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It’s finale week and we finally reach the conclusion for our characters. How does everything end for our characters? What was the aftermath after all that unfolded and unraveled? Did they all get a happy ending and where do they go from here?

Note: Oops! I almost forgot to insert this small note in here but I would just like to thank everyone who joined me in my recaps for ‘Doctor Cha.’ It was quite the drama and was literally a wild roller coaster ride. I know I also tried something new and experimented with a new system with my recaps so thank you all for your patience and flexibility! With that being said, you can join me in my recaps for ‘My Perfect Stranger‘ which is still currently airing. Please stay safe and be happy! :]

Doctor Cha: Episode 16 & Final Recap

In-ho and Roy wait anxiously at a motorcycle shop as Jeong-suk ponders on who it is that she wants to donate their liver. Would she want In-ho to donate his liver to her or Roy? But Jeong-suk chooses neither of them and instead acknowledges the motorcycle that is sitting in front of them. She wants that one. She wants to go for a motorcycle ride. Jeong-suk reiterates that she doesn’t want either of the guys to have to donate their liver to her and that she will recover just fine. So with that, Jeong-suk and Roy go for a motorcycle ride similar to the night that they had the team dinner with the Surgery department. Meanwhile, Seung-hi walks around the hospital that her father built and managed. She witnesses just how much time and effort he put into maintaining the hospital as well as taking care of the patients and employees. She feels inspired to take over the hospital for her late father.

Jeong-suk is informed by Roy that she’ll eventually need the liver transplant. Roy reminds her that he’s willing to donate his liver to her once again but she’s still hesitant on receiving his support. She asks for permission to go out for the day to meet with Mi-hee. The two best friends catch up with each other and they chat about Jeong-suk’s health as well as Mom. Mom indeed is concerned for her daughter and Mom sheds tears just thinking about her daughter. Jeong-suk takes some time to go back home and pack her belongings. She also goes through pages of photo albums containing photos of her and her family. Jeong-suk takes a walk down memory lane and she’s reminded of the little things in life. She pens a letter dedicated to Jung-min and I-rang and writes,

To Jung-min and I-rang whom I love the most in the world,

Son, daughter. You’re not shocked that I wrote a letter like this, right? I looked at your baby photos today. You were so small and pretty that I was so scared to hold you in my arms. When did you two grow to be this big? I hope that both of you become wise people who know how to find happiness in everyday life. I hope that you eat what you want and do the things that you want to do, then fall asleep happy and wake up refreshed. Jung-min, I-rang, even though I may not be by your side one day I will always protect you. And thank you for being my son and daughter. I love you so much that it can’t be expressed in words.

Love,

Mom

After packing her belongings, Jeong-suk cleans the house. She’s greeted by I-rang and then Mother-in-law and In-ho shortly afterwards who are all surprised at the sight of Jeong-suk being at home. Jeong-suk privately chats with I-rang and she reassures her daughter that everything is alright now. Jeong-suk isn’t sad and I-rang shouldn’t let their situation affect her any longer. She can also go to the school that she likes. While Jeong-suk and I-rang talk, In-ho glances at the cabinet that Jeong-suk re-painted and put back together in the kitchen. It was a project that she had been working on but stopped due to her health and residency. She finally finished it during this final visit to the house. This prompts In-ho to finally give in and he finalizes the divorce application by stamping it with his seal. The divorce is official on paper.

Jeong-suk bids farewell to Mother-in-law who still can’t comprehend and grasp why Jeong-suk made the choices that she did. She should have just stayed home and continued her life as a daughter-in-law but she instead chose to do other things instead which affected her health. But Jeong-suk doesn’t have any regrets and she leaves to have a talk with In-ho. Mother-in-law is in agony at the thought of Jeong-suk leaving and that agony only increases when she notices the refrigerator stocked and stacked with tons of prepared side dishes. Mother-in-law should have cherished and treated Jeong-suk a lot better. In-ho and Jeong-suk leave to talk at a cafe and he updates her on her building that she previously put on sale. In-ho’s not going to sell it and he wants Jeong-suk to keep it. He also presents to her the completed divorce application. This will be his way of repenting for his sins and he will no longer cling to her. So Jeong-suk should get the surgery for her liver and live.

In-ho and Seung-hi also bid their farewells with each other at work. Seung-hi is going to leave to take over her late father’s hospital. She wishes In-ho the best of luck on his surgery with Jeong-suk and she also hopes that they will keep in contact in the future. Eun-seo is still In-ho’s child after all. So with that, Seung-hi and In-ho also end their relationship. Seung-hi receives a surprise congratulatory party from her Family Medicine residents who are all sad at the thought of her leaving. They give her some flowers and congratulate her on her new journey. Jeong-suk comes across Eun-seo waiting at the hospital for her mother so she has a talk with the high schooler. Similar to her talk with I-rang, Jeong-suk checks in with Eun-seo and hopes that Eun-seo will forget about all the bad things that happened and rather enjoy her life. None of this was ever her fault and she went through a lot due to all the adults. Eun-seo tears up upon hearing Jeong-suk’s words.

In-ho is clearly nervous for his surgery and he runs through things with all his Surgery residents once again. Jung-min has to step in at one point to reassure his dad that everything will be fine. Jeong-suk and Roy converse and they find themselves once again in another similar situation. Roy is operating on Jeong-suk’s surgery just like he did the first time around. The biggest difference this time is that In-ho is the donor. So it’s the day of the surgery and In-ho is visibly nervous. He puts all his trust in the residents as well as Roy who will be operating the surgery. While Jeong-suk and In-ho undergo surgery led by Roy, their family as well as Mom wait outside anxiously. Mother-in-law doesn’t feel all that great about her son donating his liver to Jeong-suk but Mom argues that Jeong-suk is still the mother of his children and that she was a great daughter-in-law. They’re also curious about any divorce updates but Mom doesn’t have a response for them.

Jeong-suk and In-ho’s surgery goes well and they both recover just fine. They proceed with finalizing their divorce and make it official. In a meeting with the Presiding Judge, they agree to child custody rights and the division of assets. And just like that, they are officially divorced.

The divorce was a lot more smooth and peaceful than they thought. Since the now divorced couple has some free time, they grab some lunch together – just the two of them. It’s been a while since Jeong-suk and In-ho have had a meal with only each other which just once again goes to show one of the reasons as to why they divorced. After lunch, Jeong-suk and In-ho bid farewell to each other. In-ho apologizes to Jeong-suk for all that she’s gone through but Jeong-suk remains optimistic. Not all of it was bad; in between the twenty years of marriage, there were good memories as well. So with that, they shake hands and go their own ways. While Jeong-suk plans on returning to the hospital to continue her residency, In-ho is now the hospital director. But he isn’t so happy and his life isn’t as fulfilling as he thought. He imagines his life in an alternate universe where Jeong-suk, Jung-min, and I-rang visit him in his office and congratulate him on his promotion. He tears up knowing that things have changed and that he will never receive this happiness in his life.

Even Eun-seo and I-rang apologize to each other and make amends. They’re sorry for the way that they treated each other but they decide to remain as strangers for now. I-rang also shares that her parents have gotten divorced so Eun-seo contacts In-ho shortly afterwards. The father and daughter go out for some dinner and it’s clear that In-ho would like to remain involved in Eun-seo’s life one way or another. Now that he’s divorced, Eun-seo also hopes that maybe he can reconcile with her mom. But Seung-hi isn’t thinking of In-ho as she seems quite content with both her personal and professional life. She enjoys running her hospital. In-ho can sense Seung-hi’s satisfaction and joy with her life when they briefly meet to talk about work and hospital affiliations. Though In-ho’s reminded of Eun-seo’s words, he doesn’t have the courage to ask Seung-hi for another chance.

Jeong-suk meets with Roy and thanks him for operating her surgery and for helping her. She’s grateful and appreciative of all that he’s done for her. So if Jeong-suk truly is thankful for him, then how about she keep him by her side forever? But Jeong-suk doesn’t reciprocate the feelings back to Roy and she rejects his confession (NOOOO). She’s a bit too tired at the moment to think about love and romance and she would like to focus on her personal life for the time being. She also encourages Roy to find someone else who he will love and get married to and have children with. So with that, Jeong-suk makes it clear how she feels towards Roy and she leaves. While walking back home, she buys a bouquet of freesias for herself. Since the meaning behind freesias indicates the support of a new beginning, it seems fitting for Jeong-suk to celebrate this new chapter in her life.

We then move forward in time with a time jump (it’s unknown as to how much time has passed but I’m assuming three years). So-ra goes to the pharmacy to purchase a pregnancy test and she goes to take the test in a restroom stall. Meanwhile, Jeong-suk earns a motorcycle license and she’s also now the proud owner of a clinic that specializes in family medicine (THAT’S SO COOL!!). She used the building that was under her name for the new clinic and it’s obvious that her patients appreciate having her in the neighborhood. Mom even spends time at the clinic taking care of the garden located in the balcony. The mother and daughter pair catch up with each other and it seems as if all is well given that Jeong-suk is healthy and successful. In-ho himself seems to be going through the motions. He’s extremely busy operating surgery on patients from both Seung-hi’s hospital as well as his own hospital but he goes through with it even as demanding and tired as he is. Anything for Seung-hi. We also receive an update on Roy who is now seeing someone else. Jeong-suk is aware of Roy’s new romance and she’s happy for him.

In-ho is busy both inside and outside of the hospital walls. He has no time to rest or sleep as he joins Jeong-suk, So-ra, and Jung-min for a medical volunteer trip. It’s the same village that their university hospital visited on their first trip and Jeong-suk meets with the same patient who she treated the first time around. She kept her word and continued to check in with him throughout her time as a doctor. When In-ho arrives at the village, he’s recruited to help out with the bathhouse and to give the elderly a proper bath. In-ho does as he is told and he’s so exhausted by the end of it all that he takes a nap after he finishes. Talk about being burnt out!

But it’s all worth it to In-ho and he goes on a walk with Jeong-suk upon finishing his work with the trip. Jeong-suk reminds In-ho to be nice to his mother and to not nag at her so much with the house chores, haha. Meanwhile, So-ra and Jung-min have a private talk of their own and she updates him on the results of her pregnancy test: the results were negative. But she expresses interest in what a married life with kids with Jung-min would look like and she seems quite content with it. Jung-min also feels the same way about So-ra and the couple spend a few happy minutes with each other before being interrupted by Jeong-suk and In-ho. It’s time to bid farewell so Jeong-suk gives Jung-min and So-ra a hug. She also waves goodbye to In-ho and watches them return back home. As for her? There’s still a few more patients who she has to visit.

So Jeong-suk joins a nurse and a social worker on the trip and she takes a boat to travel across to get to the island. While appreciating the beautiful and peaceful scenery, she reflects on her life and reaches the following conclusion,

I’m grateful for everything I’m able to see because I’m alive. So I believe that I’m happy at this moment, as it is. 

My Thoughts:

Woo hoo hoo! We are finally, finally finished and done. In the end, Jeong-suk divorced In-ho and was able to live the life that she wanted, was happy with, and was destined to have. It wasn’t easy for her to get to this point but all her experiences and memories taught her meaningful lessons in life and she came out of it much stronger. Her life was a whole transformation and she taught In-ho as well as Mother-in-law the valuable lesson of how you never know what you have until it’s gone. 

When I complete an entire drama, I’m sometimes not completely sure how I felt about the ending or the drama overall. However, ‘Doctor Cha’ was one of those shows that was the opposite for me. I knew exactly how I felt about this show while watching the last few episodes leading up to the finale and I really just wished that it was better. There were a few things that I wished the drama could have done differently or could have experimented with. As with any other show, there were both good and bad aspects about ‘Doctor Cha.’