Doctor X: Age of the White Mafia hits peak 21.3% rating

The SBS drama Doctor X: Age of the White Mafia reached a peak viewership rating of 21.3% on the 24th. The sixth episode follows Gye Su-jeong as she attempts to persuade Oh Sang-beom to undergo surgery for bullet fragments that have remained in his head for 46 years.

Kim Ji-won has stepped forward to save not only the life but also the broken heart of a patient who has lived trapped in a past tragedy for 46 years. The story of a man who has endured a lifetime of pain with bullet fragments lodged in his head, along with the shocking condition revealed in a brain CT, captured the attention of viewers. As Gye Su-jeong's (Kim Ji-won) persistent persuasion to save the patient collided with the guilt the patient could not let go, 'Doctor X: Age of the White Mafia' rewrote its own record by reaching a peak viewership rating of 21.3%.

In the 6th episode of the SBS Friday-Saturday drama 'Doctor X: Age of the White Mafia' broadcast on the 24th, the narrative alternated between the past, where Gye Su-jeong (Kim Ji-won) first met the young Baraka (Jeon Ji-on) in the war-torn nation of Lagota, and the present, where she attempts to save Oh Sang-beom (Ha Sung-kwan), who has suffered from the aftereffects of a gunshot wound for 46 years. The connection formed on the battlefield in the past influenced Gye Su-jeong's choices as she faced the suffering of another patient many years later.

The 6th episode soared to a peak viewership rating of 21.3%. It recorded 19.5% nationwide and 19.2% in the Seoul metropolitan area, ranking first not only in its time slot but also among all Saturday mini-series and weekly mini-series. The 2049 viewership also showed an average of 6.9% and a peak of 7.67%. This upward trend, which has seen the show break its own records every episode, remained unbroken.

While performing medical volunteer work in Lagota in the past, Gye Su-jeong was threatened by a soldier but escaped the crisis thanks to the help of the young Baraka. After asking Gye Su-jeong if she was indeed the "Doctor X" known as the "hand of God," Baraka pleaded with her to save his gunshot-wounded younger sibling, Nima. To save Nima, Gye Su-jeong and Baraka rushed into a battlefield where bullets were flying. Gye Su-jeong's refusal to give up on a patient even in a life-threatening situation mirrored her later attitude toward Oh Sang-beom.

Oh Sang-beom, appearing at Guseodae Hospital in the present, was a patient who had lived for over 40 years without having the bullet fragments removed from his head after sustaining a penetrating wound. Due to the medical technology available at the time, it was difficult to remove the fragments, and he had to endure a long period of time with them remaining in his head. The period of suffering, which included convulsions, seizures, headaches, and even hallucinations and auditory hallucinations, lasted for as long as 46 years.

Because the possibility of a successful surgery was slim and the patient was the focus of intense public interest, the medical staff at Guseodae Hospital were hesitant to step forward. However, while other doctors hesitated, Gye Su-jeong declared that she would personally take charge of the surgery. It was a choice to prioritize the remaining possibility of treatment for the patient over how dangerous his condition was.

The greatest barrier, however, was Oh Sang-beom himself. He adamantly refused even medical examinations, and it was difficult to determine his exact condition because his past medical records had disappeared. Gye Su-jeong, along with Jang Hui-suk (Lee Jung-eun), Park Tae-gyeong (Kim Woo-seok), and Jo Won-jin (Lee Jin-hee), went to visit the patient directly and persuaded him persistently. But the reason Oh Sang-beom had given up on life was not simply due to long-term pain. What held him captive was a sense of guilt that had not faded for over 40 years.

Oh Sang-beom, who was a young boy at the time of the incident, had lived for many years longing for his older brother, whose body could not even be found. He confessed, "It is all my fault. Dying seems easy, so I want to pay the price by living this painfully." Having endured the pain as if punishing himself, he had been disconnected from the world, relying on painkillers. What those around him desperately hoped for was not merely for his pain to disappear, but for Oh Sang-beom to regain the will to live.

Gye Su-jeong knocked on Oh Sang-beom's firmly closed heart with the words, "If you do nothing, there is no possibility." After finally agreeing to the examination, Gye Su-jeong examined Oh Sang-beom and could not hide her astonishment upon checking the brain CT, saying, "What on earth happened that day?" As she had to consider not only the remaining fragments in his head but also the symptoms that had persisted for a long time, the surgery emerged as a much more complex task than initially expected.

While closely observing Oh Sang-beom's actions and reactions, Gye Su-jeong discovered that he was seeing visions of his deceased older brother. She explained honestly that if he underwent surgery, he might no longer be able to see his brother's image. For Oh Sang-beom, the vision of his brother was a painful symptom, yet it was also an existence that had sustained him for a long time. Finding it difficult to accept the fact that he might never see his brother again, he eventually declared that he would give up on the surgery.

Gye Su-jeong did not unconditionally push the patient's decision. Seeing Baraka, whom she had met in Lagota in the past, in Oh Sang-beom, she sought to understand the patient's loss and longing, and decided to wait until he could steady his own heart. This moment showed that treating a disease and understanding the time a patient has lived are not separate matters. Gye Su-jeong, who is famous for her cool-headed judgment, showed another side of her character by respecting the patient's emotions and choices.

However, the situation turned urgent when Oh Sang-beom disappeared from his hospital room that night. After checking the CCTV, Park Tae-gyeong and Jo Won-jin discovered that he had headed to the hospital rooftop and rushed to follow him. Standing precariously on the edge of the railing, Oh Sang-beom expressed extreme distress, gripped by past trauma. It was a moment where the guilt that had weighed him down for 46 years threatened his life once again.

At the same time, Gye Su-jeong ran toward the hospital with a desperate expression. As the medical challenge revealed by Oh Sang-beom's brain CT, the memory of the brother the patient could not let go, and the precarious situation unfolding on the rooftop converged, the broadcast raised the tension to its peak. As curiosity grew whether Gye Su-jeong could go beyond saving Oh Sang-beom's life to freeing him from his past pain, 'Doctor X: Age of the White Mafia' broke its own highest viewership record, raising expectations for the next development.

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