking his moral compass this time may have been the last straw for him. And maybe, MY’s presence has changed him ever slightly since that coffee house conversation. SJ seems to be decisive; once he makes his mind up, he carries through. It has been shown in how he tackles a situation; when DY wanted to help young Ki Bum, SJ asked him if he was sure, & after confirmation, he was decisive in action. The same with MY, after getting her confirmation to save the patient, he decided which side to be on, and rook action. Perhaps since he’s met MY, he’s slowly changing. Consider the situation of defusing of the American bombs, he violated that rule not just of paper work, but because he saw the local children nearby. If they left that for the Americans to diffuse, it may have taken awhile to get done, and the children could have been in danger if they stumbled onto it. He seems to be an outstanding captain, in line with promotion after another, but since meeting MY, he’s broken at least two commands. So I think she has influenced his views of right and wrong, that sometimes commands have to be broken to do the right thing.

      And I deeply apologize for the length of comment.

  5. Ahh KES ..u need to put your brain on vacation and just enjoy the sqee.
    Her female leads start strong but always end up a puddle of weaknesses. I don’t see any deviation here. She’s supposed to be smart, but she doesn’t understand basic military rules? Ok..and more tears yeah for her female leads one needs to just be a stretch more tolerant. I like Moo Yeun enough to hope she regain her bitchy sassy side which endeared her to me in ep1 and ep2

    Her male leads though is always domineering strong and its stays throughout. I feel in her own fantasy world that’s Her idea type. The one who’s gonna swoop you down for a kiss even if you said no a thousand times.
    I hate it based on logic but in secret garden Hyun bin made it tolerable and wooed me
    Here it works for SJK – so I’m ok and squeeing instead of grimacing.
    Not too much though –
    Let’s cross our fingers

    Perfect casting always help. Her dramas – always perfectly casted so that our brains can happily go on holiday for a while! Its a talent I’ll say that much!

  6. Love this episode and the two main leads. I mean they are so into each other. I sometimes have the feelings that they might love each other in real life. lol

  7. In the trailer of Descandent of the Sun,by KBSWORLD in the last part I notice ,if Shi Jin die!! The series is amazing..I hope its a HappyEnding…i feel sad if Shin Jin died in the ending of the story. ….

  8. arabic pronunciation in this drama is catastrophic
    illogical plot
    cheese to the max moment
    cringy acting by foreign actor

  9. Thanks for recap. The so-called lieutenant choi is a noncom, not a lieutenant. There is no way an officer can take orders and salute lower ranking noncom sgt Dae Young. Mo Yun clearly had no interest in military so I dont know why you expect her to know more about military protocols. That aspect of the show makes sense to me and creates the “drama” since there isn’t much in the plot. I like the show but you have to suspend logic to watch it.

  10. Am I the only one who thinks Shi Jin did an irresponsible thing by intervening? He put his team’s lives at risk, risked a bloody shootout, and risked getting his country into an international conflict.

    He was lucky that it turned out well, but what would have happened if the VIP had died during Mo Yeon’s surgery. There’s no way for any surgeon to guarantee that she’ll be able to save a patient in that situation. If she hadn’t been able to do it, then there would have been hell to pay.

    • Yeah, I agree, that’s why it’s kind of weird (to me) that’s he’s so high ranking/elite, when you’d think it would be the steady DY who would be the outstanding one.

    • Undeniably, Shi Jin went against an order. If soldiers and Mo Yeon decided not to operate, it was certain that the president would be dead in 20 mins. Out of a wish to avoid international conflict, the S Korean govt had nobly decided to make the doc who didn’t operate a scapegoat – wonderful job of not protecting their citizens cum medical team, not to mention that the S Korean govt would have been the instrumental key in the cause of the Arabian president’s death, which would have caused an international conflict anyway. So Shi Jin took a gamble in which the Arabian president had a good chance of being saved, which turned out well in drama land, and which also defused the chance of international conflict. So yes he went against an order and took some risks on the gamble that the president could be saved, versus the S Korean govt’s decision which definitely would have turned out awry too. Would the Arabians keep quiet on who caused their president’s death and not take any retaliatory action? So who’s to say that Shi Jin’s decision was not the better of the 2 evils?

  11. See I actually enjoyed this episode more than 3. I think the two leads should agree to get to know each other better and than let the drama of where they are at intervene in various ways. (Kind of like in Faith, the doc and Choi Young love each other but various conspiracies get in the way). The back and forth is gonna get old if it doesn’t progress.

    The Ofc/enlisted thing isn’t “splitting hairs”; it’s a big deal as is an officer slapping a lower ranking military member. Actually it is why they have these rules. There has to more to that relationship than what is there now. There is so much she could do with the story, and I’m hoping she moves it along very quickly because it’s old already.

    I think KES wrote SJK’s character a little playful because of his look. I like the alpha with the nice and him being open with how much he likes her. I hope he doesn’t go into full jerk territory.

  12. anyone know what is the tittle of background song when dae young hugs myung joo? i tried to google it but cant find the tittle.

  13. I agree, no officer in that rank would make a decision like that. It’s a ridiculous plot, while the Arabs are asking they don’t touch the patient, where are the paperworks need to be filled out, and its a war zone for crying out loud, not even YongPal type surgeries. No officer would go against their order and that was coming directly from Blue House. I had to keep saying it was a drama to make any sense of it.

  14. I hugely enjoy the drama BUT…well nobody seems to be interested,being totally mesmerized by the couple’s chemistry and flirting,I cannot help noticing the ‘goofs’ sorry.

    What about the idyllic Greek island that is supposed to be the fictitious, warn-torn Uruk in the Middle East-relying on the Arab factor and the similarity btw the names Uruk/Iraq) and exactly what the UN-and Koreans-are up to in these peaceful surroundings?
    I have been to both areas and topographically and geographically those are in no way comparable.The production team hasn’t studied its lesson.

      • Didnt they show that Shi Jin was watching ISIS related news and had to hurry ? If so then he is in middle east as ISIS is active in middle east and not the Balkans.

  15. Some comments in recaps mentioned that MY cries too much and is immature. Showing the normal KES trope for females. 
    i think crying does not equal immaturity. 
    MY solves problem, she is a strong woman. She is not helpless by being thrown by two men like Heirs character.
    She waited 3 years for a promotion that never happened by working her ass off. She did operation on a person while knowing her life is in danger, she was the only one in the operating room that did not show doubt of what she should do.
    Crying after a high tension event like that is natural, and is very human. She didn’t want to show her tears to SJ so she held it in until she drove away from him. She was embarrassed as she realised what her actions might look like.
    She shown some pettiness, but SJ has as well. But they both are mature enough to apologize for what they said. If that’s not mature I don’t know what is. 
     It’s just looking like she cries a lot because all those events took place in a few episode and near each other.

  16. Can SHK do anything other than these types of role where she looks like she’s about to cry? Lol this show is so cheesy. The writer has lost her touch or has sold out to make these generic dramas. Boring!

  17. Thanks for recap which seems to be too analytical. I would normally have a more open minded when watching a film, even a Hollywood film. The characters have flaws but none of us is perfect. They have inconsistencies but that happens to us in real life also. But again thanks for the quick recap of another solid episode.

  18. I must admit that SHK is doing a great job here. Her character is strong. lively, cute, mature and also full of emotion at the same time. And she excellently expresses all of that.

  19. I love the acting of the main leads very much and also MJ’s, but DY’s acting is too stiff(or at least his character gives him zero chance to portray through acting). The main leads relationship needs to start developing(just bc they kiss doesnt mean they have reached next step in the emotions), it’s ep 4 and i have no idea what the plot is. The characters started off pretty strong but it’s just getting weaker esp MY’s. She is basically there to be impressed by every ridiculous decision SJ makes. So far, the major events that happened were too narrow and badly set up. Random President coming into a volunteer centre for treatment, and the whole shoot off scene was just laughable (that would be the director’s problem too) and how the president was woke up. Then in ep 1 how the three north korean soldier took the south koreans hostages. Everything was a mess. Everytime SJ got called for duty, we don’t see the gravity of the reason behind. A bigger picture of the situation would draw the audience in more. I hope the revelation of the main plot would be better handled to save this show.
    So far Im just watching this bc I love SJK and SHK. For the love of god please give them a chance to really act.For the second leads, love that they are showing the history and getting us into them, but MJ has been annoying most of them whining and hitting and DY just stare helplessly. He seems so incapable that i don’t even know why she isnt over him.
    I don’t understand where the writer is going with SJ, he is a high profile military man obviously and i just dont’ see how he keeps disobeying order since ep 1. Unless you are a commander sitting behind a desk, there really is no room for a soldier to take the ethical and creative path, and the explanations for his actions were always weak .

  20. This was a great recap, in fact your recaps are what made me watch this drama. I only have one issue to comment on, and that is the Myung Joo/Dae Yaoung relationship. There is quite a metaphor here. Her father wants her to marry Shi Jin, and on the surface it would be easy to guess why that is the case. Shi Jin is an officer with rank and tenure. He is good looking and a natural leader and badass. But like with any romance, you can’t dictate to your heart who to love. So here in lies the rub. Myung Joo loves Dae Young, who consequently has all of the same qualities as Shi Jin, except for one. He’s too obedient. This last episode showed the dichotomy between the two. Shi Jin doesn’t mind ignoring orders if the end result is greater or better than just staying quiet and being obedient.
    Even though his squad could argue he did it for Mo Yeon because the order was to do nothing and if Mubarat died, she would take the fall since she was the doctor in charge. It would’ve been deeper than that. Had that happened, and you have eight-ten other adults in the room, why pen it on one person. Where is the honor in that? And, who’s to say the Arabs wouldn’t have tried to kill ALL of them had their leader died? Shi Jin foresaw how devastating following orders would be and so he made an executive decision to take a risk and do his own thing.
    In contrast Dae Young always obeys, plays it safe, and thus, he’s miserable. He doesn’t have the woman that he loves, and now she’s starting not to respect him because of it. It’s just ironic that she doesn’t have feelings for Shi Jin because character wise, he is exactly what she needs to stand up to her father. Maybe before the end of the drama, Dae Young will learn.

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