Doctor X starts tomorrow and SBS is betting on a womance again

SBS's Friday-Saturday slot has a very specific brand. Taxi Driver, The Fiery Priest, One Dollar Lawyer. Mostly one man against a giant evil, and a lot of 사이다 (saida, literally cider, that fizzy satisfying moment when the bad guy finally gets it). Doctor X flips that. Kim Ji Won is a genius surgeon who never fails and never compromises, Lee Jung Eun is the one who sends her into a corrupt hospital, and the two of them are supposed to be the heart of the show.

It premieres Oct 9, and it's Kim Ji Won's first drama in two years after Queen of Tears. That alone gets people to episode one. The question is what keeps them there. Korean press is already holding up Good Partner from 2024 as the warning. That one also sold itself as a two-woman show with Jang Na Ra and Nam Ji Hyun, then dropped a sudden love line on the junior lawyer that a lot of viewers felt broke the mood. People were also annoyed that the divorce story kept making the wife feel guilty about not being a good enough wife and mom, when the husband was the one who cheated. So my read is simple. Early numbers will be fine because of Kim Ji Won. If they keep it about these two women and don't shove in a random romance halfway, it stays. If they do, I'll be here crying and complaining in equal parts. Kim Ji Won said at the press event that she and Lee Jung Eun are aiming for the best couple award at the year-end show, and m crying, that's the only couple I need from this.