Doctor X Hits a 20.2% Peak After Kim Ji-won Needs Seven Other Doctors

SBS drama Doctor X: Age of the White Mafia peaked at 20.2% with its tenth episode on the 7th, crossing the 20% mark for the first time in the stretch covered here. The nationwide and Seoul metropolitan average came to 17.7%, according to Nielsen Korea.

The ratings arrived on an episode built around a single idea: the surgery Kim Ji-won's character, Kye Su-jung, could not do alone. The drama is produced by Studio S, Studio Dragon and Hi Zium Studio, and its Friday-Saturday slot has been climbing steadily.

The operation that needed eight doctors

The patient is Lee Hyun-ah (played by Lee Chae-yoo), an 8-year-old with cancer. Her case calls for removing six abdominal organs from the body, cutting out the tumor, and transplanting the organs back. Even with Jang Hee-sook (Lee Jung-eun) and Do Yoon-sik (Kim Young-min) joining Kye, Park Tae-kyung (Kim Woo-seok) and Cho Won-jin (Lee Jin-hee), the team was too small.

Help came from two doctors who walked out of a residents' vote. Boo Seung-kwon (Son Hyun-joo) and Bae Heung-gon (Lee Sung-wook) left the room without casting ballots. Boo explained his choice by saying that a small child lay in a large operating room, and asked where real surgeons should be. The emergency medicine professor Kim Sung-jin (Heo Joon-seok) later joined as well, making eight doctors, from the hospital director to an intern.

Pressure from the Magnolia Society

The Magnolia Society, the hospital's power bloc, stormed in to halt the operation. Koo Bon-pyung (Choi Kwang-il) and other core members pushed to stop it. Kye answered that she would see Hyun-ah grow into an adult, and Boo, as director, declared he would continue using his authority.

The operation succeeded. Kye, who had refused every social gathering, joined a team dinner and thanked her colleagues. Do said he felt as if he were dreaming, and that he had saved a child's life.

Success does not end the fight

The Magnolia Society raised the procedure's risks, the question of IRB approval and the participation of outside medical staff the hospital had not permitted. It disciplined Gusudae Hospital staff and notified Kye that her contract was terminated.

The turn came when Hyun-ah's mother (Moon Ye-won) said she would sue the participating doctors, the main hospital, the branch and the foundation. It was a counterattack arranged in advance with Jang. She pointed out that the main hospital had sent her daughter to the branch after saying nothing more could be done. The Magnolia Society then put the disciplinary measures on hold.

The episode closed on a darker note. Park, the "sunshine intern," tried to smother the sleeping Kim Seung-hyo with a pillow while Cho watched without intervening. Kye rushed in and stopped him. Kim then opened his eyes and greeted her: "It's been a while, Doctor X." The line leaves open how the two are connected.