Recap Korean Drama "Poong the Joseon Psychiatrist Season 2" Episode 5

Episode 5 of Poong The Joseon Psychiatrist season 2 starts off with the Princess telling Eun-woo to give Poong to him. Eun-woo tells her that she does not love him and she just acts like his hands till he can perform acupuncture again. 

As Eun-woo leaves, Poong follows her and tells her that he overheard her conversation with the Princess. He asks her if she will leave him after he gains back his skills. He tells her that he will not marry the Princess and his heart belongs to someone else while looking at Eun-woo.

The Princess is returning to the governor’s office when she sees Governor Ahn insulting his officers and calling them of low birth. She breaks his door down to scold him and hurts her hand. They rush her to Gyesoo clinic and she tells them that she will only be treated by Poong.

Governor Ahn tells Gye that the Princess is crazy and bad-mouths her. Gye is irritated but wonders about the Princess. While being treated by Poong, the Princess tells him that she must marry him because he is kind. He tells her that he is not a good man and he loves the one who saved him.

He even points out that the Princess was supposed to marry the State Councillor’s son who she calls a jerk. She gets annoyed that Poong loves Eun-woo while she had told her she does not love him and breaks a door. 

The next day, Poong tells Eun-woo that the Princess has a condition that has led to her obsessing over him, throwing temper tantrums and getting annoyed at her ex-fiance. He even tells her that the Princess does not love him but simply fancies him. If people married anyone they fancied at first sight he and Eun-woo already would have married. They get flustered by his declaration and he rushes off to tell the King about the Princess.

The King apologizes for the Princess’ behaviour and mentions that she is of low birth which is why their father pampered her. Poong promises to help her and goes to visit the State Councillor’s son.

At Gyesoo, the staff invites the Princess to eat snacks with her. They also pry into her obsession with Poong as she prefers someone kind rather than handsome as her ex-fiance was much better looking than Poong. Eun-woo realises that the Princess still likes her ex-fiance.

While nursing her hand, the Princess asks Eun-woo why she chose to be a lowly physician. Eun-woo says that she does not care about status but if the Princess did why did she reject the State Councillor’s son? She gets furious and breaks another door.

Gye asks Court Lady Jung why the Princess is so short-tempered and calls her a thug. She is upset that he insulted the Princess. But he saves their conversation by saying that he is impressed with how she has been putting up with the Princess for so long.

Poong tells Gye and Eun-woo that the King told him that the Princess had disappeared before her wedding and wonders if something happened between her and the fiance. Eun-woo also tells him that the Princess found the ex-fiance more handsome and Poong realises that she is using him. 

The State Councillor’s son, Yoon Ji-ho storms to Gyesoo on hearing that Poong is looking for him and says he will protect the Princess from him. They see the Princess coming out and Poong hides Ji-ho. Outside, the rest of Gyesoo try to overhear their conversation but can’t.

The next day, Gyesoo ask Poong and Eun-woo to reenact the incident between Ji-ho and the Princess. Poong gets nervous and everyone is annoyed. It seems that while professing his love, Ji-ho pulled a Darcy as he kept mentioning the Princess’ lowly birth which must have hurt her feelings. They decide to help Ji-ho right things with the Princess.

They send Jang-goon to distract the Princess while teaching Ji-ho how to converse with a woman. Man-bok and Nam-hae try to help but he keeps being blunt which frustrates them. Eun-woo wonders if he can just memorize what he is supposed to say to the Princess.

Meanwhile, Court Lady Jung tries to pacify the Princess who is upset that her plan to marry Poong is not working. She says that love must not be forced and gives her romance novels to fix her broken heart. Eun-woo comes and asks her to recommend a novel full of sweet love confessions and the Princess gives her the tale of the Goblin (yep, the same iconic 2017 K-drama). 

Court Lady Jung goes to the bookstore to get more books for the Princess and while trying to reach a book, Gye comes in and helps her. He flirts with her and she pretends to be moody.

At Gyesoo, Poong and Eun-woo are writing down confessions from romance novels to help Ji-ho memorize them. Poong reads out one of the confessions which makes Eun-woo’s heart flutter and he is flustered at her reaction. They laugh and he decides to try reading out more confessions.

Meanwhile, Gye asks for Court Lady Jung’s help. She doesn’t trust him but decides to do as he has asked. She goes and dolls up the Princess who is suspicious. Jung tries to make her go out and when she doesn’t listen, she insults her and runs off making the Princess chase her. She leads her to the forest where Gyesoo and Ji-ho are waiting.

Court Lady Jung hides and Ji-ho approaches the Princess. He keeps messing up while Nam-hae tries to help him reenact confessions from K-dramas like Descendants of the Sun. When it doesn’t work, he says the truth and reminisces about the time they first met. Man-bok and Jang-goon create visual effects by throwing flower petals at the couple. 

But the Princess is furious that he ruined their memories together and throws her shoe. It hits a beehive and the bees attack them. Ji-ho immediately covers her with his body and lets the bees sting him.

At Gyesoo, they look after Ji-ho who is upset that he failed. Eun-woo cheers him up by saying that his actions spoke more than his words. Poong heads out and sees the Princess who says nothing will change and runs off. He tells her that she should not miss out on what is in front of her like Ji-ho’s love and asks what truly hurts her.

She says that even though she was the King’s daughter her mother was never even made a royal concubine which had people looking down on her. Poong tells her that she should do what she likes and forget about others. She apologizes for using Poong and agrees to not run away.

She goes to Ji-ho and scolds him for being reckless. She also apologizes for misunderstanding him and they reconcile. Outside, Poong and Eun-woo are happy but he is upset that he couldn’t cure the pain the Princess wrought on Eun-woo while chasing him. He asks Eun-woo if she would truly leave him after he got his skills back and she says no. They hug and Poong is relieved. 

The next day, while waiting for the Princess to leave, Gye and Court Lady Jung share a moment as she thanks him for his help. They walk away together and the rest of Gyesoo are shocked. Elsewhere, the Princess gives Eun-woo an apology gift and the latter tells her to focus on the present. The Princess finds it hilarious that Eun-woo’s advice is similar to Poong’s. 

In the storehouse, Jung gives Gye an embroidered napkin as a gift. She also tells him that she was the court maid he saved before saving the previous queen which is why he had to leave the palace. She thanks him for it and he wonders why she was rude to him before. She says she was upset he didn’t recognize her and he tells her that they can stay in touch through letters. She is delighted and they do a pinky promise.

That night, Gwang-il walks through the forest and looks worried. He is then found hurt and bleeding and brought to Gyesso where the rest are shocked.

The Episode Review

Honestly, fans of Poong The Joseon Psychiatrist cannot help but cheer every time the K-drama decides to forego the usual cliche of jealousy and hurdles between an already established couple.

Sure, they give us tons of red herrings like Poong overhearing Eun-woo tell the Princess that she does not love him. But they don’t stoop low to immature acts as they quickly reconcile and constantly stay in a land of hearts and roses.

While it seems that Ji-ho is a one-time character to cure the Princess of a broken heart and humiliation, it is amusing to see how he keeps up with her. And as we had foretold, while the Princess may come off as brash and annoying, we just cannot seem to hate her as she has her very valid reasons to feel the way she does.