Warning: Spoilers ahead:
Thirty-Nine episode 3 premiered on Wednesday night and it was an emotional episode, to say the least. After learning that Jung Chan-young (Jeon Mi-do) has been diagnosed with cancer in episode 2, Dr. Cha Mi-jo (Son Ye-jin) had rushed to Kim Jin-seok’s (Lee Mu-saeng) office and blamed him for the turn of events. While Son Ye-jin moved audiences with her emotional scene in the episode, she presented yet another shade of her craft with the third episode.
The latest episode began with a heartbroken Mi-jo heading to Chan-young’s office to inform her about her cancer diagnosis, only to find Jin-seok’s wife (Song Min-ji) questioning Chan-young about their affair. While Chan-young attempts to tackle the situation calmly, Mi-jo lashes out at Jin-seok’s wife. The fight leads to an angry and frustrated Mi-jo slapping Jin-seok’s wife.
After the incident, Mi-jo tries to gather herself and talk to Chan-young about her diagnosis again. However, Chan-young decides to visit her parents who live far from Seoul. As a result, Mi-jo gets restless and it now becomes evident that something is wrong. Kim Seon-u (Yeon Woo-jin) tries to cheer her up several times, bringing even a bouquet of blue roses. However, it goes in vain. He suggests they go running, which could help her clear her mind a bit and it helps. She eventually confides in him, telling him about Chan-young’s cancer diagnosis.
Mi-jo also thinks of sharing the news of Chan-young’s diagnosis with their third musketeer Jang Joo-hee (Kim Ji-hyun) but stops herself after finding out that her mother’s test to see if the cancer cells returned was scheduled the morning after their meeting. However, their conversation has Joo-hee sensing that something is wrong. She gets drunk and vents to Park Hyun-joon (Lee Tae-hwan). While the scene begins as an emotional moment, it soon turns comic after she forgets to pay him at his restaurant. She realises her mistake the following morning and apologises to him. However, she is offended after Hyun-joon assumes she is over 40 years old.
As the episode nears the end, Mi-jo finally informs Chan-young about her diagnosis. The emotionally heavy scene is performed so beautifully by Son Ye-jin and Jeon Mi-do. There comes a point where they don’t even utter a word and the scene feels heavy on the heart. This just goes to show how they’ve managed to balance each others’ screen presence while standing out individually.
Throughout the episode too, Son Ye-jin includes little details to make her performance stand out. For example, the scene featuring the slap had Son Ye-jin blend anger, heartbreak and frustration in a way that you not only feel glad that she stood up for her friend but also feel sorry for Mi-jo for no one really knows at that point the turmoil brewing within her. She also is seen at a point pitching her hand as she tries to not cry in front of Chan-young.
Another highlight of this episode was Kim Ji-hyun, who was finally given the space to projects different shades. Her character still needs more scraping and her chemistry with Lee Tae-hwan has still not yet fully bloomed, the episode at least offers a glimpse of what to expect going forward.
In between the intense drama, Thirty-Nine treated SONE with an expected cameo by Girls Generation. While the group wasn’t seen in person on the show, the episode featured a scene in which Dr. Cha Mi-jo (Son Ye-jin), Jung Chan-young (Jeon Mi-do) and Jang Joo-hee (Kim Ji-hyun) were seen eating ice cream and watching their appearance on Knowing Brothers.
