Recap Korean Drama "Poong the Joseon Psychiatrist Season 2" Episode 3

Episode 3 of Poong The Joseon Psychiatrist season 2 starts off with the Princess barging in at Gyesoo Clinic in Sorak. In the meantime, Poong and Eun-woo are doing a house call. The patient, Lee So-cheon is a writer and when Poong asks her if he can see her books, she declines. However, she gives her newest novel to Eun-woo which she refuses to show Poong who finds the whole thing amusing. 

They reach the clinic and he is surprised when the Princess claims he tainted her. The rest think that he slept with her and he tries to clear it up. At that moment, Gwang-il approaches and thanks the Princess for her hard work. She leaves and he announces that he will be in charge of inspecting the clinic and depending on the evaluation he will allocate the funds promised by the King.

Eun-woo is hanging out by the river and Poong runs to her to clarify what the Princess said. She teases him for being a womanizer. He is flustered till she tells him she is teasing him and they smile. He tries to follow her but Gye calls him. He asks him what he did to the Princess as he is sure that the two of them and Gwang-il are somehow linked.

At the government office, the Princess orders Gwang-il to give the clinic the money so she can go back to the palace with Poong. In a flashback, we see Gwang-il scheming with the chief royal physician so that they can close down Gyesoo. 

At Sorak, the new governor wonders what wrong Gyesoo must have done to earn the wrath of the Princess and calls her an unwanted guest. The Princess hears him and is furious and promises to keep an eye on him.

The guards shut down Gyesoo indefinitely while the evaluation is going on but the patients protest. Meanwhile, Gwang-il and his men find the clinic despicable. Gye tries to leave to treat two patients but the guards stop them. Man-bok tries to resolve it peacefully without fighting them and Gye having enough of it, leaves with the patients to treat them elsewhere. Gwang-il’s guard also tries to put down Eun-woo but he stops him and gives her excellent ratings which Poong notices.

Gwang-il brings in Lee So-cheon and mocks Poong for not being able to cure her. Poong had told her to write as it would alleviate her stress and Gwang-il finds it absurd. At that moment, So-cheon faints. Eun-woo tries to perform acupuncture but he stops her and does it himself while mocking Poong for still not being able to use his needles.

The Gyesoo staff treat the patients by the river and they have a good time. The guard Chil-sung appears and warns Gye as the new governor Ahn Hak-soo is not happy with them because of the inspection. He tells Gye that the governor beat his brother to death for eloping and the physician is worried as he looks at Ip-boon and remembers that her real father’s surname is Ahn. They return and he warns Ip-boon not to tell anyone about her real family name. He directs his frustration at Poong for being a womaniser and Eun-woo pretends to sulk.

At the marketplace, a bookseller sells the newest volume of So-cheon’s book and turns out the male protagonist is Poong. Even the Princess reads it and finds it hilarious as she falls in love with the hero without realising that Poong is the same man she likes aka Yoo Se-yeop. 

Meanwhile, Eun-woo approaches Gwang-il and asks him what his motives are as he is nice to her but rude to Poong. He promises her that he will conduct a fair evaluation and she asks him not to take out his anger on Poong. At that moment, the Princess spies them and wonders what her equation is with Poong.

Gye spots the Princess and asks if he can punish Poong on her behalf. She claims Poong fell in love with her first. He promises to help her with Poong if she can talk to the royal clinic. Court Lady Jung is annoyed that he is using the Princess and they banter while the Princess feels like she is watching a romance novel with an enemies-to-lovers trope.

Poong takes care of So-cheon and she tells him that she has been writing about her life. He promises her that she will recover. He and Eun-woo decide to visit the paper mill where she works to see why her progress is slow.

Early morning the next day, So-cheon’s friend, Jung-soon runs to Gyesoo and informs them that she is missing. She tells them So-cheon had shown suicidal tendencies the previous day. She is upset and faints. They look after Jung-soon but Eun-woo feels pathetic for not being able to help with So-cheon. She decides to go check her house.

At the river, some kids spot So-cheon in the water and they try to wake her up. At Gyesoo, Eunwoo brings So-cheon’s belongings in case it contains any clue. They notice that all of her books have been painted black. At that moment, Chil-sung brings So-cheon to Gyesoo from the river bank. Gwang-il arrives and stops them from treating her as he claims So-cheon attempted suicide. He arrests Poong as he blames him for her mental state. 

Gyesoo run to the governor’s office to save him. At that moment, even the Princess rushes as she is furious that her love has been arrested. In the meantime, Gwang-il shows Poong So-cheon’s suicide letter and how she could not live with her disease anymore. Eun-woo creates a ruckus outside and Governor Ahn is annoyed.

Gwang-il comes out to hear Eun-woo but the Princess arrives and throws her shoe at his head. He tries to calm her down by telling her that he is doing it for her benefit and that once he destroys Gyesoo, Poong will go to her willingly as he will have nothing left. She doesn’t like the plan but agrees. 

In the chaos, Eun-woo sneaks in and Poong shows her So-cheon’s suicide letter. They don’t believe it as she was so happy with them. Eun-woo finds the letter strange but Gwang-il appears and accuses Poong of being an incapable doctor. He offers him an out if he can perform acupuncture and mocks him for not being able to do it.

The Episode Review

Gwang-il may have sad and loveable eyes but honestly, till he can verbalise his motives for holding a grudge against Poong, he is going to face the wrath of fans. As for the second newest addition to the cast, we were right from the beginning that despite the Princess being annoying we can’t help but find her endearing from throwing her shoe at Gwang-il to unknowingly reading fanfiction about the very man she likes.

But it does make us wonder what everyone calls our male lead – Se-yeop or Poong or if there is some other reason that the Princess doesn’t realise that So-cheon’s fanfiction is about him.

As for So-cheon’s storyline in episode 3 of Poong The Joseon Psychiatrist season 2, it is a rollercoaster of emotions. The first half was funny and cute as without being obvious we realise that she writes fanfiction about her and Poong which even Eun-woo reads and enjoys. However, the whole suicide angle feels suspicious and it could be possible that someone made up the suicide letter and tried to kill her so that Gwang-il will have enough evidence to arrest Poong.