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[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Poong, the Joseon Psychiatrist" Episode 1

The titular Poong (played by Kim Min-jae-I) is not initially a psychiatrist. Rather, Poong is a brilliant acupuncturist from an excellent background. Thank to his father Minister Yoo (played by Jang Hyun-sung), Poong is able to attain a position at the royal court as the most exalted acupuncturist in the country despite his young age. But, perhaps inevitably, Poong falls afoul of a palace conspiracy, and is forced outside of the confines of Seoul for the first time in his life.

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"Poong, the Joseon Psychiatrist" is not overly convoluted when it comes to its own backstory. Director Park Won-gook does not make it clear when or if the palace conspiracy will resurface. But it's also not really important, because Poong himself is oblivious to the entire political situation. Poong has lost both his professional reputation as well as his own skill. Poong is too traumatized to be able to hold his needles properly, making him not much use when it comes to acupuncture.

Enter Mr. Gye (played by Kim Sang-kyung), a local hustler who has exceptional talent in overselling his relatively modest skills as an apothecary. Mr. Gye is a quick thinker and a smart improviser, and can tell from the minute he sees Poong that there's more to the young talent than meets the eye. What that talent is, well, Mr. Gye doesn't really know yet, so he just schemes to maintain Poong under his bondage until Poong's inner talent manifests.

This happens in the latter part of the episode, dealing with the unfortunate fate of an acrobat who simply can't do the tightrope walk anymore. Could Poong, with his awesome powers of acupuncture, be able to solve this man's problems? Possibly. But Poong can no longer practice acupuncture. So when forced to help the acrobat, Poong inadvertently invents the idea of psychotherapy, giving the acrobat enough peace of mind that he can at least transition to a different street performing skill.

"Poong, the Joseon Psychiatrist" is refreshingly unpretentious and straightforward. Just in case we didn't get the metaphor, Mr. Gye himself spells it out for Poong. Just as the acrobat can allow his happy past to exist in memory and look to the future, so too can Poong use his brilliant mind to another purpose aside from acupuncture. His life is by no means ruined or over. The sentiment is actually quite sweet, with a universal appeal beyond the exotic setting.

Review by William Schwartz

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"Poong, the Joseon Psychiatrist" is directed by Park Won-gook, written by Choi Min-ho-II, Lee Bom-I, Park Seul-gi-I, and features Kim Min-jae-I, Kim Hyang-gi, Kim Sang-kyung, Ahn Chang-hwan, Jeon Guk-hyang, Yeon Bo-ra. Broadcasting information in Korea: 2022/08/01~Now airing, Mon, Tue 22:30 on tvN.

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