‘Doctor Cha’ K-Drama review: Uhm Jung-hwa aces this journey towards empowerment and independence

Choppy writing aside, Jeong-suk’s journey in ‘Doctor Cha’ is refreshing, and one that you’re left rooting for

In one of the initial episodes of the recently concluded K-drama Doctor Cha, Cha Jeong-suk (Uhm Jung-hwa), who has recovered from a massive health setback, is asked by her mother to stay healthy and live a happy life.

Jeong-suk is quick to retort that she doesn’t know what makes her happy, and when her bemused mother asks her to find something she likes best, we see Jeong-suk confused. “What is it that I like,” she wonders.

Dr Cha’s protagonist, Cha Jeong-Suk, is a stay-at-home mother whose life, for the last twenty years, has revolved around her curt and standoffish Chief Surgeon husband Seo In-ho (Kim Byung-chul), her son Seo Jung-min (Song Ji-ho), who is a tired first-year surgical resident, bratty high schooler and daughter Seo Yi-rang (Lee Seo-yeon), and an exasperating mother-in-law Kwak Ae-sim (Park Joon-geum). Jeong-Suk’s wonderment about what makes her happy isn’t a surprise, given how her life for the last two decades has been largely confined to her home. Her priorities might solely focus on her family, but they in turn are largely dismissive of her. There’s a largely appalling mix of a lack of respect, missing financial independence, and a complete disregard for Jeong-Suk’s needs at play here.

Despite the family being apparently wealthy, Jeong-Suk takes the bus as she hasn’t been given a car, and hardly ever buys anything for herself. Her husband isn’t one for romance, affection or giving her any of his time - because he’s busy having a secret affair with his colleague and first love Choi Seung-hi(Myung Se-bin).

When Jeong-Suk finally snaps, it is courtesy her husband and mother-in-law’s despicable and self-centered behaviour during a life-threatening health emergency. The show thankfully wastes no time in setting this up, delving straight into her journey towards empowerment and self-fulfillment.

Having given up her medical residency twenty years ago, Jeong-Suk, now Dr Cha, goes back to complete it. Only that she’s in the same hospital as her husband and son, and is at least three decades older than most of the other young residents there.

There’s a lot to love in the first half of this 16-episode K-drama, especially when a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Jeong-suk begins her medical residency. She struggles to fit in, realises she has a slower grasp on the subject than she did as a young student, and yet, is earnest, empathetic, and well-liked by her patients. To the show’s credit, the writers don’t go out of their way to show her mess up as a rookie resident - the focus here is instead on how she struggles to strike a balance between her professional and personal life.