Beautiful Mind Episode 10 Quick Recap and Thoughts

I don’t even know where to start. This episode was fantastic. The episode focused a lot on the changes within Young Oh. We saw begin to change in the previous episode, but Young Oh also denied being able to feel anything at the end of episode 9. Now, it really cannot be denied anymore. They ended the episode so beautifully, I hope the next episode doesn’t take a step backward. Even if it does, I don’t think it can take away the overall warmth and healing of episode 10.

Young Oh is Really Changing

Part of me keeps fixating on the fact that it doesn’t make logical sense that Young Oh is starting to feel empathy. My heart wants to accept it fully and longs that it continues until he receives total healing (and lives happily ever after with Jin Sung).

The more Young Oh begins to feel, the more it becomes clear that his father’s tactics with him really backfired. It’s through Jin Sung’s gentleness, pure loving heart and bright beautiful smile, that Young Oh can finally find refuge and acceptance. He doesn’t feel constantly hated and treated like dirt, so now he can explore who he is with condemnation. Yes, there’s damage to his frontal lobe that hinders him, but that doesn’t mean he should give up. Something’s happening within him, that maybe cannot be explained with science.

A Child Deserving of Empathy

The main case of this episode was the child patient that was secretly suffering abuse. Young Oh saw the signs of abuse when the other doctors did not (as usual). Young Oh really became interested in this case and wanted the son to be safe. We find out that the mother was the one that was hurting him, but that’s because she has a brain tumor in her frontal lobe which was causing her to act out of character.

Young Oh doesn’t even realize that he’s worried about the patient until Jin Sung points it out to him. His desire to protect the child only gets stronger as the episode progresses. I think he has a moment of realization when he quickly moves the child out of the way to protect him. It was instinctual. There was another moment where he heard the child was missing. He quickly got up to go find him, but forgot to put the phone down in his haste.

I can’t believe how badly Young Oh burned his father this episode. Burn!!!!!!! That scene was epic where Young Oh tells his father that for the first time ever he was able to feel empathy towards a patient. His father honestly looks so happy in this moment. I was a little surprised, because I thought his father could just dismiss the possibility and say that there is no way that what he was feeling was empathy. But, no.. that’s not what happens. Gun Myung seems to be genuinely curious and happy that Young Oh felt empathy. It’s like this wonderful ray of hope suddenly immersed out of nowhere. Then comes the diss; Young Oh explains he was able to empathize because he experienced a similar childhood. Let’s pause and think about this for a moment… this child was being physically abused. I did always feel that maybe Young Oh was being physically abused, but they only alluded to it. Whenever Gun Myung would touch Young Oh, he would freeze up. I can’t remember seeing any scenes where Gun Myung was violently assaulting him, but I’m glad they made it clear that this is what was happening. It’s really important as viewers for us to understand how difficult it was for Young Oh growing up. His diagnosis is only one part of his challenge connecting to people. He’s been reminded his entire life that he is different and can never be normal. On top of this he was punished for bad behavior I would assume. I’m still on the fence with his father in some ways. He’s very difficult to read.. and I don’t know if he’s completely evil or just sickly warped with not completely bad intentions gone totally array. It can’t be denied, he’s made terrible mistakes, for sure. He’s damaged Young Oh, not only with the surgery, but ever since with his actions.

Out Out Damn Spot

There’s a moment when the chairman is talking with the reporter that I just love. When the reporter leaves, the chairman realizes that he was squeezing his pen in tension and got ink all over his hands. He goes to scrub it off, but it leaves such a mess and doesn’t come off. This reminded me so much of lady Macbeth from Shakespeare’s Macbeth. She has committed murder, and she tries to remove the blood from her hands… but the more she tries the more she can’t.

Here’s her Monologue:

Out, damned spot! Out, I say!—One, two. Why, then, ’tis time to do ’t. Hell is murky!—Fie, my lord, fie! A soldier, and afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account?—Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him. – Lady Macbeth Act 5, Scene 1 (excerpt from Macbeth)

Adorable Jin Sung Being Adorable

Jin Sung was absolutely adorable asking her brother what it means when a man suddenly hugs you out of nowhere. Young Oh got her all work up and caught her by surprise. Her brother teases her, but I feel he really wants his sister to be happy. Even though she denies it, he can totally tell that she is talking about herself and Dr Young Oh.

I wondered how she was going to react this episode to last episodes hug. She’s really curious about it and obviously her heart has been a bit stirred. It’s hard to know what to think of someone like Young Oh though. In some ways Young Oh might be difficult to read, but mostly he’s actually extremely honest and forward. This catched Jin Sung off guard over and over.

Pull it together Suk Joo

What’s the deal with Suk Joo. I’m the worst… I get swayed with the wind when it comes to the character’s in Beautiful Mind. I was really starting to like him. Since he decided to stay silent about the flaws with the stem cell research, he has not been acting like himself at all. I’m losing faith in him again. He seems cold, quiet and short with people. I guess there’s a lot on his mind, but I really think he’s going to regret taking this current stance in regards to the research. I can really see this blowing up in his face, and I don’t know what will be left of him if that happens.

Personal Wifi

Young Oh and Jin Sung are perfection together. They are total cuteness, the both of them. They had some many lovely moments again this episode. I love how Young Oh finds an excuse to go see Jin Sung even though he didn’t end up having a winning lottery ticket. His drawer in his office at the hospital is becoming very precious. He’s silently cherishing and analyzing the bottle cap ring and now the lottery ticket.

Young Oh informs Jin Sung that she is now his own personal wifi. Oh my gosh, that was the cutest thing ever. It’s funny he describes her that way but she doesn’t object. She doesn’t quite understand him, but she goes along with him and doesn’t seem to find him strange. Wifi is a pretty good analogy for her; she full of useful information and seeks to access that information when he pleases.

They really seem to be getting continuously closer, to the point where Young Oh confesses at the end of the episode. I hope things stay perfect for quite some time, but I have a feeling things might get really intense in a couple of episodes.

I’m really appreciating the acting skills of Jang Hyuk and Park So Dam in these two roles. I’ve seen a lot of romantic dramas, but I’m really adoring this complicated yet simple and pure romance that’s slowly unfolding before our eyes. It has a level of innocence to it, on both their parts. Jin Sung sees the world through the lens of hope whereas Young Oh is experiencing everything for the first time.

Is it next Monday yet? Do I really have to wait another week for more episodes? I’ve been thinking, Beautiful Mind would be a great drama to marathon watch. It has so much intensity and intrigue that you could easily watch one episode after the other wanting to know what happens next.

I think they still have a few tricks up their sleeves which makes me nervous. Just as I begin to feel comfortable, something happens or gets revealed which adds another dimension to the show. It’s exciting.. but please keep the leads growing strong. I don’t want anything bad to happen.