Doctor Slump (2024) K Drama Episode 5 with Park Shin Hye and Park Hyung Shik

Episode 5 of Doctor Slump begins with Jeong-woo meeting Ha-neul near the railway station where Jeong-woo tells her about Kyung-min’s interference in her interview disaster. Ha-neul then asks Jeong-woo the reason for his arrival all the way from Seoul. Jeong-woo, flustered, blurts that he wanted to sightsee and so Ha-neul grabs a map of Hwabon and they proceed to go sightseeing. They compete over cycling, click awkward photos with each other.

While they are having lunch, Ha-neul thanks Jeong-woo for coming to Hwabon because it cheered her up. They run towards the railway station hoping to catch the last train but an elderly man collapses on the floor from a heart attack. They administer CPR but Ha-neul notices that Jeong-woo is in a panic-stricken state. They successfully handle the situation till the ambulance arrives however, they miss the last train. 

Ha-neul and Jeong-woo book two rooms in a hotel but need to wait for the other room to get cleaned. So, in the meantime, apart from being extremely awkward about the situation, they drink beer and Ha-neul suspects that Jeong-woo is suffering from insomnia.

While she attends a call, Jeong-woo falls asleep and has a nightmare about the surgery. He wakes up panic stricken and asks Ha-neul to stay and play Go stop with him, anxious about being alone in the state that he is in. Simultaneously, Ha-neul ponders about Jeong-woo’s odd behaviour towards her.  Jeong-woo explains the game to Ha-neul and they bet that whoever loses will get slapped on their wrists. Ha-neul picks up faster than Jeong-woo expected and wins the game leading to smacking on Jeong-woo’s wrists. 

Elsewhere, the next day, Bin Dae-yeong jokes with his daughter at breakfast when she asks for money for a haircut but accidentally offends her. On the other hand, Lee Hong-ran is outside with her son, catching insects, only Hong-ran is terrible at it due to her fear of bugs. Meanwhile, Jeong-woo and Ha-neul go home separately to ward off any misunderstandings.

However, when Ha-neul reaches home, she overhears her brother and mother talking about the interview. Feeling burdened, she decides to leave for someplace else.  Jeong-woo hears about this when Ha-neul’s mother tells him that she hasn’t returned from Hwabon.

Sensing something’s off, Jeong-woo calls Ha-neul who lies about being home but Jeong-woo guesses where she actually is from the background noise. He finds her in the arcade. They compete in a game yet again and have a snack at a convenience store before Jeong-woo asks her if she’s ready to go home. She’s surprised and speechless. Jeong-woo proposes to visit their school. They go to their old classroom and reminisce about the past. 

At this point, Jeong-woo asks her the reason for scoring less in the university exam even though she scored the highest in the mock tests. She tells him about being extremely ill at the day of the exam eventually not making it to the best medical college in the country. 

When they are about to leave, Jeong-woo tells her that she is too hard on herself. He says, “Don’t worry about what others think and take care of yourself first. You need to be okay today to help yourself make it through tomorrow”. Just then, a caretaker comes to inspect the room, Jeong-woo and Ha-neul hide and leave. 

Ha-neul goes back home wondering why her heart beats faster with Jeong-woo around when he’s only “protein”. She’s confronted about the interview and tells her family that she won’t be going to Hwabon and that she needs more rest. Both her mother and brother agree that they want her to stay. She comes into her room thinking that it was easier than it looked. 

Kyung-min calls Jeong-woo for a meeting. The next day, Kyung-min tells him that he found pens with hidden camera in Jeong-woo’s previous office. Jeong-woo visits his office and finds some more. They visit the police and file a report about the same. Later, he asks Min-kyung the reason for hiding it from him to which Min-kyung says that he didn’t think it would be associated with the surgery incident and that he thought that it was a prank.

Jeong-woo then lightly tells Min-kyung to call Ha-neul and apologise for ruining her interview. Min-kyung seems slightly offended and tells him that he would be disappointed in Jeong-woo if he had feelings for Ha-neul because he “shouldn’t be happy right now”. 

Elsewhere Ha-neul is drinking with Hong-rang who keeps saying that Jeong-woo likes Ha-neul. Influenced by her, Ha-neul catches Jeong-woo at the rooftop and asks if he cares about her. Laden with guilt especially after what Kyung-min said, he tells her that he doesn’t like her and was only being a friend. He apologises to her for confusing her. Unfortunately, Ha-neul’s family is hidden behind drying laundry who overhears their conversation. 

The next day, Jeong-woo is welcomed with water as he tries to leave his house by Ha-neul’s mother, Ha-neul’s uncle puts a closed sign over his restaurant door and Ba-da dramatically slides and takes the last triangular kimbap just as Jeong-woo is about to take it. Ha-neul and Jeong-woo decide not to be awkward with each other.

Elsewhere, Hong-rang is impressed by Bin Dae-yeong’s ability to catch insects as he picks a ladybird out of a screaming Hong-rang. He is seemingly uninterested in her until he reads her nametag. 

Jeong-woo and Ha-neul meet again at the subway station and there’s been an accident. Ha-neul notices Jeong-woo freezing in terror again. She visits her mental-health clinic to find that Jeong-woo might be suffering from PTSD. Meanwhile, Jeong-woo is having a nightmare and is not able to sleep. He ponders about what Kyung-min said to said and Ha-neul, suddenly arrives and gives him a hug. She says that it must’ve been difficult for him and Jeong-woo tells her that he missed her.

The Episode Review

The show has descended into a mediocre category of romantic comedies. There is nothing new or interesting in the kdrama and the events are mostly filled with cliches and predictable plots. The logic behind Kyung-min’s replies about hiding the pens is ridiculous and Jeong-won believing it is even more unbelievable.

Amidst a high profile case, Kyung-min thought a hidden camera is a prank? Park Shin-hye lacks a lot of expression in her acting at times and it feels that her emotions are suppressed. Ha-neul has become another passive female lead that she has already portrayed a number of time in past.  Meanwhile, Hyung-sik’s animated expressions are humorous at times. 

The comedy is more or less stagnated at this point. The second leads sub-lot with Hong-ran and Dae-young feels forced and mostly a filler, especially Dae-young’s character who doesn’t have any substantial role to play in the narrative. Although the dialogues are memorable at times, the mental health arc seems more artificial and plot focused than character focused. It would have been more interesting if the two characters had more depth to them with their struggles.

The show is still enjoyable. Ha-neul’s family are a fun bunch and watching their support for Ha-neul is very heartening but other than this, the episode did not have much to offer that would be memorable in a long run.