Intraoperative awareness delivers poetic justice to villain in 'Doctor X' finale

In the final episode of the SBS Friday-Saturday drama 'Doctor X: Era of the White Mafia,' which aired on the 14th, Kim Seung-hyo (played by Jeon Gook-hwan) experienced extreme agony due to intraoperative awareness during a heart transplant surgery. Rather than Kim Ji-won's character delivering direct revenge, the unexpected awakening in the operating room served as a mechanism to punish the villain, leaving a powerful impression in the series finale. Tension reached its peak as it was revealed that behind the mask of a respected doctor lay the ugly reality of a man who had committed child sexual abuse for decades.

Kim Seung-hyo, who lived as a respected doctor and founder of the medical relief organization 'White Wings,' was actually a shameless criminal who had committed sexual crimes against defenseless children for decades. As his true identity—a man who used social prestige and power to hide his crimes—was revealed, attention focused on the end he would face.

Gye Su-jeong (played by Kim Ji-won), who had suffered due to Kim Seung-hyo's crimes, was also one of the victims unable to escape him. Despite this, Kim Seung-hyo designated Gye Su-jeong as the lead surgeon for his heart transplant. This bizarre choice to entrust his life to a former student who knew his past revealed Kim Seung-hyo's characteristic arrogance and desire for control.

Before the surgery, Gye Su-jeong visited Kim Seung-hyo and said, "You managed to live long enough to get here. Both of us." When she asked why he chose her, Kim Seung-hyo replied, "You save patients no matter who they are. My most excellent student, most like myself. You never fail. That is Gye Su-jeong." Rather than acknowledging or reflecting on his evil deeds, his behavior of praising only his student's medical skill while ignoring the suffering of the victim left an even more chilling impression.

Jo Won-jin (played by Lee Jin-hee), revealed to be Kim Seung-hyo's daughter, also participated in the surgery as an anesthesiologist. Both Gye Su-jeong and Jo Won-jin appeared as though they intended to respond to Kim Seung-hyo in some way before the operation. Park Tae-gyeong (played by Kim Woo-seok), who was also a victim of sexual violence by Kim Seung-hyo during childhood, expressed a desire to participate in the surgery to seek revenge, but Gye Su-jeong stopped him.

Gye Su-jeong told Park Tae-gyeong, "Your hands must become a doctor's. Your hands must save people." This meant that the anger of the victims should not lead to further violence, but rather protect their lives as medical professionals. Jo Won-jin also wept, saying, "Let us do it. Let only us do it. So that we can catch him. So that Park Tae-gyeong does not disappear even after this time passes." It was a moment that revealed the reality where victims must step forward to prove their pain and the emotional weight they must bear in the process.

The surgery finally began. Jo Won-jin turned off the power to the BIS monitor, which checks the patient's consciousness, and attempted to administer the awakening agent flumazenil, but the two ultimately failed to carry out the act. Although they did not attempt direct retribution, an unexpected event occurred to Kim Seung-hyo after the surgery.

Following the surgery, Kim Seung-hyo suffered seizures. It was discovered that intraoperative awareness had occurred, meaning he had emerged from the anesthetic state and experienced the sounds and sensations of the surgical process vividly. The situation, in which the man who had ignored and trampled on the pain of others for decades paradoxically suffered extreme pain on the operating table, led to a dramatic retribution.

Afterward, Jo Won-jin asked Gye Su-jeong, "Do you think there is a God? Do you believe in God?" Gye Su-jeong cynically replied, "I hate Him. Even if there is a God, what would change?" This passage showed how meaningless it can sound to tell a victim who has suffered to believe in the existence of God or the realization of justice.

However, Jo Won-jin said, "I believe in God. I think that's why He came here. I will take care of this person, so you do your work. Live a little more as a doctor." This meant that while she would handle the punishment of Kim Seung-hyo, Gye Su-jeong should continue her life as a doctor. It contained the message that reclaiming one's own life is more important than direct revenge.

Finally, Park Tae-gyeong found the courage to expose Kim Seung-hyo's ugly truth to the world. As the crimes that had been hidden behind power and prestige for a long time were finally revealed, the social mask Kim Seung-hyo had built collapsed. The dramatic event of intraoperative awareness combined with the direct accusation by the victim completed the downfall of the final villain.

'Doctor X: Era of the White Mafia' revisited the meaning of revenge in its final episode by combining the retribution through the villain's physical pain with the truth-telling of the victims. In that the anger toward Kim Seung-hyo did not end in simple private retaliation but led to the process of revealing hidden crimes to the world, the choices made by Gye Su-jeong, Park Tae-gyeong, and Jo Won-jin made the core message of the work even clearer.

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